LOST BOYS AND FAIRIES. MON BBC 1 9pm - TV PACE. NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

Lost Boys & Fairies is a three-part series that starts on BBC1 from Monday June 3 at 9pm with episodes running weekly at the same time.

Lost Boys & Fairies is a powerful new drama on BBC One that advocates for the rights of the gay community to parent a child. It stars Sion Daniel Young as Gabriel, a singer and performer who works at the queer nightclub, Neverland, who adopts a child with his partner, Andy (Fra Fee).

But to truly be able to parent his son Jake, Gabriel must first revisit his own painful past and repair the fractured relationship he has with his own father.

Lost Boys & Fairies features a mix of Welsh language scenes and singing performances as it follows Gabriel (Sion Daniel Young), a singer and ‘artiste-extraordinaire’ who performs at the queer club Neverland in Cardiff.

The drama begins as Gabriel and his partner Andy are encouraged by their social worker, Jackie (Elizabeth Berrington), to attend a special event where they can meet children up for adoption.

It’s there that the couple first come across seven-year-old Jake (Leo Harris). But while Andy, who works as an accountant, is convinced Jake is a great match for them, Gabriel remains hesitant as he struggles with his own painful memories and issues from his childhood and dad Emrys (William Thomas).

but before he can throw himself into parenthood, Gabriel must come to terms with his own traumatic childhood. And part of the process is healing the rifts between him and his own dad

Starring as singer Gabriel, aka Gabe, in Lost Boys & Fairies is Sion Daniel Young. Gabe lives with his partner Andy but things aren't easy.
"Andy and Gabe have a gorgeous relationship. They’ve been together for eight years and are keen to start a family. However, there are lots of things that Gabe has tried to keep under wraps. And as the adoption process gets underway it brings them all to the surface.

Gabe lost his mum when he was a child. The strained relationship with his dad defines his inability at times to manage the adoption process.

The series is incredibly emotive and beautiful written by Daf James, who has gone through his own experience of adoption.

I was floored when I first read the scripts. The overriding theme is love!"

• Sion Daniel Young previously played Gareth in the hit series Keeping Faith (www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/keeping-faith-season-1-refresher-everything-you-need-to-know). He’s a lso starred in Witness Number 3, Life and Death in the Warehouse (www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/life-and-death-in-the-warehouse-release-date-cast-interview-plot-first-looks-and-all-about-the-hard-hitting-drama) , Deceit, Doc Martin (www.whattowatch.com/watching-guides/doc-martin-season-10-cast-plot-and-everything-we-know) and Private Peaceful .

Exceptional acting all round. I'm sure it'll get lots of awards. The scene with the birth mother was extraordinary and had me in floods of tears.

My only tiny gripe was that I don't know how realistic it is that a child removed from his birth mother because of her drug use is adopted by a bloke who has also recently used hard drugs? Seems a bit unlikely to me, but I could be wrong.

Just reading the last few threads has brought all these powerful moments back to me. Whoever said it was the best thing they've seen in ages, I agree. It definitely won't be long before I watch it all again. There was such quiet joy in that driving away together after all the loss that they'd both suffered.

@M4driver Drugs or drink are his.(Gabe's)response to stress ,the social worker said. And yet eventually agrees to the adoption. Not likely -the child has suffered enough from his addict mother.
The other quibble I had was the lack of consideration of the need for a mother. .Gabe's father does mention it but we were soon presented with a dreadful mother when Gabe meets Jake's. But is she any worse than Gabe? I suppose it was a dramatic necessity for the playwright to present her as ghastly because it makes Gabe a more acceptable choice.
I enjoyed most of the play but the ending needed to face reality.

Been crying over this , only just watched the final part . I loved the birth mother's character and also Gabe's dad and his acceptance when he wrote Welcome to the family to Jake . Lovely .

I didn't think the birth mother was ghastly. I just thought she was a bit broken by life. There was domestic abuse - was there substance addiction as well? I wasn't sure. Did the SW say she'd moved to get clean? Yeah, a bit of artistic liscense with Gabe being approved despite hard drug use. I found that doubtful. But it made for good drama - caught between his demons and his wish become a family with Jake.

The foster mum was brilliant, as a pp said, the short scene where she watches him sleeping before he's about to move from her family was really moving.

The funeral procession and Gabe's dad - so well done.

Congrats to all involved, this was the best drama I have watched so far this year, hands down.

This was beautifully acted and written to a large extent, however I agree with the earlier poster who said why did they have to go down the line of not allowing a happy ending for a same sex couple. In fact, regardless of sex, the whole narrative of getting a couple to a great place and then one of them dies is a bit of a drama cliche now. The minute Andy started walking home alone it was obvious what would happen and I almost didn't watch the third episode because I was so disappointed the writer had gone down that route. There were many other ways to have Gabe reconnect with his Dad rather than having been widowed at the same age.

I also think they could have made an equally strong drama by exploring the challenges faced by Andy and Gabe after Jake came to live with them. Agree that it was unrealistic for Jake to be placed with someone with an addiction history.

Anyway, having said all that, I did cry a lot in ep 3. For me, it was the story of Berwyn that got to me. His conversation with Gabe on the roof - 'I was too busy attending funerals in the 80s to worry about pronouns' - and the flashbacks to him bathing his partner who had AIDS were really powerful.

'I was too busy attending funerals in the 80s to worry about pronouns'

A small line with such big meaning and emotion. He was a lovely man and a great friend.

I think I'm glad they didn't go down the "and they all lived happily ever after" route with Andy and Gabe driving off into the sunset with Jake.

The programme would have lost all the raw emotion of the aftermath and Gabe's therapy sessions.

@SammyScrounge I suppose it was a dramatic necessity for the playwright to present her as ghastly

Did we watch a different show?! She was damaged and not able to parent - but she was presented sympathetically and far from ghastly!

I too thought Berwyn was a great part and really tenderly acted. Almost the mother role that Gabe didn’t have in his life.

I didn’t think Becky was ghastly at all. Sad and nervous, yes.

I found the conflict around the Welsh language really interesting too. Another dimension to the story.

I thought Jake's mother was a raw and honest and sympathetic portrayal. Having the same demons as Gabe I think helped him to empathise with her which will make him a better parent to Jake. I also questioned whether they would really have placed Jake with a recently relapsed drug addict. However at one point he was told there would need to be two years without relapse before placing and I'm assuming that his stages of grief represented this time period.

I don't think bm was gastly

I thought she was great. Real. Blunt.

And wanted the best for Jake

But did find it weird Jake was taken away as she was on drugs ans obv then a relapse was had and still adopted

Tho guess other incidents like violence

But

Otherwise really well done

Gwyneth Keyworth who played jakes mum will be in a new drama Called Death Valley

So look forward to eBay when it starts and obv will do a thread

I thought that Andy was amazing but Gabe had a face I'd want to punch (if i was the violent sort) he did my head in and I didn't feel any sympathy for him - just wondered what they were thinking giving him a very vulnerable child.

It was all a bit too contrived for me, but still an easy watch.

I think she was ghastly as a mother. We'll have to disagree on that.

She wasn't ghastly. She clearly loved Jake very much from how she talked about him. Circumstances (DV, substance abuse) meant she couldn't look after him. Troubled, not ghastly.

From the flashbacks, clearly Jake's father was ghastly though.

Yes, I thought I'd heard two years too, but there's no way they would have made Jake wait two years to be placed. Surely they'd have found him another home? So I assumed the adoption panel were happy to proceed quicker than two years.

I don't know why the playwright felt the need for Gabe to relapse like that. Depression, despair, heavy drinking maybe - but drug use after years of being clean?

Midlifestylecrisis hits the nail on the head. I was so angry at the writer for killing off Andy. Much like another recent popular drama about a couple (I won't name just incase people haven't seen.) The drama could have been just as good without the extra grief.

That said I absolutely loved it, I laughed and cried in equal measure. DP cried and that says a lot! Birth mum actress was exquisite.

I can't stop thinking about it ( and replaying the songs constantly in my head). I thought the two main actors were mesmerising and Sion Daniel Young has a beautiful singing voice. The scene with the birth mother was raw and real and darkly comic, all at the same time - and I absolutely believed that Jake was her son, as they were so alike!

Heartbreaking and beautiful. All of it.

I was really enjoying this until the end of episode 2 when they killed off Andy. I totally agree with previous posters that it was a very disappointing decision. Why oh why did they decide to this? To me it felt lazy & a bit of a cop out. It meant the drama went in a totally different direction rather than exploring the challenge of adopting a child as a couple & the impact on the relationship. I almost didn’t watch the rest although I’m glad I did as the performance by the actress playing Jake’s mum was exceptional.

Well, I was in bits for E3. Loved it all. I was also a bit cross that Andy was killed off but then E3 was so beautiful.

I cried my eyes out, brilliant acting, even the little gestures like the dad almost but not quite grappling for Andy's dad's hand.. The soundtrack was v emotive too. Really felt for Jake's mother like pp. Thanks Blondes for spotting this.