Synopsis

The Pet Shop Boys wander through a gray, restless London as "West End Girls" unfolds like a nocturnal city portrait. Neil Tennant sings directly to the camera while Chris Lowe trails behind, appearing detached and occasionally ghostlike through double exposure. The video moves from the deserted streets of Petticoat Lane Market to Waterloo Station, the South Bank, Leicester Square, and views of familiar landmarks. Crowds, commuters, cinema lines, political protesters, and passing street life give the performance a documentary feel, matching the song's tension between London's East End and West End.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was filmed around London, with locations including Wentworth Street in Petticoat Lane Market, Waterloo Station, the South Bank, Leicester Square, and the area around South Africa House.

• Its visual style is deliberately understated: Tennant performs with a controlled, almost confrontational stillness, while Lowe often appears disengaged or partially transparent. This helped establish the duo's cool, anti-showbiz image.

• The London locations are not simply decorative. The route through markets, transport hubs, tourist landmarks, entertainment districts, and political demonstrations reflects the song's portrait of a socially divided city.

• The sequence includes period street details such as a red double-decker bus advertising the stage musical "Evita," cinema marquees, and an anti-apartheid protest known as the Non-Stop Picket.

• The video supported the 1985 re-recorded version of the song, which was released in the United Kingdom on October 28, 1985. The single reached No. 1 in the UK in January 1986.

• At the 1986 MTV Video Music Awards, the video was nominated for Best New Artist in a Video. It lost to a-ha's "Take On Me."

• The official video was later included among five Pet Shop Boys videos given improved high-definition audio and picture treatment in 2020.