Fine Young Cannibals' Roland Gift's Comic Based On His BBC Clash Drama

Posted in: BBC, Comics, TV | Tagged: A Punk's Progress, Gareth Sleightholme, punk, Roland Gift, thought bubble

Fine Young Cannibals' Roland Gift's Comic Based On His BBC Clash Drama

The Fine Young Cannibals' Roland Gift has written a comic based on his BBC drama, drawn by Gareth Sleightholme, debuting it at Thought Bubble

Published Thu, 12 Nov 2026 08:27:11 -0600
by Rich Johnston
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Article Summary

• Fine Young Cannibals singer Roland Gift has adapted his BBC Radio 4 drama A Punk's Progress into a new comic.
• Artist Gareth Sleightholme of Iron Shot Ape Comics joins Gift on the adaptation, debuting it at Thought Bubble.
• A Punk's Progress follows Gift's teen journey through the late-70s punk scene, sparked by a Clash concert encounter.
• Roland Gift and Gareth Sleightholme will sell the comic at Thought Bubble's 2000 AD Hall, table B32, in Harrogate.

Roland Gift is the former lead singer of Fine Young Cannibals and has also acted in films such as Scandal, Sammy And Rosie Get Laid, and played Xavier St. Cloud on Highlander: The Series. He also wrote and starred in the BBC Radio 4 drama A Punk's Progress, about his teenage years running around with the famous punk band The Clash and the seventies punk scene, which was broadcast in 2022. And now he's turned it into a comic, also called A Punk's Progress, with artist Gareth Sleightholme of Iron Shot Ape Comics, and they will both debut the comic this weekend at the Thought Bubble Comic Art Festival in Harrogate, England.

It wouldn't be the first time a music star has brought comics to Thought Bubble, including Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance, Darryl McDaniels of Run-DMC and Will Potter of Cud. And now Roland Gift. They'll be at the 2000 AD Hall, table B32, selling copies. I think it might go fast. This is the original description of the BBC version:

"At the end of June 1978, Roland, along with some fellow punk rocker mates, went on a coach from Hull to Leeds Queens Hall to see their favourite band, The Clash. Two days prior, Roland's mother had told him he had to leave the family home. She said having him in the house as a 17-year-old would affect her benefits, and he had to go. Once they arrived at Leeds Queens Hall, the opening act for the tour were the Coventry Automatics, who played a mix of punk and reggae. Although they hadn't heard of the group, Roland and Steve danced all the way through their set. Very soon after the tour, they became known as The Specials. Chelsea was the second act and, as they finished, the friends made their way to the front of the stage in readiness for The Clash. Not far into The Clash's act, the lead singer, Joe Strummer's trousers began to split, and he asked the crowd if anyone had a safety pin. Roland didn't usually wear safety pins, but that night he had one in his leather jacket – a nappy pin with a blue plastic head. He removed it from his jacket and held it out, shouting "Joe, Joe." Joe Strummer reached down and took his pin. "With Punk I found a family, a lifestyle, creativity, a way to be. I might not have appreciated it consciously, but when Joe Strummer took my pin, he gave me fraternity." Roland Gift says. After the show, they decided to follow the band to their next gigs, first to Sheffield, then on to Leicester. And so the road trip begins. On the way, they find themselves jumping on trains without tickets, spending nights in all-night greasy spoons, getting chased by Rockers, hitching lifts, and sleeping rough in the cold and rain before finally being offered a lift in a transit van by a bunch of heavies. Naïvely, they risk their lives and get in…."

Thought Bubble is having its twentieth show this weekend on the 14th and 15th of November at Harrogate Convention Centre, part of a week of festival events across Yorkshire in England. Thought Bubble is the UK's largest comic art festival, a week-long celebration of comics, illustration, animation, and more that culminates in this weekend's comic convention. Focused on those who create comic books, specifically the artists and writers, it is especially supportive of small press. The festival was founded in 2007 by Yorkshire artist Lisa Wood, also known as Tula Lotay, and was organised as part of the Leeds International Film Festival to raise the profile of comics in the area. The first Thought Bubble was held in 2007 in the basement of Leeds Town Hall. attended by a couple of hundred people, but it has grown a little since then. The convention originally ran throughout Leeds, but in 2019, due to issues with Leeds City Council and the need for more space, it moved to nearby Harrogate. Bleeding Cool will be reporting from the show all weekend long. Do feel free to say hi! And find more Thought Bubble coverage over the next week right here…

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