New Gay British series “It’s a Sin” Trailer

Any way to watch in the US?

R1 hasn’t debuted yet.

Well, now we know we're Neil Patrick Harris has been.

(his British accent is bad)

^^ we're = where Fuck off

I’m troubled that the determiner in the title is capitalised.

This looks really good

Looks good

Soundtrack by Pet Shop Boys?

Nice. Some skilled actors too.

[quote]Soundtrack by Pet Shop Boys?

The series was originally called Boys, the name was changed to It's A Sin.

Hoping this is of a similar quality to Years And Years and A Very English Scandal, and not of a similar quality to Cucumber. The episode where the black guy is killed and his life flashes before him was amazing, but the rest was mostly pure shite. That Ryan Reynolds speech, and the bit where they're driving around trying to someone down based on their Grindr distance was ridiculous.

The amazing Tracy Ann Oberman (former Torchwood boss, killer of Dirty Den and slayer of Jeremy Corbyn) popping up in the first seconds is a good omen, and I think I saw the underrated Ruth Sheen there too.

“Boys” would have been more fun. I liked Sabrina just as much as Neil and Chris.

The show will premiere on HBO Max Jan 2021 (for US Folks).

Stephen Fry looks TERRIBLE!

I thought he retired after he very definitely wore out his welcome a decade ago.

[QUOTE]Well, now we know we're Neil Patrick Harris has been. (his British accent is bad)

I *think* that Neil Patrick Harris is attempting a generic Welsh accent. If so it's actually impressive I can recognise it from 6 words. It's the ANYone that gives it away.

This looks really great - interesting route for NPH

[quote] not of a similar quality to Cucumber. The episode where the black guy is killed and his life flashes before him was amazing, but the rest was mostly pure shite. That Ryan Reynolds speech, and the bit where they're driving around trying to someone down based on their Grindr distance was ridiculous.

I know why people didn't like Cucumber/ Banana but I found it profound and mad entertaining (though, the final episode was a mess). But yes, the episode with the life and death of Lance, with him meeting the ghost of Queer as Folk's Hazel was amazing.

Another positive portrayal of gay life. Decades ago.

Looks interesting.

Not sure I can stand any more fry.

Fry needs a diet fast.

Are Fry and the child husband still together?

Fry lost five stone but still looks terrible.

The child husband died in the fried.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

looks AWFUL.

No dongs, no see.

R27 what low standards you have

The English can't give up on Fry.

Channel 4 is as silly as the BBC.

This is on tomorrow night! Looking forward to it.

What is the running time?

An hour. Starts at 9pm on Channel 4.

Heard Russell T Davies discuss this on the radio recently. Passionate and articulate as ever, he drew cautious analogies between the virus then, and the virus now. The discussion referenced both 'Tales Of The City', and 'This Life', as if I needed any more encouragement. Really looking forward to 'It's A Sin.'

We live in Godless times.

The "only gay actors should play gay characters" argument he put forward was deeply flawed, and I wasn't sure if he meant that all the gay characters in this were being played by gay actors. In all the media he's done, no one asked if he'd recast the notoriously heterosexual Hugh Grant as Jeremy Thorpe, although Thorpe did fuck a woman at least once.

Comparing straight actors playing gay roles to white people "blacking up" says a lot about his attitudes to race though.

Hard pass.

I got excited and thought it was a Pet shop boys biopic. Disapointing.

That would strange, given the trailer starts with music from Duran Duran, r38.

I can't stand Stephen Fry. Can't stand him.

I've tired of Davies writing. It's very showily plot pointy, and the BBC finger jammed down on the diversity-at-all-costs, One Of Each In Every Scene button, adds to the false atmosphere.

R41, if you think diversity is so bad maybe you should just watch Kirk Cameron Christian movies

Looking forward to it tonight

Let us know what you think of it, R43.

Where can we watch this in the US?

Read the thread, FFS. HBO Max this year.

Spoilers for Eps 1-3

This was subllime! The Guardian give it 5*s. Davies kills off one character per episode and usually the ones you don't expect...so the guy who's been in a 30 year relationship and then the shy one who never seems to have sex. There is a Louis Tomlinson lookalike who's struck down in Episode 3 as well.

By the end of episode 3, Ritchie the lead characer (played by Olly Alexander) knows he most likely has AIDS because he let the Louis Tomlinsong guy fuck him without a condom but he's too scared to find out the result of his test.

I saw the lead actor on Graham Norton the other week and he was annoying enough to make me consider the financial logistics of taking out a hit on someone living halfway around the world. Believe I'll pass on watching.

R44 Vert authentic-I was 18 in 1982 and identified with those rural guys experiences of bars/dating etc. A friend rang me to discuss it and he said the memories came flooding back as though it were yesterday. Innocence, prejudice, naivete, excitement, gaucheness. fear-Davies captured the spirit of the time.

Best line was "Of course I haven't got a fucking parrot".

Three episodes in and each episode has been great.

Watched episode one and thought it goodish. Bit too fast moving and broad to engage with emotionally, but evocative of the time for sure. Never heard the line 'You really need to clean your arse' on screen before, so there's that. I'll certainly stay with it.

Three episodes in. Good nudity and sex scenes so far. Callum Scott Howells is a babe.

I'm sure I'll check it out because I'm a sucker for 80s period pieces, but I can't stand Russell T Davies' work. His writing has all the sophistication of a precocious middle school creative writing class student's. The critical acclaim his overbaked, hammy work gets is so puzzling to me.

R41 the 80s gay scene in large cities were diverse.

Looks really good actually. I'm just downloading the 4 episodes via torrent now.

Keeley Hawes absolutely wipes the floor with everyone in this.

Does Doogie die in the first episode (the only one IMDB lists him in)?

'Keeley Hawes absolutely wipes the floor with everyone in this.'

She has a tiny part.

Richie has a sarcoma on his nose in the trailer so it looks as if he definitely gets AIDS. Roscoe and the hot one with long hair test negative in Episode 3.

In retrospect, The Pet Shop Boys' West End Girls was about AIDS. Came out in 1984.

Sometimes you're better off dead There's a gun in your hand and it's pointing at your head

The gun being his dick which could lead to a long, lingering death if he follows his instincts and fucks around.

[quote]'Keeley Hawes absolutely wipes the floor with everyone in this.'

[quote]She has a tiny part.

Did you watch the final episode?

Keeley Hawes' character is by far the worst written of them all - the villains all have a bit of a panto quality to them, and I just didn't believe she would have acted in the way she did right at the end.

The series got progressively weaker with the loss of the more interesting characters. Colin and Roscoe were far more interesting and likeable than Ritchie, but maybe having someone frequently unsympathetic as the main character forces you to examine your own prejudices.

All episodes are available on the Channel 4 site. You need to log in and register with UK address and should work with a VPN.

They don’t age them during the series even though it starts early 80s and moves to 1988. That’s something that to got me. None if them looked any different as time went on. Also almost too diverse to be believable,

The London Gay scene in the 80s was incredibly diverse.

I love the lies racists like r62 spew on here.

I’m sure the gay scene was diverse I just doubt every friend group had a token type hanging out with them. I was wondering where the east Asian character was until they turned up as a doctor. They ticked every type of a list. Good for them.

"Soundtrack by Pet Shop Boys?"

Weren't Scritti Politti available?

Hurry up, HBO Max

R64 if I ours friends with a black man, they aren’t a token.

[quote]. I was wondering where the east Asian character was until they turned up as a doctor.

Ash was there the entire time.

R68 Ash is Indian that’s South Asia

There were a lot of black and South Asian people in London back then, and even more now.

The UK has a lot more diversity and a lot less racism than the USA, and POC do great there, as opposed to here where they’re held back by a system that favors whites.

Crazy how the mainland where white people came from can treat others better than the land where white people invaded and took over...

Also, the UK has the highest percentage of interracial relationships, and their divorce rates are much lower than here in the USA.

If you ask me, it’s an American problem.

Over 80% of the UK is white vs roughly 60% in the US.

In many ways the US has perfected systemic racism but I wouldn't hold up the UK as some kind of perfect post-racial society.

[quote]Over 80% of the UK is white vs roughly 60% in the US.

Except London and the other big cities are more diverse.

London was mecca for gays in the 1980s - it wasn't just a liberal utopia but an economic one. Small town boys , including black ones, ran away ran away ran away there to escape homophobia and economic decline. Very few people in London were from London.

It is quite sad that someone's enjoyment of a tv show is ruined by how many black and brown faces there are in roles.

R74 welcome to the racist world of DL

[quote] It is quite sad that someone's enjoyment of a tv show is ruined by how many black and brown faces there are in roles.

It was not ruined. It just felt more like they were filling a woke quota than representing a genuine group of friends. Anyway my main problem was more to do with the fact that nobody ages or even changes their hairstyle in the eight years this show encompasses.

A lot of people had/have friends of all colors and races. Not everyone only has white friends r76

Many of those gay people back then, in London, NYC etc. were not from there and many ran away from where they are from to be able to live freely as well as be around different people. I know people who moved to NYC because they wanted to experience and longed for diversity, because back home it was all white people. They wanted to get to know different types of people and had friends of all races etc.

Not everyone is closed minded

No one uses woke anymore except for right wing utter cuntbuckets, R76, and for the record, that group of friends was pretty similar to my own in the late 80s and we have remained friends, didn't feel like a special or unusual racial mix of people then or now, we're just mates.

I loved episodes 1-4 but HATED the Keeley Hawes Show that was episode 5. The focus should not have been on Valerie for 45 minutes.

If Davies really wanted to hit hard he would have also killed one of the straight characters such as Jill after showing her having unprotected sex with a new boyfriend. It would have been better to show Ritchie actually living with the virus for several years, not getting sick on the show but becoming more mentally unstable with the prospect of sickness.

R79 I agree. Keeley’s character became so annoying!

Also the Dr Who director saying 'something is wrong with your skin' - what did he mean? He wasn't using make up to cover KP because he didn't seem to get that.

The actor playing the Ritchie character already looked sort of sick. I guess they could have got someone healthier looking and used make up to sicken him up. I think the problem is that when he was meant to look sick, he didn’t look any sicker than he had the previous episodes when he was playing healthy.

I really liked the first episode but oh no, now I’m scared for sweet Colin

Nathaniel Curtis is so cute! character: Ash Mukherjee

R76, conservatives use the same "woke" insults every time a show has a gay character. It's not woke to acknowledge that gays and non-white people exist.

[quote]Also the Dr Who director saying 'something is wrong with your skin' - what did he mean? He wasn't using make up to cover KP because he didn't seem to get that.

There was an actor called Dursley McLinden who appeared in Doctor Who at the age of 23. He died at 30 from AIDS. Russell T Davies knew him socially.

[quote]In a way, Davies explained, the Doctor Who cameo was a tribute to classic series actor Dursley McLinden (who played RAF sergeant Mike Smith), who he met at his friend Jill’s flat shortly before his death.

[quote]“What a beautiful boy! He was one of Jill’s friends and one of the first people I ever met who’d been in Doctor Who,” Davies said. “I went to Jill’s 30th and there he was. He was already very ill, but he was so hilarious and lovely. I was thrilled to meet him.”

[quote]“He became very wonderful in his AIDS activism when he was ill, but to me he was that boy from Remembrance of the Daleks. That’s why I knew I had to write a Dalek scene in It’s A Sin.

[quote]“I didn’t do it as a joke. It’s not me going, ‘Hooray, let’s get a few pages in Doctor Who Magazine.’ It, literally, felt natural. I was really desperate to do it. It’s a little smile towards Dursley, who I loved. I did it for Dursley.”

So was it semi autobiographical?

[quote]So was it semi autobiographical?

Yes.

"A lot of the drama is based on myself and people I know and the stories that have built up over the decades," says Russell.

"I was 18 in 1981, when the series is set, and left home to go to university. A lot of my friends went to live in London and moved into a big flat in Hampstead [North London] they called the Pink Palace, like the one in the drama.

The story was also inspired by a good friend of his, who the character of Jill Baxter (Lydia West), Ritchie's best friend from college, is based on.

"My friend Jill Nalder was a much more honourable person than me in that she spent more time on AIDS wards than I ever did, and held the hands of the dying more than I ever did and I love her for that," Russell explains. "She actually plays Jill Baxter's fictional mother in the drama."

They managed to shoehorn in two obese characters too and one became disabled for the final episode. I didn't see anyone blind or deaf though.

Olly Alexander who plays Ritchie has struggled with eating disorders his whole life and has that strung out, famished look to him. Apparently Harry Styles auditioned for the role but didn't get it because Davies doesn't like the fact that he won't come out as gay or bi.

I guess Jill being inspired by his friend meant he couldn't just kill her off but she was the most sympathetic character and he missed an opportunity to have her die from AIDS because her husband slept with a bisexual woman.

Just finished this and loved it. I loved the humour interspersed throughout as well (esp the Thatcher bit) - wish episode 5 had a bit more of it.

Colin's story was the most devastating by far, very hard to watch.

Stephen Fry isn't all that.

As it's been said before, he's what dumb people think is a smart person.

Just finished the whole thing and enjoyed most of it. It brought back memories of the time although I was 10 when it started in 1981. Will read this thread now.

[quote] No one uses woke anymore

Really? One does like to keep up!

What’s the euphemism for such fascist bullshit now?

[quote] The UK has a lot more diversity and a lot less racism than the USA,

US is a more diverse country and didn’t just commit suicide because it doesn’t want brown people in.

US didn’t have legions of people joining ISIS or blowing themselves up on buses and subways because of the lovely way Muslims are treated. That was another country.

You HAVE to be kidding R95! You don't know when to just shut the fuck up! You're insane!

The US literally has black people rioting on the streets all over the country because of the levels of accepted societal racism in the US and the appalling way they are openly treated!

AND the US has a terrible problem with white supremacists - some of whom stormed the Capitol building and were intent on killing various politicians AND nobody really cares about the white supremacists.

Plus that bit about planes flying into buildings that you seem to have conveniently forgotten...

The US is one of the most racist countries on the planet R95. Any racial issues the UK has, pale in comparison. End of story.

Watched the whole thing today, a very hard watch. I think Colin broke my heart a little bit.

Also Stephen Fry is barely in it.

I have long suspected that much of Americas skin color obssession and bigotry come from scotch Irish culture, not English culture, whose influence is negligible at this point. Very paranoid, miserly, and agressive culture. England is far from perfect but the US is much much worse.

The Philip Schofield reference in episode 3 killed me. I still find him handsome, but a young Schofield was very cute.

Nathanial Hall, the actor who plays Donald Bassett, is HIV+, having contracted HIV at the age of 16, and 18 years later he's playing someone who died of AIDS.

I finished watching It's A Sin 36 hours ago but I'm experiencing a deep sadness for the Colins, the Donalds and the Henrys.

Sorry for going off-topic, but Keeley Hawes is the lead of a new Brit family drama show called Finding Alice which also stars AbFab's Joanna Lumley playing a cold and aloof mother of Keeley's character. It's a bit of a dark comedy with a hint of a murder mystery.

R86 I remember Dursley in Doctor Who. He was a very attractive man. I actually thought about him a lot while watching this, so it’s nice that there was a connection with RTD.

[quote]Sorry for going off-topic, but Keeley Hawes is the lead of a new Brit family drama show called Finding Alice which also stars AbFab's Joanna Lumley playing a cold and aloof mother of Keeley's character. It's a bit of a dark comedy with a hint of a murder mystery.

Finding Alice is incredibly frustrating. Neither Alice nor her daughter have any friends, she has a gay brother who doesn't even attend her husband's funeral, except he's not her husband because not being married allows a certain subplot. The performances are very good and it covers the grieving process well but plot wise it's a mess.

R96, back in 1998 a young black actor from London was visiting NY and I was asked by his agent to show him around a little. He was a nice guy. At one point he pulled out that “London is so vibrant and diverse, England is not a racist country and the US is totally racist” shit. I replied “Well, gee, the last time I’ve watched Prime Minister’s Questions on C-Span pretty much all of Parliament is white men. Compare that to our House of Representatives.” That shut him up. I know the situation over there has vastly improved but it was a mighty long struggle for minorities over there to climb up to positions of power whereas over here in the US we’ve had minorities in positions of power since the 1970s. Period. End of story.

^Meanwhile the US still hasn't had a female President, whereas 2 years ago 3 of the 4 countries in the UK were led by women.

Only watched the first two episodes, and I am so put off by the creepy boss from the tailor shop. Colin is so adorable.

That’s a very poor rebuttal, R105.

And you failed to mention all those women were/are white.

And P. S. We had a black president from 2009-2017 and now have a black/Asian vice president.

The entire point of this argument is about RACISM, not sexism.

Thanks for playing, though.

I would have liked to see a little bit more of Ritchie and Ash's relationship. Ash was the most underdeveloped character. With all the time given to Keeley Hawes in the last episode, they could have given more focus to him.

[quote] Ash was the most underdeveloped character.

The hottest housemate and they barely gave him anything to do. I did, however, love his moment about Section 28.

Is olly alexander's character supposed to be attractive? he's incredibly gawky and homely looking

That's what they said R111 - that he was attractive. I agree with you - he's not attractive at all. None of them were. They didn't seem to be focused on looks - more on authenticity and the story.

Jill had a pretty face.

SPOLIERS

I didn't hate it but I felt like I'd seen it before; the homophobic suburban mum, the closeted Tory, the wide-eyed boy from the Valleys, the selfless friend, the creepy old closet case, the massive old run down flat, etc. etc. That's obviously how Davies remembered it but elsewhere he seems much more angry and willing to name names. We got a flash of Thatcher, a demo, and a bit of clause 28 but, I don't know. I should watch it again.

Keeley Hawes' performance was fantastic, as ever, but the character didn't seem to make much sense.

[quote]I did, however, love his moment about Section 28.

That was the most RTD bit of dialogue. The rant.

[quote]Keeley Hawes' performance was fantastic, as ever, but the character didn't seem to make much sense.

Let's be honest, Ritchie was a bit of a cunt, like his mother, and that his friends stuck by him for a decade despite being a cunt meant they loved him unconditionally.

Having seen so many of their friends "go home" and die with their resentful families, I struggle to accept Jill and the tall boyfriend would have gone to the Isle Of Wight for however many months and stayed there without going to the house daily and demanding to see him. Surely Jill wouldn't have just accepted Valerie refusing to let them see Ritchie, but that wouldn't have allowed the dramatic windswept coastal confrontation to take place.

And at the end, was that Ritchie's odd sister hugging Jill and the tall boyfriend in the bed and breakfast? A bizarre underwritten part if so.

HBO Max has announced that It's a Sin will debut on the streaming platform February 18.

I am binge-watching the British comedy show Benidorm and I got a cheap thrill out of recognizing Shaun Dooley, who plays Ritchie's dad in It's A Sin, as a guest star in one episode.

[quote]I got a cheap thrill out of recognizing Shaun Dooley,

He was great in the last two series of "Misfits" as the forever angry probation worker, who turned out to have a crush on one of the uglier characters.

Benidorm has to rank alongside Mrs. Brown’s Boys as one of the most excruciatingly awful sitcom on modern times.

r120, the UK loves its broad, low-brow and camp comedies. Miranda, AbFab, Vicious, Shameless, The Windsors, etc.

[quote]Benidorm has to rank alongside Mrs. Brown’s Boys as one of the most excruciatingly awful sitcom on modern times.

Add Brenda Blythen's "Kate & Koji" to that list.

Finished watching this last night. Cried my eyes out at the end.

Was really not that moved by this. I was expecting to be, but really it was all rather predictable. The most moving bit was the death of the welsh guy. The death of the lead... can’t say I was that moved. Maybe I just didn’t connect with the actor. I also didn’t like how he was so stage school, like a character in Glee.

Yeah, it's a shame that Colin wasn't the lead, as his story was the most moving part of the show. The lead guy was obnoxious and creepy.

Ugh... more rehashing of a depressing era.

Thread.

The tall Indian guy was the hottest, yet he got the least amount of screentime, go figure.

[Quote]I would have liked to see a little bit more of Ritchie and Ash's relationship.

Same. Wonder if they spent more time on Ritchie's relationship with his previous boyfriend who died from aids because he's Ollie's real life boyfriend. In my opinion it was a mistake. Should have spent more time on him and Ash's relationship. Also, it made no sense that he didn't go with Jill to see Ritchie when he knew he was dying. He had work, but he loved him, yet wouldn't go?! Wtf? Dumb excuse.

[Quote]Apparently Harry Styles auditioned for the role but didn't get it because Davies doesn't like the fact that he won't come out as gay or bi.

Thank god they didn't go with Harry. They did right having an out gay actor playing Ritchie. It would have been offensive if they had picked Harry as he is straight and therefor cannot relate to the aids crisis.

Also, I'm sick of DLers being in denial about Harry. He is so obviously straight, but an ally. He is gay friendly and doesn't mind being gender non-conforming. But that doesn't mean he's any less straight. It's so funny to see people fawn over Harry, praising him to the sky, when he is nothing more than another white heterosexual male. He is so far up his own ass he doesn't realize his performance is just that, performance. He thinks so highly of himself because he wears a dress when at the end of the day he's still white and straight and male.

[Quote]The series got progressively weaker with the loss of the more interesting characters. Colin and Roscoe were far more interesting and likeable than Ritchie, but maybe having someone frequently unsympathetic as the main character forces you to examine your own prejudices.

I didn't like Roscoe. Once again a sissy black gay character just like in Sex Education. Why do they ALWAYS make the black gays femme and into make up and dressing like girls? Again, it just felt too woke. It felt more like 2021 than 1981. Could they not have had him be gay and out and proud without him wearing makeup? We are bombarded with this gender shit today... it wasn't like that back then. Enough already. I'd love to see masculine black gay men on tv... heck, masculine gay men. Period. All we see are freaks and sissies. Sadly this show did not help to change the perception with Roscoe.

I probably liked Colin the most because he was just so "normal", for the lack of a better word. He was dull and shy. There are so many guys like him. I bet more people could see themselves in Colin than makeup and skirt wearing Roscoe. I think that is why his storyline was the most heartbreaking. He was just so average in every way.

It’s Channel 4’s most binged show ever

'He thinks so highly of himself because he wears a dress when at the end of the day he's still white and straight and male'

You're on Datalounge, dummy. Why are you using 'male' and 'white' as slurs?

Styles' best friend told Rolling Stone that he advised Harry to 'date women, MEN - get your heart broken'. Why would he have said this to a straight man?

R133 Because Harry is woke, as if you hadn't noticed. He is yet another fake bisexual who will claim to "date men if the right guy comes along", yet only publicly dates women. He will never date a man. He might say he will, but it's obviously bs.

R132 Because Harry is just another fake queer man. He pretends. Just like all the gen z with blue hair who claim they're queer when they're just straight with blue hair. If he was actually gay or even bi it would have been different.

Harry is an opportunist. He covers all the bases to pander to demographics and eventualities (when he might get caught with a guy's dick in his mouth). Unless something serious happens he will say he's bi or open-minded, but will only have "serious" relationships and flings with women in public.

Just finished episode 2 and already feeling a bit sad. Those were some dark days.

[quote] Ugh... more rehashing of a depressing era

Depressing for us. And it's easy for talentless soap-writers to get the audience all emotional (and patronising towards those pathetic homosexuals.

I just finished it. I do wish the story would have been about Colin instead of Richie but of well.

I streamed all 5 episodes, slightly illegally. I knew nothing about the storyline so didn't expect to get sucked into this story. Wow, maybe I'm just emotional, but I cried at least once from episode 3 on. The AIDs aspect, coupled with the knowledge that thousands are dying alone in hospital beds ever day due to COVID broke me.

I think I should have spread this out. Anyway, as someone born around the time the series ended, I must say how sorry I am for any DL members that had to live through throughs times. I love that it ended with Archie remembering all of the fun he had.

I felt like this was what The Normal Heart should have been with regards to the emotional pull. I'm glad it wasn't preachy and just showed a rather (TV version) of a group of friends lives.

I did have to look past the fact that these guys clothes rarely changed, their hair remained the same, and that they all remained in that same apartment for years. Surly one of them would have been scooped up by a boyfriend and moved in together. But, I really don't care all that much because the story was good.

I actually called my parents afterwards. Had a nice chat with my mother. I told her all the negative stigma placed against the gay community back then, made me understand why it took her a little bit a time to come around when I came out to her in college.

It'sh a Shin!

Comments from prominent British gays:

That link should come with a warning: CONTAINS OWEN JONES

If I lived through this do I need to watch it?

Owen Jones liked it because it does not feature any of us awful 'cervix-havers' or whatever the term is now.

Listen/watch Owen Jones interact with his female interviewees (of which there have been many) on his podcast (genuine rapport and interest, warmth and humo[ur]r) and you'll get over the idea that he's a misogynist. He also has a twin sister he's very close to.

We know what Owen Jones is really like, R146.

[quote]Listen/watch Owen Jones interact with his female interviewees (of which there have been many) on his podcast (genuine rapport and interest, warmth and humo[ur]r) and you'll get over the idea that he's a misogynist. He also has a twin sister he's very close to.

I'm not racist, some of my best friends are black!

It sure brought back the memories.

Watched it all today. I cried each episode I believe. Keeley’s character pissed me off and also confused me, but damn, she acted the hell out of it. Was glad she said the bit to Jill about not having her own life. That was bugging me...straight woman as nurse/mother/crusader to and for gay men, but with seemingly no love life of her own, or LIFE period, other than being an actress.

Poor Colin.

The best part was when Keeley Hawes called Jill a monstrous big bitch.

I wish Colin had been the main character — he had potential to become really interesting and perhaps flourish in his career whilst coming to grips with his sexuality and the politics of AIDS.

R11- The only part of Cucumber that you liked was when the black guys gets KILLED. It was AMAZING and the rest of the show was SHITE.

The scene was VIOLENT and GRAPHIC but that does not make it a GOOD scene nor AMAZING.

[quote][R11]- The only part of Cucumber that you liked was when the black guys gets KILLED. It was AMAZING and the rest of the show was SHITE. The scene was VIOLENT and GRAPHIC but that does not make it a GOOD scene nor AMAZING.

I did say THE EPISODE, as in the whole 50 minutes, was great. The actual assault was violent and graphic, as violent assaults tend to be.

But in an uneven and frenetic series the focus on Lance and his life was great writing and acting. The regular Christmas visits to his father, with later flashbacks of his boyfriend dying of AIDS. The flirtation with the estate agent, with the later flashbacks of the estate agent fucking him in the flat he was viewing. Meeting the bald hairy gay for the first time and settling down even though he wasn't the one. The monologue about Vanessa Feltz's grandmother doing the washing up. The ghost of Hazel on Canal Street. With Annie Lennox in the background. Cyril Nri earned his BAFTA nomination.

A very moved fan

The scene at the end of Episode 2 with Gloria's family was horrifying, but it was nice to see Mr. Coltrane get his comeuppance.

They capture that early-'80s look and feel really well. Love Jill's floofy sweaters and Roscoe's shirts. Also, Miss Kelly Marie singing "Feels Like I'm in Love."

I got through the whole show without crying until the scene near the end with the man who had no visitors and then I just broke down. I think I cried for half an hour. I am not sure why it was that part that got to me. Perhaps just the awfulness of people who wouldn’t visit their own family member and the loneliness and suffering of it all.

Seems like everything Russell Davies does has great potential and achieves about 60% of it. Like Cucumber and Banana. Could be a great story but this is a soap opera version with mediocre writing, plot and characters. But perhaps nothing will ever live up to Longtime Companion in the accuracy and effectiveness of depicting that era - for me. I also think Line of Beauty - the book, not the horrible BBC show - was a good depiction of the era.

It seem likes stories of the AIDS era are becoming similar to stories about pre-civil rights black America. Predictable, melodramatic and detached. Perhaps the visceral reality as experienced can never be effectively portrayed. So many converging horrors that can rarely be effectively depicted.

I loved Colin so much. His death, and his sweet mum who loved him unconditionally to the end, were the best part of this series. I liked Roscoe too though I didn’t mind him being a high class escort for fat sugar daddies.

I watched the whole show and it's very entertaining and so sad at the same time. The younger actors tend to act like young people do today - I was almost expecting them to whip out there phones and take a few pics at any given moment. People weren't so "look at me me being all sassy" then. Also, the women are portrayed as either Karens or saints and the lead character Jill seems to have no love/sex life at all, which seems odd as the "relationships" of the male characters are on full display. And it is odd that no-one ages, not even a hairstyle change.

The soundtrack will make anyone of a certain age feel very nostalgic.

[quote]Apparently Harry Styles auditioned for the role but didn't get it because Davies doesn't like the fact that he won't come out as gay or bi.

Any proof of this, or just more made up bullshit from the insane Styles stan?

The always contrary Vulture reviewed the series and their main complaint was that Roscoe and Ash were treated with kids gloves. Essentially, they should have died because the characters who died were fully fleshed out and Roscoe, Ash and Jill were all one-dimensional.

R163 And if they had died, I think we can all guess what Vulture would be bitching about then

Btw did anyone think of Sally Field in Steel Magnolias when Keeley Hawes walking down the hospital corridor?

What a wonderful, heartbreaking series. Very nicely done. Valerie was quite the cunt. I wish the last episode had been a little less about her.

I was 16 years old in 1982 but I knew NOTHING about the gay world nor was I doing anything gay except masturbating to nudist camp magazines my friend gave me.

At least in the United States teen boys had much longer hair in 1981. People kind of looked late 1970's still. I guess in the UK they were already much more immersed into the 1980's.

American teenagers NEVER really embraced that PUNK/NEW WAVE aesthetic except in some urban areas of NYC, LA etc.

That scene in one of the early episodes where Jill is fussing about the pink mug, because the HIV poz friend drank from it, was so poignant about the early HIV hysteria. I saw a German movie once in the early 90s about an HIV positive kid who got HIV through a blood transfusion and he drank from a juice box and then handed it over to his mate who, after the HIV positive kid left, threw it immediately in the trash even though there was still plenty of juice in it.

Seeing as this was originally planned for 8 episodes, I hope Russell T Davies allows the original script to be published so we can see even more of the characters.

The cast seem fun.

[Quote] There was an actor called Dursley McLinden who appeared in Doctor Who at the age of 23. He died at 30 from AIDS. Russell T Davies knew him socially.

He died 7 August 1995. It always saddens me even more when I see that someone died in the CART breakthrough era.

Olly says at around 2:30 that Davies said he was the only one who read for Richie.

Thank you, R172, that poster is constantly making up things pretending that boy bander is involved in things he has nothing to do with. It's pretty pathetic.

Hope we see a lot more of Nathaniel Curtis

Dursley McLinden can be seen at around 15:00.

Really don't care for the casting of Richie.

There were similar complaints about Aidan Gillen in "Queer as Folk." British TV allows regular looking people to play romantic leads.

The encounter with the bartender that ends with some ballet wouldn't have been as effective if Richie looked like an Adonis.

Just finished it. My God that was moving. I'm dead inside but even I cried.

I'm ticked because I found Alexander so wrong for the role it robbed the show of the emotional impact it would have had. It would have been a great series except for that, which is a damn shame.

so they brought NPH on just to kill him off within the first episode?

A gay AIDS drama, it's so innovative I can't even put into words.

R145 Oh please fuck off. Tv is flooded with lesbians. Gay men are allowed to have one show dedicated to them, especially a show as important as this.

[quote] There were similar complaints about Aidan Gillen in "Queer as Folk." British TV allows regular looking people to play romantic leads.

The whole point of Stewart in the original QAF is that he was a well off regular looking gay guy surrounded by working class/blue collar people who would go after him because of that allure not his looks alone. Even Nathan's friend says so in the second episode. They know he isn't a model, but he's loaded (for their standards anyway).

Makes sense r183 because a boy like a young Charlie Hunnam would have been scooped up by a Middle Easterner while he's in London or flow him out to Dubai for short sex trips.

[quote]The whole point of Stewart in the original QAF is that he was a well off regular looking gay guy surrounded by working class/blue collar people who would go after him because of that allure not his looks alone. Even Nathan's friend says so in the second episode. They know he isn't a model, but he's loaded (for their standards anyway).

People were attracted to Stuart because was attractive, confident and had low standards. You knew the chance of a fuck was high so you made the effort. And when people saw the nice flat and the nice jeep they got ideas that it was more than a fuck and were left ultimately disappointed.

Both Stuart and Brian (from the US show) created their public image of an A-List gay of their local community. You know, the greatest fuck in town. The richest gay fuck in town. The most desired gay in town. For the viewer look wise they weren't all that, but it was about the reputation, the attitude, the confidence. Also the betas they collected as their personal entourage secretly hoping some A-List glam and status would rub off on them while hanging around with either Stuart or Brian.

Neither the British show and the US show took place in big cities. And that's what made it so believable that those local gays would believe the hype around Stuart or Brian.

Sorry, neither the British show nor the US show took place in big cities.

[quote]Sorry, neither the British show nor the US show took place in big cities.

Too right!

The UK show took place in Manchester. Not exactly London.

The US show took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (was filmed in Canada, of course). Not exactly New York or L.A.

BURY YOUR GAYS.

On the American/Canadian QAF Brian was good looking but NOT someone EVERYONE would be drooling over . His HOTNESS was exaggerated and at the same time Ted Schmidt was considered UNATTRACTIVE -this was ALSO exaggerated. If he was 5ft7in and weighed 250 pounds- then he TRULY would be a pariah in the gay world. The Ted Schmidt character was good looking. Just like on the Mary Tyler Moore show Rhoda's unattractiveness was exaggerated.

Interview with Andria Doherty who played Colin's mum.

[quote] His HOTNESS was exaggerated and at the same time Ted Schmidt was considered UNATTRACTIVE -this was ALSO exaggerated.

The Showtime version made a point that he was quite the catch in the straight world when he's cruised by women at a straight wedding of Lindsay's sister. And in the final seasons Ted gets a total character make-over and manages to fool the hot guy to fall for him who pity fucked him at the very special Pride episode earlier in the show's run.

R189 you're half wrong. It's a Sin was set in London but filmed in Manchester.

My apologies r194. My post was referring to Queer As Folk. The US and the UK version.

Cried when the house got the phone call about Colin.

I kept it together until the end of Ep. 4 when Richie told them to not touch him because he's bleeding and the look on all of their faces at the implication of that. Then when he said, "I have something to tell you...I'm going to live." I lost it. It was beyond ugly crying. Then once the floodgates was opened, the finale got to me as well.

Some people have complained about the casting of Ritchie, but I think he’s perfect for the role. He is supposed to be a narcissist. And people go crazy trying to form connections with narcissists. So if Olly is hard to relate to - it may be because he’s nailing the character pretty well.

Notice that 90% of the time he has that ever-so-faint grin? That’s not an accident.

The scene at Colin’s hospital bed when he tells Ritchie he’s always had the hots for him and then starts masturbating in front of his mother was horrifyingly embarrassing.

I was 20 in 1984 and this program has disturbed me deeply. I'm remembering so many guys I did one night stands with, faces I had forgotten, and the shame of the closet and the double life and lying, the fear......I buried tit all.

I wouldn't wish it on anybody.

If Davies had gotten the 8 episodes he wanted, the show might have had time to flesh out all of the characters. Since it's been a huge hit, Channel 4 probably regrets not giving him those 3 episodes. Why must it be proven over and over again to the Powers that Be that audiences WILL watch a program that doesn't just feature hot straight men?

Callum Scott Howells is so cute and he loves his dog ❤️

I'm intrigued. Most posters here are old and usually throw a tantrum if you even mentioned the word AIDS, why are you watching this garbage?

I love Russell T Davis, but we don't need this show. It's like we're walking backwards. First that horrible film about the catty effeminate gays making a comeback, now this?

Let's move fucking forward people.

[quote] The UK has a lot more diversity and a lot less racism than the USA, and POC do great there

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

Fine series which hit me hard. The big penultimate scene was literally jaw-dropping - can't recall any TV scene of similar impact.

RTD was careful to make Ritchie far from loveable - but it was clever to make his naive invincible cocky optimism the main drive. The plot was often sharply surprising.

Didn't know that RTD wanted eight episodes - that accounts for me at R51 saying it felt 'too fast moving and broad to engage with emotionally', as the writer clearly wanted more latitude. Idiotic decision to curtail him.

Anyway, I was wrong for sure about emotional engagement. 'It's A Sin' is deservedly a huge hit, a powerfully memorable show.

Callum Scott Howells is also a singer.

The show is great, but it's moving too quickly through the 80s like a greatest hits revue.

The producers need to film some more backstory seasons to flesh out what's happening.

R207- I agree they JUMPED too quickly from year to year in each new episode.

I was in my 20´s thru the 80’s and while I wasn’t sure we needed another AIDS film/series, I think the series did a fairly decent job of reflecting what it was like to be young during that time.....I lived in Orlando and we had a similar attitude in the beginning that it was the New Yorkers and guys from South Beach who you had to worry about.......somehow we would be okay and then I remember seeing the first local young sexy pretty boy go from stunning to sunken-pale-lesions in a matter of weeks......and then it became very real....getting tested under aliases, going to underground fund raisers, people taking all sorts of weird supplements and nutritional regimens....I moved to the West coast in the late 80’s and it was like being transported to Ground Zero.......AIDS was everywhere and yet my friends all tried to enjoy life...we went out to clubs, the gym, the movies, went to work and just tried to keep from being picked off like a game of musical chairs......and the hospital visits became regular parts of the week for a few years....I guess it is good for younger generations to see a portrayal of that time period.....it was certainly a different take than PHILADELPHIA, AN EARLY FROST or LONGTIME COMPANION......the ending of episode 4 and then immediately going to HEAVEN IS A PLACE ON EARTH over the credits really got to me....they did a great job with the music though the whole series but that transition was an emotional punch. I still feel like a TITANIC survivor and when I see my friends who are still around from that time period, I know we were all very lucky.......I knew far too many Colin types who weren’t lucky.........

Watched the whole thing and found it deeply moving. The acting was first rate and the characters were totally believable. I, too, was somewhat indifferent toward Ritchey until the last two episodes. Of course, the last episode brought the tears. Thumbs up!

I’m surprised that up until now, there’s never been a dramatization of the AIDS crisis and its impact on the LGBT community!

Can't believe that It's A Sin is Callum Howells' first IMDB acting credit. He broke my hard, little heart. And I wish, as others above have said, that the whole series was centered on him.

Interesting to read that Davies wanted eight episodes, which I wish he'd gotten. It explains, maybe, why some scenes went on too long -- Ritchie and Martin's evening out; nearly all the scenes with Valerie toward the end (although kudos to Keeley Hawes for acting the hell out of them) -- and some needed fleshing out (I would have loved a moment with the three Tories' rent boys gossiping in the loo). And I think I would have liked to have seen more of the woman who ripped a strip off Valerie in the hospital -- "What were you *seeing* all those years when you looked at your son?" Also, as others have noted, the show never figured out what to do with Ash.

And nothing against Neil Patrick Harris, but I would have cast someone else. He was fine and all, but why cast an American star when there are hundreds of British actors who could have played the part? I don't think the show needed a star to sell it.

[quote]And I think I would have liked to have seen more of the woman who ripped a strip off Valerie in the hospital -- "What were you *seeing* all those years when you looked at your son?"

That's the amazing Ruth Sheen. She's worked with Mike Leigh a few times and was the lead in Another Year where she played Jim Broadbent's wife and worked in the same GP surgery with alcoholic Lesley Manville and Vera Drake as a fellow back street abortionist. TV wise she was in the first series of Unforgotten a few years ago. She deserves to be the lead in a big show.

You can be sure that if this is copied or remade on US nets, it will have BIG NAMES! in the roles who will overpower the characters and not act half as good as the British actors. OH and it will end with some sort of festival or all types of folks holding candles in paper cups, putting children on shoulders, and everyone smiling like the coke just kicked in. Sponsored by Amazon.

It's streaming on HBO Max. I doubt it will get a US remake.

One of the actors mentions below (circa 13:00) the suggested research included "Horizon: Killer In the Village," one of the first documentaries on AIDS. Does anyone have a link to this doc?

Killer In The Village is currently available on BBC iPlayer. If you've got a VPN you might be able to watch it.

Thanks! If anyone can rip the iPlayer stream, I'd appreciate it.

The Horizon doc is also here:

[Quote] You can be sure that if this is copied or remade on US nets, it will have BIG NAMES! in the roles who will overpower the characters

If they cast Zac Efron as Richie, I hope they add to the script a reference to golf balls.

[quote] You can be sure that if this is copied or remade on US nets, it will have BIG NAMES! in the roles who will overpower the characters

You know that none of the main cast will be played by American actors, right?

I could see them telling this same story in 1980s NYC, as many gay young men from the sticks moved there to live the life they always wanted to live--and in many cases paid dearly for a few years of pleasure. However, since the original is only a couple of months old, beautifully shot and acted, and in English, I don't see the point of remaking it.

Watching Killer In The Village. 80% of gay men in NYC having reduced immune systems in 1982 is horrifying.

Fame whore AIDS Activist Peter Staley doesn’t like it.

Peter Thatchell?

Blood samples from the big Hep-B study that was done in the late 70s were later retested and showed a very high rate of infection long before most people started showing symptoms.

[quote]Using the test and samples of the frozen blood, the researchers tracked the footprints of the AIDS epidemic in the San Francisco men. Undetected, the virus had spread rapidly among this group of sexually active men. With the consent of the participants, CDC randomly tested stored blood samples and found about 3 percent of the gay men in the hepatitis study showed antibodies to the then-unknown AIDS virus in 1978, rising quickly to 12 percent in 1979, 20 percent in 1980 and 36 percent in 1981. By 1983, 62 percent were positive.

The failure of DLB's "We Were There" (I think that was the title) has probably killed off the chances of a US version of "It's a Sin."

The Horizon doc has a Haiti section. That would be a good aspect to as US remake of the drama, should it happen.

R214, you realize your description applies to plenty of UK efforts, don’t you? Broadchurch even did it twice!

Have to say Callum Scott Howells is cute. Surprised he hasn't been in anything else. He also seems like one of the actors who probably is straight in real life.

Well, too bad he didn't get eight episodes. Jill should have had a love interest or a flaw or something, maybe more episodes would have helped.

I loved Andria Doherty as Colin's mom and Ashley McGuire as Nurse Lorraine in addition to the aforementioned shit-talking Miss Ruth Sheen.

I didn't mind that the real villain ended up being Mommy.

R229 all the gay roles were played by gay actors.

R233 Oh really? That's good to hear

I thought the show did a good job of really showing the awful fates these young men met being given a cruel and unfair death sentence in the prime of their lives. I also appreciated the writers illustrating how the families of these sick and dying men, most of whom had disowned or disavowed their sons' "lifestyle choices", would suddenly reappear, whisking them away in shame and secrecy to die in their childhood bedrooms, cutting off contact with these men's significant others and chosen family and friends. It was truly heartbreaking to see that.

I thought the show didn't do a great job of fleshing out and giving us a real reason to care about these characters. Besides Colin, I didn't find myself emotionally invested in these characters as much as I could have.

I didn't mind the character who played Ritchie (I didn't find him particularly attractive, but he was very charismatic). Who do we think could have been better cast?

I just finished the series. At the series's start in 1981, I was 17; the main characters are my generation and I identified strongly with them. In fact, it was all uncomfortably familiar. Things that hit home:

• Every scratch or scrape was fastidiously monitored for fast healing, lest it indicate a failing immune system.

• The pink cup. I refused to drink anything that I did not open myself in a bar. No mixed drinks, no beer on tap, etc.

• Guys who "went home" suddenly (to die).

• AIDS ward in the hospital that you had to dress in practically HAZMAT suits to visit

• Crazy ideas about bathing in or drinking bleach, acid, or taking huge amounts of supplements to stave off illness

• Avoid "big city" guys, since they were more likely to be infected

I went on a date with a guy who worked in the English department in 1987; he wad dead in 1988. He was nerdy cute when we met and went out. He had white hair and wasting disease a year later. My stepbrother and my dissertation advisor both died in 1993. Both were covered in KS lesions at some point. My advisor had PML, like Colin.

It's a Sin is not perfect. I, too, would have liked to see a full eight episodes. It seemed too rushed. And the characters did not "age," which detracts from the plot. But it sure brought a flood of memories, many of which I seemed to have repressed before watching this.

Steve Grant of The Lion Sleeps Tonight fame tweeted yesterday on the 27th anniversary of his boyfriend's death from AIDS.

Apparently a lot of people thought Grant had also died of AIDS but they were confusing him with Jimmy McShane, the "singer" of Tarzan Boy by Baltimora who died of AIDS in 1995.

Lydia West mentioned in the final aftershow that there was at least one "romance" scene for Lydia but it was cut for broadcast. I wonder if TPTB are regretting not doing eight episodes.

I think Olly Alexander is adorable. I was probably more moved by him in his documentary "Growing Up Gay" than in "It's a Sin" (though I did very much like the "It was so much fun" monologue).

I wonder if Alex Lawther was considered for the role. I don't think he's quite out, though.

The UK is well known for their Christmas Specials. I wouldn't be surprised if Russel T. Davis gets to make a special out of the scraps he had to cut after the series was so successful.

[quote]The UK is well known for their Christmas Specials. I wouldn't be surprised if Russel T. Davis gets to make a special out of the scraps he had to cut after the series was so successful.

It's A Sin 1994: Last Christmas (90 minutes)

Channel 4 invites you back to The Pink Palace as Jill balances her AIDS activism with a new acting role in Eastenders and putting up the Christmas decorations. With Roscoe's health deteriorating quickly Jill wants to make his last Christmas the best ever and looks forward to Ash returning to London from Brighton where he now lives with his boyfriend Marcus, another teacher. As the memories of Gloria, Colin and Ritchie linger in Jill's mind she reminisces about the ghosts of Christmas past, the ghosts of the present and wonders who the ghosts of Christmas future will be.

If there had been eight episodes, maybe we'd have gotten a scene, or even just a line or two, on why Ritchie's little sister was in a perpetual SNIT (other than the assumed "My parents like my big brother who managed to get off this fucking island better than me". And I'd like to know how Jill got however-many-weeks off from Not-Les-Miz to hang about on the Isle of Wight to maybe see Ritchie.

[quote]If there had been eight episodes, maybe we'd have gotten a scene, or even just a line or two, on why Ritchie's little sister was in a perpetual SNIT (other than the assumed "My parents like my big brother who managed to get off this fucking island better than me".

When Jill met Valerie on the windblown sea front and was given the news that Ritchie had died, Jill returned to the guest house to find Roscoe waiting, who immediately burst into tears when he saw Jill. And Ritchie's sister was there too?! And they had a group hug! Did the sister even have a name? If Sister knew they were in the guest house why didn't she sneak them into the house so they could see Ritchie?

Just one of those "uh?" moments.

Lucy was the sister's name. She knew Richie's secret and was livid, LIVID that her parents still preferred him.

The big city / small city differences in timing and experience were interesting. Coming out in 1983-85 in a second tier US city, AIDS was still considered a NY/SF “scene” disease. By 1985-86, there were more cases locally combined with Rock Hudson which brought home the reality that many big city gays had been experiencing for years.

Watching Covid hitting NYC felt like a flashback - the unknown disease had penetrated deeply before people were even aware. The rest of the country got the warning flare from NYC again.

Watching now. It’s very... British.

[quote]It's A Sin 1994: Last Christmas (90 minutes)

[quote]With Roscoe's health deteriorating quickly Jill wants to make his last Christmas the best ever

In a Murdoch Sunday tabloid sting, the Stephen Fry MP character is recorded by a rent boy, who sells his story of gay sex in high places. The MP has to resign, and the story is all over the press and TV.

This gives Roscoe the chance to tell his friends (at last) his lively tales of escorting (not least with the MP) - including contriving to make Thatcher drink his 'black piss.' For all this, they love him even more.

^ Special Guest Star Baga Chipz as The Lady Thatcher

A Very Special Christmas Dinner: It's A Sin

R200 I’m right there w you. ❤️

[quote]^ Special Guest Star Baga Chipz as The Lady Thatcher

Please god no. Even worse than Gillian Anderson.

Was Colin aware that Mr. Coltrane had succumbed to AIDS? Obviously he was aware that he was in the hospital but I was left a bit confused as to whether he knew the details and outcome.

R244 I actually loved the sister being there. Thought it a fuck you to her mom. Gave me hope she got a happy ending.

Why would anyone want to watch a portrayal of such an awful time?

I can't stand another drama about AIDS.

it didn't rob me of my life, but it robbed me of my youth.

FUCK AIDS

Colin looks exactly like my first bf. it’s actually jarring to me. He wasn’t as nice of a person though.

Colin on the show looks so adorable. Callum Scott Howells in real life doesn't look as cute and adorable. Too hipster for my taste. It's like when Kit Harington shaves off his stubble and cuts off his luscious and curly Jon Snow locks.

I want to be in Callum Scott Howells, quite deeply.

[quote]Anyway my main problem was more to do with the fact that nobody ages or even changes their hairstyle in the eight years this show encompasses.

Just finished the series and loved it (sobbed a few times), but I agree with the above -- the show spans 10 years (1981-91), but nothing about the characters' looks changes?

It was distracting and, as I watched, I started to wonder if it was going to be some kind of an artistic choice... that they would suddenly "age" at the end of the last episode, and it would be revealed that the way we (the viewers) had seen them throughout was how they had always seen each other: forever young.

[quote]It was distracting and, as I watched, I started to wonder if it was going to be some kind of an artistic choice... that they would suddenly "age" at the end of the last episode, and it would be revealed that the way we (the viewers) had seen them throughout was how they had always seen each other: forever young.

It was solely a budgetary consideration.

This wouldn't have had a huge budget like The Normal Heart, where they stopped filming for several months to allow Matt Bomer to lose so much weight.

It was filmed quickly so they would have filmed all the Pink Palace scenes in one go. If Ash had cut his hair in 1985 they'd have had to get him a wig for the other scenes.

I loved the Jill was in a new mid-80's musical called "French Revolution". I guess paying for the rights to use Les Mis was completely out of the question.

[QUOTE] Fame whore AIDS Activist Peter Staley doesn’t like it.

She’s hard to please.

R255, it seems that a lot of the UK audience, including younger gays, had no idea what the early epidemic was like, including the rampant homophobia and cruelty of Thatcher's gov't. It's not covered in any history curriculum. So a show like this is a crucial reclamation of our history from erasure.

r264, in the US there was the "Silence = Death Project" to raise awareness.

And I fully agree. This is why movies about AIDS are still needed. To raise awareness amongst newer generations who were not born when AIDS hit the Gay Community in the 80s and 90s.

R265, most of the younger generation in the US have no idea either. Some probably think we were too dumb to take PREP.

[quote][R255], it seems that a lot of the UK audience, including younger gays, had no idea what the early epidemic was like, including the rampant homophobia and cruelty of Thatcher's gov't. It's not covered in any history curriculum. So a show like this is a crucial reclamation of our history from erasure.

I don't disagree with you but there are so many things that need to be taught that aren't, and there isn't an infinite amount of time. We already have arguments about which books it's important for kids to study as part of English literature. Not enough women, not enough black writers, not enough gay writers.

By the age of 15/16 when kids are at an age to explain to them that HIV was mostly transmitted from one man putting his willie into another man's bottom school kids have narrowed down their subjects so while it might fit into biology or history some kids won't pick it up.

Sex and relationships education is now mandatory in all English schools (unless your parents are religious nutters) and while it will cover STIs including HIV, it won't go into the history any more than it will cover the history of abortion rights.

Btw did The Crown cover AIDS in the most recent series? I couldn't face Gillian Anderson doing her best Steve Nallon impression. Did it show Diana going to gay clubs with her dear friend Freddie Mercury and holding the hand of an AIDS patient?

I enjoyed the movie. Like R209, I remember the time when AIDS started, though I was in my 30s in Atlanta. The initial denial,, confusion, and fear and the desperation, sadness, and anger that followed as it tore through the vibrant gay community were real. It was the first thing I thought of when Covid appeared and yet it has been different in almost every way.

Yes, R268, The Crown showed Diana visiting an AIDS patient.

I'm probably in the minority here, but I loved the last episode. Wasn't expecting dad to instantly break down and Mom turn into a total psychotic bitch.

That was my secret nightmare through the 1980's, falling ill and my family pulling me back to the boonies to die. So many guys were essentially kidnapped by their families. Or the parents would do the total reverse and abandon their dying kid. Grief, denial and homophobia are an unpredictable, toxic mix.

It's A Sin - it's not exactly groundbreaking. Longtime Companion covered pretty much the same territory over 30 years ago.

[QUOTE] Did it show Diana going to gay clubs with her dear friend Freddie Mercury and holding the hand of an AIDS patient?

Have you read the collection “At Danceteria”? Both of those episodes you referenced are covered in it. In one of the best stories in the book.

The scenes of pretty gay twinks constantly fucking probably boosted its fan base a bit.

I know I’m being a total cunt about this, but Colin in the copy shop using that compact table top copier with the top moving element was completely anachronistic by about a decade and a half. Even the machine in the main room was quite small for what they would have been at the time.

R262 Christ, Les Miz has been around for four decades and the novel it is based on for 180 years, yet so many idiots haven’t come to understand that it is NOT about the French Revolution. It takes place decades after those events. the fact that there are no guillotines in Les Miz should be one of the biggest give aways that it doesn’t take place then, and the show Jill is in highlights that clearly. It is very obvious that the show she is in is inspired by A Tale of Two Cities, hence the prominent and exaggerated knitting scenes, remember Madame DeFarge?

Loved Ritchie’s dying lines about remembering all the beautiful boys and how much fun it all was. At least he felt he had made the best of the time he had.

I wish they had showed more jockstraps....

[quote]Longtime Companion covered pretty much the same territory over 30 years ago.

But not from a British perspective focused on London, under a homophobic Conservative government which made a very bad situation very much worse.

As has been said above, a new generation will now have been vividly informed about that terrible time - during a new terrible time.

HIV/AIDS is a big and tragic enough subject for many different versions. There's not just one WW1 drama, and nor will there be but one catch-all Covid film.

[Quote] I'm probably in the minority here, but I loved the last episode. Wasn't expecting dad to instantly break down and Mom turn into a total psychotic bitch.

I thought it was a strong episode. The Mom/Dad confrontation nicely revealed that the "nice" Mom wasn't so nice after all. She and her judgmental, small minded husband had more in common than initially shown.

I don't think it made the mother a cardboard villain either. She was shut out of her son's life in his final year or two. She lost him to London, a world where he acquired a condition that would take his life. Her anger was understandable if not entirely justified.

It's also implied in this episode that she was abused by her father. It helps explain how emotionally closed off she is towards all men, even her son.

Honestly, I thought Ruth Sheen's character's tirade was a bitch move. Valerie found out literally five minutes before that her son is 1) gay 2) dying. Give her a little fucking time to process.

Separating her son from his friends was awful, but as R280 said, her actions are understandable if not excusable.

[quote]Separating her son from his friends was awful, but as [R280] said, her actions are understandable if not excusable.

Totally agree. Surprised me, but her character's flip-out at the hospital made perfect sense. Also worth noting that grief forces people into weird shit sometimes.

[quote]Separating her son from his friends was awful

It was, but as she said to Jill in as many words, you've had his company for years, now it's my turn. And what the Mum and Dad then tried to do was see Ritchie again as their child, by playing a novelty record, and reading him 'Watership Down.' As though they could have that time of innocence back, and start again.

All Ritchie did was to humour them. But then of course he calmly countered their approach with his 'I had so much fun' speech. His mother had to hear him relish every encounter, and talk about seeing boys' faces when they came. Message: that's who I really was as an adult, far away from you.

Ritchie said 'I love you' twice: once 'rather late' as he sweetly conceded to Ash, who said it back. The filming let you know they meant it. The other time in an earlier episode was in tears to his mother as he ended a phone call. She didn't say it back.

Longtime Companion I think was superior to this. It could be that it was new and fresh and nostalgic for me.

The scene in Longtime Companion when Bruce Davidson's partner is dyeing and he tells him that's ok to let go. That scene was FAR more moving than anything in It's A Sin.

[R284]+[R285] LONGTIME COMPANION is not superior to IT'S A SIN. I liked the film a lot (seen in November 1990) but aside from being about the early years of Aids it's not comparable to the TV series. Sad if you didn't like it because both mean a lot to me. There's a Swedish series DON'T EVER WIPE TEARS WITHOUT GLOVES (2012, 3 parts, about two young guys discovering a new life in Stockholm in the early 1980s) where some viewers saw similarities to IT'S A SIN and a French film 120 BMP (2017) which is about the fight by Act-Up against their government in the early 1990s which is more political than what happens in last episode of IT'S A SIN (or before with Stephen Fry's role). They all deal with the same subject on different levels and I recommend them for it.

IT'S A SIN is about young guys who just get their first taste of freedom in a big city where they share a flat when the catastrophe hits the scene. I could relate to it because the 1980s were my teen years (aware of the news and almost paranoid). LONGTIME COMPANION is about people whose stories are connected through their summers in Fire Island and most of them are older and professionally established, they were far away from my life. The film and the series both reflect the terrible injustices and hysteria. I didn't like that Ritchie's mother Valerie and Jill had those dramatic scenes in the hospital floor and at the beach - as if soap divas battle for a lover. Wasted time where I would've preferred to see more of Ash (Nathaniel Curtis - sigh!).

I thought it was meh. The deaths should have moved me, and I was all meh.

Maybe the meh comes from within, r287. This was almost universally acclaimed, but you do you.

[quote]All Ritchie did was to humour them. But then of course he calmly countered their approach with his 'I had so much fun' speech. His mother had to hear him relish every encounter, and talk about seeing boys' faces when they came. Message: that's who I really was as an adult, far away from you.

Yes, and the implied message is that it's really too late for her to know her son for the man he became. Taking him away from his adult life in London, forbidding his adult friends from seeing him, trying to infantilize him in his childhood bedroom was just perpetuating their own fantasies that they could somehow start over and do it right this time. But there was no more time, and the homophobic attitudes of people like Valerie has created a society where nothing was done about AIDS until it was much too late for so many boys like Ritchie. While it would have been nice to have more Ash, that final scene where Jill calls Valerie on her bullshit was powerful and vital to the ending of the story.

The real problem was that Channel 4 didn't have enough faith in the series to give it the 8 episodes it deserved. Then there might have been time for all of the characters.

I liked it much more than I'd thought I would. It didn't come across as preaching to the choir or as a an early eighties political manifesto. One thing that perplexed me a bit but which, perhaps, our UK DLers of a certain age could clarify for me: I am maybe 7-8 years younger than Ritchie and, at the time, I was growing up in what used to be former Yugoslavia. I remember getting very specific HIV/AIDS-related health info at school even in 1985-1986, like health ed quizzes to see how much we knew about risk factors, modes of transmissions, etc, as well being shown pretty graphic videos of people dying of KS, pneumocystis carinii (sp?), etc. Is it possible that young people in the UK, particularly living in a city like London, were that less informed than we were? Not being judgmental, just curious.

The girl who played Jill Baxter (I think she was also in "Years and Years") was really great. Poor Colin, he was the one I definitely hadn't pegged as the first to perish.

I binged it last night. Nothing in it moved me to tears but it did make my heart ache and I’ve been thinking about it all morning. I actually liked Neil Patrick Harris very much and I’m not a fan. I thought it was very well done and worth watching.

You’re meh, R287. Many series have done it better. Sorry if I don’t dig the acclaim from a bunch of woke millennial critics who haven’t seen anything else about the AIDS epidemic.

I also thought the show seemed rushed, but I wonder if that was turned into a benefit. The episodic, rapid pacing really reminded me of what the 80s and the AIDS crisis felt like.

Both Longtime Companion and It's A Sin were better than The Normal Heart (HBO)

[R290] By1985-1986 or even '84 we had the information in schools in my country too (Germany). But this should have done at least by 1983 when it was known how the transmission of infections work. They didn't need years to single out blood but they spend years spreading misinformation. The governments everywhere were slow to react because to them it was "just" a gay disease.

By 85/86 the horse was truly out of the barn. Better information and intervention in 82/83 would have saved thousands of lives.

[quote]Is it possible that young people in the UK, particularly living in a city like London, were that less informed than we were? Not being judgmental, just curious.

Can't speak to schools but as I recall in the UK by 85-86 there was plenty of information in the gay press of course, but also in the broadsheets and supplements, and certainly on TV. The alert young couldn't have missed it. Documentaries and discussion shows suddenly were able to talk about sex more explicitly than ever: body fluids, how to use condoms, symptoms.

Ritchie in 'IAS' certainly had access to all such information, but as was shown remained long in denial. However, he certainly knew a KS lesion when he saw one, and promptly, so callously, let that sort-of BF go.

For young adults, the median incubation period from infection to full-blown AIDS is 10 years. If Ritchie died in November 1991, he was likely infected during his first year in London. By the time good information was available, it was already too late for him. That's why I find that early montage of him fucking all those pretty boys chilling rather than exciting. One of those pretty boys gave him the HIV that would kill him a decade later.

I'm almost embarrassed how much I am obsessed with "Take Shelter" from Olly's band Years & Years right now.

I’m confused, Russell had a TV series called Years & Years and then there’s also a band called Years &Years?

Yep, but it's a coincidence, I think. The band has been around for 10 years. The show is a political thriller starring Emma Thompson that came out a couple of years ago.

[quote]I’m confused, Russell had a TV series called Years & Years and then there’s also a band called Years &Years?

Yes! And coincidentally Yes is also an album by Pet Shop Boys who released the song It's A Sin after which this series is named.

[R301] No, Russell named the series after Olly's band as he mentioned a few times. He listened to them while writing the YEARS & YEARS series.

Oh, that's interesting. I guess it's not a coincidence but an homage, then.

R290, by the mid 80s there was plenty of information out there but the big national campaign was in late 1986 when every household in the UK was sent a leaflet. A Tory MP called Norman Fowler who even now is a big HIV campaigner advocate was behind it. One of the few Tories I have ever had respect for as he stood up to the evil bitch.

Somebody upthread talked about this not being taught in history classes at school. The problem with Britain is we have such a long and awful history that it is impossible to cover everything. I would like to think that is perhaps gets a bit of coverage in PSHE classes but I don’t know.

I’m not up on current music, but I think the band Years & Years is virtually unknown here.

[quote][R290], by the mid 80s there was plenty of information out there but the big national campaign was in late 1986 when every household in the UK was sent a leaflet. A Tory MP called Norman Fowler who even now is a big HIV campaigner advocate was behind it. One of the few Tories I have ever had respect for as he stood up to the evil bitch.

Funnily enough Norman Fowler was in the news yesterday. After 50 years in politics he's taking a step back to spent more time campaigning on HIV and AIDS.

R308, my brother has this theory that as people get older they become more their real selves and I think this shows with Norman Fowler. He is obviously a very decent man at heart.

Until Jeremy Hunt took the honour Norman Fowler was the UK's longest serving health secretary. He was moved to another role after Thatcher won her 3rd election.

Apart from his response to AIDS and HIV his tenure was largely forgettable. a Currie and John Major was his junior ministers. Did he know they were fucking?

Thank god a 6th episode set in the early 2010s didn't get made, it sounds hideous.

The thought of Keeley Hawes with Lucky Bitches ageing make up is too much to bear, and I really struggle with the idea that Valerie behaved as she did because she'd been sexually abused by her father is insulting to both victims of sexual abuse and the mothers of sons who died of AIDS.

That sixth episode sounds terrible. Thank God it didn't happen.

[quote]That sixth episode sounds terrible.

Indeed, less is more. I'm now agreeing with the post above saying the urgency of five episodes better reflects the surge of young adulthood and the aggressive virus. The shocking rawness of the last episode was the right way to end 'IAS.' If the series was cut short, so were thousands of lives.

If RTD would have used his eight episodes to add another roommate and give them wacky adventures, and then add that awful 2010 episode on top of it, then yes--five was the better choice.

Fuck all the haters on this thread. It’s a Sin left me a blubbering mess after each episode. Hadn’t happened to me for a long time. I’m so glad I’m from the generation immediately after the one depicted in the series. When I reached adulthood and started having sex in the mid-90’s, people, at least in Western Europe, were finally getting it that HIV didn’t only infect gays and that it was sexually transmitted and was not infectious. There was a strong, publicly funded medical support system in place and we were starting to see gay sexual health clinics popping up everywhere. Societal homophobia was receding quickly. And that was just 10 years after the beginning of the horror show.

Loved this although there was far too much Keely Hawes in Episode 5. Ten episodes would have been better, considering it covered 12 years.

Why? So we could have double or triple the amount of characters die?

Russell has said that the series title was also inspired by an old song his aunt would sing. The lyric was something like "It's a sin to tell a lie..."

[Quote] I'm almost embarrassed how much I am obsessed with "Take Shelter" from Olly's band Years & Years right now.

It's probably my number one song of theirs.

[Quote] he certainly knew a KS lesion when he saw one, and promptly, so callously, let that sort-of BF go.

Unlike Olly. It's been said that he and Nataniel Hall or a couple, though I don't know how that works in lockdown.

*he and Nathaniel Hall ARE a couple

[quote] It's been said that he and Nataniel Hall or a couple

If true it's very new because at the beginning of February Hall talked about meeting a man named Seán Taylor during lockdown. Maybe it's Nathaniel Curtis (Ash)?

Perhaps I misread. Curtis would make sense. Olly used to date the hot violinist from Clean Bandit.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[quote]Olly used to date the hot violinist from Clean Bandit.

My god that violinist is the worst type of gay there is. Posh, privately educated, achingly left wing and nowhere near as attractive as he thinks he is.

I loved the scene where Jill smacks down Keely Hawes.. Keeley was great in the hospital scenes but what a bitch.

I didn't find any of the main characters attractive but it felt more real for that reason. Jill's dad was the hottest.

The long haired guy was the hottest.

Keeley was great and I enjoyed Shaun Dooley’s performance too, especially since I had previously known him from his comedic performance from Misfits.

I liked how they kind of reversed their characters in a sense. Up until the final episode the dad was the hardass of the family. He was heartbroken at the news of the son’s diagnosis, whereas she dug in her heels and became more and more stubborn.

Also, for some reason I didn’t recognize the sister in the scene at the B&B. I liked that she finally got over her grudge and saw through her mother’s BS but she was still an underutilized character.

[quote]I loved the scene where Jill smacks down Keely Hawes.. Keeley was great in the hospital scenes but what a bitch. I didn't find any of the main characters attractive but it felt more real for that reason. Jill's dad was the hottest.

Oh I agree- Steve Toussaint (no relation to Lorraine) is very good looking.

A couple of weeks ago the BBC started a repeat of Series 2 of Line Of Duty. The opening episode features Keeley having her head flushed down a toilet while Jill's dad watches.

[Quote] My god that violinist is the worst type of gay there is. Posh, privately educated, achingly left wing and nowhere near as attractive as he thinks he is.

Olly said that when they were breaking up, the violinist complained that Olly wasn't the type of guy to surprise him at the airport with flowers. Need. E.

It wasn't very believable that protester Jill and Omari wouldn't storm the Tozer household, or come up with a ruse with the daughter to sneak in while the mother was sent on an errand.

Itch a Shin

I think Jill purposely did not want to storm the home, and my impression was that the sister did not approach them until after he died.

[quote]It wasn't very believable that protester Jill and Omari wouldn't storm the Tozer household, or come up with a ruse with the daughter to sneak in while the mother was sent on an errand.

Absolutely - Roscoe pissed in Thatcher's tea, there was no way he wasn't going to knock on Valerie's door and tell her if she didn't let them see Ritchie he'd knock on all the neighbours doors and cause a scene.

Mother Tozer was 10x more frightening than Maggie Thatcher.

I didn't get the ability of the parents to take him home. He was an adult, he was making decisions about his well-being. Why would he suddenly think it was okay to go home and be taken care of on an Isle cut off from London by a ferry?

Nathaniel Curtis can do much, much better than Olly

Neil Patrick Harris interviews Callum Scott Howells.

Callum was perfect in his role, and I think he could have played the lead too.

As a kid growing up in the 80s I know what a terrifying time it was for everyone but why does every other gay series have to be about AIDS, can't there be series about gay lives that are actually happy?

[quote]can't there be series about gay lives that are actually happy?

That was pretty much Russell T. Davies' "Cucumber" but so many people panned it. I loved it, actually.

Yeah, but doesn't someone get murdered in that?

R341 - is this a ploy to get a series made about you? I grew up in the 80s also, and overall it was horrible for a gay teen. What was the happy part again?

[quote]Yeah, but doesn't someone get murdered in that?

Hence the "pretty much".

[quote]That was pretty much Russell T. Davies' "Cucumber" but so many people panned it. I loved it, actually.

Who was happy in Cucumber?

Freddie Fox had been abused by his teacher, the hairy bald gay and the black gay split up and one got murdered, there was the guy on crutches in chronic pain and the straight nephew who does webcam porn.

We are committed to bringing the happy ❤️ to gay stories.

No R334 I was a dull, shy, fat, high school senior living in Hooterville when the 80s ended, so no one would want to see a series based on my life, especially me.

Sorry that was meant for R344. Fucking Dyslexia!

[quote]Freddie Fox had been abused by his teacher, the hairy bald gay and the black gay split up and one got murdered, there was the guy on crutches in chronic pain and the straight nephew who does webcam porn.

You mean Freddie who was self-assured and comfortable in his sexuality, Henry who found a community and joy after feeling nothing for so many years, Cliff who didn't let being on crutches stop him from being joyful and fucking Freddie and Adam, another guy comfortable in his sexuality and making a bit of coin while doing so?

[quote]As a kid growing up in the 80s I know what a terrifying time it was for everyone but why does every other gay series have to be about AIDS, can't there be series about gay lives that are actually happy?

Can you name a dramatic series about straight lives that are actually happy?

[quote]I didn't get the ability of the parents to take him home.

I supposed it was indicative of the sheer force of his mother's possessiveness and will as shown in the hospital. She later basically told her husband to fuck off to the pub while Ritchie was on his deathbed, and he left so meekly. We infer that Ritchie's friends wouldn't have stood a chance, and he was too weak and ill to argue.

Plus 'going home' was a sharply poignant theme, as luminously conveyed when Ritchie signed for a good job with his agent. So movingly she said, 'London is full of boys now who are going home. Don't be one of the boys who go home.' One of the best scenes in a great series. We knew he'd go home, and so he did.

Colin's storyline was devastating. I was a shy kid in the 80's. I was terrified about getting AID's so I committed to celibacy. I had one sexual encounter with a guy I barely knew and was convinced I got AID's because I found out later he was HIV positive. For a whole year I went through denial, bargaining, you name it and I committed myself to being celibate. I drank a lot, got fat because food became my only comfort. I took those homemade cures: drank vinegar, took supplements, etc.. I drove myself mad because I didn't want anyone to find out I was gay and had AID's. I had a day where I went to three funerals. I'm glad this show touched on that.

For what it's worth, I grew up in Houston. We did have a very diverse scene like this one.

Why is Neil Patrick Harris in this?

I watched the entire series yesterday and loved it. Just tremendous work by RTD. Three scenes stuck with me:

The end of the second episode showing Gloria’s family burning everything he owned and touched, even the baby photos. What a gut punch.

Colin slowing losing his mind in the third episode. Poor, sweet Colin.

Ritchie talking to his mate at the beach in the fourth episode. I expected him to get gay-bashed and I am sure this would have happened in a Hollywood production. The fact that it did not happen and the friend was genuinely nice made me happy. A very bittersweet scene.

R354: I think NPH was cast because they thought they needed a star to sell the series. They didn't. NPH was fine, but there are a hundred British actors, well-known and less so, who could have played the role, and the producers would have had to only pay train fare, not airfare.

The Sad Déjà Vu of It’s a Sin. The beautifully made HBO/Channel 4 miniseries about gay men in 1980s London can’t help but show the way that tragedies become tropes:

How the fuck is the AIDS crisis a 'trope'? There isn't a single other show or film out there about how it affected London. Only America.

Davies only hired out actors who would be happy to discuss their sexuality in promo interviews. He went with gay unknowns like Nathaniel Hall over experienced closeted or straight actors.

[quote]The end of the second episode showing Gloria’s family burning everything he owned and touched, even the baby photos. What a gut punch.

^^ Seconded. That scene was very powerful.

[quote] The end of the second episode showing Gloria’s family burning everything he owned and touched, even the baby photos.

I thought that was more about erasing him completely from family "history" out of shame for being gay and dying from that gay disease. With Gary Lewis, as the dad, sobbing for his son one last time.

Davies is definitely posting on this thread, beautiful posts too. R352 is one of them and R350.

To the poster complaining about bleak gay series, watch Davies' original "Queer as Folk." There's no AIDs (there IS a death) but it's mostly a romp.

I just finished it. I cried and cried and cried through the entire 5 episodes. I was teenager in the 90's. We knew about it, which made sex terrifying. Even getting tested for the first time in 2003 I thought I was going to faint having to wait two weeks. Seeing all those young, guys just die so quickly with the lesions all over their body. It's absolutely horrifying. Though they are very important, I used to dread any films with AIDS as the central theme (which seemed like all gay movies as a gayling in the late 90's). This was fantastic. The cast, the camaraderie - none of this felt forced. It felt completely organic. It was very powerful and well acted. I started tearing up reading this thread. As you all say, MARY!

Re: R361, I'm not RTD, but the compliment will make my weekend. Can't recall any TV show making such an impact on me, so my posts here reflect that. It's good to interact with others who feel the same.

In the Twittersphere the successful show about grief and trauma was WandaVision. That show left me cold, sorry.

It’s a Sin was for me the real deal and I keep thinking about it days later.

If any of you are relatively new to RTD I highly recommend his HBO series that came out at the start of 2020 called Years & Years. Good old gay icon Russell Tovey is in it, and if you think your heart was broken here, there’s a sequence that will completely destroy you in that series.

[quote]Davies is definitely posting on this thread

I think some of the cast/crew is certainly reading this thread, if not posting, as well.

There was a very lovely, insightful post at R283 that felt like it could have been written by someone associated with the series.

Oh, God. It's like when Meryl "posted here." Or Bea Arthur.

I think RTD's, and the show's, greatest accomplishment is making a successful show with basically nobodies as the leading cast. I mean Olly Alexander from the music group Years & Years isn't a well known actor. But using well known actors in supportive roles.

And usually, DL would've ripped the show to shreds for a no-name (and all gay?) leading cast.

Has much of DL even watched the show? They probably saw British faces and passed.

I suspect a higher percentage of DL is comfortable with British faces (?) than the average American or the average American gay. This is not always the cesspool self-hating posters portray it as.

The comments about Queer as Folk centred on how the British cast (Charlie Hunnam aside) fell short in the looks department. I'm not pulling that impression out of my ass.

[quote]Davies is definitely posting on this thread, beautiful posts too. [R352] is one of them

[quote]There was a very lovely, insightful post at [R283] that felt like it could have been written by someone associated with the series.

Another compliment to brighten my weekend! Appreciated. But to reiterate, I'm not RTD and couldn't pretend to be, nor do I have any link to the series. I just really admired it, and it stayed with me vividly enough to engage here.

"The comments about Queer as Folk centred on how the British cast (Charlie Hunnam aside) fell short in the looks department"

Why did they all have to be super attractive? Hardly realistic for Manchester in the early 90s.

Well, then, R283, nicely written. Kudos to you for your insight and thoughtful commentary!

I thank you again, Ritchie's Pink Mug, and in real life may you remain forever unsmashed.

Russell Tovey interviews the cast and writer RTD right at the time it was released in America.

When I clicked on this video, I was not expecting an exchange with Tom Cruise... (3:40 onwards)

Maybe it's a combination of the hair, the suit and the gurning, but I've never noticed how much Olly Alexander looks like Kate McKinnon until now.

Just finished this a couple of nights ago, and I just want to say, to the eldergays here who went through the worst of the AIDS crisis: thank you! The work you did despite the shit you had to suffer allowed younger gays like myself to live. And I know this might come across as too schmaltzy to be cringeworthy, but the courage you exhibited is something I can only aspire to have.

I just binged “It’s a Sin,” and it really was well done. However, I was surprised that I barely felt anything in 5 hours. The acting was great...especially Keeyle Hawes. But the only character I really cared about died early on...

Also, I have to be honest: As a millennial I’m just burnt out on stories about gay men and AIDS. Older generations lived it, but I was in that generation bombarded with cautionary tales...I’d be okay if It’s a Sin puts a bow on the media’s exploitation of the AIDS crisis.

A Cultural Moment.

R382 terrible. Elton is awful

Elton champions and supports young, especially gay artists.

Elton is shit.

Elton keeps a lot of gayish people employed.

Sam Smith sat at home crying and rocking back and forward wondering why they wasn't asked by Elton to sing with him and thinking they could have worn Olly Alexander's outfit better.

Some of Olly Alexander's facial expressions are so bizarre it's like Kate McKinnon is doing an impression of him.

[...]

This is quite a spectacular coda to the series.

Nice to see one of an old outfit of Joey Heatherton's get an airing.

Wow it’s giving me Eurovision vibes.

R391 Maybe it’s time to see an optometrist?

R392 I may have to after the assault on my eyes from that costume and olly writhing around like that and doing his Michelle pfeiffer on the piano to Elton

They should make gay series based on all the Pet Shop Boy songs, I’d be especially excited to see Domino Dancing based on the seeds of the music video.

"It's a Sin" was named "Boys" during production.

Well, that was a catchy song too, and Cameron Dallas looked real hot.

[quote]Why is Neil Patrick Harris in this?

because he single handedly made being gay respectable

R397 BWAHAHAHA

[quote] Why is Neil Patrick Harris in this?

This was a project financed in part by HBO, and HBO wanted at least one identifiable American actor. The actor in this particular series had to be gay to play gay, so they got Harris of the popular "How I Met Your Mother" and "Doogie Howser, MD" series.

Finally got around to watching this. Loved the girl playing jJill and the guys playing Colin and Gloria were great but didn’t like the rest of the cast.

Huge continuity error-Colin is told he needs to get a passport so he can be in NYC in July. However IN THE SAME EPISODE he goes to NYC and everybody’s in winter clothing. What the fuck?

And in the same episode Colin is eating from a bag with TAKEAWAY in big letters on it. In the US the term “takeaway” was never used, only “take out” and “to go.” They should have used their budget on the NYC sequence more wisely in other scenes in the series-the buildings around the yellow cab that Colin and Mr. Hart walked out of were clearly Mancunian municipal buildings and nothing like anything in NYC.

CBS This Morning did a segment on it today…

Oops, I meant CBS Sunday Morning.

R402, it was a good segment. I liked the emphasis on gay actors being selected to play the gay roles. It really isn’t that hard, creators of Love, Victor.

Can Ruth Sheen be nominated for a Best Guest Performance in a Drama Series Emmy? Because she fucking deserves it.

R40/R92 can 2021 be the year we all agree that Stephen Fry is a pretentious and charmless bore, and is also probably a creepy perv? You just know by looking in his dead eyes he’s done something despicable.

Well, he did walk out of a play doing a pre-London tryout. He just vanished without telling anyone. “Mental issues,” my ass.

R406

Is unfortunate looking Stephen Fry still living with his unfortunate looking 30 years younger "husband" ?

I didn't see this when it came out, but have just caught up with it.

I liked Richie almost straight through until he said that he had knowingly infected dozens of men. After that, I felt nothing but contempt for him. He could have protected them at little cost to himself, but chose not to.

For me the best character by far was played by Ruth Sheen, who tore strips off Valerie in the hospital.

Jill was lovely, but Valerie made some valid points about her. She had taken being a fag hag to a whole new level.

She was a caregiver par excellence, though, so I don’t give a shit what level of faghaghood she attained.

Couldn’t agree more about Ruth Sheen-absolutely stunning acting in a bit I will always remember.

I also agree about Richie-at least they showed Jill struggling a bit with that revelation.

It's been racking up awards the last couple of weeks; the latest being the Best Series Prize in Fiction at the Monte Carlo Television festival.

Others include Best Drama at Prix Italia 2021, and Best Program of the Year at the World Media Festival (Rockie Awards).

I thoroughly enjoyed it, bravo to Russell T. Davies for creating a near-masterpiece.

Almost makes me forget the horrible dreck that was "Years & Years".

I’m still trying to erase from my mind that grandmother’s sanctimonious pile of shit speech to her family in the last episode, R412.

Just watched it this week. I agree with others that the Colin story was the best one and Callum was an engaging actor. As an American, I am unfamiliar with Keeley Hawes, but I was VERY unimpressed with her. I thought she was given a lot to do with the character and she wasn't up to it in the slightest. I thought she was embarrassingly bad. I also thought that Olly Alexander was far too unattractive to be an actor in general, let alone one within the context of the story. Lydia West was very good as Jill.

I have mixed feelings about Hawes as an actress. I did think she was great as an anguished mum in the second season of The Missing.

Sorry to wake up the old thread. But my colleagues and I have been persuading our straight female coworker to watch it and she finally did last week. She loved it, but she says she hopes they make a similar version for straight people soon too! I guess she means about HIV and how it affected straight people. Three days later and I still can’t stop thinking about what she said, I feel a little angry that she made it about straight people. Am I over reacting?

I actually think that’s a kernel of a good idea, though, R416.

Bump.

Just goten around to watching it, and loved it. Funnily enough my father was an HIV doctor at the time and, being Glasgow-based, would (if it had been a true story) have treated 'Gloria' in Ep. 2, I found myself thinking about that as I watched it.

The confrontation between Valerie and Jill in ep. 5 was well written but I did find the metamorphosis of the 'Valerie' character from nice mum to hard bitch slightly difficult to follow. I think I didn't really like that she took all the focus off Ritchie as he was dying, so that his death had much less impact than Colin's did, which didn't work for the central character of the series. Personally I liked Ritchie despite his flaws, it was really quite something to see him as the ancestor of the 'covid-deniers' of our own day, having literally had conversations with smart people with advanced degrees who were absolutely convinced that the threat from COVID had been exaggerated by Big Tech.

Poor Colin. Ash who? Roscoe getting HIV at age 50 in the missing ep. was actually an intriguing idea. Much better series than QAF, though that was very important in its day.

R418, I agree with a lot of what you said but I don’t think Valerie was necessarily established as just a “nice mum.” From the outset she seemed to be a tad too territorial and doting when it came to her son, at the expense of her daughter. She didn’t seem like easy work to be around. Her transition to a cold hearted bitch in denial determined to shut out her son’s friends/other loved ones was perfectly plausible, in my opinion.

That type of mothers is always about "See? Told you so. Now, let mother take care of you for the rest of your life!". They simply can't let go and are glad when the offspring, they are fixated on, needs them long after they've grown up.

If you enjoyed David Carlyle, the actor who played "Gloria," you can now vote for him to win the BAFTA Scotland Audience Award (Favorite Scot on Screen).

So I am watching this and I had to stop it midway through episode 3 because it broke my heart and made me feel lightheaded.

Idk why but seeing people have seizures makes me feel lightheaded and weak in the knees, and that is bad enough but now poor Collin is locked away in that room and dying of AIDS. For some reason him being sick and dying is just … extra sad. Idk if I can finish this, and it’s only 5 episodes!

Colin’s illness and death totally broke me, too.

I think Colin’s death hits harder because he was a good egg. He was very quiet and shy and sweet. We see his friends all be promiscuous and sluts but he is nothing like them. He just wanted to work and build a career for himself. When he would go out he kept to himself and stayed with his friends, you never see him hooking up with randoms etc. so the fact he got AIDS and quickly died because of that one person who sort of forced sex on him is very very sad.

Well put, R424.

The core characters have stayed with me. I think of them frequently.