Entertainment
Louis Partridge is total spitting image of Sid Vicious as he cosies up with Nancy Spungen star in Danny Boyle’s Sex Pistols drama
Danny Boyle’s series on the Sex Pistols has continued to cause anarchy in the UK – with a first real glimpse of ill-fated couple the tragic Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.
The team continued filming the six-episode limited series by piling onto a tour bus in Deal, England, with actors Louis Partridge and Emma Appleton looking the spitting image of the ill-fated pair.
The punk couple were seen cuddling up together on the back of the bus while the rest of the group drank in front of them during the scenes.
Both Sid and Nancy – who suffered depression and schizophrenia respectively – would be dead within two years of meeting each other, after their lives were overtaken with heroin addiction.
In between takes, actor Louis was seen covered in scratches, just like the real Sid who was only 21 years old when he died.
During his time as the band’s bassist, Sid would often self-harm while on stage, and once even scratched ‘gimme a fix’ into his chest with a shard of glass while touring the US.
Anson Boon, who is playing frontman Johnny Rotten, and Jacob Slater were seen fully made up as the Anarchy in the UK rockers, drinking beer tinnies and sneering through the bus window.
Maisie Williams is among the cast, playing model protege Pamela Rooke as the band become instrumental in the London punk scene.
The real Johnny – real name John Lydon – has made it clear that he wants nothing to do with the new series, which is based on guitarist Steve Jones’ 2018 memoir Lonely Boy: Tales from a Sex Pistol.
In fact, he’s even threatening legal action after branding the show ‘disrespectful’ adding that he has not authorised any of it.
‘Sorry, you think you can do this, like walk all over me — it isn’t going to happen,’ John told Sunday Times. ‘Not without a huge, enormous f***ing fight.
‘I’m Johnny, you know, and when you interfere with my business you’re going to get the bitter end of my business as a result.’
He added: ‘It’s a disgrace… If you put me in a corner like a rat, I’m going to go for your throat. I’m up against some corporations that just want to take over.’
What happened to Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen?
Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen started dating in 1977, during which time both became addicted to heavy drugs, particularly heroin.
Despite only dating for 19-months, their relationship has become notorious for their intense bond and violent outbursts, exacerbated by their drug use and verbal and physical abuse from both sides.
After the band split in 1978, they moved into the Hotel Chelsea together in New York City, where they continued their drug abuse.
In October that year, Nancy’s body was found in the bathroom of the room they shared. She had been killed by a single stab wound to her abdomen. Speculation over how she died varies, with some believing she was killed in a robbery gone wrong by drug dealers.
The 1986 movie, Sid and Nancy, speculates that Sid stabbed her in a violent fight when he tried to back out of a suicide pact with her. A suicide pact is a theory posited by Sid’s mother.
Sid was charged with her murder, but he pleaded not guilty. Four months later, he died of a heroin overdose before a trial could take place and the case was closed.
In Sid’s suicide note to his mother, found on his body, he wrote: ‘We had a death pact, and I have to keep my half of the bargain. Please bury me next to my baby.
‘Bury me in my leather jacket, jeans and motorcycle boots. Goodbye.’
Due to Nancy being Jewish and buried in a Jewish cemetery, his request was denied by the family, but a close friend claims that pals of Sid scattered his ashes over her grave anyway.
Pistol does not have a release date but is expected to air on FX in 2022.
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