Close Friends ( Queer as Folk ) is a 1999 British television series that tells the story of several gays living in Manchester around Canal Street. The series consists of two parts, in total there are 10 episodes that aired from February 23, 1999 to February 22, 2000 . The average duration of the episode ranged from 35 to 50 minutes. Scriptwriter - Russell T. Davis. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Channel 4, the series was re-shown from October 14 to 18, 2007 on More 4 . The production of the series was carried out by Red Production Company , commissioned by Channel 4 .
| Close friends | |
|---|---|
| English Queer as folk | |
 First Series DVD Cover | |
| Genre | comedy / drama |
| Creator | Russell T. Davis Ron Cowan Daniel Lipman |
| Producer | |
| Cast | Aidan Gyllen Charlie hunnam Craig Kelly |
| Composer | Murray Gold |
| A country |  United Kingdom |
| Language | |
| Number of seasons | |
| Number of episodes | 10 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | |
| Series duration | 44-58 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Tv channel | Channel 4 |
| On the screens | February 23, 1999 - February 22, 2000 |
| Video format | |
| References | |
| IMDb | ID 0185102 |
Content
- 1 plot
- 2 Cast
- 3 Series Description
- 3.1 Part 1
- 3.2 Part 2
- 4 Shooting
- 5 Interesting Facts
- 6 Music
- 6.1 Soundtrack to the first part of the series
- 6.1.1 Disk No. 1
- 6.1.2 Disk No. 2
- 6.2 Soundtrack to the second part of the series
- 6.2.1 Disk No. 1
- 6.2.2 Disk No. 2
- 6.3 Other entries
- 6.1 Soundtrack to the first part of the series
- 7 notes
- 8 References
Story
Stuart Alan Jones is a successful advertiser and an attractive, gay-minded active sex life. His friend, secretly in love with Stuart, Vince Tyler is not so successful in his career and is not in demand among men. Nathan Maloney is only 15 years old, his sex life is just beginning, but the guy does not have confidence. Fate brings Stuart and Nathan together, forever changing the lives of both ...
Cast
- Craig Kelly - Vince Tyler
- Jason Marrels - Phil Delany
- Aidan Gyllen - Stuart Alan Jones
- Charlie Hunnam - Nathan Maloney
- Andy Devine - Bernard Thomas
- Denise Blake - Hazel Tyler
- Saira Todd - Lisa Levin
- Esther Hall - Romy Sullivan
Series Description
Part 1
| Episode | Air Date | Producer | Screenwriters | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1x01 | February 23, 1999 | Charles MacDougall | Russell T. Davis | |
| Stewart meets 15-year-old Nathan and invites him to his home. That night, Stewart's girlfriend, Romy, gives birth to his son Alfred. Returning home, Stuart and Nathan continue their entertainment, and Stuart's best friend, Vince, secretly in love with him, to watch TV shows of the evening shows on Fridays. The next morning, Vince discovers that teenagers have painted his car. By driving Nathan to school, Stewart makes others understand that Nathan is gay. | ||||
| 1x02 | March 2, 1999 | Charles MacDougall | Russell T. Davis | |
| Nathan tells his friend Donna about the night spent with Stuart, and Vince's colleague arranges for him to meet with a girl named Rosalie. Nathan's mother finds drawings of homoerotic content in her son’s room. Stuart finds a lover on the Internet, and Nathan, who appeared in the apartment of the man, begins to be jealous. | ||||
| 1x03 | March 9, 1999 | Charles MacDougall | Russell T. Davis | |
| Vince is trying to reconcile his friends Phil and Alexander, but Alex has a new guy named Lee who does not speak English. It is later revealed that Lee is an escort awaiting payment. Romy wants Stuart to spend more time with the baby. Rosalie meets Vince on the gay street, who continues to pretend to be straight. Donna is trying to convince Nathan that Stewart is not suitable for him, and a few days later, Vince discovers that Phil passed away due to an allergic reaction to the drug he tried at the club. | ||||
| 1x04 | March 16, 1999 | Charles MacDougall | Russell T. Davis | |
| Vince and Stewart go to Phil's funeral, where they have a difficult conversation with the mother of a friend, who continues to blame his sexual orientation in the death of his son. Nathan seduces a classmate Christian, and at home the boy is waiting for a long-awaited conversation with his mother Janice. | ||||
| 1x05 | March 23, 1999 | Sarah harding | Russell T. Davis | |
| Nathan had sex with his peer, and Stuart had two unknown guys. Cameron, whom Vince met at Phil's funeral, invites a man on a date, and Stuart is forced to look after his nephews, as his sister Mary has a date. | ||||
| 1x06 | March 30, 1999 | Sarah harding | Russell T. Davis | |
| Vince introduces Cameron to his mother, and Stuart and Mary set off to visit their parents. Romy found Alfred a new dad, and Nathan's father conflicts with Stuart - in the end, Nathan moves to live with him. | ||||
| 1x07 | April 6, 1999 | Sarah harding | Russell T. Davis | |
| Stewart is having a party to mark Vince's 30th birthday. In pursuit of his goals, Stuart invites Rosalie to a party and introduces Cameron. Meanwhile, Romy's girlfriend, Lisa, promises to help Stuart discredit her potential husband Lance. | ||||
| 1x08 | April 13, 1999 | Sarah harding | Russell T. Davis | |
| Lance is delayed by the immigration service, and Vince is having difficulty at work, as Rosalie seems to have told everyone that he is gay. Romy is sure that Stewart is to blame, but later it turns out that Nathan is responsible for the arrest of Lance. Cameron confesses to Vince in love, but he does not seem to be able to throw out of Stuart's head. Nathan escapes to London , and Donna has her own problems ... | ||||
Part 2
| Episode | Title | Air Date | Producer | Screenwriters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2x01 | Same Men - New Tricks. Part 1 / The same men, new tricks. Part 1 | February 15, 2000 | Menai Guda | Russell T. Davis |
| Vince and Stewart are about to have sex with another man, but Vince is uncomfortable with this venture. Hazel appears in a gay sauna to question Stuart about Nathan's escape and his last night ... | ||||
| 2x02 | Same Men - New Tricks. Part 2 / The same men, new tricks. Part 2 | February 22, 2000 | Menai Guda | Russell T. Davis |
Filming
The shooting of the series took place in the vicinity of the gay village in Manchester in England. For the filming of the club, Babylon used a real club called Cruz 101 . However, something was replaced in the lighting equipment, and a telephone box was added. In addition, several bars were used for filming on Canal Street . The Manto Bar's staircase has been slightly modified for filming the scene between Stuart and Vince, preparing for dinner.
The lobby of the Bridgewater Hall was used as office space by Stuart. In addition, the Bridgewater Hall logo can be seen in several scenes filmed by an advertising agency.
Interesting Facts
- The series was so popular among gays that soon a remake of the same name “ Close Friends ” appeared on the television screens of America .
- The name of the series comes from the well-known saying, common in Northern England - “there's nowt so queer as folk”, meaning that “there is nothing more strange than a man” (“there's nothing as strange as people”). The joke of the phrase in playing up the modern meaning of the word “queer” is a homosexual man.
- At the stage of creation, the show was called "Queer As Fuck" [1] .
Music
The music of the series was produced by Almighty Records . Thanks to the show itself, the album with the music for the series became gold in just a month. The album went on sale in March 1999 and became the label’s most successful project. The release of this album was commissioned by the company filming the series - Red Production Company , after another studio refused to release a soundtrack due to poor experience with the previous soundtracks of the series on Channel 4 .
Almighty Records Studios gave a month to create the album. However, many of the necessary tracks could not be included in the album - so the Steps group refused to give permission to release their composition, because they did not want their music to be associated with a base TV show. However, thanks to the success of the soundtrack for the series, when he achieved world fame and released his American remake, Channel 4 created his own music division.
Soundtrack to the first part of the series
Disc No. 1
- Queer As Folk Theme
- Sexy Boy - The Kinky Boyz Feat. Kia
- Hold That Sucker Down - OT Quartet
- Horny - Mousse T vs Hot 'N' Juicy
- Nathan's Theme - Doin 'It
- Atomic - Blondie
- Mamma Mia - Abbacadabra
- Uh La La La - Alexia
- Found A Cure - Ultra Nate
- Deeper Love - Ruff Driverz
- Santa Maria - Tatjana
- It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls
- Young Hearts Run Free - Respect & Hannah Jones
- Crush - Bianca
- To Love You More - Rapport & Rochelle
- Showin 'Out - Cinnamon
- Holiday - Who's That Girl
- Love Pains - Obsession
- Was That All It Was - Jones, Hannah
- To Deserve You - Deja Vu & Tasmin
- Armed And Extremely Dangerous - Respect & Shirley Lewis
- Everywhere - Indigo
- I Don't Want To Miss A Thing - Deja Vu & Tasmin
- What Do I Have To Do - Kia
- How Could He Do This To Me - Haywood, Tammy
- Don't Speak - Deja Vu & Tasmin
- Better The Devil You Know - Kia
- Save Tonight - Jackie O
- Breakfast At Tiffany's - Jackie O
- Mouth - Rochelle
- You Think You're A Man - Full Frontal
- Deeper Love - Ruff Driverz
Disc No. 2
- I Am What I Am - Respect Feat. Hannah jones
- Young Hearts Run Free - Respect Feat. Hannah jones
- Crush - Bianca
- To Love You More - Rapport Feat. Rochelle
- Showin 'Out - Cinnamon
- Holiday - Who's That Girl!
- Love Pains - Obsession
- Was That All It Was - Hannah Jones
- To Deserve You - Deja Vu Feat. Tasmin
- Armed And Extremely Dangerous - Respect Feat. Shirley lewis
- Everywhere - Indigo
- I Don't Want To - Deja Vu Feat. Tasmin
- What Do I Have To Do - Kia
- How Could He Do This To Me - Tammy Haywood
- Don't Speak - Deja Vu Feat. Tasmin
- Better The Devil You Know - Kia
- Save Tonight - Jackie 'O'
- Breakfast At Tiffany's - Jackie 'O'
- Mouth - Rochelle
- You Think You're a Man - Full Frontal
Soundtrack to Part Two
On February 5, 2001, Channel 4 released the official soundtrack for the second part of the series.
Disc No. 1
- Indigo - Haven't You Heard
- Shaft - (Mucho Mambo) Sway - Club Mix
- Barkin 'Brothers - Gonna Catch You Baby - (Gordon's Groove) - Full Club Mix
- Tony Di Bart - The Real Thing
- Take That (feat. Lulu) - Relight My Fire
- Jimmy Somerville - Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You
- The Real Thing - You To Me Are Everything
- Erasure - Sometimes
- Abbacadabra - Dancing Queen - Milennium Mix
- Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up
- Eve Gallagher - Love Come Down
- Supermotorfunk - Get Down On It (Put Your Arms In The Air) - Denny Shaft Club Mix
- Divine - Walk Like A Man - Remix
- Urban Cookie Collective - The Key The Secret
Disc No. 2
- Utopia - Feel The Need In Me
- Tabu feat. Mitzi B - Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)
- Indigo - I Don't Know What I'd Do (If You Ever Left me)
- Indigo - Use It Up And Wear It Out
- Obsession - If I Can't Have You
- Sarah Washington - I Will Always Love You
- Hannah Jones - More To This
- Natalie Brown - Love Fool
- Hannah Jones - And I Am Telling You I Am Not Going
- Utopia feat. Charlie - angels
- Jackie 'O' - That Don't Impress Me Much
- The Kinky Boyz - The only Way Is Up
- Obsession - I Only Wanna Be With You
- Rochelle - How Do I Live
- Abbacadabra - Summer Night City
- Abbacadabra - Lay All Your Love On Me
- Natalie Browne - True Faith
- Roman Holiday - You Are The Music
- Jayne Montgomery - What Have You Done For Me
- Natalie Brown - Marvelous
Other entries
6 years after the show ended on January 16, 2006, Absolute Marketing released Ultimate QAF. The Best Of & More from the best songs in the series and Almighty 12 Club Mixes with dance songs in the series.
Notes
- ↑ Davies, Russell T Audio commentary on the 2003 “Definitive Collector's Edition” DVD boxed set of Queer as Folk . (VCD0308).
Links
- Queer as Folk on the Internet Movie Database
- Series on TV.Com
- TV series fan site
- Detailed description of the series in Russian