It’s a sin C4

johnire

Damn!!!

Rothmans wrote: »

I don't recall seeing a single penis, if that's any help to you?

fryup

Rothmans wrote: »

I don't recall seeing a single penis, if that's any help to you?

so what are we talking here..brokeback mountain?

Basq

fryup wrote: »

so what are we talking here..brokeback mountain?

Aggressive trusting basically..

.. does it matter? Given the nature of the show, it's not something you should be watching it on a Sunday afternoon with the kids.

Sebastian Dangerfield

4 episodes in and loving it so far.

If I had to be picky, I think they could have given more life to Jill's character. While everyone else is in and out of relationships and we learn about what it is they want from life, she seems to exist solely to look after her friends.

Probably harsh if it's true the real person is involved, but I felt like they neglected her a bit.

The White Wolf

The scene at the end really was heartbreaking, seeing

Jill and Ritchie's mother trade cruelties. Of course his mother behaved poorly but she was obviously a loving mother from the scenes beforehand who had just been hit with so much news to process in such little time.

Both women were hurt deeply and the trope would be that they fall into each other's arms in grief, but I suppose in reality that didn't happen back then.

HeidiHeidi

I binged on this last night until all hours - just could not stop till I got to the end.


A total rollercoaster of emotions.


I thought Keeley Hawes was outstanding, such a complicated, conflicted, confused role, and the final scene was just heartstopping.


I was also struck by how bizarrely the whole thing reflects on the year we've just had - and I assume that's coincidental - this brand new illness that nobody really understands, the paranoia about it - the scenes of isolation wards, and hospital staff and visitors gowned up to the hilt, and Jill scrubbing herself raw in the shower - they could all be from this time last year.


Highly recommended for a watch. And a banging soundtrack for people of a certain age!

jos28

Finished watched last night, very tough viewing but a superb piece of television.
There was some contrast between the first episode and the last. As a previous poster pointed out, it's a series that stays with you after watching it.
I loved the Colin character and

couldn't believe what happened to him. It was so tragic.

. The AIDS pandemic/epidemic is a subject that's really been brushed under the carpet and it's good to see it back in the public domain. We should never forget about the 'boys who've gone home' - brilliant scene with Tracy-Ann Oberman.
I've just finished reading Graham Norton's Home Stretch
and like It's a Sin, it highlighted a horrible time in the history of mankind. Fear and ignorance abound. I'm so glad we have moved to a more tolerant society. Fair play to all of those who campaigned for change.

Sleepy

"Years and Years" was 2019's best series by a country mile and now, only a month into 2021, it looks like another Russell T Davies drama will be the best regarded of this year. It's amazing to me as, after loving his work on Queer as Folk back in the late 90's, I got into his Doctor Who revival only to end up groaning whenever his name was listed as the author of a particular episode towards the end of his time as showrunner on it.

Stunning sound-track and a wonderful cast.

I'd been reading back over the "Ireland in the 80's and 90's" thread on After Hours this week and feeling nostalgic for the past, wondering if my kids might have been better off growing up in that pre-social media as I had but then a show like this makes you remember just how ****ing horrible aspects of that time were too.

gmisk

Up to episode 4 now.

it didn't quite blow me away like the other episodes, Ritchies diagnosis wasn't a shock, it just didn't hit me like the Colin character, I don't really like the character which doesn't help. I found the bit with Ritchies mate a bit odd.
The thatcher coffee thing was silly it felt out of place. Still hugely enjoyable episode though
Ioved seeing Colin's mum and Jill's adorable parents. The protest scene was so powerful so felt like a strong end to ep I got quite emotional. Would love to see the Jill and Ash characters fleshed out a tad more but I suppose they can only give them so much screentime

The White Wolf

The White Wolf wrote: »

The scene at the end really was heartbreaking, seeing

Jill and Ritchie's mother trade cruelties. Of course his mother behaved poorly but she was obviously a loving mother from the scenes beforehand who had just been hit with so much news to process in such little time.

Both women were hurt deeply and the trope would be that they fall into each other's arms in grief, but I suppose in reality that didn't happen back then.

The dynamic with the parents was interesting.

Clive is shown to be a total prick to Ritchie for the first four episodes, while Valerie seems fairly benign; the worst you could say about her is that she didn't speak up for Ritchie enough when Clive was berating him. And yet, after the initial shock of hearing what has happened, Clive is the one who softens first and accepts reality while Valerie hardens and deals with her grief by attacking Jil and forbidding her to see Ritchie before he dies.
The scene at the start of the episode, where the parents are shown applauding Ritchie after his performance on stage, was a good addition; it added a human element to Clive, showing that he was proud of his son after all and not just some irredeemable pantomime villain.

I did think that

the scene in the kitchen with the woman berating Valerie for not knowing her son was gay seemed quite harsh, though it is worth noting that Ritchie had previously said his parents (not just his Dad) would disown him if they knew. So maybe there was a darker side to Valerie all along, and we just weren't shown it.

gmisk wrote: »

Up to episode 4 now.

it didn't quite blow me away like the other episodes, Ritchies diagnosis wasn't a shock, it just didn't hit me like the Colin character, I don't really like the character which doesn't help. I found the bit with Ritchies mate a bit odd.
The thatcher coffee thing was silly it felt out of place. Still hugely enjoyable episode though
Ioved seeing Colin's mum and Jill's adorable parents. The protest scene was so powerful so felt like a strong end to ep I got quite emotional. Would love to see the Jill and Ash characters fleshed out a tad more but I suppose they can only give them so much screentime

I agree that the scene with Ritchie and his friend on the beach was odd; some of that dialogue just seemed a bit clunky.
With regards to not liking Ritchie; I felt the same, though I think it was ultimately a good thing that he was written that way. We already had two very likeable main characters, the adorable Colin and the selfless honourable Jill, that it would have been a bit too much of a stretch to also write Ritchie (and Roscoe, for that matter) without obvious flaws. I thought Olly Alexander did a very good job showcasing Ritchie's less likeable traits, given that he is a very warm and likeable performer irl!

gmisk

Episode 5 finished.
Brilliant finale.
Really blew me away.

Keeley Hawes was utterly outstanding in that episode, she does so much with just a glance or a facial expression, if she doesn't get all the acting nods going it's an injustice. The whole sequence in the hospital was fantastic, probably the highlight of the series for me. Lydia West holds her own no mean feat, that Jill character what a legend! What an amazing friend, the discussion on the seafront wow. I wanted her own life a little more fleshed out but that's being very picky.
Tracy Ann Oberman was also a standout in her couple of scenes. It wasn't an entirely faultless ep, the Roscoe storyline with his preacher dad did not ring true at all. But overall a really brilliant series which I found deeply moving in a way that very few tv shows have before.

The White Wolf

Tracy Ann Oberman was excellent in Afterlife as well, if anyone has any suggestions for any other show she's in by all means share.

gmisk

The White Wolf wrote: »

Tracy Ann Overman was excellent in Afterlife as well, if anyone has any suggestions for any other show she's in by all means share.

She is in a few episodes of Friday night dinner and is hilarious

LineOfBeauty

Just finished it and, aside from acknowledging how fantastic a show it was from cast, to script, to design to tone, what really hit home to me was that (SPOILERS) the last episode was set in November 1991, exactly when I was born, and that there was still such a stigma around the virus, so many gay men particularly dying from it, it kinda rocked me. I don't know why, but I always kinda associated it as a huge tragedy from before I was born, way way back in the past. It was so recent, so much of a generation just wiped out.

AllForIt

Spoilers!

Noting much new to add just want to agree with some points.

I agree that Stephen Fry didn't add much. Having him in it broke the spell momentarily for me given his high public profile. Neil Patrick Harris was excellent though.

I also agree that the Jamaican farther asking forgiveness didn't ring true. Maybe 20 years later.

Also yes the sequence in the hospital with Keeley Hawes was excellently done. Although I didn't see it coming that she would be the villain when all indications were it was the farther that was going to be the one to react badly. Maybe there was some point to that but I didn't see it.

As someone said earlier I don't get how Colin picked up the virus from encounters he had years before. They went to a lot of trouble to reveal that at his end but it didn't make sense, unless I'm missing something. I have to say though I never cared for the Welsh accent until I heard Colin's version of it : )

Overall I though it was very good, not quite Chernobyl level good but still very good.

meggiemegmeg

The HIV virus can be in the body for many years before the person becomes aware of any symptoms. That’s might explain Colin’s situation.

I really loved Colin’s character. It was so deep and complex.
I think the landlady’s son was his first proper encounter on the gay scene. While it wasn’t romantic, nor did it seem to be very loving, Colin might have considered it his ‘first love’ and might have been heartbroken after it-and didn’t want to be heart broken again-so to protect himself, didn’t try to meet anyone else.

Colin said he always fancied Richie-he might have been his true love, but it probably hurt Colin that Richie was having so many meaningless relationships, like the way the landlady’s son treated him.

fryup

"do you have sex with animals?"

wtf! was that really a question on a questionnaire back then???

AndrewJRenko

fryup wrote: »

"do you have sex with animals?"

wtf! was that really a question on a questionnaire back then???

Have you seen the current blood donation questionnaire, and the question about whether you've ever had a job that involves handling monkey glands?

waterfordgirl

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

Have you seen the current blood donation questionnaire, and the question about whether you've ever had a job that involves handling monkey glands?

As well they still dont take donations from gay men as far as i'm aware

prinzeugen

waterfordgirl wrote: »

As well they still dont take donations from gay men as far as i'm aware

They lifted that restriction here as far as I know. I cannot give blood here anyway as I am from the UK.



BSE/Mad cow disease thing..

gmisk

prinzeugen wrote: »

They lifted that restriction here as far as I know. I cannot give blood here anyway as I am from the UK.



BSE/Mad cow disease thing..

Can only give blood if abstinent for 3 months (it used to be a year I think)

cloudatlas

Spoiler.

I take issue with the extent to which the mother was blamed in the end for her son infecting randoms but he decided not to infect his boyfriend (ah well then!).

Yes her reaction was bad after the disclosure but this is complete blinkered wokeism where everyone else is to blame.

Also some of it was too outrageous, the coffee, window smashing etc., I don't need extreme drama every 5 minutes.

Rothmans

cloudatlas wrote: »

Spoiler.

I take issue with the extent to which the mother was blamed in the end for her son infecting randoms but he decided not to infect his boyfriend (ah well then!).

Yes her reaction was bad after the disclosure but this is complete blinkered wokeism where everyone else is to blame.

Also some of it was too outrageous, the coffee, window smashing etc., I don't need extreme drama every 5 minutes.

I don't think it is some sort of 'blinkered wokeism' as you say. Rather, it highlights how the Government of the time basically ignored an epidemic that was killing thousands upon thousands of young men at the time simply because the majority of victims were gay men (the remainder being drug addicts).

Because of the apathy and inaction (and suppression) of the Government in disseminating vital life-saving information in relation to this deadly diseased, people were largely ignorant of it, and this fostered its easy transmission. I think this is fairly well illustrated by Ritchie's monologue in episode two basically saying - a gay disease - a disease that somehow knows you are gay - how ridiculous! And this is a fairly understandable viewpoint given the lack of information about AIDS at the time, as well as the rampant homophobia at the time - in society, in media, and the way in which the AIDS epidemic was dealt with.

Brussels Sprout

This was a masterpiece. It was at times, hilarious, beautiful, poignant but more than anything so very very sad and tragic. I felt like I had been punched in the gut after the third and final episodes.

AllForIt wrote: »

As someone said earlier I don't get how Colin picked up the virus from encounters he had years before. They went to a lot of trouble to reveal that at his end but it didn't make sense, unless I'm missing something.

meggiemegmeg wrote: »

The HIV virus can be in the body for many years before the person becomes aware of any symptoms. That’s might explain Colin’s situation.

In the aftermath of finishing the series I ended up reading the History of the AIDS pandemic page on wikipedia. I learned on there that the strain of HIV that was responsible for the infections in the 1980's typically took about 10 years to turn into AIDS. So if anything they were using poetic licence with the relative speed with which some of the characters developed AIDS.

El Gato De Negocios

Finished it last night.

Powerful stuff.

most emotional scenes for me was colins reveal arc and when he breaks down to his mum and says, oh mammy, please help me and Richies dad's reaction to the news about his diagnosis, unreal gut punches.

As previously said, Stephen Fry being involved was a bit jarring and it would have been better without him. The dinner scene with Roscoe, Fry, the two other pretty boys and the two other politicians made my skin crawl. These cnuts going on publicly about the immorality of homosexuality yet indulging themselves behind closed doors and still doing so to this day.

One thing that really was out of place was during the protest when Richie appeared out of nowhere like fcuking Batman and tackled the copper, really lost the impact of the scene I feel as it was so bloody cartoonish.

Overall though it was a smashing bit of TV, beautifully acted and in such a short period of time you really grew to care about the characters, even if they were kind of a dick like Richie.

cozar

Rewatching Cucumber forgot how good it was.

prinzeugen

cozar wrote: »

Rewatching Cucumber forgot how good it was.

Got the Cucumber/Banana box set just after it was aired.


Dug it out after watching Its a sin.. Ep 7 of Banana is brilliant!


Cucumber.. Sex is not everything.. Love is.

retro:electro

I just finished this tonight and I’m going to bed in an absolute heap. I really loved it. Olly Alexander is just amazing on screen

igCorcaigh

I have yet to watch this, but I probably will, after hearing all the good reviews.

It's a bit strange, that even though I am a gay man living with HIV, I didn't rush to see this. Maybe for some reason, I still can't relate to the topic.

Anyway, I'll give it a watch, hope I'm not disappointed.

(it felt so awkward to type those words, I read them, and I think, is that really me. I guess it is)

retro:electro

I’m still a mess today. Honestly it’s been a long time since a tv show has moved me that much. I just adored it.