Tony Wilson: a young Cambridge graduate and TV presenter, inspired by the Sex Pistols first Manchester gig, founds Factory Records and the Hacienda nightclub.

The bands he signs include: Joy Division (New Order) and the Happy Mondays, while the Hacienda transforms Manchester into Madchester - the place to be. All this is built on Wilsons anarchic business philosophy: no contracts, just passion, music and hedonism - if the bands Dont like it they are free to leave.

No-one leaves, but with mounting debts and hangovers rocketing, things do get completely out of hand. Steve Coogan is perfectly cast as Wilson, struggling to hold it together in a world of vice and angst-ridden geniuses, in this brilliantly sustained portrait of the Manchester scene from director Michael Winterbottom.