Queer As Folk (9/99)
This controversial Channel 4 mini-series about gay life in Manchester
isn't for everybody, with much nudity and bad language. Writer Russell
T. Davies (The Grand) gives us profiles
of three characters: Stuart, a 29-year-old tramp going through life in
a series of meaningless one-night stands; Nathan, a 15-year-old just coming
out of the closet who is attracted to Stuart; and Vince, Stuart's mate,
who is a sad middle-aged Doctor Who fan who hasn't scored in months.
Some might claim Davies was resorting to stereotypes, but he knows his
stuff (even his Doctor Who references are accurate - allegedly the
BBC had hired him to do a revival of the series, although the project was
shelved when a Hollywood movie version took precedence).
The Quest (3/03)
David Jason (Only Fools And Horses)
stars in this ITV TV movie about three friends from the 1950s who meet
again in the present day, along with flashbacks to their misadventure trip
to the Lake District on dodgy motorcycles as randy young men. Jason
also came up with the idea and directed the movie, making the whole thing
a bit of a vanity project, quite inoffensive but nothing new to add to
the coming-of-age genre.