It's a Sin, 9 pm Channel 4, 22nd Jan CONTAINS SPOILERS **titled edited by MNHQ**

[notawittyname1954]

I keep seeing trailers for this. Anyone else looking forward to it?

I finished it tonight too.

I was shocked about the locking in hospitals etc too but l can remember how scary it felt. It was so new and at first no one understood it other than getting it was a death sentence. It's easy for us to judge now but back then many people had such medieval views on homosexuality.

I think Keeley Hawes was miscast if l'm honest, l love her but she didn't quite fit for me. She became strong at the hospital scene and at that point the dad became secondary. Did we even see him after the hospital scenes?

Some of the material was from AidsLine, although it was something else back in the day..George's Trust maybe?

I think Jill's side story had to be played down. It had to not overshadow this chance for the story of young gay 80s London to be heard. Ultimately it wasn't about her.

I definitely got taught about safe sex and HIV at school in the late 80s and early 90s. I guess the don't die of ignorance hit home, although clearly problematic now.

I can imagine it was like that with multiple partners even on the same night. I suspect Colin was going to get forced into a sex act with creepy boss in NY until he saw the reading material and thought he must have it. Poor Colin. I was sure he would be ok.

What a beautiful piece of television. I’ve just watched the final episode after saving it for a few days as I didn’t want it to be over.

I started crying at the Neil Patrick Harris storyline, absolutely sobbed at the playing of Gloria over the end credits of episode 2 and Colins episode 3 finished me off.

Richies mother was such a complex character. I need to watch it all again.

am really shocked at the Thatcher education law as well. That seems so Nazi like, it just goes to show the amount of hate and prejudice and why it is so important we look at our history, the fairly recent as well as that which was a long time ago

In my heterosexual circle of friends it was one of the things that made us hate Thatcher when we were at the radical, change the world stage in our life and going to demos and sit ins at colleges and universities.

So much love for RTD here! I'm wondering how many people on this thread have - or have not yet - seen Michaela Coel's 'I May Destroy You'.

Fabulous possibilities for comparison and contrast between the two series ...

I get the criticisms about not fleshing jill's character out but it was only a 5 part series so I guess it was just focused on the main issue, in that sense I felt that the Stephen fry bits were a bit tacked on, not helped by the fact I don't think he was a great actor in this.

I wish they'd have made 7-8 episodes instead of 5, it was so compelling. I don't know how long it's been in production, it seems unlikely that Covid impacted.

Not allowing Jill and the friends to visit at the end was appalling but believable imo. Richie's mum was struggling to process it all - furious, grief stricken and blind-sided. The shock threw her into overbearing, overprotective mode and she blamed the London friends for leading her child - an adult! - astray. The Richie she knew (and idolised - the sister lived in his shadow) was the 'perfect' son she waved off on the ferry in 1981.

I really thought she was going to begrudgingly allow Jill to visit. The scene on the waterfront threw me. I'm almost glad the character wasn't written sympathetically, I think the awfulness deserved to be shown.

I found Jill's composure in the final days less believable. I know she'd been made extremely unwelcome and was trying to navigate the situation with dignity. However to not turn up on the doorstep begging for an audience a day or two into her time on the IOW seemed unrealistic. I thought there might've been a scene where the Dad (also in pieces) might've taken pity and brought her to Richie's bedside. Or the sister, having convinced her parents to leave the house for a walk. That would've taken away from the eventual scene though.

I don't think RTD writes female characters very well.

When did they start testing all pregnant women for HIV? I was defo tested in 2006 when pregnant with DD.

@Interweb

I don't think RTD writes female characters very well.

When did they start testing all pregnant women for HIV? I was defo tested in 2006 when pregnant with DD.

Agreed with you w re RTD not writing female characters very well.

I recall in Cucumber there was a desperately sad scene about the gay young men dying in the canal and the woman who ran the bar I think, narrated it, she was an ok character but felt could be expanded on more.

@PursuingProxemicExactitude

I absolutely loved I May Destroy You. It has that same piercing, unflinching quality as RTD’s work, but obviously from a female perspective. I think that - along with Its A Sin - is probably the best thing I’ve seen on TV in ages.

I recall in Cucumber there was a desperately sad scene about the gay young men dying in the canal and the woman who ran the bar I think, narrated it, she was an ok character but felt could be expanded on more.

Wasn't that one of the characters from QAF? Hazel, iirc. She was a ghost but her character had been set up in previously in something else, so if you hadn't watched that, I guess she would seem underdeveloped.

@Coopz

I recall in Cucumber there was a desperately sad scene about the gay young men dying in the canal and the woman who ran the bar I think, narrated it, she was an ok character but felt could be expanded on more.

Wasn't that one of the characters from QAF? Hazel, iirc. She was a ghost but her character had been set up in previously in something else, so if you hadn't watched that, I guess she would seem underdeveloped.

Ah yes, it was Hazel. I only saw a few episodes of QAF so I think if I did see Hazel in that then it didn't register much.

I loved Cucumber though, found it well written, amusing and very good character development and plot.

When Jill came back from the seafront, she walked into the B&B they were staying in, and Roscoe was already sobbing - with another girl. Was that Ritchie’s sister? Had she gone to tell him about his death?

@Honeypickle yes.

@Directionerforever thank you! So the sister loved him after all . . .

One of those sibling love/hate relationships. Perhaps she was jealous because he was their golden boy.

I agree with @GarethSouthgatesWaistcoat .

Surely Jill would have at least stood outside his window and shouted so Richie knew she’d come? I thought the sister might have saved the day but it did make the pier scene more impactful.

I know they show the dates but I think some people have missed that Richie was diagnosed in 1988 and died in 1991. Inbetween that it’s implied he’s massively avoiding seeing his parents so they don’t find out he’s ill. His mum is begging to see him for Xmas. And then she turns up and her son who’s she’s hardly seen in 3 years because he’s pushed her away is dying. And Jill who his mother obviously liked enough to have invited home repeatedly is there and also didn’t tell her he was dying. What a shock and I can see why she’d feel misplaced betrayal with Jill . It also makes sense that she’d naively think his friends influenced him to be gay. He squashed down that part of him when he was home so to her it’s something that is out of character and happened in London . He didn’t want her to know so why is it her fault for not seeing it?

I didn’t like the woman with the squash scene. It was weird, who would be cruel enough to say what squash woman said unprovoked in that situation?

Cucumber is back on 4OD if anyone wants to watch/rewatch.

I didn't like the squash woman either, she was presumably there with her own son. A bit of compassion for a mother who has just had the very worst kind of shock would have been more believable.

And plenty of parents in those days would not have realised their son was gay as many would have suppressed that part of themselves growing up. I had a lot of sympathy for Valerie despite her awfulness to Jill and thought Keeley Hawes was fabulous.

Just finished watching this it was so sad
I think a previous poster mentioned it but was Colin's affair with the Landlady,s Son consensual ? I thought the son might have been forcing him?
Colin's death was so sad I think particularly when he lost his inhibitions in front of his friends ,so undignified for him
I think Ritchie,s parents were complex but if Richie was 18 in 1981 so 28 in 1991 his parents must have been in their late forties early fifties at least so been born in the 1940,s going off my own parents who were born in the 40,s they just didn't talk about sex or people being Gay although it seems blindingly obvious that Richie was Gay ,it just might not have crossed his parents minds .
I did think maybe Gill was in in love with Ritchie hence why she didn't have relationship,s of her own.

A lovely rational and accurate headline in the dailyfail!

Also next week is national HIV testing week, if you live on England you can get a free at home testing kit.

freetesting.hiv/

I don't think Jill would have banged on the door or shouted outside the house,she wouldn't have wanted to upset Ritchie or cause a scene.

think a previous poster mentioned it but was Colin's affair with the Landlady,s Son consensual ? I thought the son might have been forcing him?

I definitely think there was coercion it all got to much for him that is why he left that night, I couldn't stop thinking about it and came up with this theory.

I don't think it was. The way he looked at football guy was quite lustful when the mum said she was going out. I suspect it got too domineering though and he didn't feel he could stop it.

I don't think it was. The way he looked at football guy was quite lustful when the mum said she was going out. I suspect it got too domineering though and he didn't feel he could stop it.

This probably a better explanation,