On November 19th and December 3rd, Queer As Folk and Queer As Folk 2, the home video editions of the most famous and eagerly awaited gay television series, will be released on DVD and VHS respectively.
Queer as Folk was born from a conversation in January 1997 between screenwriter Russell T. Davies and Catriona McKenzie, a drama editor at Channel 4. Following the production of an episode of the series The Grand, written by Davies and centered on a story of homosexuality, Channel 4, a network always open to artistic and cultural perspectives, was considering the possibility of a TV series with an entirely homosexual setting. McKenzie mentioned the idea to Nicola Shindler, a producer for the network (through her company Red) and a great admirer of Davies's dramas written during the 1990s for the BBC (Century Falls, Dark Season) and Granada (Revelations, Springhill). Thus the Queer as Folk project began. Shindler gives Davies complete freedom to create a credible gay universe from her own personal experiences, in which homosexuals are fully-fledged protagonists and not caricatures or narrative mechanisms linked to the problems of coming out or AIDS.
The Manchester setting was chosen partly because it was the home base for both Davies and Shindler, and partly because the gay community surrounding Canal Street provided the perfect setting for the series: vibrant but not too large and scattered, a one-stop shop where everyone knew each other.
Charles McDougall, who had already worked with Shindler and knew Manchester well, and Sarah Harding, the director of the episode of The Grand that had started the whole project, were chosen as directors for the two production blocks.
The series finally debuted on February 23, 1999 in late evening, attracting numerous controversies for its strong situations, its crude language and its explicit and scabrous sexual representations, but it gained a remarkable 17% share from the first episode, with 2.4 million viewers, and reached the channel's Top Ten programs already in the second week.
The series' title comes from an old Yorkshire proverb, which roughly goes, "There's nothing so queer as folk." Of course, "queer" is also a common slang term for homosexuals, so the title could be read as "Gays (seen) as normal people.".
THE CHARACTERS
STUART ALAN JONES AIDAN GILLEN
Stuart is a typical successful thirty-year-old: a highly lucrative career in public relations, ample financial resources, enormous self-esteem, and a direct and aggressive attitude with his interlocutors. His ability to charm, amplified by his physical gifts and the great sexual magnetism he exudes, complements and counterbalances the enigmatic manner of someone who reveals only a small part of himself and seems devoid of feelings for others. Stuart is accustomed to getting what he wants, and this, combined with his overwhelming self-confidence, makes him appear at times extremely arrogant and cynical, even towards his parents, to whom he has not revealed his homosexuality and whom he treats with extreme detachment, and towards his sister, upon whom he has been burdened by the burden of being the black sheep of the family.
Stuart maintains a dominant relationship with Vince, which he needs more than he'd like to admit. His turbulent relationship with the very young Nathan and the other ups and downs he faces throughout the series will force him to confront the truth of his repressed feelings for him.
VINCE TYLER CRAIG KELLY
Vince is Stuart's shadow: madly in love with him, he accepts any compromise to be by his side, at least partially satisfying his (apparently) unrequited love. Unlike his beloved friend, Vince only has a regular job at a supermarket, but his natural optimistic disposition, complementing Stuart's dark nature, pushes him to always be cheerful and smiling, a man with a quick wit, capable of bringing out the ironic side of any situation (particularly his frequent and embarrassing incidents during trysts with boys, which often end in disaster), and to be moved by his passions, such as Doctor Who (the classic BBC science fiction series, which aired from 1963 to 1989 and still boasts a huge fan base). His sincerity and inability to say no make Vince an easy target, accustomed as he is to watching Stuart go off with a different guy every night without saying a word. Vince's main problem is his low self-esteem, which leads him to not understand how anyone could be interested in him, and to not realize that his envy towards Stuart's lovers, and Nathan in particular, is completely unjustified: he is in fact the only one for whom Stuart, albeit in his own way, feels a true feeling of friendship, and even love.
Vince is also the only one in the group who questions his homosexuality, wondering if his life wouldn't be easier if he were straight. His mother, Hazel, who happily accepted her son's confession, is a great and loving support system for him, despite his eccentricities.
NATHAN MALONEY CHARLIE HUNNAM
While Stuart and Vince are thirty-somethings just starting to come to terms with their lives, Nathan, at just fifteen, is just beginning to savor life, feelings, and his sexuality. He possesses an overwhelming mix: simultaneously powerful and defenseless, arrogant and naive, corrupting and innocent, he perfectly embodies the contradictions and challenges of his age. Despite being so young he can't even legally leave his home, his intelligence and innate sex appeal allow him to manipulate those around him at will. His relationship with Stuart is troubled, but managed in the spirit of this extraordinary duality, which turns Nathan into a sort of master-slave, within a morbid bond from which the troubled Stuart cannot escape.
Nathan's mother, predictably, isn't immune to this perverse mechanism (compared to his completely spineless father), living for her son and considering his every wish a command and his every action good and just. The only person with whom Nathan has a deep relationship is his best friend, Donna.