From Queer as Folk writer Russell T Davies, E4’s Banana is a series of eight witty, heartfelt and unique stand-alone stories covering different aspects of LGBT life. > Order Banana on DVD on Amazon. Featuring exciting and emerging talent from the fields of acting, writing and directing, Banana offers an intriguing and often unexpected peek … >
Queer as Folk writer Russell T Davies returns to Channel 4 with Cucumber, a new drama series exploring the passions and pitfalls of 21st century gay life. > Order Cucumber on DVD on Amazon. Cucumber follows 46 year old Henry, played by Vincent Franklin (The Thick of It, Twenty Twelve) and his long-suffering boyfriend Lance, … >
I was so ready for this episode of Banana to lift my spirits. I was so ready for Aiden (Dino Fetscher) to get over his superficialities and take a chance with Frank (Alex Frost). I was cheering for them to make it. When they didn’t, it was like one of those punches to the gut … >
In this penultimate episode of Cucumber, Russell T Davies doesn’t give us what we expect. There’s no knock at the door for Henry or Marie – no sudden, shocked bewilderment at news only half-comprehended. Instead, the action begins on the day of Lance’s funeral and we follow Henry going through the motions of thanking guests … >
I am genuinely and continually amazed with the calibre of talent that Banana has showcased so wonderfully each week. I already admired Charlie Covell for the writing in Helen’s story earlier in the season, and am delighted to see her step in front of the camera as well for this episode. Covell plays Amy, a … >
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 … >