Ritchie just wants to get away.

Away from the Isle of Wight, his strict father, the lack of prospects in love matters and career issues.

His dream are the stages of London's West End.

He wants to be an actor.

When he finally stands on the ferry to the mainland and later the British capital appears to him through the train window, he feels very close to the fulfillment of his dreams.

It is reminiscent of the song "Small Town Boy" by Bronski Beat - Ritchie is gay, moving a liberation for him.

But then Colin, one of his friends, has to go to the hospital.

No doctor knows which illness is weakening him.

The first rumors of a mysterious infection called AIDS are spreading.

Kevin Hanschke

Volunteer.

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    In 1981 the action of the British miniseries "It's a Sin" begins.

    She tells of the beginning of the AIDS crisis in London and of its effects on the lives of a group of friends.

    Russell T Davies wrote the five-part series that ran on Channel 4 in the UK and starts on Starzplay: the man who is the producer and writer behind “Doctor Who” and the drama series “Queer as Folk”.

    Here he shows the partly autobiographical story of a colorful quintet.

    A successful ode to the gay and lesbian emancipation movement

    Ritchie meets Jill at drama school, with whom he moves into a shared apartment they call "Pink Palace". Long party nights and free love determine life in the shared apartment. More roommates move in: Roscoe, who broke up with his religious parents from Nigeria, the shy tailor's apprentice Colin from Wales and Ash, whom the others meet in a bar. They come from different milieus, but they are united by a longing to belong. The friends become a surrogate family, because Ritchie, played by the "Years and Years" singer Olly Alexander, does not dare to come out to his father.

    The series spans ten years. The characters grow up, find their first jobs and their first relationships. The five are full of optimism. That ends abruptly - with the first AIDS death. Davis shows the prejudices with which HIV-infected people had to struggle, the silence of society, the suffering of relatives when, for example, Colin's mother takes care of her seriously ill son.

    With “It's a Sin”, Davies is also approaching his own youth and dealing with the AIDS crisis in his circle of friends. A lot actually happened that way, he said in an interview with the Guardian. The flat share organized a street protest for AIDS education, which the police officers beat down. Colin is defended by a human rights attorney to escape the isolation of the hospital. The court proceedings are based on AIDS trials from the 1980s, with which relatives of infected people fought for permission to visit. Stephen Fry also shines in the role of a member of parliament (for whom there was a real role model in the Tories) who hides his sexual orientation but has an affair with Roscoe. Neil Patrick Harris, on the other hand, plays an aged dandy in a tailored suit,who takes Colin under his wing and shows him the nightlife. But one day it seems to have disappeared from the earth. Colin discovers him after a long search in the hospital. He was also infected with the virus.

    The story arc of the series is predictable, the dialogues sometimes seem stilted, and yet it is a successful ode to the gay and lesbian emancipation movement and the London of the eighties. “It's a Sin” also recalls the era of the Thatcher era, which was polarizing society, in which London was the center of popular culture and yet with Clause 28 in 1986 discriminatory laws against homosexuality were introduced, which made HIV education difficult.

    Nevertheless, the synth-pop melodies of the Pet Shop Boys, who give the series its name, can be heard in Soho's nightclubs.

    The scene dances to “Love will tear us apart” by Joy Division or “Tainted Love” by Soft Cell.

    As the epicenter of the UK's gay and lesbian community, London was hit hard by the AIDS pandemic.

    The interplay of life and death characterizes every episode - the clique lives a comparatively free life, although the external conditions are becoming increasingly difficult.

    There are moments of hope and Ritchie's wish, which he utters when auditioning at drama school: "I just want to be happy."

    It'sa Sin

    , from Sunday at Starzplay.