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?

Heartbreaking beautifully acted and presented. It wowed me

Jonathan Blake was one of the first to be diagnosed in the U.K. Now in his 70s he’s fit and well, goes swimming in an unheated outdoor pool in London throughout the year.

metro.co.uk/2019/04/23/i-was-one-of-the-first-in-the-uk-to-be-diagnosed-with-hiv-9281160/

[quote notawittyname1954]www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/three-decades-later-men-who-survived-gay-plague-speak-out-n825621[/quote]
Thank you for sharing this, such an interesting article.

On a lighter note I did laugh at the brown ness of all the meals Jill was dolloping out. I remember the meals being that colour.

I looked at the Tupperware and thought: Yes, we had that - and that - and this
In fact, my sister still has a lot of the 80's Tupperware my mum bought

@Maerchentante

I looked at the Tupperware and thought: Yes, we had that - and that - and this In fact, my sister still has a lot of the 80's Tupperware my mum bought

Same here!

Yes, I know its the Daily Mail but this article is very interesting
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9203671/ANDREW-PIERCE-recalls-experience-1980s-gay-scene.html

@Maerchentante

I looked at the Tupperware and thought: Yes, we had that - and that - and this In fact, my sister still has a lot of the 80's Tupperware my mum bought

I had that exact same feeling about the 1960s decor in Mad Men. Even though that was New York, and I grew up in the Home Counties - the wallpaper in particular often seemed shockingly familiar.

It was originally called Boys but RTD changed it as the title was too similar to another TV show called The Boys.

Watched it last night, thought it was great

Wow what a show! I can't stop thinking about it. Best thing I've watched in ages.

I was only a small kid in the 80s so I don't really have many memories but even so I felt like they captured the tone and the feeling of the time so amazingly.

The characters- so many great well rounded ones. Loved Colin and his mum. Interestingly I didn't much warm to Ritchie as a character from the start - he was a bit mean, narcissistic and arrogant but I guess that's what made him so human and I was still so invested in his story. I didn't even really hate him when it was revealed he continuing sleeping around. Jill I thought was slightly one dimensional and a bit too saccharine at times. Ritchie's mum - what a great (but horrible) character too. Was surprised that Neil Patrick Harris did such a good job with the accent.

So many aspects down to small details totally nailed it terms of contributing to the atmosphere and the story of that period. E.g. touching on section 28. Stephen Fry's claim "I'm not gay!". Boys simply "going home". The devastating moment for Ritchie when he spotted the sores on Donald. Thought Colin's illness was such a sad storyline but so important to the plot line - making the point that anyone could get it, not just the promiscuous lads.

The most poignant moments that stood out to me were the initial montages of Ritchie ripping through gay sex scene - I found this actually quite sad knowing that the poor lad was having fun living his best life, but unwittingly putting himself in such grave danger potentially extinguishing his very bright future. Also the revelation of Colin's sex story - that he contracted the awful disease from such a sordid and loveless experience. Poor Marcus just lying there, dying alone.

Such an amazing show. Will stay with me for a long time.

I keep wondering to myself, if I was to describe the show to someone in one short sentence would I say "it's about gay guys in the 80s" or would I say "it's about aids"? I feel like I would want to say "it's about gay guys in the 80s" - the point being that aids was such a sadly fundamental aspect to being gay during that time. The story should have just been about gay guys living it up in London but sadly it necessarily had to be about aids instead.

@personwomancameratv

Could you say its about gay guys in the 80s and everything that went along with that.

Its hard to describe to show how wonderful it is. I just keep saying to people you need to watch this it's incredible. I think it is such an important piece of drama. If its just about aids that is probably too heavy and would turn some people off but it is so much more than that. It is funny too as well as heartbreaking.

Sorry I'm pretty obsessed. It's constantly on my mind. If this doesn't win shedloads of awards I will be jumping up and down and screaming at the tv.

@notawittyname1954
You and me both!

@notawittyname1954

Yes that's probably the better way to explain it - it's so many things at once.

@LunaHeather

I just watched episode 3

When Ritchie's agent tells him "many boys are going home" I thought she meant they had died.

But then she said "I'm not sure we will ever see them again' and now I wonder of she was having a spiritual moment, or if she initially meant they had left London and gone to wherever home was to be cared for. What did others think please?

Both that they told people they were going home rather than say they were ill, and that they were going home to be nursed/die.

[quote notawittyname1954]Yes, I know its the Daily Mail but this article is very interesting
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9203671/ANDREW-PIERCE-recalls-experience-1980s-gay-scene.html[/quote]
Good article. However as regards this bit Today, there are more than 40 drugs to choose from and, with the right combination given at the right time, some HIV positive men and women never get sick. I’d say that there’s no reason for anyone to get sick if diagnosed early and started on treatment so this bit is untrue. Should be the majority rather than some.

Here’s another article mentioning that women also died of AIDS during this time inews.co.uk/opinion/its-a-sin-is-beautiful-but-it-neglects-the-women-who-also-died-of-aids-848579

I understand that the series was originally going to be longer. As mentioned previously this would have ensured a more rounded version of what happened during the 80s.

@Palavah @LunaHeather

It almost became a euphemism for dying didn't it

Going home was a one way trip.

@LunaHeather

I just watched episode 3

When Ritchie's agent tells him "many boys are going home" I thought she meant they had died.

But then she said "I'm not sure we will ever see them again' and now I wonder of she was having a spiritual moment, or if she initially meant they had left London and gone to wherever home was to be cared for. What did others think please?

She meant they were going home to be nursed before they died. She definitely knew why they were going home.

As has been discussed by many people in the media when Russell T Davies talked about trying to cast only gay men for gay parts, there's an over representation (for want of a better word) of gay people in 'showbiz' as opposed to other careers. So as an agent, she will have known why they were going home. It's why she reached for hand when she said 'don't go home'. I think she was trying to telling him to be careful as well.

@HIVpos. Thank you for the link. I understand about the women but guess RTD's experiences are more with gay men so that's what he draws on.

I think there could certainly be more dramas showing other aspects.
I don't think he is deliberately being exclusive to women but more just drawing on his own experience.

@AndreaMarteau
I absolutely agree she was trying to warn him

@personwomanmancameratv

I keep wondering to myself, if I was to describe the show to someone in one short sentence would I say "it's about gay guys in the 80s" or would I say "it's about aids"? I feel like I would want to say "it's about gay guys in the 80s" - the point being that aids was such a sadly fundamental aspect to being gay during that time. The story should have just been about gay guys living it up in London but sadly it necessarily had to be about aids instead.

Worth reading interviews with RTD - there is almost no mention of AIDS/HIV in Queer as Folk (1990s) because he was fed up of it defining gay storytelling.

@hivpos I really don't want to start a trans debate on this thread, but that article is written by a trans woman so not really the same thing as a biological women who caught it (and I'm not judging anybody btw).

There's a couple of internet documentaries on Prime, After 82, which someone has mentioned and another called The Quiet Heroes, which is about a lesbian couple who were doctors in Utah when the virus emerged and it talks to gay men, a woman who caught it from her husband (who was trying to hide he was gay due to stigma in the Mormon community) and the daughter of another woman who had HIV and campaigned for the right to get married (which had been banned for people with HIV and is totally shocking).

Also, it's not a documentary: RTD isn't responsible for portraying all populations impacted by HIV/AIDS. And as PP have pointed out, gay men were discriminated against by the healthcare system and already viewed as reprobate, dirty, and guilty. So it's not unreasonable to want to focus the story on them.