Queer as Folk (BFI TV Classics)

In the first critical study of this groundbreaking and controversial series--both the British original and the American remake--Glyn Davis examines in detail its conception, production, controversial content, marketing and reception.  He situates Queer as Folk in relation to the history of "gay TV," Channel 4’s drama output, "New Labour" politics, and the "mainstreaming" of homosexuality in the UK and US in the 1990s.  Davis also explores concerns addressed in the series, such as queer parenting, workplace homophobia, cruising and teenage sexuality.  Acknowledging that Queer as Folk was often wildly entertaining--funny, energetic, sexy and seductive--Davis devotes space and time to tracing its particular aesthetic and narrative pleasures.