Well, you can’t say we weren’t warned. In the opening sequence of this episode, the caption clearly reads, ‘Lance Edward Sullivan, 1966 – 2015’. There was the possibility that this could have been a piece of Russell T Davies misdirection, in the spirit of Rose Tyler’s ‘This is the story of how I died’. But … >
Something changes in one’s experience of stories about young adults, as one gets older and the time between when one was that age grows further and further away. Such is the case for me with Banana, as I find myself looking on with second-hand knowing embarrassment at the attitudes and silly decisions of some of … >
‘I hate gay men,’ said Henry (Vincent Franklin) in Cucumber’s opening episode last month. ‘It’s all ‘Hi!’ and ‘Oh my God! Look at you!’’ It was the kind of comment that was all whipped cream with knives: the kind of frothy acerbity which – following on from a titillatingly phallic opening sequence – wolfishly opened … >
The fourth episode of Banana was one of the most stressful things I’ve had the pleasure of watching for quite some time. Helen (Bethany Black) is so sweet and so lovely, I just so desperately want good things to happen to her: I want Eddie to stop bothering her, and I’m so sad when he … >
Finally, after years spent traversing the space-time vortex, Russell T Davies gets to write a scene of two men, sat at a table, talking about relationships. As Henry (Vincent Franklin) opens up to newcomer Leigh (Phaldut Sharma) about his fears of sex and fears of men, the character visibly softens, beginning the journey perhaps towards … >
There’s an old joke that was told to me by a former girlfriend many years ago: what do two women do on their second date? They hire a moving van. While I’m typically inclined to roll my eyes at any such a stereotype, this does apply itself to Banana’s third episode with staggering accuracy. The … >
Say what you like about Russell T Davies as a writer, he doesn’t crave anyone’s approval. Tackling the unsettling topic of teacher-pupil grooming this week, Davies eschews sermonising – and avoids Queer as Folk territory – by showing the retrospective consequences of such an affair. A game of sexual cat and mouse is played between … >
Writer Russell T Davies has confirmed that he only plans for his new Channel 4 series Cucumber to run for one season. Starring Vincent Franklin (The Thick of It) and Cyril Nri (The Bill), the eight-part drama about the passions and pitfalls of 21st century gay life launched last week. > Order Cucumber on DVD on … >
The second episode of E4’s Cucumber spin-off Banana manages to impress as much as the first, with Scotty (Letitia Wright) starring in tale of beauty and the consequences of misplaced love. When she catches a glimpse of a woman’s kindness in the supermarket, Scotty falls in love, but instead of just approaching the most beautiful … >
First off – if you haven’t yet seen this week’s Banana, stop reading this review and go and watch it now. Cleverly resolved and with characters you root for, it has a touching charm that marks it out as something rather special, even by Russell T Davies’s high standards. In fact, whisper it gently, but … >