Documentary aims to revive P-Rock: the UK’s short-lived but much-beloved punk music channel

In an era where YouTube was still in its infancy, many music fans would flock to Sky or whomever their satellite or cable provider would be to catch some of the latest music videos from the artists du jour of the time. Pop fans had The Hits, indie music fans had Q and for metal and punk fans, we had both Kerrang! and in later years Scuzz.

But there was one music channel that lasted only a year, yet has a perennial place in the hearts of punk fans who happened upon the channel during their excursion across the Electronic Programme Guide: P-Rock. 

“P-Rock was a channel made by two south London guys with no experience in TV,” explains Alex Shipman, the director of “P-Rock: The Doc,” which is currently still looking for backers on Kickstart. “It pretended to be a telescoping channel to get past the music giants and played non-stop punk, rock, ska and even rap and hip hop. They showed bands like Green Day and Sum 41 but the main aim was to promote British Bands such as King Prawn or Whitmore.”

That would explain why the documentary has had the fortune of interviewing such names familiar to UK punk fans such as the aforementioned King Prawn and [spunge], two bands among the many smaller British acts that were starved of television time on the other networks, such as MTV 2 (later MTV Rocks). P-Rock served to platform what was “under the radar” in terms of alternative music, as Alex and I recall our first experiences with the channel.

When interviewing the director and explaining “Heaven Knows” by Rise Against was my first experience with the channel, followed by “Never Sell Out” by The Exploited, a legendary punk act that for some was a little too “anti-establishment” for regular programming, Alex admitted that was the early mission statement for the channel.

“[The channel] wanted to show a broader and varied selection of music. Those [other] channels tended to repeat music a lot, you could hear the same 10 tracks in a 2-hour stint.” 

“P-Rock wanted to have a larger playlist and focus on the music. The like of MTV didn't want a lo-fi video whereas P-Rock didn't mind what standard of video you had as long as the song was good and you had one,” revealing that the station, run by Mark Shipman and the late Lol Pryor would even accept videos sent in on VHS tape. “ It didn't mean it would be put up on the channel but it was accepted. A lot of the major labels [eventually] sent videos to P-Rock for free as well.”

The beginning of the end for P-Rock

But despite its intentions to platform the smaller labels that perhaps MTV didn’t see merit in initially, the changing of what audiences in the alternative scene were listening to, coupled with the cult success P-Rock was attaining as “the alternative to the alternative,” it wouldn’t be long until those bigger entities starting taking affront to the channel; enter Viacom and E-Map.

Alex explains why she thinks those bigger entities had a problem in the end with the station: “I think when big co-operations get outshone by something it can go two ways, they can either buy the thing or crush it. I think they had plans for punk channels and P-Rock put a bit of a spanner in the works, which p***ed them off.” 

“P-Rock flew under the radar until it launched and managed to get major viewing figures with next to no advertising budget, it probably made its efforts with Kerrang! and Scuzz look bad even if they were catering to a different audience in some ways.” But she was clear that Scuzz appearing shortly before P-Rock’s demise wasn’t the cause of it.

When quizzed about what he would like to see should the Kickstarter campaign reach its target, the director admitted she would “definitely [like a] cinema release; we want to take it around the UK doing pop-up screenings in music venues and maybe a premiere at a cinema. Then hopefully on to a streaming service. 

“But just like experiencing a gig, there's nothing better than watching a film with people.”

To contribute towards the Kickstarter campaign for “P-Rock: The Doc,” you can visit the official page and make your donation - the campaign closes on Wednesday, May 1 2024.