It's a Sin

It's a Sin is a five-part television drama written by Russell T Davies and broadcast on Channel 4 from 22 January to 19 February 2021. Set in London between 1981 and 1991, it follows a group of young friends — most of them gay — as the HIV/AIDS epidemic takes hold and changes everything. The series became one of the most watched and critically acclaimed British dramas in years, and provoked a measurable surge in HIV testing across the UK.

Background

Russell T Davies drew on personal experience and memory in writing It's a Sin. He moved to London from Wales in 1981, the year the series begins, and lived through the decade the drama depicts. The title comes from the Pet Shop Boys song of the same name.

The series was originally conceived as eight episodes but Channel 4 commissioned five. It was rejected by both BBC One and ITV before Channel 4 executive Lee Mason championed it. Filming took place primarily in Manchester, with additional locations in Liverpool, Bolton, Eccles, Bangor and Rhos-on-Sea (standing in for the Isle of Wight). The production company was Red Production Company; Peter Hoar directed all five episodes.

Davies made a deliberate decision to cast primarily gay actors in gay roles, stating he wanted to "create a safe space where gay actors could voluntarily come in and be themselves."

Cast

Principal cast

Olly Alexander as Ritchie Tozer, a drama student from the Isle of Wight with ambitions as an actor
Omari Douglas as Roscoe Babatunde, a young man who has left his religious Nigerian family
Callum Scott Howells as Colin Morris-Jones, a quiet Welsh boy working in a Savile Row tailor's
Lydia West as Jill Baxter, the group's loyal and tireless straight friend
Nathaniel Curtis as Ash Mukherjee

Supporting cast

Keeley Hawes as Ritchie's mother Valerie
Stephen Fry
Neil Patrick Harris
David Carlyle
Shaun Dooley
Tracy-Ann Oberman

Plot

The five episodes track the group of friends across a decade, beginning in 1981 when they share a flat in London (which they name "the Pink Palace") and ending in 1991 as the AIDS epidemic has transformed gay life in Britain. The drama depicts the communal joy and political anger of that generation alongside grief, denial, stigma and loss.

Each episode covers roughly two years, moving through the emergence of AIDS as a news story, the government's response (or failure to respond), the early deaths, the activism, and the particular cruelty with which gay men's families sometimes reacted to their illness.

Historical connections

The character of Jill Baxter (Lydia West) was drawn loosely from Jill Nalder, a real person who was a close friend of Davies. Nalder appears in the series as Jill's mother. The character of Ritchie was partly inspired by actor Dursley McLinden, who died of AIDS in 1995 and had appeared in the original Doctor Who era. A tribute to McLinden is woven into Episode 4.

Reception

It's a Sin received near-universal critical acclaim. It holds a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a Metacritic score of 91. The Guardian called it a "poignant masterpiece"; Den of Geek described it as "Davies' best yet; a joyful tribute to lost lives." Elton John called it "a triumph of creativity and humanity."

The first episode drew 5.02 million viewers on linear broadcast. Within weeks it had accumulated 6.5 million views on All 4, making it the platform's most-binged series to that point; by March 2021 it had reached 18.9 million views.

Impact

The series produced one of the most direct connections between a piece of drama and a public health outcome in British broadcasting history. The Terrence Higgins Trust reported that 8,200 HIV testing kits were ordered in a single day following broadcast — nearly three times the previous daily record of 2,800. A "La" T-shirt (using the characters' catchphrase) raised £100,000 for the charity.

Awards

It's a Sin received 12 BAFTA nominations in 2022, including Best Mini-Series. Among its wins:

BAFTA Television Craft Award: Best Director Fiction (Peter Hoar)
Writers' Guild of Great Britain: Best Long Form TV Drama (Russell T Davies)
RTS Programme Awards: Limited Series; Writer – Drama; Actor (Callum Scott Howells)
GLAAD Media Award: Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series
Edinburgh International Television Festival: Best Drama
Monte-Carlo Television Festival: Best Series
Banff Rockie Award: Program of the Year
Venice TV Awards: Best Series