The most iconic and enduring persona of David Bowie’s chameleonic career was inspired by artists such as Lou Reed and Iggy Pop, and brought the singer to a new level of fame. It was to his fans’ surprise and dismay then that on July 3rd, 1973, from the stage of London’s Hammersmith Odeon and at the end of a long and arduous tour, Bowie announced the ‘retirement’ of Ziggy Stardust. D.A. Pennebaker’s record of that performance, now digitally restored in sound and vision, and including previously unseen footage, screens half a century on from that momentous night, and will be preceded by a panel of Bowie’s associates discussing Ziggy’s legacy.

Notes by Kevin Coyne.