Queer as Folk (British TV series)

Did You Know?

• The title comes from a traditional Northern English saying, 'there's nowt so queer as folk', meaning 'there's nothing as strange as people'.
• The script originally started with the title Queer as Fuck but Queer as Folk was considered more suitable.
• A soundtrack album sold 125,000 copies and was the 50th biggest selling compilation album of 1999.

Characters and plot

The main characters are Stuart Allen Jones, a highly sexually active advertising executive; his long-time friend Vince Tyler, who has a crush on Stuart but has less luck with men; and 15-year-old Nathan Maloney, new to the gay scene but self-confident. The producers stated the series is meant as a fantasy, with the characters serving as gay male archetypes. Stuart possesses intrinsic power and does whatever he wants, such as blowing up a friend's mother's car, driving a Jeep through a car dealership window, and inviting Vince's female colleague to a birthday party where he introduces Vince's boyfriend.

Reception

Response from gay commentators was mixed regarding the portrayal of characters, and the gay press criticised the series for not addressing the AIDS epidemic. A Daily Mail commentator called for censorship. The first four episodes were sponsored by Beck's Brewery, which withdrew sponsorship mid-series; after a backlash from the gay community, Beck's offered to sponsor the second series, but producers refused. In 2010, The Guardian ranked Queer as Folk at number 13 in their list of the top 50 TV dramas of all time.

Spin-offs

A spin-off series, Misfits, was commissioned by Channel 4 to follow characters Hazel, Alexander, Donna, and Bernard from the original series, while introducing new characters. Russell T Davies developed draft scripts for four episodes and storylines for a further twenty-two, but the series was cancelled before pre-production. As a result, Davies pulled out of a deal for Queer as Folk short stories on the broadcaster's website and vowed not to work with Channel 4 again unless he had an idea that only works on that channel. He returned to Channel 4 in 2015 with Cucumber, Banana, and Tofu.

American-Canadian co-production version

Driven by the success of the series, American cable channel Showtime and Canadian cable channel Showcase co-produced an American-Canadian version set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, though filmed in Toronto, Ontario. In late 2018, a second American-Canadian adaptation was in development for Bravo, and in April 2021 it received a series order from Peacock. This version reimagines the series rather than serving as a reboot of the first American-Canadian series, and was released on June 9, 2022.