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Title- It's A Sin
Creators- Russell T Davies
Cast- Olly Alexander, Lydia West, Omari Douglas, Callum Scott Howells and Nathaniel Curtis with ensemble cast
Genre- drama miniseries
Length- 5 episodes
Platform- Channel 4
Rating- 4/5 stars
Plot
A chronicle of four friends during decade in which everything changed, including the rise of AIDS.
Taken from IMDb.
Opinions
Before I get into my thoughts in It's A Sin, let's talk about how Russell T Davies is the king of the miniseries. This is the second miniseries by RTD that I've watched and wow does he know how to pack a lot into such a short amount of time. I'd really recommend Years and Years (not the band Olly Alexander is/was in), but his other most recent miniseries. I thought it was incredible. I've been watching Russell's work since I started watching Doctor Who in 2005 and he just keeps on getting better as a writer.
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I thought that the central cast of the five friends was phenomenal. I had only heard of Lydia West (Jill) as she stared in Years and Years. Each character was so different and the actors all brought something to the show. I saw an interview with Russell that said it was important to have as many queer and people of colour on this show as that's who the story is about. I can see each and everyone of the cast going onto do amazing things. Olly Alexander as Ritchie was great casting. Ritchie could have easily been an annoying character, and at times he was, but Olly Alexander made him feel more fleshed out. I think the cast and the writing went hand in hand perfectly.
The show tackles a particularly difficult issue of how the AIDS crisis was handled, which is very relevant in our lives today with how COVID has been handled. It was fairly obvious from the beginning that some of the characters were going to die as this was about people RTD had known during his own experiences with the AIDS crisis. There are themes of homophobia, racism, police brutality and more in this show. I was told by many I was going to cry and yet I didn't. To be fair, it takes a lot for me to cry at non-real life events (books, films, tv, plays etc) these days. This is most likely a personal thing, but I wasn't hit with the emotional punch to the gut I was expecting.
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I pretty much loved everything about this show, expect for the ending. It just felt a little bit rushed. I would have liked more time to process Ritchie's death as we didn't really get that. Yes, it needed that slightly happy moment at the end, but it almost detracted from the sheer scale of loss throughout the series. So many people died from AIDS. I've found since studying Creative and Professional Writing at uni it is very hard for me to be absolutely blown away by a show and go wow it was flawless. Personally, I found Colin's death more shocking. You really didn't see it coming. I was so angry when Colin died that I shouted at the TV.
Speaking of writing, I've already touched on how I think RTD is a great writer and he is. He is easily one of the best modern writers of TV. He just keeps on getting better and better. This was a story he had to tell, as he's said in many interviews. This was something he experienced and that he had to do these people justice. You can see the love, the loss, the anger and the pain come through in his writing. I would love to take a writing class from him as he's just so good.
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I've spoken about how good the core cast is, but the supporting cast is just as good. Neil Patrick Harris and Stephen Fry, who both asked to be involved because they are gay actors, are wonderful in their roles. Keeley Hawes as Ritchie's mother somehow gives a warm yet callous and smothering performance. I hope that some of the cast get acting awards as they knocked it out of the park.
I loved this show, but because I was expecting a bit more emotion and I've become very difficult to "impress" as a viewer, I gave this show 4/5 stars. I think it will be one of my faves of the year and I can't wait to see what RTD does next.
Have you seen It's A Sin?
