| On Tuesday night after the second episode of Queer as Folk, Russell T. Davies, the Writer and Script Editor, Matt Jones joined us online to discuss the show and issues arising from it. | |
Matt Jones : Hi there! Russell Davies : Hiyas :) c4 chat ed : Hello chaps. Let's kick off... Jaz : what were the initial reactions of the first people to read the script?? Matt Jones : Oh that's a good
one! worleysthebenyonsf : I liked the programme - how was it researched? Russell Davies : Um... Well I am gay, so from my point of view it needed very little research :) Matt Jones : I'm gay too, so Russell and I spend an awful lot of time out on Canal Street drinking gin and tonic and dancing to cheap disco music. But what we did research in depth was Vince's job in the supermarket, drugs, and Doctor Who. And that took an awful lot of time :) RobWhitmore : Do you think the programme is made for gay people or is it a lesson in being gay for straight people? Matt Jones : It's a drama for everybody. We hope that gay people will love it because it's about three fantastic gay men. But we also hope that straight people will love the emotions, the characters and the stories. SimonMCR : Congrats on handling of Angela Mason (in Right to Reply on Saturday) - which do you feel more surprised aout - the reaction of gay people or the horror of staright? Matt Jones : I'll answer that on Nicola's behalf. The answer is we're not making representational drama, we're not interested in doing a worthy or political piece of drama. It's an authorial piece, and it comes from Russell's heart. JohnHarrow : hello, first of all great program. I'm sure most gay men will recognise a lot of themselves in the characters. One question I have though is why make Nathan 15? were you doing this to deliberately provoke the tabloids. Why not make him 16 instead? Russell Davies : We made him 15 *not* to provoke, because I'm sure there are a lot of people turning off because he's 15, and I always knew that would be the case. He's 15 because at 15 you're *powerless*. If he were 16 he could leave home and find his own life. Whereas Nathan is trapped, but at the same time, inspired. The fact that he can't leave home creates many of the stories we've got to come. TurtleMeister : How did you cast the characters...I mean were you looking for anything in particular? Russell Davies : We were looking for good actors. As it happens, as far as I know, all the actors are straight that is because Red Production Company will never operate a policy of asking any potential employee what their sexuality is. MattArno : Have you had many complaints??? Russell Davies : Um... Yes, we've had many complaints. But for the first time ever, an equal number of people have phoned Channel 4 to give their praise! *grins*. I'd ask anyone who likes it to keep phoning it so that the homophobic lobby doesn't win. Keep phoning and keep emailing! Nick : as the straight brother of a gay man, I loved the show. have you received much support from the heterosexual community? Matt Jones : Yes, we have received a lot of support from the heterosexual community. One of the notable ones is an email sent to Channel 4 where a gay teenager came out to his best friend after watching the show, and his best friend, a straight teenager, took him out for the night to a gay bar for his first night out on the gay scene. We love that friend! ryanthepoo : I was wondering whether you ever felt that the programme was too risque? I personally think that it is fine but did Channel 4 or the ITC challenge you on anything? Matt Jones : Channel 4 wanted us to be honest. We obeyed all the guidelines from the ITC. However, at a late stage we were asked to change one sex scene - we were asked to remove one-and-a-half rhythmic strokes which we were happy to do. Russell Davies chuckles. QAF_Ian : Were you aiming to make the character of Stuart less likeable than the other two or did it just happen that way? It may make people think a lot of us are tarts. Which we may be, mind you I'm only 18.. Wish I could have had a Nathan at his age. Do you think you'll help more kids to come out? Russell Davies : Hi Ian. If you stick with the series, I *promise* you that Stuart is not less likeable than the others. Through the things he learns from Nathan and from Vince, he becomes an absolute hero. I'm not just flannelling, I swear that comes true *grin*. As to whether kids come out because of this, that's their own personal choice, but I just hope that lonely, sad, isolated teenage gay boys will see this and realise that there's a whole world they can claim as their own. Neil T : I found it interesting that R2R showed complaints from a gay man, saying the show was unrepresentative, how would you balance this? if at all? Russell Davies : He maintained that he knew of no gay men that took drugs or had one-night stands. He must live in Narnia! Staedy : Although gay life is rarely shown on TV, do you feel that there's enough material left to make a second or parallel series as sucessful? Matt Jones : Channel 4 have commissioned two hour-long scripts in preparation for the possibility of a second series. And we're struggling to fit all the material we want to into those two episodes. The stories for Nathan, Vince and Stuart should be... will be, very different, funny, sexy and edgy. But I can't tell you more without ruining the end of series one. Gogs99 : why is the series centred on the commercial scene? Don't you think this relates only to middle class men with an income? Russell Davies : The series isn't just centered on the commercial scene. We filmed for 80 days, and only ten days of that was spent on Canal St. As the series develops, you'll see more of their ordinary home lives, ordinary jobs and ordinary everyday fascinating stories. Again, the series is *not* representational. Even if these three characters do have an income, a good drama, about good characters, should be interesting to anyone. Fingers crossed :) Pink Panther : I'd like to know why the programme didn't show any bullying or harrassment of nathan when in school as I find this part a bit unrealistic, or is it included later on? Russell Davies : It does show bullying, in episode four. But frankly I'm sick of seeing gay men and gay boys as victims in a permanent states of passive suffering. To be honest, you can find those plots in soap operas. I'm trying to do something different. Nathan is a survivor, an optimist, and he's the opposite of what you'd expect the gay schoolboy to be. markmike : it makes a change for a program to be set in manchester rather than London, what made you set the drama here Russell Davies : Nicola, Matt and I all live in Manchester. So there was no decision to be made. We love this city! Can I just say apologies from Nicola, she's tired and a bit ill, so we've taken over :) Jaz : Now that the age of consent bill has been sent to the House of Lords, do you think the programme will have any influence on their voting? And was the timing of the programme deliberate? Russell Davies : The timing of the programme was never deliberate and if it's lost us even one vote in our favour then I'm very sorry. However, if any MP is stupid enough to change their mind on the strength of one late-night Channel 4 drama, then they should have their vote taken away from them!! Simon Brunger : How much convincing did Channel 4 need to show the series? Did they think it was a bit too much too soon or were they happy to show it from the outset?? Russell Davies : From the moment I showed them episode one, they were happy. 2CUTE2BSTR8 : how are u going to deal with the problems of HIV & AIDS, which have yet to surface in the program Russell Davies : HIV and AIDS is never centre stage in this drama, Although they are constantly mentioned throughout. Frankly that virus is bad enough, and strong enough, to gain prominence in practically every other gay drama I've seen. I refuse to give it that authority, it's not welcome on my computer. studmufin : Fantastic series, its about time somthing positive was put on about gay people, do you feel this is the start of better quality dramas for gay people? Matt Jones : We hope so. We hope that Queer as Folk shows that you can make quality drama about gay people that everyone will enjoy. Both of us would love to see more gay dramas on television, and we look forward to watching them advertised in the Radio Times. AJC : Did you have any problems getting the cast to kiss and caress each other? Matt Jones chuckles. Both our fabulous directors are straight. The only times when they turned to me and asked me to choreograph a scene was during the sex scenes, because they didn't know how to do it. Me, the script editor, and our fabulous makeup assistant acted out gay sex on Stuart's bed to show the straight boys how it was done. The actors watched, naked but for dressing gowns, and once they knew how to do gay sex, they approached it as the professionals that they are. Sex scenes on television traditionally are embarassing and awkward for actors to do, such was the camaraderie and respect that was the hallmark of Queer as Folk filming that everyone had a laugh, and enjoyed the day. Graeme : How did the team of writers/producers get together? At last a show features gay people as real people - both good and bad. It's slick! Russell Davies : Channel 4 put me and Nicola together - in the past we both worked at Granada but only met socially and at the same time, socially, I met Matt... who turned out to be a genius. I introduced him to Nicola, all three of us got on like a house on fire, and the result is now on your screens :) james27 : russell - have you got any work in progress - any hints of what's to come ? Russell Davies : Oh bless James27. At the moment I'm just waiting to hear from Channel 4 whether they want a second series of this because quite frankly I can't imagine working on anything else at the moment. So if you like the show, seriously, phone and email Channel 4. Don't let those who hate it get a voice. The support we've had so far is tremendous and I can't thank everyone enough. c4chat ed : Thanks Matt, thanks Russell, and thanks everyone who joined in. I'm sorry that there wasn't more time. Matt and Russell have agreed to do another chat with us at the end of the series. You can email us at dot4@channel4.com or viewer_enquiries@channel4.co.uk For those of you who asked, both the video and a selection of music are going to be released in April, music is on Almighty records and the video is on the Channel 4 label. fac52 : thank you for what
you have done for gay people - its inspiring |