The show opens in 1981. We meet Ritchie, leaving his parents home to go to London to study law.While in college, he meets drama major Jill and becomes best friends. She introduces him to Ash, the Indian boy whom Ritchie had eyes on. He finally decides to switch major to drama because that's all he has ever wanted. We meet Colin, a shy gawky teenager who is a working-class kid who’s left his loving mum in Wales and is really not into hookups. Shy, sweet and naive, he’s rescued from the unwanted advances of his old, married boss by a kind colleague who orients him to the more enjoyable facets of the gay scene in London. Finally, we have Roscoe, who has spent entire life under conservative Nigerian father. Finally pushed to his limit, Roscoe flees home in a mini skirt and crop top, gets a job at a bar and dreams of living well enough to exact revenge on his family. Destiny brings all these people together under one roof as roommates. And then the HIV/AIDS plague hits. Jill is the only one who takes the disease seriously initially. We watch five young people grow into their identities as their proximity to a lethal threat also grows over the next few episodes. Giving up anything more will ruin the show, so watch it.
The show is cast with some amazing actors playing flawed characters which makes it real. Even though Ritchie is supposed to be the leading character, every one gets their due focus. They are etched out well and we see their growth, struggles, their love their banter and being there for each other, always. My fav was Jill, an ode to women and girls like her during the 80s who scarified everything to be there for the thousands of gay men who were suffering during this time. Ritchie, Roscoe, and Colin are of a generation that ended up denied so much — and, ironically, one that seemed to have been given more than they might have hoped for. Despite the audience’s knowledge that the 1980s are a bad decade that gets worse and worse for gay men, the series doesn’t get ahead of its own characters; it doesn’t judge them, either, even as it appraises them clearly. 80s was obviously a celebratory period in gay men’s lives, until the pandemic hits. Each episode jumps ahead a few years from the previous one, so that the story can cover a full decade in the crisis. The humor and light of the party scenes makes the series’ many tragedies more bearable to sit through, but those dark passages in turn lace the good times with dread. These boys have so much potential, and the party is about to end terribly for so many of them. But even then, the makers let our characters find pockets of happiness where they can, knowing very well where it may eventually lead to. This show is. not easy to watch. You have heard all the stories but seeing it is so different, even though, we may all have seen many shows and films before this. Every single time, the pain is real. The gradual escalation of how shame, denial, and silence colluded with the pandemic to kill a generation, is truly gut wrenching. I, personally didn't know anyone from that time period, but I couldn't help wondering while watching the show, what would have been my life or friends be like had I been in those years. I am really struggling today. to pen down all my thoughts and feelings that I am going through to tell everyone why this show is so important to watch.
This show makes us stand back and think about the sanctity of human life; and about the type of society needed to protect not just “us”, but everyone. It feels cruel beyond what we, even now, can bear. Russel T Davies has once again made great and painful art about time’s passage, and has earned the attention of anyone who wants to learn more about what the 1980s were like for gay people — or wants to connect, deeply, with a raw and rounded humanity in all its beauty, complexity, and fleeting joy. An absolute bonafide masterpiece and must watch show for everyone: gay and straight alike. (9.5/10)
Comments