It's A Sin - CH4 - Russel T Davies Starts Friday 22/1/21

[ddraig]

Starts tonight - Friday 22 Jan 2021 at 9pm
Set in the 80's about AIDS

It's A Sin

Drama from Russell T Davies about five friends living and loving in the shadow of AIDS

www.channel4.com

Drama from Russell T Davies about five friends. With their lives tested as they grow up in the shadow of AIDS, they're determined to live and love more fiercely than ever.

Trailer


And they're changing the ident to the 80's versions Channel 4 launches 80s themed takeover day for It’s A Sin | Channel 4

 

[stavros]

Yep, I shall watch it.

 

[lazythursday]

This looks great, but just watching the trailers gives me stomach lurching fear. The 80s wasn't a nice time to grow up gay - I think I've only started to deal with the trauma of it relatively recently. Love Russell's stuff but not sure I want to relive this era.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

This looks great, but just watching the trailers gives me stomach lurching fear. The 80s wasn't a nice time to grow up gay - I think I've only started to deal with the trauma of it relatively recently. Love Russell's stuff but not sure I want to relive this era.

yes, i don't think i'm in the right frame of mind for it this evening either...

 

[Sue]

I heard two people talking about this on the radio the other day -- one was a gay man who was one of the first people to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the UK* and the other a woman who worked on Lesbian and Gay Switchboard in London at the time (and who was an advisor on the series). The man reckoned it captured the times and attitudes perfectly and the woman told of no-one having any idea what was happening and them starting to mention it on every call they received. I'm really looking forward to this, if it will undoubtedly be a sad and hard watch.

*And still with us nearly forty years later.

 

[cupid_stunt]

Thanks for the heads-up, I've set my box to record it.

 

[Idris2002]

It was good, but it didn't really feel like a recreation of the early '80s. These could have been students and young people at any point in the last forty years .Maybe that's not important, I don't know.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I heard two people talking about this on the radio the other day -- one was a gay man who was one of the first people to be diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in the UK* and the other a woman who worked on Lesbian and Gay Switchboard in London at the time (and who was an advisor on the series). The man reckoned it captured the times and attitudes perfectly and the woman told of no-one having any idea what was happening and them starting to mention it on every call they received. I'm really looking forward to this, if it will undoubtedly be a sad and hard watch.

*And still with us nearly forty years later.

There's an amazing podcast called "The Logbooks" which uses the call logs from switchboard as its basis along with lots of volunteers from the 1970s onwards. 2nd series covers the 1980s gets into all this in depth.

I enjoyed the first two episodes of It's A Sin, I think it's a good combo of tragedy and comedy.

 

[Miss-Shelf]

It was good, but it didn't really feel like a recreation of the early '80s. These could have been students and young people at any point in the last forty years .Maybe that's not important, I don't know.

It had a big and devastating story arc to tell without a massive budget (perhaps) and the period feel was sacrificed for the human moments of connection and rejection

It did an amazing job to convey the feelings and nuances of behaviour and the choices available to people at that time

I think it's something that will linger and keep igniting emotion and recognition and readjustment and re-education for a long time for those who lived it and those who did not

 

[kalidarkone]

I enjoyed it. Both shocking and funny.
I also found it really really strange that the 80's on film seemed so old fashioned....it felt like watching something filmed in the 60's.....the difference being I was a teenager in the 80's so a similar age to the characters.

 

[Idris2002]

It had a big and devastating story arc to tell without a massive budget (perhaps) and the period feel was sacrificed for the human moments of connection and rejection

It did an amazing job to convey the feelings and nuances of behaviour and the choices available to people at that time

I think it's something that will linger and keep igniting emotion and recognition and readjustment and re-education for a long time for those who lived it and those who did not

That's fair enough. The guy out of How I Met Your Mother was particularly good, I thought.

To respond to kalidarkone's point, maybe it's 'cause a lot of the settings were so institutional (the hospital ward, the clothes shop) that it looked like it wasn't of its time?

But then again, look at any the Reeling in the Years episodes from the early '80s (this is an Irish nostalgia clips show) the Ireland they show doesn't look that different from the '70s or 60s. That would have been the case with UK as well, I suppose.

 

[kalidarkone]

That's fair enough. The guy out of How I Met Your Mother was particularly good, I thought.

To respond to kalidarkone's point, maybe it's 'cause a lot of the settings were so institutional (the hospital ward, the clothes shop) that it looked like it wasn't of its time?

But then again, look at any the Reeling in the Years episodes from the early '80s (this is an Irish nostalgia clips show) the Ireland they show is that different from the '70s or 60s. That would have been the case with UK as well, I suppose.

My memories of the 80's just look different in my head, the 80's still seem new and modern in comparison to the 70's. Also I grew up in London.

Ha....I had a guy goth mate 'Michael' that lived in North London (where I grew up) on an estate with his two straight brothers.....unbeknown to me he told his parents I was his gf.....which they were relieved at because deep down they knew he was gay....they were lovely to me because they were so terrified. I would chaperone Michael to Hampstead Heath where he would pick up guys.
Basically I was "Jill" and "Michaels beard" for a while!

 

[farmerbarleymow]

but not sure I want to relive this era.

I understand what you're saying - it was a grim time, especially with added later shit like Section 28. The latter made no difference to me given sex ed was non-existent at my school, and I left not too long after s28 came into force.

 

[lazythursday]

I understand what you're saying - it was a grim time, especially with added later shit like Section 28. The latter made no difference to me given sex ed was non-existent at my school, and I left not too long after s28 came into force.

I'm a bit younger than the characters in this so thankfully didn't have to deal with friends dying - but the ramping up of homophobia on the back of the AIDS crisis certainly did affect my teenage years a great deal. And as a teenager I pretty much expected that I would contract HIV and die at some point before I was thirty. I did see an interview with Russell T Davies the other night, and he mentioned that he wanted to include a character that was out and had a positive relationship with their parents, to act as a contrast with the others - but actually when he thought back to his own experience he didn't know a single gay person in he early 80s who had even told their parents, because it was just so unacceptable. And I don't think that really changed much until the 90s.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

I understand what you're saying - it was a grim time, especially with added later shit like Section 28. The latter made no difference to me given sex ed was non-existent at my school, and I left not too long after s28 came into force.

dunno really. i'd left school by the time it came in to effect, and the school i went to was pretty homophobic and racist when i was there so not sure s 28 would have made that school any worse.

i'm not sure any local authority was actually prosecuted under section 28, but it's probably safe to say that the government of the day actively promoting homophobic legislation, even if it was more symbolic than effective, would have made some people feel validated in acts of discrimination / violence.

I'm a bit younger than the characters in this so thankfully didn't have to deal with friends dying - but the ramping up of homophobia on the back of the AIDS crisis certainly did affect my teenage years a great deal. And as a teenager I pretty much expected that I would contract HIV and die at some point before I was thirty.

sounds similar - i didn't really think it was worth making much efforts towards a 'career' or joining the pension scheme when i started working...

i haven't had to deal with any particularly close friends dying (one work colleague in the early 90s was one of the small number of straight men to have got it at that time) and partner in the early 90s was an NHS worker who had some involvement with the hospital ward that specialised in HIV related cases, and was dealing with stuff, including the consequences of long term partners not being 'next of kin' so in some cases completely shut out by the biological family.

 

[stavros]

Did it really snow at Christmas on the Isle of Wight in 1981? You could see it falling out the back of Ritchie's parents' house.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

Did it really snow at Christmas on the Isle of Wight in 1981? You could see it falling out the back of Ritchie's parents' house.

quite possibly

Philip Eden: Snowiest of 20th century | weatheronline.co.uk

Twenty years ago Britain had one of the coldest and snowiest months of the last century. Severe weather is rarer in December than it is in January and

www.weatheronline.co.uk

 

[Sue]

I'm a bit younger than the characters in this so thankfully didn't have to deal with friends dying - but the ramping up of homophobia on the back of the AIDS crisis certainly did affect my teenage years a great deal. And as a teenager I pretty much expected that I would contract HIV and die at some point before I was thirty. I did see an interview with Russell T Davies the other night, and he mentioned that he wanted to include a character that was out and had a positive relationship with their parents, to act as a contrast with the others - but actually when he thought back to his own experience he didn't know a single gay person in he early 80s who had even told their parents, because it was just so unacceptable. And I don't think that really changed much until the 90s.

Haven't watched this yet but was telling a friend about it. He's a gay man, who moved to London from a small town in 1981 when he was 18 so he lived through the exact time I think this covers (and no, he wasn't out either at the point). I think he's worried that it could bring up some painful stuff though.

 

[purenarcotic]

Just finished it, really enjoyed it (hard at times though, really hard). Well put together and well made. Would highly recommend

 

[Cerv]

I don't normally binge shows and had intended to watch this through the week, but couldn't resist after episode one was just hooked in.

one thing that bothered me
Roscoe putting the bin through the homophobic neighbours' shop window was far too close to RTD re-using Stuart putting the car through card dealership window from Queer As Folk

 

[ska invita]

I just checked Russel T's writing credits and it turns out I haven't seen a single thing he has written, yet somehow I know how good he is

Its an impressive resume, not least:

of which Rich for a Day was held in particularly high acclaim
" daring masterpiece ...full of eerie comic absurdity, continues Davies’ wicked takedown of the rituals and dependencies of the frivolous upper classes. "

 

[Fedayn]

I watched the series over the weekend. Good television,.

 

[purenarcotic]

Thought people might be interested in this interview with him; Jill was real and played character Jill’s mum. What a woman:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jan/03/russell-t-davies-i-looked-away-for-years-finally-i-have-put-aids-at-the-centre-of-a-dramatically

 

[sojourner]

We watched the first 2 last night. I thought some of the haircuts were bang on 80s meself. I think the timing of this is perfect. I remember thinking I must have it for certain, having been so promiscuous as a teenager. Talking to the fella, he was the same. My best mate in work at the time, his b/f died of it The homophobia was intense as fuck back then.

 

[Guineveretoo]

I am another one who can't quite face watching this, having lived through the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and having lost friends to it. I have vivid memories of the fear, and all the telly adverts, and news reports, and people I respected dying from it (notable ones for me being Freddie Mercury and Derek Jarman (I cried about both of those) and also of seeing the AIDS quilt in London and in San Francisco and sobbing my eyes out. I remember all the prejudice against gay people, once it became known how the virus was transmitted, and people being scared to be near someone who was gay, or who they believed to be gay.

I am really glad this has been made, but it just feels too raw for me to watch it. I heard an interview with Russell T Davies about it recently, which I found very interesting. He acknowledges that it is something he has hardly mentioned in his writings to date, but that he felt the time was now. The presenter suggested that RTD now has the maturity in his writing and the acceptance from the GBP to be able to make this series.

Perhaps when this current pandemic is under control and I feel a bit safer, I will feel strong enough to watch it.

 

[Guineveretoo]

I just checked Russel T's writing credits and it turns out I haven't seen a single thing he has written, yet somehow I know how good he is

Its an impressive resume, not least:
View attachment 251263
of which Rich for a Day was held in particularly high acclaim
" daring masterpiece ...full of eerie comic absurdity, continues Davies’ wicked takedown of the rituals and dependencies of the frivolous upper classes. "

If you have really not seen ANY of those, then you have got some good stuff to catch up on! Lots of them are memorable, many of them are fun as well.

 

[BristolEcho]

There's an amazing podcast called "The Logbooks" which uses the call logs from switchboard as its basis along with lots of volunteers from the 1970s onwards. 2nd series covers the 1980s gets into all this in depth.

I enjoyed the first two episodes of It's A Sin, I think it's a good combo of tragedy and comedy.

Thanks I will check this out.

We've been watching it today. It's good and an insight as I didn't grow up in the 80's but have obviously heard how bad it was.

My sister was diagnosed with it in the mid-90's. Still then it was badly understood as you will know and the highly religious GP sunk my Dad into depression with the way it was handled. It wasn't really spoken about in the family and I figured it out when I was around 16 due to certain things seeming really important - EG. : cuts, not getting Ill. Eventually spoke to her about it as we have always been pretty close - she is 13-14 years older.

She's doing well though and I think not having kids is something she has made peace with now. There is still a lot of stigma around and it has limited her to some degree.

Sorry I know this is a bit out of context from the film but it's made me think about it a bit more today and understanding the reaction from my family in context of the times.

 

[planetgeli]

Thought people might be interested in this interview with him; Jill was real and played character Jill’s mum. What a woman:

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2021/jan/03/russell-t-davies-i-looked-away-for-years-finally-i-have-put-aids-at-the-centre-of-a-dramatically

Thanks for that. Your link didn't work but I found the article.

Russell T Davies: ‘I looked away for years. Finally, I have put Aids at the centre of a drama’

The acclaimed screenwriter tells why it is only now, with his new TV series It’s a Sin, that he feels able to tell a story that has haunted him for decades

www.theguardian.com

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Talking of ‘it’s a sin’ (and more than tangentially proximate to the thread) I really enjoyed this. Superbly periodises the album and the wider contexts of the record:

Time Would Come To An End: Pet Shop Boys’ Behaviour at 30 | The Quietus

On a September evening in 1988, the thirty-five year old Neil Tennant braced himself. He’d received some bad news. “That’s that then,” he remembered thinking, “it’s all over.” The cause of such anxiety? ‘Domino Dancing’, the new Pet Shop Boys single – an ambitious fusion of the new Latin...

thequietus.com

 

[Puddy_Tat]

notable ones for me being Freddie Mercury and Derek Jarman

it was a bit alarming a month or so back when there was something on the telly about freddie m to realise it will be 30 years ago this year.

that evening at the roundhouse in north woolwich (briefly my local gay pub) turned in to something of a wake...