Queer as Folk: How Russell T Davies' drama changed people's lives

Set in Manchester, Queer as Folk was first broadcast 25 years ago

Queer as Folk has been heralded as life-changing - and even life-saving.

First broadcast 25 years ago, the TV series depicted three characters living in Manchester's Gay Village in a frank, funny and explicit way that had not been seen on UK TV before.

Popular soaps like EastEnders had featured gay relationships, but such portrayals were rare and controversial.

Welsh screenwriter Russell T Davies' series came to be regarded as a milestone in LGBTQ+ representation.

• A little chat with Russell T Davies

• How Queer as Folk broke the mould for gay people on TV

Rob Keetch, from Cardiff, was 28 years old when the programme was first aired on Channel 4 in February 1999.

He had come out as gay five years earlier and said the series was "huge".

"It really changed people's lives," he said.

"For the first time people were seeing gay people as ordinary folk on screen - they were seen as teachers, solicitors, schoolboys and neighbours."

Mr Keetch said Queer As Folk brought the LGBTQ+ community into the mainstream

Mr Keetch said, at the time, "95% of the British public saw gay men as a joke, like John Inman in Are You Being Served?"

"But this allowed the LGBT community to actually be seen as real people," he added.

"And issues that the rainbow community were affected by were being seen."

'Non-apologetic'

Dale Jones was 33 and still finding his way as a gay man when he first watched the series.

"I think it gave a sometimes brutal, in your face portrayal," he said.

"It was very liberating if you were newly out and allowed you to not feel ashamed of your own lifestyle."

Gavin James Cromwell, from Newport, said he remembered seeing the trailers for Queer as Folk and thinking: "What the hell? Is this something I can watch? Is it rude?"

He said it made him realise he was "not alone".

"It's not just me, and there is a world out there that is accepting with people that understand and are going through what I'm going through," he added.

Mr Cromwell said he remembered taping the first episode of Queer as Folk on video

Mr Cromwell said the series was like "an education".

"A lot more friends and acquaintances started to come out and felt more comfortable and confident, including myself, to be more open about who we were, what we liked and not to feel ashamed.

"It also got people to ask genuine questions and discuss and actually find out what it was like to be LGBTQ+. It was a game changer.

"Back when Queer as Folk had come out there was nothing at all in Newport to do with LGBTQ+, and if it was it was underground, it was a huge risk to come out and pretty scary."

He said the show "normalised" being gay.

"Russell T Davies literally saved lives with this show," he added.

'Incredibly daring'

TV critic and broadcaster Scott Bryan said he did not think another broadcaster would have aired the show at the time.

"Channel 4 has a legacy of doing shows that serve underserved audiences," he said.

"It was one of the shows that paved the way for a lot we have today.

"It was incredibly daring, as it depicted lives that hadn't been written before."

Russell T Davies went on to write the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, as well as hit series Years and Years and It's a Sin

Since Queer as Folk, Russell T Davies has gone on to write numerous series with LGBTQ+ storylines - including Cucumber and It's a Sin.

The Welsh screenwriter said in an Instagram post on Friday to mark Queer as Folk's 25th anniversary that the series had "changed [his] life".

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