Punk is not just a genre of music, it's a way of life. The Sex Pistols have gone down in history for their raucous shows, abrasive attitudes and unapologetic revolt against the stifling social norms of 1970s Britain: they altered the makeup of British society forever.

"I wouldn't be here without the Sex Pistols, I'm absolutely aware of that," says Danny Boyle, director and executive producer of new Sex Pistols biopic Pistol.

"I come from a very ordinary working-class background. You ended up, whether you were aware of it or not, you were going to be your dad.

"But they did something, the Pistols: they were the fountainhead that changed it for so many people coming after them.

"Especially for working class people, you didn't just put your shoes on and follow your dad into the factory anymore.

"There's no doubt that this revolution changed many, many people's paths."

The Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire director's latest television venture sees the story of the Sex Pistols, as told in the memoir of the band's co-founder and guitarist Steve Jones, brought to life.

Pistol's star-studded cast includes St Trinians' and Westworld's Talulah Riley as punk fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, known for roles in The Queen's Gambit, Maze Runner and Love Actually, as manager Malcolm McLaren, Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams as Jordan, and Australian actor Toby Wallace as protagonist Steve Jones.

Ahead of the six-part series' launch on Disney+, we catch up with the Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA-winning director Boyle, 65, to talk the Sex Pistols' iconic legacy and why now is the time to tell their story on screen.

DANNY, THE SEX PISTOLS LED AN ESSENTIAL COUNTERCULTURE REVOLUTION IN 1970S ENGLAND, DIDN'T THEY?

Yeah, very much. I mean, one of the things that we did when we started was just talk about how incredibly dull Britain, England was. I remember trying to explain, because lives are so full now of so many opportunities, there's so much in the world - there was so little then.

You felt like it was flat, it was timed. You felt like you were young, and then you were old, and there was nothing in between.

I think what the Sex Pistols did is they gave a sense of timelessness. They said that this is yours, and you can do whatever you want with it. You can waste it, be vacant, be futile, or not, it's up to you. And that is proper counterculture.

There was a real sense of: 'Wow, okay, this is really changing. And you're free.' It meant a great deal for me. It changed my life.

WHAT DREW YOU TO THE STORY OF THE SEX PISTOLS?

I've always wanted to make a film about punk. And I never thought I would, because my band was The Clash, who followed the Pistols, but I couldn't really see what the story would be about The Clash.

I never thought I would make a film about the Pistols because as an edifice, they seemed unapproachable. They had this huge, hostile environment around them: they squabble, they're constantly suing each other. You thought: "Woah, stay clear of that!"

Anyway, this story turns up, and it's like a quiet backdoor into Steve Jones's life, which is funny, amusing, disturbing, but truthful. Rather than having to approach the Pistols from the outside, you were already inside, like a Trojan horse.

It's a wonderful way to tell a story that is really dominated by music. And I hope people enjoy that, because it's made with a love of their music and the role that music played certainly in my life, but in British society, generally.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH STEVE JONES?

He was delightful. What was interesting is that he's a very generous founding father. It's his group - you wouldn't think it from the reputation of the group and Johnny Rotten and things like that - but it's his group. He formed it. But he isn't possessive, he's very generous about letting other talents flower within it.

And he showed that same attitude towards making the series, he gave us the go ahead, gave us all notes now and again, mostly about music. He's obsessed with music, as you'd expect. And so am I. So I loved that.

WHAT DID YOU LOOK FOR WHEN CASTING THE STARS?

It's weird: it's the voice first. They sound so particular - that's what you're looking for more than anything. The skill of the people that you work with in hair and make up and costume, they can make people look a bit like the people that they're playing. But it's not the most important thing, it's the essence.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster - the kid from Love Actually, which is just mind boggling, he's now in his thirties - we did a Zoom audition with him and when he did Malcolm, I could hear Malcolm.

We were very lucky to get Toby Wallace to play Steve, and Louis Partridge to play Sid Vicious - he was 17. That was really important, because it's shocking how young they were: Sid was 21 when he died, Nancy was 20 when she died. You realise these are children, really, with barely any life lived, and they're thrown into this extraordinary melting pot, partly of their own creation.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE YOUNGER GENERATIONS WILL LEARN ABOUT THE SEX PISTOLS' LEGACY FROM PISTOL?

We just tried to recreate what it was like to live through that experience. It was fundamental to my life, I carried it my whole life, all the principles of it, in all the work that I do, and I hope people see its value.

They were basically saying your life is your own: don't let anybody tell you you're unqualified for anything. They were an example of people who were thought nothing of, they were valueless, and they got together and created their own values. Some of them were admirable, some of them not so pretty. But together, they forced the country awake.

We were sleepwalking into a kind of regimented pattern of class deference. And they kicked that out. The deferential was dead, and I think they were responsible for it.

Pistol is coming to Disney+ on Tuesday.