It's A Sin works equally well as both a drama and a historical document as to what those times were really like for so many people. Davies has shown great skill to juggle so many elements and social narrative of the period so accurately.
Set over five episodes and covering a period of time from 1981 to the early 1990s, the story follows the lives of six friends, all of whom converge in London seeking a better life and sexual acceptance among their peers. No sooner has the latter been found they find their times of social frivolities and partying rudely interrupted by a mysterious illness that at first seems to be just a rumour but is all too soon making its way uninvited into their ranks. Until ultimately it can no longer be ignored. The cast of largely unknown actors throw themselves into their roles with great enthusiasm and while some are more annoying that others, they all feel believable and perhaps more importantly, like someone we know, or, who we knew once who is no longer with us. There's Richie (Olly Alexander) the inspiring thespian, who doesn't want his hedonistic approach to life changed by the virus, Roscoe (Omari Douglas) recent runaway from an overbearing Nigerian christian family who would sooner see him beaten to death at home than embrace their son as a homosexual. Jill (Lydia Baxter) is the obligatory fag hag of the group and Baxter is great in the part, but we ultimately find out very little about her and her character outside of her interactions with the group. She ultimately represents all the straight friends who stood by the held the hand of many a dying gay man in their final hours and perhaps, that is all we need to know about her. Shy suit wearing Colin, (A superb debut from actor Callum Scott Howells) a trainee tailor, is the most sensible and least adventurous of the group which makes what happens to him, all the more poignant. Ash (Nathaniel Curtis) and bus attendant Gregory (David Carlyle) make up the rest of the entourage, and are the more thinly drawn of the troupe but the actors do very well to make their mark with their scenes. The range of characters might seem stereo typical to some but they will seem all too familiar, I am sure.
A number of other characters rotate around the fringes of this group, and special mention must be made of Neil Patrick Harris, playing a Brit no less, with a flawless accent and performance, who befriends Colin and introduces him to the wider Gay Community in London.
As the story unfolds, the unseen virus becomes ever more present upon the lives of this social circle. Soon people begin to disappear. Slowly at first, while everyone pretends it isn't happening or going to effect them until ultimately it hits closer to home and everyone is forced to deal with the plague affecting their community. Davies skillfully intertwined these stories with a number of powerful truths that were so pervasive at the time. He's not slow to point out the initial ineffectual indifference from within the gay community itself 'We don't want those leaflets in here!' cries one character as an activist desperately tries to warn his own community of the impending danger. The NHS is shown both at its early worst and best in the latter stages of the epidemic, with harrowing scenes of those abandoned and left to die in old hospital wings with cold meals left unserved by the door, contrasted with the specialist wards that came later and did such great work with the sick and the dying.
Outside of the community Davies has weaved a clever tapestry which skillfully includes many of the typical characters, those who survived the plague will have met on their journey - from the parents who were loving, to those who refused to admit their sons were gay. From those who whisked them away from the arms of their friends, to those who found love and companionship in the friends and lovers of their dying sons and brothers. The scenes of difficult funerals, indifference and confrontations with local health authourities are all in here and Davies does well to pack so many familiar moments into the five episode running time.
The show is not without its weaknesses, it captures the peroid reasonably well through the music and production design, but fails to capture the real sense of the gay London of the 1980s and early 1990s. The feel of those unique venues and tunes of long gone institutions are not really captured here, with Manchester obviously doubling in for London (shot of Houses of Parliament aside) and Wales for the Isle of White. There's also a strange absence of drugs from the era, perhaps it was felt that being so prominent on QAF, they were not needed here but in the 1980s Gay London, cocaine was everywhere and by 1989 you were as likely to know someone from the Soho gay elite who had died on the Marchioness disaster as you were someone who was HIV positive. But this is a journey seen through the eyes of the young, searching for their place in a culture which was slowly intruding its way into the public consciousness, looking, like the characters themselves, for acceptance from both their own community and the world at large.
Davies cleverly makes a clear statement about the hypocritical nature of Thatchers own ministers, a cabinet which was riddled with indifference towards the epidemic all the while commiting sins of their own. It's not spoiler to say that not everyone makes it to the end and Davies makes a point with one character who escapes unscathed to state, you could have one partner or many, sometimes it was just down to luck who was afflicted. The biggest praise must go to the cast here, of the leads there isn't a weak link among the lot. You might care about some characters more than others but they all feel real and only the most inhuman of people's would find themselves devoid of emotion when any of them depart. Keeley Hawes and Shaun Dooley act their socks off as parents completely unequipped to handle the diagnosis of their son, nor support him in the way he so desperately needs.
It's such a shame this drama wasn't made a long time ago. It could have gone a long way to addressing issues of stigma that were so prominent in those difficult and trying times. But getting anything made these days is a real struggle and it's to the credit that the show manages to encompass so much in a relative short running time. There were many heroes from that time whose stories have been forgotten. It's good to see them live again, even if it's hard to watch them go. But as one character said 'I had such a good time' - Highly recommended. Summary: A powerful, well acted drama, which would have been even more impact had it been released 25 years ago
Set over five episodes and covering a period of time from 1981 to the early 1990s, the story follows the lives of six friends, all of whom converge in London seeking a better life and sexual acceptance among their peers. No sooner has the latter been found they find their times of social frivolities and partying rudely interrupted by a mysterious illness that at first seems to be just a rumour but is all too soon making its way uninvited into their ranks. Until ultimately it can no longer be ignored. The cast of largely unknown actors throw themselves into their roles with great enthusiasm and while some are more annoying that others, they all feel believable and perhaps more importantly, like someone we know, or, who we knew once who is no longer with us. There's Richie (Olly Alexander) the inspiring thespian, who doesn't want his hedonistic approach to life changed by the virus, Roscoe (Omari Douglas) recent runaway from an overbearing Nigerian christian family who would sooner see him beaten to death at home than embrace their son as a homosexual. Jill (Lydia Baxter) is the obligatory fag hag of the group and Baxter is great in the part, but we ultimately find out very little about her and her character outside of her interactions with the group. She ultimately represents all the straight friends who stood by the held the hand of many a dying gay man in their final hours and perhaps, that is all we need to know about her. Shy suit wearing Colin, (A superb debut from actor Callum Scott Howells) a trainee tailor, is the most sensible and least adventurous of the group which makes what happens to him, all the more poignant. Ash (Nathaniel Curtis) and bus attendant Gregory (David Carlyle) make up the rest of the entourage, and are the more thinly drawn of the troupe but the actors do very well to make their mark with their scenes. The range of characters might seem stereo typical to some but they will seem all too familiar, I am sure.
A number of other characters rotate around the fringes of this group, and special mention must be made of Neil Patrick Harris, playing a Brit no less, with a flawless accent and performance, who befriends Colin and introduces him to the wider Gay Community in London.
As the story unfolds, the unseen virus becomes ever more present upon the lives of this social circle. Soon people begin to disappear. Slowly at first, while everyone pretends it isn't happening or going to effect them until ultimately it hits closer to home and everyone is forced to deal with the plague affecting their community. Davies skillfully intertwined these stories with a number of powerful truths that were so pervasive at the time. He's not slow to point out the initial ineffectual indifference from within the gay community itself 'We don't want those leaflets in here!' cries one character as an activist desperately tries to warn his own community of the impending danger. The NHS is shown both at its early worst and best in the latter stages of the epidemic, with harrowing scenes of those abandoned and left to die in old hospital wings with cold meals left unserved by the door, contrasted with the specialist wards that came later and did such great work with the sick and the dying.
Outside of the community Davies has weaved a clever tapestry which skillfully includes many of the typical characters, those who survived the plague will have met on their journey - from the parents who were loving, to those who refused to admit their sons were gay. From those who whisked them away from the arms of their friends, to those who found love and companionship in the friends and lovers of their dying sons and brothers. The scenes of difficult funerals, indifference and confrontations with local health authourities are all in here and Davies does well to pack so many familiar moments into the five episode running time.
The show is not without its weaknesses, it captures the peroid reasonably well through the music and production design, but fails to capture the real sense of the gay London of the 1980s and early 1990s. The feel of those unique venues and tunes of long gone institutions are not really captured here, with Manchester obviously doubling in for London (shot of Houses of Parliament aside) and Wales for the Isle of White. There's also a strange absence of drugs from the era, perhaps it was felt that being so prominent on QAF, they were not needed here but in the 1980s Gay London, cocaine was everywhere and by 1989 you were as likely to know someone from the Soho gay elite who had died on the Marchioness disaster as you were someone who was HIV positive. But this is a journey seen through the eyes of the young, searching for their place in a culture which was slowly intruding its way into the public consciousness, looking, like the characters themselves, for acceptance from both their own community and the world at large.
Davies cleverly makes a clear statement about the hypocritical nature of Thatchers own ministers, a cabinet which was riddled with indifference towards the epidemic all the while commiting sins of their own. It's not spoiler to say that not everyone makes it to the end and Davies makes a point with one character who escapes unscathed to state, you could have one partner or many, sometimes it was just down to luck who was afflicted. The biggest praise must go to the cast here, of the leads there isn't a weak link among the lot. You might care about some characters more than others but they all feel real and only the most inhuman of people's would find themselves devoid of emotion when any of them depart. Keeley Hawes and Shaun Dooley act their socks off as parents completely unequipped to handle the diagnosis of their son, nor support him in the way he so desperately needs.
It's such a shame this drama wasn't made a long time ago. It could have gone a long way to addressing issues of stigma that were so prominent in those difficult and trying times. But getting anything made these days is a real struggle and it's to the credit that the show manages to encompass so much in a relative short running time. There were many heroes from that time whose stories have been forgotten. It's good to see them live again, even if it's hard to watch them go. But as one character said 'I had such a good time' - Highly recommended. Summary: A powerful, well acted drama, which would have been even more impact had it been released 25 years ago