It’s a Sin director opens up about importance of sex scenes amid controversial tabloid headlines

Series follows three young gay men in London at the start of the Aids epidemic

The director of It’s a Sin has defended the drama’s sex scenes following a tabloid headline that called them “shocking” and “raunchy”.

Peter Hoare told Digital Spy that he was “outraged” over the headlines. However, he added: “I’m not going to worry about how people feel about it because this is our sex, and this is the way it is.

“And how can you show the story of men having a life they loved and dying from it if you don’t show that sex?”

Russell T Davies’s new Channel 4 miniseries follows three young gay men who move to London just as the Aids crisis is about to unfold in the early Eighties.

Since its release last month, the series has received an overwhelmingly positive reception from fans and critics who have praised the drama for its portrayal of gay culture.

The Sun, however, attracted criticism after it published an article under the headline: “So much sex. It’s a Sin viewers shocked by drama’s explicit montage with raunchy threesome and oral sex.”

Twitter users were quick to compare the story with the publication’s previous reporting on heterosexual sex scenes in shows including Normal People and Bridgerton. 

The Sun has since changed the headline in question and responded with a message of support for the series, via Pink News.

Read more: Russell T Davies Interview

The director went on to explain the importance of dispelling myths about gay sex on the series. 

Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial

Sign up

“We have to see [the characters Ritchie and Ash] looking at each other,” he said. “It feels like a lot of gay sex had been doggy-style or whatever, which felt less personal. I made sure that wasn’t the case.”

You can read The Independent’s four-star review of It’s a Sin here.