Doc Days Not Over...

Fair play to the makers of the BBC2 doc on Malcolm McLaren. Two weeks to make it and therefore little time to get deeper into the nuances of a productive life. My favourite thought came from Paul Morley and the idea that we've yet to understand McLaren's story as an complete entity, rather than mere episodes.

The grandmother dimension of his life is looming larger, just as the art school side is being underplayed. And as I said before, Malcolm was also swayed by the Tin Pan Alley guys and their endless hustle. The complexity of all these factors was mostly overlooked by the would-be impresarios who followed after punk. A bit of tabloid lather and a nasty slogan was often the front for middling talent. you just had to see Malcolm on film, voice pitching, arms akimbo, to adore the sell.

The doc was a bit loose with chronologies and image research, especially with Sid and his era. Poor Richard Hell wasn't credited and I think the wrong New York Doll was captioned. It was also rather noble to see Julian Temple being so generous with his words and his film footage, when you suspect that he will eventually make a much more resonant version of the guy's life. After his trilogy of films on the Sex Pistols, Joe Strummer and Dr Feelgood, Julian had intimated that his music doc days were all over. Now here's another significant job of work.