Queer as Folk (UK TV series)

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Queer as Folk
QAF1.jpg
Series 1 DVD cover
GenreDrama
Created by Russell T Davies
Directed by Charles McDougall
Sarah Harding
Menhaj Huda
Starring Aidan Gillen
Craig Kelly
Charlie Hunnam
Composer(s) Murray Gold
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of series2
No. of episodes10 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Nicola Shindler
Producer(s)Russell T Davies
Production location(s) Manchester, England United Kingdom
CinematographyNigel Walters
Editor(s)Tony Cranstoun
Running time35–50 Minutes
Production company(s) Red Production Company
Release
Original network Channel 4
Original release23 February 1999 (1999-02-23) –
22 February 2000 (2000-02-22)
Chronology
Related shows Queer as Folk (US)

Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men living in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. 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.

Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term was originally used to mean "carefree", "cheerful", or "bright and showy".

Manchester City and metropolitan borough in England

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 545,500 as of 2017. It lies within the United Kingdom's second-most populous built-up area, with a population of 3.2 million. It is fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and an arc of towns with which it forms a continuous conurbation. The local authority is Manchester City Council.

Gay village

A gay village is a geographical area with generally recognized boundaries, inhabited or frequented by a large number of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Gay villages often contain a number of gay-oriented establishments, such as gay bars and pubs, nightclubs, bathhouses, restaurants, boutiques and bookstores.

Contents

Queer as Folk was produced by Red Production Company for Channel 4. 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. [1] In 2010, The Guardian ranked the serial at number 13 in their list of "The Top 50 TV Dramas of All Time". [2] Following its success, a North American version under the same title was produced, set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, running from 2000–2005, and closely following the original storylines but making changes and moving on as new seasons were made.

Red Production Company is a British independent television production company owned by StudioCanal.

Channel 4 British free-to-air television channel

Channel 4 is a British public-service free-to-air television network that began transmission on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially-self-funded, it is ultimately publicly-owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), the station is now owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation, a public corporation of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which was established in 1990 and came into operation in 1993. With the conversion of the Wenvoe transmitter group in Wales to digital terrestrial broadcasting on 31 March 2010, Channel 4 became a UK-wide TV channel for the first time.

Northern England Place in England

Northern England, also known as the North of England or simply the North, is the northern part of England, considered as a single cultural area. It extends from the Scottish border in the north to near the River Trent in the south, although precise definitions of its southern extent vary. Northern England approximately comprises three statistical regions: the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber. These have a combined population of around 14.9 million as of the 2011 Census and an area of 37,331 km2. Northern England contains much of England's national parkland but also has large areas of urbanisation, including the conurbations of Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Teesside, Tyneside, Wearside, and South and West Yorkshire.

Characters and plot

The main characters are Stuart Allen 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.

Aidan Gillen Irish actor

Aidan Gillen is an Irish actor. He is known for his portrayal of Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish in the HBO series Game of Thrones (2011–2017), Dr. J. Allen Hynek in The History Channel's Project Blue Book (2019-present), Tommy Carcetti in the HBO series The Wire (2004–2008), Stuart Alan Jones in the Channel 4 series Queer as Folk (1999–2000), John Boy in the RTÉ series Love/Hate (2010–2011) and CIA operative Bill Wilson in The Dark Knight Rises (2012). He also hosted seasons 10 through 13 of Other Voices. Gillen has won three Irish Film & Television Awards and has been nominated for a British Academy Television Award, a British Independent Film Award, and a Tony Award.

Craig Kelly (actor) British actor

Craig Kelly is an English actor and voice-over artist. He is best known for his roles as Vince Tyler in the Channel 4 television series Queer as Folk and as Luke Strong in Coronation Street.

Charlie Hunnam English actor and screenwriter

Charles Matthew Hunnam is a British actor and model.

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 concept of an archetype appears in areas relating to behavior, historical psychological theory, and literary analysis. An archetype can be:

  1. a statement, pattern of behavior, or prototype (model) which other statements, patterns of behavior, and objects copy or emulate.
  2. a Platonic philosophical idea referring to pure forms which embody the fundamental characteristics of a thing in Platonism
  3. a collectively-inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image, etc., that is universally present, in individual psyches, as in Jungian psychology
  4. a constantly recurring symbol or motif in literature, painting, or mythology. In various seemingly unrelated cases in classic storytelling, media, etc., characters or ideas sharing similar traits recur.

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.

Jeep Brand of American Cars

Jeep is a brand of American automobile and division of FCA US LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Italian-American corporation Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Jeep has been a part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner: American Motors Corporation (AMC).

In the second series, the tone became somewhat more serious, with each of the main characters having to make hard choices concerning their futures.

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.

<i>Doctor Who</i> British science fiction TV series

Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC since 1963. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called "the Doctor", an extraterrestrial being, to all appearances human, from the planet Gallifrey. The Doctor explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Accompanied by a number of companions, the Doctor combats a variety of foes while working to save civilisations and help people in need.

Music

The theme song for series was created by Murray Gold. [3]

Given a list of tracks, music producer Almighty Records had one month to compile the music. However, some tracks could not be cleared in time for the release mainly due to timescales, including one by Steps who initially said that the show would be too 'low profile' for them to be associated with. [4] It was the success of this album that prompted Channel 4 launch their own music division when the second series of Queer As Folk was made. [5]

Future

In 2017, actor Charlie Hunnam expressed an interest in starring in a revival of the UK version of Queer as Folk, fuelling rumours of a possible return of the series. [6]

Cast

Episodes

SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 823 February 1999 (1999-02-23)13 April 1999 (1999-04-13)
2 215 February 2000 (2000-02-15)22 February 2000 (2000-02-22)

Series 1 (1999)

No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
11Thursday Charles McDougall Russell T. Davies 23 February 1999 (1999-02-23)
Stuart and Vince, stalwarts of the Manchester gay scene, are out on the pull in Canal Street.
22Stuart Alan JonesCharles McDougallRussell T. Davies2 March 1999 (1999-03-02)
Stuart pursues a client, Vince (not ‘out’ at work) is pursued by the new girl and Nathan, verging on obsession, is desperate to find Stuart again.
33A Night OutCharles McDougallRussell T. Davies9 March 1999 (1999-03-09)
Stuart and Vince, on a wild night out, are pursued by Nathan and Rosalie, and Phil makes a new friend… with deadly consequences.
44D.I.S.C.O.Charles McDougallRussell T. Davies16 March 1999 (1999-03-16)
Stuart and Vince go to Phil’s funeral where they meet up with numerous friends including his accountant Cameron Roberts, and come face to face with his mother’s grief.
55The DateSarah HardingRussell T. Davies23 March 1999 (1999-03-23)
Stuart makes some new friends, while Nathan’s behaviour makes Hazel furious and Janice desperate.
66Meet the ParentsSarah HardingRussell T. Davies30 March 1999 (1999-03-30)
Stuart and Marie visit their parents, and Vince introduces Cameron to his mum. Meanwhile, Stuart has a violent confrontation with Nathan’s father.
77ThirtySarah HardingRussell T. Davies6 April 1999 (1999-04-06)
Stuart throws a surprise party for Vince’s 30th birthday, and becomes implicated in a dubious plan to discredit Romey’s potential husband Lance.
88PunchlineSarah HardingRussell T. Davies13 April 1999 (1999-04-13)
Vince is petrified that Rosalie has revealed his secret. Stuart experiences rejection for the first time. And Cameron declares his love to Vince.

Series 2 (2000)

No.
overall		No. in
series		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
91Out of the Closet... Menhaj Huda Russell T. Davies 15 February 2000 (2000-02-15)
Vince’s love for Stuart remains unrequited, but the sexual buzz between them is becoming irresistible. Stuart is forced to out himself to his parents, when he is blackmailed. Meanwhile, Nathan reappears to celebrate his return from London.
102...Into the FireMenhaj HudaRussell T. Davies22 February 2000 (2000-02-22)
When Alexander’s parents turn on him, Stuart’s anger puts him on the wrong side of the law. Vince is up for a promotion at work, while one of Nathan's teachers seems to side with Nathan's bullies.

Ratings

Series 1 (1999)

Episode no.Air dateViewers
(millions)		Channel 4
weekly ranking
123 February 19993.5211
22 March 19993.609
39 March 19992.4523
416 March 19992.5821
523 March 19992.7817
630 March 19993.289
76 April 19993.449
813 April 19993.347

Series 2 (2000)

Episode no.Air dateViewers
(millions)		Channel 4
weekly ranking
115 February 20002.8319
222 February 20003.1512

Spin-offs and remakes

A spin-off series, Misfits (no relation to the later E4 series of the same name), 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. [7] 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.

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, (filmed in Toronto, Ontario), still under the title Queer as Folk , closely following the original's plot and storylines, but then moving onto 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.

See also

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. ↑ Davies, Russell T Audio commentary on the 2003 "Definitive Collector's Edition" DVD boxed set of Queer as Folk. (VCD0308).
  2. ↑ Lawson, Mark; Vine, Richard; Dent, Grace; Mangan, Lucy; Dempster, Sarah; Wollaston, Sam (11 January 2010). "The top 50 TV dramas of all time: 11-20" – via The Guardian.
  3. ↑ "Original TV Soundtrack, Queer as Folk: The Whole Love Thing Sorted", review by Heather Phares, AllMusic. Accessed 18 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "Almighty Records – Info – Queer As Folk" . Retrieved 2008-10-02.
  5. ↑ "Almighty Records.com – Trivia". Archived from the original on 5 May 2008. Retrieved 22 April 2008.
  6. ↑ "Charlie Hunnam wants to go back to his roots with a new series of Queer as Folk after role in King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword". www.thesun.co.uk.
  7. ↑ Matthewman, Scott (30 November 2000). "Folk off to America – an interview with Russell T Davies" . Retrieved 2006-04-18. (online copy archived here as of 26 March 2008).


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