Queer as Folk (1999-2000) is a Channel 4 drama series that follows the lives of Stuart Alan Jones, Vince Tyler and Nathan Maloney, three gay men living in Manchester.
Initially running for eight episodes, a two-part follow up called Queer As Folk 2 was shown in 2000. Both Queer as Folk and Queer as Folk 2 were written by Russell T Davies.
Plot[]
The main characters are Stuart Alan Jones (Aidan Gillen), who is highly sexually active, and successfully so. His long-time friend Vince Tyler (Craig Kelly), who has a crush on Stuart, has less luck regarding men. 15-year-old Nathan Maloney (Charlie Hunnam) is new to the gay scene but is not lacking in self-confidence.
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.
Stuart, an advertising executive, possesses intrinsic power, able to bend anything to his will. Stuart's principal characteristic is that he does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however, he wants. He blows up a car belonging to his friend Alexander's antagonistic mother (in the second series). He invites Vince's female work colleague, who has a crush on closeted Vince, to Vince's birthday party and then introduces Vince's boyfriend. When offered a test drive of a Jeep by a car salesman who makes some homophobic comments, Stuart drives the car straight through the large window of the car dealership.
In the second series, the tone became somewhat more serious, with each of the main characters having to make hard choices concerning their futures.
Cast[]
- Aidan Gillen as Stuart Alan Jones, a successful advertising executive
- Craig Kelly as Vince Tyler, a supermarket manager
- Charlie Hunnam as Nathan Maloney, a 15-year-old rebel
- Denise Black as Hazel Tyler; Vince's free-spirited mother
- Andy Devine as Bernard Thomas; Hazel's lodger
- Jason Merrells as Phil Delaney; a close friend of Vince and Stuart
- Esther Hall as Romey Sullivan; the mother of Stuart's child
- Saira Todd as Lisa Levene; Romey's partner
- Carla Henry as Donna Clark; Nathan's best friend
- Ben Maguire as Christian Hobbs; an arrogant classmate of Nathan and Donna
- Alison Burrows as Sandra Docherty; Stuart's assistant
- Caroline Pegg as Rosalie Cotter; one of Vince's co-workers, who is romantically interested in him
- Caroline O'Neill as Janice Maloney; Nathan's mother
- Antony Cotton as Alexander Perry; a flamboyant friend of Vince and Stuart
- Peter O'Brien as Cameron Roberts; Phil's accountant who starts a relationship with Vince
- Jonathon Natynczyk as Dazz Collinson; a bartender who has a brief relationship with Nathan
- Maria Doyle Kennedy as Marie Jones Threepwood; Stuart's recently divorced sister
- John Brobbey as Lance Amponah; Romey and Lisa's lodger
- Juley McCann as Siobhan Potter; One of Romey and Lisa's uncompromisingly butch friends.
Production[]
Queer as Folk was produced by Darama Companion Productions and Simons & Saccurs Studio for the Red Production Company in association with Channel 4 Corporation and BBC Two. The title of the programme comes from a dialect expression from some parts of Northern England, "there's nowt so queer as folk", meaning "there's nothing as strange as people"; which is a word play on the modern-day English synonym of "queer", meaning homosexual. 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.
Spin-offs[]
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.
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 to not work with Channel 4 again, unless he has an idea that only works on that channel. Fifteen years later, in 2015, Davies returned to Channel 4 with drama series Cucumber, drama anthology Banana (on E4) and documentary series Tofu (on 4oD). Denise Black makes a cameo appearance as Hazel Tyler's ghost in the sixth episode of Cucumber.
Remakes[]
Driven by the success of the series, American cable channel Showtime and Canadian cable channel Showcase co-made a North American version set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, still under the title Queer as Folk, closely following the original's plot and storylines, but then moving on to new storylines since it continued for four additional seasons.
The North American version covered more social issues such as AIDS, gay parental rights, and gay marriage.
Trivia[]
- A recurrent theme throughout the series is Vince's fandom of Doctor Who, with various scenes from the classic series being played (in one instance an awkward situation with a guy Vince brings home.) This is a small, yet significant piece to the series, as six years later Russell T Davies revived Doctor Who.