fight for life
THE first look at Channel 4's new drama It's A Sin sees Olly Alexander fight with police.
The Years & Years singer stars in the new five-part drama by former Doctor Who and Queer as Folk writer Russell T Davies which is set in the 1980s when AIDS became prevalent.
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Olly plays Ritchie Tozer, the golden boy of his family who is determined to keep his secrets from them after moving to London to start a new life in 1981.
A synopsis for the series reads: "Strangers at first, Ritchie and his pals Roscoe and Colin, along with their best friend Jill, find themselves thrown together, and soon share each other’s adventures.
"But a new virus is on the rise, and soon their lives will be tested in ways they never imagined.
"As the decade passes, and they grow up in the shadow of AIDS, they’re determined to live and love more fiercely than ever."
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The cast also includes Keeley Hawes, Stephen Fry, Neil Patrick Harris, Tracy Ann Oberman, Shaun Dooley, Omari Douglas, Callum Scott Howells, Nathaniel Curtis and Lydia West.
Speaking about his latest role, Olly said: "I feel like the luckiest boy in the world to be a part of this project, I’ve been a fan of Russell T Davies ever since I watched Queer As Folk in secret at 14 years old.
"His work helped shape my identity as a gay person so I’m absolutely over the moon we’ll be working together.
"The script was amazing to read, I laughed and I cried a lot, it’s a privilege to be helping to tell this story and I’m so excited.”
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Neil Patrick Harris said: "I’m so pleased, and incredibly proud, to be a part of Russell T Davies’ new series.
"This drama is two things: it is an irresistible, funny, jubilant story of young people discovering their true identities and the unalloyed joy of living life to the fullest, it is also a deeply resonant exploration of a decade when so many of these lives were cut short by the devastating effects of the nascent AIDS pandemic.
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"Russell’s scripts chart the highs and lows of this time so beautifully and deftly, it’s an honour to help tell this story.”
Russell added: "I lived through those times, and it’s taken me decades to build up to this. And as time marches on, there’s a danger the story will be forgotten.
"So it’s an honour to write this for the ones we lost, and the ones who survived.”
It's A Sin will air on Channel 4 in 2021.
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