In Bed With Chris Needham

Legendary 1992 video diary about a Loughborough thrash metal fan - with Chris Needham in person.

“The plot: Chris Needham, a 17 year-old Thrash Metal fan from Loughbrough who has been absolutely lacerated by the puberty stick, is about to play his first gig with his band, Manslaughter. The problem is, they’re complete rammel. Between their first painful attempts to stand musically upright and their debut gig, Chris takes the time to defend Metal and Youth, unleashes torrents of adolescent venom upon the Green movement, ‘old bastards’, vegetarians, ‘Chart Music’, organised religion, teachers, and Neighbours, conducts a relationship with his girlfriend in excruciating silence, gets hassled by Mr Taggart and His Amazing Shirt, and goes fishing.”

• Al Needham, Leftlion

During the twenty years since it was made for the BBC’s Video Diaries strand, In Bed With Chris Needham has become a cult artefact; not just for its wealth of quotable lines, but because it plugs you straight into the sensation of being a teenager at battle with the world. It’s also a window on life before social media, a reminder that TV producers once handed out cameras to young people without treating them as performing monkeys, and a testament to the power of metal. Unscreened for two decades – excepting youtube bootlegs – tonight we’re honoured to have not only the full original programme, but also Chris Needham himself in person and in conversation with Al Needham (no relation).

This event is presented in association with The Quietus and Capsule as a taster for Home of Metal, taking over Birmingham and the Black Country this summer with a celebration of our heavy heritage.

Taylor Parkes on In Bed with Chris Needham