This is the kind of drama that I suspect will be loved by straight television critics and loathed by gay men. It would be easy to say that it holds up a mirror to ourselves and that we simply don't like the reflection, but my reasons for disliking this drama run somewhat deeper than that.
On the plus side, it's universally well performed and often well directed. London feels magical, but it's hardly authentic. The biggest problem is characterisation - or that lack of it. Characters are reduced to ciphers - they are stand-ins for a series of situations and issues. I don't need to love characters (and indeed, there's absolutely no one to love here), but I do want to engage in their lives and concerns. I want to get under their skin, to understand them more by the end than when I started watching two hours previously.
The drama takes place over 24 or so hours in the life of 7 (or maybe 8) gay or bisexual men and youths. Different story lines are juggled and the various characters find their lives engaging with others - often by the most spurious and improbable of coincidences.
It's as if writer Kevin Elyot wants to throw in every concern and thought he's ever had about gay life into a single drama. As a result, nothing seems satisfyingly explored and only the surface of some very big issues is scratched.
Is Clapham Junction bad? No, but from this otherwise talented writer it's a very big disappointment. I can't help wondering who he and Channel 4 thought that they were making it for.
On the plus side, it's universally well performed and often well directed. London feels magical, but it's hardly authentic. The biggest problem is characterisation - or that lack of it. Characters are reduced to ciphers - they are stand-ins for a series of situations and issues. I don't need to love characters (and indeed, there's absolutely no one to love here), but I do want to engage in their lives and concerns. I want to get under their skin, to understand them more by the end than when I started watching two hours previously.
The drama takes place over 24 or so hours in the life of 7 (or maybe 8) gay or bisexual men and youths. Different story lines are juggled and the various characters find their lives engaging with others - often by the most spurious and improbable of coincidences.
It's as if writer Kevin Elyot wants to throw in every concern and thought he's ever had about gay life into a single drama. As a result, nothing seems satisfyingly explored and only the surface of some very big issues is scratched.
Is Clapham Junction bad? No, but from this otherwise talented writer it's a very big disappointment. I can't help wondering who he and Channel 4 thought that they were making it for.