Ian Dury's Son Baxter Talks About Film, Father's 'Alcoholism'

Baxter Dury, the singer-songwriter son of the late Ian Dury (pictured) has spoken about Andy Serkis' portrayal of his father in the new film 'Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll', and his role in bringing the story of the Blockheads' leader to life on the big screen.

In an interview with the Sun newspaper, Dury said, "You're reading the scripts and you start going, 'No, that's just nonsense.' There's to a point where you can influence it and then you have to stop and realise it's their film as well. You can't try and authenticate everything."

He went on to say, "We were very involved. We all became buddies - there was a lot of good will around," explaining also that "No one ever argued with anything we suggested, and they were incredibly sensitive."

Reservations about Serkis playing his father dissipated after the film went into production, and he extols the actor's performance, saying, "Although Andy nailed dad in many ways, sometimes actors are obsessed by mimicking somebody that all their energies get lost in that. I just didn't see it coming, but he got it all right."

Dury also reiterates that despite the film's 'Sex & Drugs' title, his dad was not a hard drug taker, he prefered having a drink. He says, "He drank every other day. Then he wouldn't drink for a week and get drunk very easily. That's what you'd call a form of alcoholism these days."

Baxter who spent time with his father on the road, described the scene by saying, "There were no hard drugs around at all. He smoked a lot of cannabis but in those days that was thought of as a fairly polite thing to do. It was far from a druggy environment. I never ever saw anyone on heroin."

He added: "There were a few people around that were a bit strung out, but that's the same in any rock 'n' roll environment. I bet if you're a Rolling Stones kid, it'd be a much harsher environment!"