King Rocker (2020)
How does a working class autodidact, with no visible means of support, maintain his role as the leader of a cult British underground band into its fifth decade? Comedian and writer Stewart Lee, director Michael Cumming and James Nicholls investigate the mysterious existence of Robert Lloyd, Britain’s ultimate post-punk survivor. Robert Lloyd’s Prefects played with The Clash on the White Riot tour in 1977, and their ongoing incarnation, as Birmingham’s Captain Beefheart suffused post-punk poets The Nightingales, recorded more John Peel sessions than any other band. Ever. But what were the social, cultural and economic circumstances that enabled and sustained such outsider artists in the punk and post-punk eras, and how has the world changed to the point where such figures are unlikely to flourish in the same way today? Lloyd’s own odyssey echoes how abstract notions of social mobility, of the value of culture and music, have changed in the last five decades.
Director: Michael Cumming
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Robert Lloyd as Self |
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Stewart Lee as Self |
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Frank Skinner as Self |
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Marc Riley as Self |
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John Peel as Self |
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Robin Askwith as Self |
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Bridget Christie as Self |
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John Taylor as Self |
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Nish Kumar as Self |
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Nigel Slater as Self |
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Paul Morley as Self |
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Gina Birch as Self |
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Samira Ahmed as Self |
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Seann Walsh as Self |
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Andrew O'Neill as Self |
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Kevin Eldon as Self |
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Danny Fields as Self |
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Paul Putner as Self |
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Steve Beresford as Self |
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Alan Apperley as Self |
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Paul Apperley as Self |
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Helen Apperley as Self |
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Dave Twist as Self |
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Maria Hughes as Self |
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Peter Byrchmore as Self |
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Ted Chippington as Self |
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Maggie Dunne as Self - Magz from Fuzzbox |
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Vickie Perks as Self - Vix from Fuzzbox |
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Louis Lloyd as Self |
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James Brown as Self |
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Mark Jones as Self |
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Daren Garratt as Self |
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Felicity Kitson as Self |
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Andreas Schmid as Self |
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James Smith as Self |
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Julie Lloyd as Self |
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Simon Bazalgette as Self |
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John Walters as Self |
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Adrian Edmondson as Self (archive footage) |
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David 'Kid' Jensen as Self (archive footage) |
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Paul Coia as Self (archive footage) |
| Production | James Nicholls | Producer |
| Writing | Stewart Lee | Writer |
| Writing | Michael Cumming | Writer |
| Directing | Michael Cumming | Director |