Edinburgh Council's plan to only allow filming in city if it creates 'positive legacy' could have vetoed Trainspotting – Susan Dalgety

The opening sequence of Trainspotting, where Renton and Spud race through Princes Street followed by store detectives to the manic pulse of Iggy Pop’s Lust for Life is one of the most iconic scenes of modern cinema.

The film Trainspotting's iconic opening sequence was shot on Edinburgh's Princes Street (Picture: Film Edinburgh)

Sitting in the Cameo cinema with then-Tory councillor Tom Ponton at a press screening of Danny Boyle’s ground-breaking movie, I knew I was in for a treat as Ewan McGregor (Renton) rolled off a car bonnet on Calton Road and grinned manically at the camera.

Tom and I had been invited to a press screening so that we could give our carefully considered thoughts as councillors on the movie’s merits. True to type, I loved it and Tom was “outraged of Dean Village”.

But it seems that the film crew made the opening scene with complete disregard to health and safety. A book published to mark the 25th anniversary of the film’s release reveals the production team did not get approval to film on Princes Street. Director Danny Boyle admits: “You’d never get permission to film this way now.”

Edinburgh City Council’s new guidelines for using the city as a location for movies and TV shows are currently out to public consultation. I am sure they are well meant – in particular the principle that film shoots must comply with the industry’s code of practice – but one of the clauses jars with me.

The council states that, “events and filming must deliver beneficial social value and support a lasting positive legacy for Edinburgh”.

Trainspotting, and its sequel, portray a rather more negative side of our capital city than, say, Greyfriars Bobby. And while it did not glorify drug culture, it did present heroin use as a lifestyle choice.

As Danny Boyle said in 1996 after the film’s release, “when you take drugs you have a… great time – unless you’re very unlucky. We wanted the film to capture that…”

If the council’s guidelines are agreed in full, there is a danger that the city council could stop a film as good as Trainspotting because it doesn’t offer a positive image of Edinburgh, or is morally ambivalent.

As Renton would say, but with a lot more colour, that would be completely unacceptable.

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