FURIOUS BBC Two viewers have slammed Romesh Ranganathan’s ‘disrespectful’ documentary about the death of Nancy Spungen, girlfriend of Sex Pistols star Sid Vicious.
In the latest episode of The Misinvestigations of Romesh Ranganathan, a two-part series that previously tackled Tupac Shakur‘s assassination, the comedian, 46, took on the controversial case of Nancy’s murder.
Beginning with a skit of Romesh being told off for using his phone on set, the programme saw him explore who stabbed 20-year-old Nancy to death in a New York hotel room in 1978.
But, throughout the episode, Romesh’s approach drew criticism for its insensitivity.
At one point, he jokingly asked whether Sid was truly “vicious” before making light of the fact that they couldn’t question a suspect who’d died in 2001.
He also comically speculated about the Sex Pistols‘ manager’s nickname, Mr. Roadent, and used Skittles to map out the crime scene in an abandoned warehouse.
Earlier on, he blamed his late arrival for filming on “being punk, innit”.
And, at another time, he and criminal psychologist Dr. Julia Shaw were seen fooling around as they tried on punk-inspired outfits at a fancy dress shop.
The lighthearted tone didn’t sit well with viewers, who took to their keyboards to express their discontent.
On a Digital Spy forum, one fan raged: “I am rarely annoyed from the very start of a programme, but what is airing now on BBC 2 has really mis-judged this.
“From the very first shot it is presented in a comedic way about the murder of a young woman and the sucide of a young man. He has no idea about them, he was 6 months old when they died. Even if this programme comes around to better looking at their life and what happened, how on earth did he and the production company think this was a way to introduce this.
“She was murdered, tee hee, he might be involved and then died too. Ho ho.
“Abysmal. Shame on you BBC 2 for the tone of this programme. Off switch.”
Someone else added: “I’ve got in on in the background while I go and do something more interesting.
“One of the interviewees said maybe Sid didn’t kill Nancy because her money was missing from the hotel room when the police got there.
Hardly conclusive, someone could have wandered in and swiped it. If they were out of it or either dead.
“It’s just a program of speculation rambling.”
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, a third posted: “This Romesh TV show about Sid and Nancy is very odd. Clutching at weird straws and verging on disrespectful. Not sure about using a skittle with a sticker on it to represent a dead woman. Also Sid totally did it.”
The show’s description in TV guides didn’t help the situation, labelling Romesh as an “inept investigator” but warning that the show contained “upsetting scenes.”
Nancy was found dead on October 12, 1978 with a stab wound to the abdomen in a room at the Chelsea Hotel.
Sid was arrested for the murder, charged with second degree murder and released on bail.
Just four months later, the bassist was found dead too following a drug overdose.
However, nobody was charged and Nancy’s case was closed soon afterwards.
Her death became the subject of international intrigue and inspired many songs, films and TV shows about the volatile couple.
