Queer as Folk (UK TV series)

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Queer as Folk (UK)
Queer as Folk Series 1 DVD Cover
Format Comedy-drama
Created by Russell T. Davies
Starring Aidan Gillen
Craig Kelly
Charlie Hunnam
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes 10
Production
Running time 30 to 35 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Channel 4
Original run February 23, 1999 – February 22, 2000
External links
IMDb profile

Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men let loose in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Both Queer as Folk and Queer as Folk 2 were written by Russell T. Davies, who was also responsible for a later gay-related drama, Bob and Rose, and the revival of Doctor Who on the BBC in 2005. The series was reshown on More 4 between 14th-18th October 2007 as part of Channel 4's 25th birthday celebrations.

Queer as Folk was produced by the independent Red Production Company for Channel 4, which had previously shown its openness for gay-themed material with made-for-TV films such as Beautiful Thing, which was later also given a cinema release. The title of the programme comes from a dialect expression from some parts of Northern England, "there's nought [colloquially pronounced 'nowt'] so queer as folk", meaning "there's nothing as strange as people". Davies had originally titled the series this, although at the suggestion of Channel 4 executives for a period during its development and pre-production it was known as Queer as Fuck, before it reverted to the former name.[1]

The theme tune and incidental music were composed especially for the show by Murray Gold.

Contents

[edit] Characters and plot

The producers say that Queer as Folk, although superficially a realistic depiction of gay urban life in the 1990s, is meant as a fantasy, and that Stuart, Vince, and Nathan are not so much characters as gay male archetypes.

The main characters are Stuart Alan Jones (Aidan Gillen), who is apparently trying to have sex with every male in Greater Manchester (and appears to be succeeding), his long-time friend Vince Tyler (Craig Kelly), who has a bit of a crush on Stuart and less luck regarding men, and finally 15-year-old Nathan Maloney (Charlie Hunnam), who is new to the gay scene but is not lacking in self-confidence.

Stuart, an advertising executive, is depicted as possessing intrinsic power, able to bend anything to his will (via non-supernatural means), even able to prematurely ejaculate to dissuade Nathan from thinking he is worthy of worship. Stuart's principal characteristic is that he does whatever he wants. He detonates a car belonging to his friend's mother (after the mother does something particularly evil to her son); he invites Vince's female work colleague (who fancies closeted Vince) to Vince's party and then introduces Vince's boyfriend (in order to make Vince hate him so that Vince can fall in love with his boyfriend); and he test-drives a car through a showroom window (when the car dealer makes a homophobic remark).

Some of the minor supporting characters, such as Hazel, and Alexander, are given depth as well. Part of the success of the series was due to the way in which the writer deliberately left some things unsaid, allowing the story to continue around them.

In the second series, the tone became somewhat more serious, with each of the main characters having to make hard choices concerning their future. But in the end, things turn out fine for everyone: Nathan is left behind as the future "king" of Canal Street, while Vince gets to ride off with his beloved Stuart into the sunset, inexplicably ending up in the USA.

[edit] Cast of Queer as Folk

From left to right, Vince Tyler (Craig Kelly), Stuart Alan Jones (Aidan Gillen) and Nathan Maloney (Charlie Hunnam), from Queer as Folk 2.
From left to right, Vince Tyler (Craig Kelly), Stuart Alan Jones (Aidan Gillen) and Nathan Maloney (Charlie Hunnam), from Queer as Folk 2.
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[edit] Responses

The first series caused controversy in the UK because many conservatives were shocked at the depiction of a 15-year-old engaging in illegal homosexual acts with an older man (the homosexual age of consent in the UK at the time was 18, though it has since been reduced to 16). The explicit nature of the sex scenes also caused controversy; in particular the first episode featured an extensive sex scene involving masturbation, rimming, and semen. However, the first series became a triumphant ratings success, despite its late-night timeslot and the withdrawal of its main sponsor, Beck's.

The huge success of the first series led Channel 4 to commission a second. Although Davies initially intended to write a second full series, he decided that there was not much story left to tell, and instead finished the story with a two-part TV special, Queer as Folk 2, screened in 2000 to slightly lower viewing figures despite an earlier timeslot. This time the explicit sex scenes were mostly absent, a decision applauded by people who had previously criticised the series. Many fans of the previous series did criticise the ending of Queer As Folk 2 for the unanswered questions it left and the lack of "conclusion" it gave, though the overall criticism was outweighed by general success of the two series.[citation needed]

[edit] Style

The screenplay is notable for its well-written monologues. In Queer as Folk 2, for example, when at his parents' house, and threatened by his nephew (Thomas) with being outed, Stuart says, in response to his father's request to hand him some nails for a do-it-yourself project:

Stuart: We don't do hammers, or nails, or saws. We do joints and screws, but that's different.
Stuart's mother: Who does?
Stuart: Queers. Because I'm queer. I'm gay. I'm homosexual. I'm a poof, I'm a poofter, I'm a ponce. I'm a bumboy, battyboy, backside artist, bugger, I'm bent. I am that arsebandit. I lift those shirts. I'm a faggot-ass, fudge-packing, shit-stabbing uphill gardener. I dine at the downstairs restaurant, I dance at the other end of the ballroom. I'm Moses and the parting of the red cheeks. I fuck and am fucked. I suck and am sucked. I rim them and wank them, and every single man's had the fucking time of his life. And I am not a pervert. If there's one twisted bastard in this family, it's this little blackmailer here. So congratulations, Thomas. I've just officially outed you.

In another example, Stuart remarks about Canal Street:

What, come back to this? The ghetto: alleyways stinking of piss, beggars in every doorway, straights and students coming to look at the freak show, and all the idiots saving all week, saving their stupid money from their stupid idiot jobs so they can come and shoot their load with some stranger. And just you look after it, this stupid little street. It's the middle of the world. Cos on a street like this, every single night, anyone can meet anyone. And every single night, someone meets someone.

Russell T. Davies is now the executive producer on the science fiction series Doctor Who, and Queer as Folk has many Doctor Who references. In one episode a model of K-9, the robotic dog, is given to Vince. In 1996 Davies had written a Doctor Who novel, Damaged Goods, a copy of which was included on the set of Vince's bedroom as an in-joke by the set dressers. Series one also includes a sequence in which Vince and a man he picked up are about to have sex, when the man becomes excited when he sees a video of Genesis of the Daleks and begs Vince if they could watch it instead. Vince wonders whether to break up with his boyfriend Cameron, and finally decides to, in favour of Stuart, the deciding matter was that Stuart knew him better because he knew all of the actors who had played the Doctor over the years, and Cameron had trouble remembering two, showing that Stuart did (contrary to popular belief) pay attention to Vince's Doctor Who ramblings.

Stuart: Give him [Cameron] six months and he'll be able to name all the Doctors in Doctor Who, in order......William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Colin Baker, Sylvester McCoy.
Vince: What about Paul McGann?
Both Together: Paul McGann doesn't count!

[edit] Spin-offs and remakes

A follow-up, spin-off series, Misfits, was initially commissioned by Channel 4. The series would have followed the characters of Hazel, Alexander, Donna (who was absent from the 2nd series due to scheduling commitments) and Bernard from the original series, while introducing new characters. Although Davies developed draft scripts for four episodes and storylines for a further twenty-two, the series was cancelled before it went into pre-production, along with The Second Coming, which was later commissioned and broadcast by ITV.

As a result of Channel 4's decision, Davies pulled out of a deal that would have seen a series of Queer as Folk short stories published on the broadcaster's website, and vowed never to work with Channel 4 again.[2]

Driven by the success of the British version, American cable channel Showtime and Canadian cable channel Showcase co-made a version set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, still under the title Queer as Folk, although deviating extensively from the original's plot.

The North American (US/Canadian) version was criticised by some fans of the British series who saw the cast as excessively glamourous and who thought the original's quirky comedy had been lost. It was also criticised for toning down the darker elements of the original; for example, Phil (named Ted in the North American version), who died in one of the original's early episodes, does not die in the North American version, and Stuart (named Brian in the North American version) changes from a personification of power, into a personification only of sex, and increasing the age of Nathan (named Justin in the North American version) to 17 (only one year below the US legal age of consent), reducing the age controversy. In addition, the North American version puts a greater emphasis on the sexual aspects of the plot and, as a result, features numerous sex scenes.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Davies, Russell T. Audio commentary on the 2003 "Definitive Collector's Edition" DVD boxed set of Queer as Folk. (VCD0308).
  2. ^ Matthewman, Scott (30 November 2000). Folk off to America - an interview with Russell T. Davies. Retrieved on 2006-04-18. ([http://matthewman.net/2000/11/30/folk-off-to-america-an-interview-with-russell-t-davies/ online copy archived here as of 26 March 2008.)

[edit] External links