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It’s A Sin.

(76 Posts)
Calendargirl Sat 23-Jan-21 08:10:54

Anyone else watch this last night on Channel 4?

Written by Russell T Davies, focusing on just before AIDS became a global issue.

To me, seemed very similar to another of his, Queer As Folk.

I shall keep watching.

BlueBelle Sat 23-Jan-21 08:15:04

I did watch although I ve got to say I think I might have momentarily dozed a couple of times so didn’t give it my all
Wasn’t terribly pulled into it we ll see how it goes

Galaxy Sat 23-Jan-21 08:15:23

No but I am going to, I listened, on R4, to some of those who lived through that time and they said it was very realistic. I spent a large chunk of the 90's working for an HIV/AIDs charity, I am still not sure that people are really aware of the effect it had at the time.

Jane10 Sat 23-Jan-21 08:19:11

It was an awful time. I remember it well. Now AIDS is so manageable I suppose it gives hope that Covid will be too some time.

BlueBelle Sat 23-Jan-21 08:34:26

You might be right about the younger generation Galaxy I remember all the adverts against having sex with anyone new it was dead scary I can remember how utterly moved to tears I was when I saw Freddy Mercury on stage for the last time
If he’d been born a generation later he d still be wising the crowds

NannyJan53 Sat 23-Jan-21 08:40:36

I have recorded it. I remember that time well. My now ex-husband had just come out as gay, and I remember telling him to be very careful. His attitude seemed to be, 'it won't happen to me'! He left a devastated wife and two children behind.

I will watch with great interest.

GagaJo Sat 23-Jan-21 08:43:05

That is very true Jane10, I have never thought of covid like that before.

My MA supervisor was a well known gay academic. He spoke very movingly about that time in his life. I got the impression he felt very lonely in a world where most of his friends had died of aids.

Kim19 Sat 23-Jan-21 08:46:57

Yes, I watched it. Found the pace of it kind of off putting and unrealistic but I certainly plan to hang on in there. I clearly remember my teenage son at the tea table saying 'what's Aids?' and his brother responding with a sharp 'be quiet'. Therein the research and the conversations started. Testing time indeed.....

Lilypops Sat 23-Jan-21 08:49:19

I watched it too, all the partying and loving going on , they had no idea of what was to come, the saddest scene was the guy in an isolation ward just one bed , his meals left at the door , at least his visitor was there to bring it to him
The hospital staff all gowned up in PPE , so like today,s COVID ward. At least now we know what we are dealing with and have the vaccine,

Galaxy Sat 23-Jan-21 09:30:22

The thing is it wasnt like Covid at all, there was no way to catch HIV in those circumstances, I remember that happening to people I knew, and people being targeted (graffiti on houses) if people found put about their diagnosis.

GrandmaKT Sat 23-Jan-21 09:44:43

Very sad to see all the young kids having fun and just starting to enjoy life with no idea what is about to hit them.

Jane43 Sat 23-Jan-21 12:37:18

I watched the first episode, very powerful and I will continue with it.

AmberSpyglass Sat 23-Jan-21 13:14:50

It was wonderful - we watched the entire thing in one sitting, all six episodes and we were in floods afterwords.

The loss is still overwhelming - we in the LGBTQ community lost almost an entire generation of men. If it hadn’t come along, would we have achieved things like same sex marriage sooner? And what could those men have done and achieved if they’d been able to live? Being reminded of awful things like Section 28 and the terrible impact on people’s lives it had was heartbreaking.

Jane10 Sat 23-Jan-21 13:19:12

I remember being very moved when I was in Amsterdam and came upon a memorial to all the people who had lost their lives to AIDs and had no other memorial.
I lost a dear friend to what we know as AIDs but was an unknown mystery illness at the time.

Galaxy Sat 23-Jan-21 13:20:44

Yes I think that was the point I was trying badly to make Amber, I had two groups of friends at the time, one group mostly gay men and lesbians, the other group was the friends I knew from childhood. For the first group that time was devastating and left lifelong scars, for the second group it was mostly something they saw on the TV. So I think for many it's hard to understand what really happened.

AmberSpyglass Sat 23-Jan-21 13:24:34

Galaxy It’s so interesting to see those different perspectives, isn’t it?

BlueBelle Sat 23-Jan-21 17:08:16

Watched episode 1 again this afternoon without failing asleep and I thoroughly enjoyed it Looking forward to the next one now

Deedaa Sat 23-Jan-21 20:42:51

It was a terrible time with all those deaths. Ian Charleson and so many other great talents.

Jane10 Sat 23-Jan-21 21:24:31

Galaxy I didn't mean it was contractable like Covid I meant it was a big all consuming health worry/illness/killer yet its now almost faded from public consciousness. Treatment and management strategies were developed. They will be developed for Covid too.

Galaxy Sat 23-Jan-21 21:37:19

No I know. I agree. I look back sometimes and think well I was talking utter rubbish back then, there were things we did with the best intentions that were mistakes I think. But very easy to say that now. I think people have a lot to learn from that time, particularly about the way a community pulled together to fight and make things better.

Framilode Sat 23-Jan-21 22:09:40

How have you managed to watch all the episodes? I tried to get the other episodes on catch up but could only get episode 1.

Jane10 Sat 23-Jan-21 22:21:15

Working in NHS it cast a shadow over everything. We had endless in service training on the subject. Handling body fluids became a major issue. I remember a nurse colleague from A&E lamenting that before AIDs if a patient arrived bleeding, she'd rush forward to help but not any more. They all held back a little. She was very sad about it.
Another nurse told me of tragic stories of ladies being infected by their husbands who had had bisexual affairs on the side. These poor souls. Cheated on and given what was then a death sentence. Their poor children. So many lives affected in so many ways.
So many human stories that I'm surprised there haven't been more dramas set in those times.

GrandmaKT Sat 23-Jan-21 23:48:20

Framilode

How have you managed to watch all the episodes? I tried to get the other episodes on catch up but could only get episode 1.

All the episode are there on All4 Framilode

Iam64 Sun 24-Jan-21 08:29:45

I didn’t know about this drama, will watch. One of my memories from those days, was the impact on infants needing foster care whose parents were hiv positive. Real ethical moral and health dilemmas

Jane43 Sun 24-Jan-21 09:33:17

I found this compulsive viewing, it was very emotional and by no means easy to watch but very well done, as I would expect from Russell T Davies. All the cast members put in a wonderful performance, particularly the actress who played Jill and Keeley Hawes who, for me, has redeemed herself after Finding Alice.