THEGAYUK

Tag: BBC 2

All the latest breaking news on the UK broadcaster BBC 2. Browse THEGAYUK’s complete collection of news, articles and commentary on BBC 2.

  • TV | Man In An Orange Shirt, BBC 2

    Man In An Orange Shirt

    Programme Length: 60 minutes x 2

    Broadcaster: BBC 2

    In his first screen drama, best-selling British novelist Patrick Gale tells two gay love stories, 60 years apart – stories linked by family, and by a painting that holds a secret that echoes down the generations.

    Featuring a cast including Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave, Man in an Orange Shirt charts the challenges and huge changes to gay lives from the Second World War to the present: In 1944, British Army Captain Michael Berryman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) meets war artist Thomas March (James McArdle) in Southern Italy while chaos reigns all around them. Despite having a young fiancé, Flora (Joanna Vanderham), waiting at home for him, straight-laced Michael finds himself falling for Thomas’ bohemian charms. In 2017, an ageing Flora (Redgrave) looks on as her grandson, Adam (Julian Morris), tentatively forms a relationship with his client Steve (David Gyasi) in a more accepting world. But while the external obstacles have fallen away, a minefield of internalised issues and dangerous temptations still line the road to happiness.

    Further cast includes Laura Carmichael, Julian Sands and Angel Coulby.

    Patrick Gale says,

    “As a lifelong BBC Two animal, I’m thrilled my first original television drama will broadcast there. The wide social ramifications of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality are still being felt today and had huge implications not only for gay men (those over 21 at least) but for marriage. The two parts of my drama try to show how far reaching those ramifications were and I know the rest of the Gay Britannia season will as well. I can’t wait to watch every bit of it.”

    Diederick Santer, Executive Producer for Kudos, says: “It’s been a delight to work with Patrick and the BBC on this timely and highly original drama. I’m thrilled with the cast we assembled and the ambition of the production, and look forward to it playing at the heart of the Gay Britannia season.”

  • TV | Against The Law, BBC 2

    BBC 2’s Against The Law

    Programme length: 82 mins

    Broadcaster: BBC 2

    Daniel Mays (Line Of Duty, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Public Enemies) stars in BBC Two’s powerful factual drama as Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover Eddie McNally (played by newcomer to television, Richard Gadd), under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial.

    More than ten years before the partial decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1967, Peter Wildeblood, and his friends Lord Montagu (Mark Edel-Hunt) and Michael Pitt-Rivers, were found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed.

    With his career in tatters and his private life painfully exposed, Wildeblood began his sentence a broken man, but he emerged from Wormwood Scrubs a year later determined to do all he could to change the way these draconian laws against homosexuality impacted on the lives of men like him.

    The drama also features Mark Gatiss (Taboo, Sherlock) as Wildeblood’s prison psychiatrist, Doctor Landers and Charlie Creed-Miles (Ripper Street, Peaky Blinders) as Superintendent Jones.

    Woven through this powerful drama is real-life testimony from a chorus of men who lived through those dark days, when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to cure them of their “condition”. There is also testimony from a retired police officer whose job it was to enforce these laws, and a former psychiatric nurse who administered the so-called cures. All of these accounts serve to amplify the themes of the drama and help to immerse us in the reality of a dark chapter in our recent past, a past still within the reach of living memory.

     

  • Daniel Mays to star in brand new gay drama for BBC 2

    Daniel Mays (Line Of Duty, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Public Enemies) stars in BBC Two’s powerful factual drama as Peter Wildeblood, a thoughtful and private gay journalist whose lover Eddie McNally (played by newcomer to television, Richard Gadd), under pressure from the authorities, turned Queen’s evidence against him in one of the most explosive court cases of the 1950s – the infamous Montagu Trial.

    More than ten years before the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1967, Peter Wildeblood, and his friends Lord Montagu (Mark Edel-Hunt) and Michael Pitt-Rivers, were found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed.

    With his career in tatters and his private life painfully exposed, Wildeblood began his sentence a broken man, but he emerged from Wormwood Scrubs a year later determined to do all he could to change the way these draconian laws against homosexuality impacted on the lives of men like him.

    Daniel says: “I’m incredibly proud to be part of a drama that tells such an important real-life story. Peter Wildeblood is a fascinating, complex, yet flawed character from a time when being a gay man in Britain was incredibly difficult – I can’t wait to bring his tale to life for the BBC Two audience.”

    Patrick Holland, Channel Editor, BBC Two, said,

    “50 years ago, it was a crime to be a gay man in the UK. Against The Law is a stunning piece that melds drama and documentary testimony to tell the story of one man, and his wider generation, as they struggled to make society accept their sexuality as non-criminal. It is brilliant to have a film that brings the authorship of Brian Fillis, the vision of director Fergus O’Brien, and the outstanding talent of Daniel Mays and cast to this important subject”

    The drama also features Mark Gatiss (Taboo, Sherlock) as Wildeblood’s prison psychiatrist, Doctor Landers and Charlie Creed-Miles (Ripper Street, Peaky Blinders) as Superintendent Jones.

    Woven through this powerful drama is real-life testimony from a chorus of men who lived through those dark days, when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to cure them of their “condition”. There is also testimony from a retired police officer whose job it was to enforce these laws, and a former psychiatric nurse who administered the so-called cures. All of these accounts serve to amplify the themes of the drama and help to immerse us in the reality of a dark chapter in our recent past, a past still within the reach of living memory.

    Written by Brian Fillis, Against the Law is directed by Fergus O’Brien, produced by Scott James Bassett and executive produced by Aysha Rafaele, Creative Director of The Documentary Unit, BBC Studios.

    Made by BBC Studios, Against the Law will broadcast on BBC Two later in the year.

  • People are really not happy with BBC 2’s Real Housewives of ISIS sketch

    A comedy series on BBC 2 is being slammed by some very unhappy people.

    The real housewives of ISIS
    BBC

    A sketch on the BBC 2 comedy show, Revolting is getting people on social media very very angry. Why? Well, the sketch is called The Real Housewives of ISIS – so you can probably work it out from there.

    The clip, which is doing the rounds on Twitter pokes fun at the ‘ISIS housewives’ who are seen wearing and comparing suicide vests, complaining about having to compete with 40 virgins and using social media hashtags like #DeathToTheWest.

     

    The series has seen a massive backlash on social with many slamming the makers of making light of ISIS

    https://twitter.com/UncleMeraj/status/816672501833101312

    https://twitter.com/n_elhuda/status/816695986055741445

    https://twitter.com/Its_Rahmat/status/816689050211991554

     

    Heydon Prowse , Jolyon Rubinstein (L-R)
    BBC/Hat Trick/Stefan Sieler

    The series was created by comedy duo Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein who reacted to the criticism by writing,

    “It’s important not to pull your punches in satire. You have to be fearless or it undermines your credibility.

    “You can’t go after David Cameron for five years like we did and not go after Islamic State.”

    Jolyon Rubinstein added,

    “It’s about people who are vulnerable to these kind of approaches. We’ve had the “White Widow”, so this is actually happening to women here.”

    The BBC declined to comment to both The Telegraph and Digital Spy.

    Revolting is on Tuesdays at 10PM.

  • TV REVIEW | London Spy

    Ben Whishaw in a gay spy thriller? What’s not to like?

    CREDIT: (C) WTTV Limited - Photographer: Joss Barratt

    CREDIT: (C) WTTV Limited – Photographer: Joss Barratt

    The cute and slightly broody looking Q from the Bond franchise in a new 5 part programme, in part inspired by the Gareth Williams case of the body in the bag, and in part by a 1960’s CIA handbook about covering up a murder by using an accident?

    Right up my street and no mistaking! We are less than 1/2 way into this programme, and am firmly gripped. I love programmes that throw up more questions than they initially answer, that keep you guessing, that offer false scents, false trails and you end up with no idea how it will all end – bit like life really. It starts with Danny, played by Whishaw, a 20-something in dead-end jobs who parties, flat shares and doesn’t have a steady boyfriend – a bit of an every-gay, nothing special, just living his life.

    A chance meeting early one morning with the enigmatic Joe/Alex/Alistair (Edward Holcroft) and suddenly love creeps into his life. Joe is secretive with no family, a job he doesn’t want to talk about and Danny laps it up – even when Joe fronts up and becomes Alex. Danny has a close friend in Scottie (Jim Broadbent playing an older gay in quite a respectable way) and confides in him about Alex and then after 8 months, the two finally meet. Fast forward to a possible romantic weekend away, and suddenly Alex disappears. Danny and Scottie have a heart to heart and Scottie’s past as a spy comes out, along with his suspicions about Alex and his area of work.

    Danny then receives a mysterious package at work, and so begins a game of cat and mouse.

    A key to Alex’s exclusive apartment complex leads Danny to discover a decaying body, a sex dungeon (but in the attic) and his boyfriend’s possible secret life. After questioning by the police and the assumption the body is that of his boyfriend, yet another identity comes out and Alex becomes Alistair, together with a whole other life and a family.

    Episode 2 introduces the iconic Charlotte Rampling in a role made for her – queen of her very own castle, a model of decorum and a woman of few words, but all packaged with a tinge of menace.

    Enter Alistair’s family. Where is this going? Who was Alex? Is he really dead? Why is Danny being watched, and by whom?

    The next 3 episodes promise more unanswered questions before the finale, but I intend to savour the acting skills of Ben, and the flashbacks to his handsome and taciturn boyfriend Joe/Alex/Alistair – along with Jim Broadbent’s superior character, who for me, reminds everyone that gay life doesn’t end at 40.

    If you like your spy thrillers with a realistic edge, watch this!

    London Spy is on Monday nights at 9PM on BBC 2

  • THEGAYUK Gardeners Call In Monty Don

    Tune in next week to see our very own GayUK gardening duo join forces with the legend that is Monty Don!

    In “Big Dreams Small Spaces” Monty helps couples with small gardens make the most of what they’ve got. For Adam and Andy the challenge was to turn a small scrap of land next to the house into a useable garden – perfect for parties, eating out and entertaining.

    Adam says,

    “We’re so lucky to be living in such a beautiful part of the world, so we always want to be able to spend time outside. The land we have here in Wales is all being used for smallholding so it’s always full of animal feed, sheds and equipment – not to mention the animals themselves! We wanted to claim some of the space for us so we can spend time outdoors together and with our friends.”

    “The camera crew followed us for a year as we worked on achieving our goals. We’d always been growing food but over the course of the show we’ve discovered a passion for all elements of gardening especially growing beautiful flowers that are purely for enjoyment!”

     

    Andy added,

    “We got involved in the show inadvertently by responding to a Tweet about small gardens – the next thing we knew Monty Don was coming round for a cuppa and a chat! He was such a nice guy and really helped us turn our modest project into something wonderful.”

    “We’ve been so lucky to have found a special village to live in, full of amazing people. We’ve only been here three years and have fantastic friends, a working smallholding and now a tidy little garden too – sometimes we really do pinch ourselves!”

    Andy and Adam’s episode of “Big Dreams Small Spaces” airs this Wednesday 22nd of October on BBC2 – and you can watch a sneak peak of the episode here (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p028ncxr)

    If you want to keep an eye on what the guys are up to search ‘Helpless Homestead’ on Facebook or follow@homesteadsos on Twitter.