It's A Sin was the show that blew everyone away in early 2020 after watching everyone was an emotional wreck! Everybody loved it, coining the show a breakthrough as it showed the humanity behind the disease and the conflicts of the aids crisis.
But what made It's a Sin a standout of evening TV, and what does winning the National Television Award (NTA) mean for TV and Drama like this one?
Warning: There will be spoilers, so if you haven’t watched it, wait until you have and then read this!
Characters
the one thing Russell T Davies is good at is character writing. Whether it’s in Doctor Who or a kids drama. Russell could always create complex, layered and relatable characters. In It’s A Sin, this is no different.
With the main cast of five and the supporting cast, even every character has clear motivations and development throughout the five episodes of the drama.
The five main characters are Ritchie, Colin, Roscoe, Jill and Ash.
Ritchie: At first seems a bit timid and uncomfortable but grows into this charismatic, selfish actor who will help when push comes to shove. And although he is selfish, that doesn’t make his outcome any less depressing!
Roscoe: Is confident, cheeky and wants more than what he currently has. He becomes more cunning but keeps that confident and bold edge, as seen with the Margaret Thatcher fiasco later in episode four.
Colin: is rather innocent and sweet. He is relatively quiet and awkward; however, he becomes more assertive and talkative and can joke around and be more fun.
Ash: admittedly doesn’t get as much development as other characters, but there’s still a bunch of growth there. In the beginning, he’s brutally honest, but we see him become much more reserved, sweet and caring.
Jill: Jill, throughout the serial, is kind, caring and willing to do anything to help. At first, she is paranoid about what the virus can do but becomes an activist for better awareness and treatment and becomes a strong ally. (in fact, #BeMoreJill trended because of how much the fans loved her.)
Brutality of homophobia
Throughout the serial, you see the brutality of homophobia and the AIDS crisis. Now obviously, because we are 40 years away from when this happened, we are naturally going to be shocked.
Because I’m pretty young and not from that generation (and the consensus from people my age) is that homophobia in the 80s was getting beaten up, disowned by family, getting bullied and didn’t go much further.
So when Colin gets forced into a room locked in and the hospital takes a blood test without his permission. You are shocked, angry and terrified. Especially as you know this character and know he’s done nothing wrong and because you’ve grown to care, it makes it even harder.
Russell never shows being gay as a bad thing (as you should), makes the characters witty and funny, and doesn’t let that define them. Still, you see homophobia from others around the world instead.
And then you see the men lying in the wards and being isolated, or the people like Ritchie and Colin asking not to die or are in denial, who have dreams are denied them. Plus, after death, the families are erasing the existence of these men. Watching the serial and learning about the actual cost of AIDS and homophobia is horrendous and terrifying and poignant.
It’s a sin makes an impact because it shows the true extent of homophobia (from section 28 to belongings being burnt) and its effect on the crisis, how it makes the young characters feel, and what AIDS/homophobia is wrongfully denying them.
Development of Valerie and Eileen
Now, these characters I didn’t mention earlier because I had a lot to talk about regarding characterisation and parallels.
Valerie Tozer is Ritchie’s Mum, and Eileen is Colin’s mum. Both of the men develop HIV/AIDS. However, both mums take a radically different approach.
Once she finds out Colin is ill, Eileen Morris Jones helps out as much as possible and takes a humourful approach. (At first, the diagnosis is Epilepsy) however, once it becomes clear, the illness is AIDS. The welsh hospital forces him into a ward and takes an illegal blood test. She fights tooth and nail with the rest of the Pink Palace gang to get Colin back to London.
She never judges Colin or his mates for their sexuality and thinks ‘they’re quite nice.’ We see her visibly grieve for Colin and how the illness has ruined his life and tries to make things better by joining the protest in episode four. Effectively Eileen loses a child but gains four more.
What Valerie turns into
Meanwhile, we see Valerie Tozer in every episode of It’s A Sin at first; we think she’s a somewhat kind lady who deeply cares for her family. However, she is homophobic when Ritchie finally reveals that he has AIDS and is gay in the hospital. She doesn’t take it well (putting it lightly)
She becomes hateful and blinded by her bigotry. From being abusive to nurses, hitting her husband when he worries Ritchie will die and calling Jill an obscenity for not being able to ‘see Ritchie was gay.’
However, this comes to a head when Valerie takes Ritchie home, refuses to let Jill and Roscoe see Ritchie even when they move into a hotel twenty minutes away (no matter how much Ritchie pleads and asks for them.) And then waits the day after Ritchie dies to tell Jill. She stops Ritchie from getting the palliative care he is entitled to receive.
Valerie is insulted by a brilliant speech by Jill about the shame she caused.
Overall there are two parents, one good and one that becomes horrible and genuinely makes the audience want to throw something at their TV. It makes you feel awful for Ritchie and his Pink Palace gang. It's the dehumanisation and infantilisation that gets you. It's the tragedy mixed with love that sticks in your heart with this show. Plus, it creates a parallel between treatment and the two upbringings between the two parents and makes it hurt even more and emphasises how wrong Valerie’s treatment towards Ritchie and his friends at the end is.
What winning the NTA Awards means
At the 2021 National Television Awards, It’s A Sin won the award for Best New Drama, which is monumental for several reasons.
When pitching the show, Russell faced a lot of pushback from the BBC, ITV and even Channel four were hesitant. The show was not going to be made.
Then Channel four finally picked it up but with a shorter run. From eight episodes to five. If it were to reach the whole episode number, we would’ve seen another edition to the Pink Palace Gang and an episode set in the future with Roscoe, Jill and Ritchies Mum and seen what made her such a horrible person!
Representation
On top of that, the writer and main cast were a part of the LGBTQ+ community! Which is rare, especially on TV. And increased representation for those a part of that community. It showed that those from that group should be commissioned/ trusted to write their stories. And that there is talent from those groups and should rely on them more.
Also, it shows broadcasters that people want more stories like this and that it isn’t something to be afraid of showing. These are not stories that can go away or should be lesser. Broadcasting companies need to start taking stories like this seriously. And that’s what the NTA award should show now.
Ultimately It’s A Sin had a raw truth to it that was educational, heartbreaking and impactful. It had all the makings for excellent drama, and it deserved the award. And the win for Best New Drama will show this to the heads of drama at the big studios and push them to tell more stories like this.
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