Queer as Folk | |
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Series 1 DVD cover
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Genre | Drama |
Created by | Russell T Davies |
Directed by |
Charles McDougall Sarah Harding Menhaj Huda |
Starring |
Aidan Gillen Craig Kelly Charlie Hunnam |
Composer(s) | Murray Gold |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 2 |
No. of episodes | 10 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Nicola Shindler |
Producer(s) | Russell T Davies |
Location(s) | Manchester, England United Kingdom |
Cinematography | Nigel Walters |
Editor(s) | Tony Cranstoun |
Running time | 35–50 Minutes |
Production company(s) | Red Production Company |
Release | |
Original network | Channel 4 |
Original release | 23 February 1999 | – 22 February 2000
Chronology | |
Related shows | Queer as Folk (US) |
Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men living in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Initially running for eight episodes, a two-part follow up called Queer As Folk 2 was shown in 2000. Both Queer as Folk and Queer as Folk 2 were written by Russell T Davies.
Queer as Folk was produced by Red Production Company for Channel 4. The title of the programme comes from a dialect expression from some parts of Northern England, "there's nowt so queer as folk", meaning "there's nothing as strange as people"; which is a word play on the modern-day English synonym of "queer", meaning homosexual. Davies had originally titled the series this, although at the suggestion of Channel 4 executives for a period during its development and pre-production it was known as Queer as Fuck, before it reverted to the former name. In 2010, The Guardian ranked the serial at number 13 in their list of "The Top 50 TV Dramas of All Time". Followed by its success, a North American version under the same title was produced, set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, running from 2000-2005, and closely following the original storylines but making changes and moving on as new seasons were made.
The main characters are Stuart Allen Jones (Aidan Gillen), who is highly sexually active, and successfully so. His long-time friend Vince Tyler (Craig Kelly), who has a crush on Stuart, has less luck regarding men. 15-year-old Nathan Maloney (Charlie Hunnam) is new to the gay scene but is not lacking in self-confidence.