Set in 1981, Ritchie (Olly Alexander), Roscoe (Omari Douglas), and Colin (Callum Scott Howells) are young lads, strangers at first, leaving home at 18 and heading off to London with hope and ambition and joy… and walking straight into a virus that most of the world ignores. Year by year, episode by episode, crossing the whole decade, their lives change as the mystery of that illness starts as a rumor, then a threat, then a terror, and then something that binds them together in the fight.
It’s the story of their friends, lovers, and families too, especially Jill (Lydia West), the girl who loves them and helps them, and galvanizes them in the battles to come. Together they will endure the horror of the epidemic, the pain of rejection, and the prejudices that gay men faced throughout the decade.
There are terrible losses and wonderful friendships. And complex families pushed to the limit and beyond. This is a series that remembers the boys we lost and celebrates those lives that burned so brightly.
From RED Production Company and co-commissioner Channel 4, and distributed by All3Media International, the series is written and executive produced by Primetime Emmy nominated writer Russell T Davies (“Queer as Folk,” “A Very English Scandal,” “Years and Years”) with Nicola Shindler (“Happy Valley,” “The Stranger”) also executive producing.
Available to stream on HBO Max Thursday, February 18th
