Sherlock co-creator Mark Gatiss has announced a new project—a curated BBC series that explores 100 years of being gay in Britain.
Queers is a collection of monologues and begins with a story set in 1917 about a World War I soldier who reflects on his attraction to another man after returning from the trenches.
The dramatic shorts will also address the Wolfenden Report of 1957— which recommended homosexuality should be decriminalised— and the HIV crisis of the 1980s.
“At this challenging and fluid time, it’s a marvellous opportunity to celebrate LGBT life and culture, to see how far we have come and how far we still have to go,” Gatiss said in a statement.
“These 15-minute monologues will mark and celebrate some of the most poignant, funny, entertaining, tragic and riotous moments of British gay history and the very personal rites-of-passage of gay Britons through the last 100 years,” he continued.
The series has been written by five up and coming LGBT+ writers who have never previously written for television. The team also includes Jackie Clune (the Guardian) and Brian Fillis (The Curse of Steptoe).
Gatiss—who has also written one of the eight monologues—said it was “a privilege to be working with such brilliant writers and actors.”
Cassian Harrison, channel editor for BBC4, said: “I’m so excited to welcome Mark and his team of incredibly talented writers to BBC4.
“They are crafting an extraordinary roster of stories, heart-breaking and joyous by turns, that I know will delight our audience.”
The series will premiere on BBC 4 in July.
