Wednesday 12th May 2021 – It's A Sin & HIV/AIDS
*I tried so very hard to not write about any spoilers, but please, if you can, watch It's A Sin!!!!!*
It's A Sin by Russell T Davies was released in January of this year. It immediately caught everyone's attention on Twitter and everyone was talking about it.
Five months later, Olly Alexander (from Years & Years, and the actor who plays Ritchie Tozer in It's A Sin) and Sir Elton John have teamed up together to release a cover of the Pet Shop Boys' song It's A Sin. (You can watch their performance at the Brits here.) 100% of the proceeds from the single are being donated to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which is brilliant.
It's A Sin is about five friends who live in London in the 1980s and are desperate to live their lives throughout the AIDS crisis.
With a beautiful cast consisting of Olly Alexander, Lydia West, Nathaniel Curtis, Omari Douglas, and Callum Scott Howells, the chemistry and friendship between them is honest and remarkable.
Russell T Davies first spoke about his involvement with It's A Sin in 2015 and he attempted to sell his idea to Channel 4. They turned him down. As did BBC One and ITV who declined to create the series due to its subject matter. However, Lee Mason who is Channel 4's Commissioning Editor, was keen to commission the show. He waited for a staff shakeup before he pitched the show to his team and they agreed to give it a contract and a showing.
How is it that both ITV and BBC One deemed a TV show about AIDS was not something appropriate for them to televise? How is not important to raise awareness about AIDS? It frustrates me that not every single TV channel jumped at the idea. These are such important discussions we need to be having. Teenagers, young adults, and adults could be saving their own lives by seeing shows like It's A Sin and deciding to get tested for HIV.
According to Richard Angel who works at the Terrence Higgins Trust, which is a British charity that campaigns about and provides services for HIV and sexual health, there was a huge increase in HIV testing in the first week of February, which is HIV Test Week. 8,200 tests were ordered in one day, which was an increase from the previous 2,800 that had been ordered in one day. This is proof that if we raise awareness about things like HIV and sexual health, it can have a massive impact and it can save people's lives.
In the 1980s, as depicted in It's A Sin, there wasn't enough research and we didn't have the right treatments for HIV. However, forty-one years later, life expectancy for someone who is HIV+ but who has the right treatment, is 'normal'. Again, this is why it's essential to talk about topics like HIV.
It's A Sin is heartbreaking. There is no other way to put it. And as it's told through several different personal lenses, you can experience the worry, fear, and distress that the characters go through. Friends and characters seem to disappear or 'leave' more and more frequently, and it's impossible to not want to pause the TV show for just a moment so you can sit with your thoughts and feelings for a moment. But this was the reality of the 1980s and the AIDS crisis. It did not wait. It still does not wait. I cried lots and I still want to cry every time I think about a particularly sad moment.
Russell T Davies has done a wonderful job at portraying something so awful with such rawness and honesty. Some of It's A Sin is based on truth, Lydia West's character is loosely based on a friend of Russell T Davies', and there is a scene in which Olly Alexander is on a set for Doctor Who which was a tribute to one of Davies' friends who appeared in Remembrance of The Daleks.
On a happier note, I am thrilled that I had the privilege to attend an online talk that was held by BAFTA Guru. A lovely woman called Edith Bowman hosted an interview with David Carlyle (Gregory/Gloria) and Callum Scott Howells (Colin). It was refreshing to see the two of them outside of their roles, and it was equally delightful to see them so proud and happy with the impact that It's A Sin has had. They were such a joy to watch in the interview, both laughing and with inside jokes. It's clear that the cast was extremely close throughout this project and is still close now.
And finally, by March 1st, the viewing figure for It's A Sin on All 4 was 18.9 million. It has become the 'most binged new series ever', and the first episode was the platform's biggest drama launch on record.
*GO WATCH IT'S A SIN!*
Angel, Richard. “Tweet from Richard Angel.” 5 Feb. 2021.
“It's a Sin (TV Series).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_
Comments
Post a Comment