It's A Sin - Channel 4

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I watched the whole series last weekend and have been thinking about it ever since, like everyone on this thread. I don’t really have anything to add that hasn’t already been said and I’m definitely going to watch again. I was around 7 at the time of the tombstone adverts and can remember vividly the doom and scaremongering - it terrified me and definitely affected my anxiety around health as I went into my teens and twenties. There was so much stigma and shame surrounding AIDS & HIV and I remember when I got my first mortgage at 24 being asked if I had ever had an HIV test as it would go against you ... as far as I’m aware that doesn’t happen now? I’ve had a fair few HIV tests as I’ve had babies and donated breast milk so they test you then.
It was just horrific what happened to so many of these young men and this programme will stay with me forever, heartbreaking. It’s made me more determined to call out discrimination of any form.

The acting and writing is superb, all the performances are fantastic. A special shout out to Keeley Hawes, she’s such a great actor. The hospital scene where she’s pacing up and down and getting her head around it (or not) - as a mother I think she felt hugely guilty for not being there for Ritchie... she knew something was going on and there was this wedge between them, but she didn’t have the courage or sensitivity to reach him. She always held back, which makes it fitting the way it ended with Jill I think... she realised too late that she didn’t know her son at all. Devastating, but very human I think... La x
 
I've just finished watching it, it was so so good!
The first episode I wasn't sure i would get into it, so glad I persevered. I had no idea about the whole crisis, I was born in 88. Feels very ignorant to say that but I had no clue what things were like then, thank god things have changed.
I thought Olly Alexander was fantastic.
 
I absolutely loved this series. One of the most thought provoking and emotional things Iv ever watched. The script and acting was second to none.
I keep thinking of all the wonderful Collins of the world that we have lost, and all their mums who continue to miss them.
I think the contrast of the effervescent life that Ritchie led and his death in his suffocating childhood home was really poignant.
I also wondered if the relationship with his sister was highlighting how if he had stayed at home and repressed who he was that he would never have had such an amazing life, friendships or experiences.
On his death bed he is reminiscing how much fun he had and it was a very powerful and honest scene.
We see the sister always at home, miserable and bitter- seeing her brother go off and life his life. She adhered to her parents strict, narrow minded lifestyle and I think she resented Ritchie for it and was jealous of him.
I thought it was especially powerful how learning of his death she was mourning with his friends. 😞😞
Keeley Hawes was amazing and I felt it was a very honest yet brutal reflection of many mums reactions. The denial and the non acceptance that she didn’t support her son in the way he needed her to - and inevitably lost him and that she never really knew him was beautiful played out.
This show needs to win awards and should be a must watch for everyone. So many lessons can be learnt from this show and can hold a mirror up to us all in one way or another.
Fantastic.
Remembering all the amazing lives we have lost from AIDS- May they never be forgotten.
💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
La!!!!
 
I loved this!! Watched all of it over 2 nights....last episode the bit that had me bawling was in the hospital when ritchies mum is asking him how he got it and saying you are not infectious and them hugging and his mum kissing his face like you do as standard with your kids. I was distraught. Amazing acting from all involved.
 
Awhenny said:
I loved this!! Watched all of it over 2 nights....last episode the bit that had me bawling was in the hospital when ritchies mum is asking him how he got it and saying you are not infectious and them hugging and his mum kissing his face like you do as standard with your kids. I was distraught. Amazing acting from all involved.
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I felt the same. Then went from saying “Aww, of course he’s not, he’s her son that’s what mums do” to gasping, “witch!” when she just casually reveals his fate to Jill in the end.
Rollercoaster of emotions.
 
I loved Shaun Dooley as Ritchie's dad. He was really there for him in the end 💟

I was born in 1973, remember the AIDS epidemic vividly. It's unreal how much things have changed and improved in my lifetime. Princess Diana broke a lot of barriers when she was seen shaking hands with men dying of AIDS, as no one had done that and still assumed you caught it from toilet seats, cups, shaking hands, kissing etc.
 
Lol57 said:
Oh god Violet Moon. Brace yourself with Cucumber. One of the episodes is HARROWING. I was shaken for days.

Years & Years is also fantastic by RTD.
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I've just finished it. Really loved it. Tragic, funny, refreshingly real (in sometimes an ugly way, if that makes sense). And yes, that really was.
I'm becoming quite the fan of RTD. I did watch Queer as Folk years ago, and I've seen a few Doctor Who episodes he wrote. But never really appreciated his work properly.
I'm going to watch Banana next, but then I'll definitely check out Years & Years!
 
I watched the whole series over the weekend and can't stop thinking about it. I was born in 2001, so for me this was a real education and very insightful of what was happening at the time.
I don't think I've ever cried so much at a TV series. Absolutely bawled my eyes out over Colin, and keep hearing,
"Oh Mammy, make them do something" over and over again. 😭

I think someone earlier in the thread mentioned Ruth Coker Burks. She was a guest on Cariad Lloyd's Griefcast podcast last week and spoke about caring for men dying from AIDS who'd been abandoned by their families in a deeply conservative America in the late 80's. She really came across as such a compassionate and brilliant lady, just like Jill in the series. I'd really recommend it.

It's a Sin is such a vital and phenomenal piece of television.
May those who lost their lives to AIDS never be forgotten.❤

La!❤
 
Dak1988 said:
Ahhh I was just about to say that about Colin on radio 2 this afternoon, he was soooo cute! So polite and genuine, I was smiling listening 😂
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He was on Soccer AM a few weeks ago, my hubby was watching. Hes a big Cardiff City fan and said he hid his sexuality at the football for a long time because its considered not the done thing to be gay and like football. Now hes out and hasnt had much flack, bless him.
 
sleepflowers said:
Colin was so sweet in his little brown coat 😭 I think I found his story the saddest, because he'd barely even started in life, he'd never even had a relationship or anything, like in the first episode, when his colleague asked if he wanted a boyfriend and he said yes, and he never got to have one 😪
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I’d heard a lot about the show before I started it (still not finished) & honestly didn’t see it coming for Colin. Which of course absolutely broke me 💔
 
Miffy29 said:
He was on Soccer AM a few weeks ago, my hubby was watching. Hes a big Cardiff City fan and said he hid his sexuality at the football for a long time because its considered not the done thing to be gay and like football. Now hes out and hasnt had much flack, bless him.
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My team (Glasgow Rangers) has a gay fans group. It’s so not a big deal anymore, I really wish a footballer would come out. its not happened since Justin Fashanu, who was treated horribly by the media. I don’t think it’d be the same now, I certainly hope not.
 
Watched tonight (2nd time) the friend Richie met up with I recognise the actor but can’t think where from.
I didn’t notice the first time the little references to Collin ❤️💙 and his mam comin to the protest.
 
What a brilliant drama. It had everything: honour, pathos, drama, energy, showmanship and history. The cast were all outstanding and the clothes, interiors and outdoor scenes were spot on for the times. It really took me back to those days. Funnily enough, back in '84 - '87 I was living with four gay guys - two couples - in a flat in south London. They all worked in the arts: a costumier, a graphic designer, one wrote the blurb on the back of paperbacks and the other was a jeweller. Because they were all in committed relationships and worked in gay friendly industries they seemed happy and discussions about AIDS never cropped up - which seems unbelievable now.

One scene which really stood out for me was when Ash was asked to remove books from the school library which referred to homosexuality. In a long speech he said Dickens, Shakespeare and Jane Austen never had gay relationships within their pages. He found just a couple of paperbacks to appease the teacher. To me this is so wrong - centuries of literature, a lot of it focusing on love and its associated strong feelings, just ignoring same sex relationships.. It says it all really.
 
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