The interview effectively destroyed Grundy's career, elevated the Sex Pistols to notoriety, and signalled the arrival of mainstream punk rock.

[2] On the night of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Grundy anchored a late-night news special for the Granada region, alongside Mike Scott, who broke the story on Scene at 6:30 that evening.

Grundy was also a producer at Granada, working on the long-running history series All Our Yesterdays and early editions of the current affairs programme World in Action.

[4] As well as writing a regular column for Punch magazine, Grundy played himself in the 1974 film version of Man About the House, and hosted the Today show in London, after moving from Granada to Thames.

Queen were booked for the Today show of 1 December 1976, but they cancelled their appearance at the last minute due to vocalist Freddie Mercury needing emergency dental surgery.

Grundy was dismissive towards the band, speaking to viewers instead of directly to them and referring to them as "that group" in his challenging of what he felt was hypocrisy over the philosophy of punk.

"[7] Grundy then turned his attention to the female members of the band's entourage, known as The Bromley Contingent, which included Siouxsie Sioux.

As the show ended and the credits rolled, Grundy mouthed, "Oh shit" as the band began dancing to the closing theme.

The head of programming for Thames, Jeremy Isaacs, described the incident as "a gross error of judgment" leading from "inexcusably sloppy journalism".

The commercial television regulator of the day, the Independent Broadcasting Authority accepted the franchise holders' argument that the incident could not have been prevented.

[8] In a 2008 poll conducted by FremantleMedia, at this point Thames' parent company, the Today show interview was the most requested TV clip ever.

[10] His slot on What the Papers Say in the early 1980s was his last on network television, although he continued to present on BBC North West on such regional shows as Sweet and Sour and The Lancashire Lads into the mid-1980s.

He also appeared as an interviewer in ITV's adaptation of A Kind of Loving in 1982 and worked on school programmes for Granada, including a stint presenting Politics - What's It All About?.

In July 1986, Grundy was lead compere for the Festival of the Tenth Summer at the newly opened Greater Manchester Exhibition Centre (GMEX), a week-long celebration of the anniversary of the Sex Pistols' performance at the Lesser Free Trade Hall.

He was one of the best front men I ever worked with...At his best he was a superb forensic interviewer...sadly, as his career drifted, he let drink overwhelm his personality.