Queer as Folk - Series 2 (British TV Series)
(Sep. 04, 2001)

Stuart, Vince and Nathan are back for one last wild, outrageous adventure on Canal Street. But amongst the fabulous nights out, the one-night stands, the clubbing, all is not well. Someone's trying to blackmail Stuart Jones. Stuart is no one's victim. Now he's out for revenge. Big time! As Stuart fights back, Vince is facing a dilemma. Stuart's revenge is taking him on the wrong side of the law, and could even get someone killed. Just when it seems that they might finally get together, Vince thinks Stuart's gone too far. Will Nathan ever get over Stuart? Will Vince ever get his man? Can Stuart ever be stopped? In this witty, exciting drama, only one thing is for sure: No straight person is ever going to call a gay boy "queer" again...

Queer as Folk - Series 1 (British TV Series)
(May. 08, 2001)

When it appeared on British television in 1999, Queer as Folk caused quite a ruckus. There was the sex, as graphic as most anything you'd see in an R-rated film. There were the questionable morals--after all, one of the lead characters knowingly seduced a virginal 15-year-old boy. There was, of course, the rampant homosexuality, seeing as the series followed a group of gay men living in Manchester. But what really got people talking was the quality of the series: no leaden soap opera or exploitative sex romp, Queer as Folk is an engrossing, incredibly well-written series that ranks with some of the best ever produced for British TV. Following the adventures of Stuart (Aidan Gillen), a rake capable of seducing anyone anywhere, and Vince (Craig Kelly), his boy-next-door best friend, as well as the family and friends who surround them, Queer as Folk paints a complex, emotional, and funny portrait of its characters, who range from the regular to the outlandish. Less sensationalistic than it sounds, Queer as Folk shares more in common with gritty, working-class British films like My Beautiful Laundrette and Beautiful Thing than it does with glossy, sex-themed American TV like Sex and the City or even the Americanized version of Queer as Folk. Though definitely comedic in parts, Queer as Folk takes a clear-eyed yet fond view of its characters, from lothario Stuart, who can be charming one minute and self-obsessed the next, to hapless Vince, a mess of insecurities who can't believe it when a handsome Australian (Peter O'Brien) falls in love with him. Fans of the American Queer as Folk will recognize the British counterparts to the American characters, as well as familiar plot arcs, but this series' writing and directing make it a far more dramatic--and multifaceted--look at gay life. This first season set, known as "Series 1," clocks in at four hours. --Mark Englehart