Russell T. Davies Drama 'It's a Sin' Gets a U.S. Premiere Date

The "It's a Sin" cast (Photo: Channel 4)

It's a Sin, the buzzy Russell T. Davies drama about the AIDS crisis in 1980s London is officially coming to HBO Max in February. 

Set in 1981, the five-part series follows a group of gay teenagers who move to London in search of sexual and personal freedom, only to arrive just as the AIDS epidemic hits. It's a Sin is something of a darker counterpart to the original U.K. Queer as Folk, which Davies also created. While that series was a loud, proud paen to urban gay life, it did tend to ignore the darker undercurrent within that same culture, namely the AIDS crisis and the toll it took on the gay community. 

It's a Sin confronts that tragedy head-on. 

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, 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 a singular 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.

Watch the trailer for yourselves below. 

 

The series also stars Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Fry, Tracy-Ann Oberman, Shaun Dooley, and Keeley Hawes. (And, presumably, the Pet Shop Boys, considering that the series takes its title from one of their songs and heavily features that track in the trailer.) 

All five episodes of It's a Sin will drop on HBO Max on Thursday, February 18. 

Are you planning to give this show a look? Let's discuss in the comments.


Lacy Baugher

Lacy's love of British TV is embarrassingly extensive, but primarily centers around evangelizing all things Doctor Who, and watching as many period dramas as possible.

Digital media type by day, she also has a fairly useless degree in British medieval literature, and dearly loves to talk about dream poetry, liminality, and the medieval religious vision. (Sadly, that opportunity presents itself very infrequently.) York apologist, Ninth Doctor enthusiast, and unabashed Ravenclaw. Say hi on Threads or Blue Sky at @LacyMB. 

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