Queer as Folk

Manchester’s Canal Street, three men, and a first episode that opens with a 29-year-old taking a 15-year-old home — which caused precisely the scandal it intended to. Russell T Davies wrote it without a single scene of hand-wringing about acceptance, and the effect on British television was immediate.

Stuart is a monster, Vince is in love with him, and Nathan is a menace, and none of them are there to reassure anyone. Two series and it was done. Every UK queer drama since is descended from it, including the one further down this list that Davies made twenty years later.

Stuart Jones has got it all. He's rich, drop-dead gorgeous and always the centre of attention. He can be forgiven the arrogance because he's pretty close to perfection. His best mate Vince Tyler is funny, adorable and definitely a babe but, unlike his friend, has zero confidence in himself. Since time began, Vince has carried a torch for Stuart but his love remains firmly unrequited. They're both 29, hitting Canal Street every night, stalwarts of the scene but just starting to wonder where else their lives may be going. Then along comes Nathan Maloney. Young, wild and coming out with a vengeance, he crowbars his way into their world and once he arrives, nothing is ever the same again.

Synopsis and poster via TMDB.