# It's a Sin (2021)

> Five young gay and straight friends share a London house through the 1980s as the AIDS crisis reshapes their lives.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/96756

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 5
- Episode runtime: 48 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Russell T Davies
- Network: Channel 4
- Cast: Olly Alexander, Omari Douglas, Callum Scott Howells, Lydia West, Nathaniel Curtis, Tobias Charles, Neil Patrick Harris, Andria Doherty
- TMDB rating: 8.6/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9140342/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: bittersweet, defiant, tender, melodramatic, sincere, hopeful, heartbreaking

## What critics say

Critics and audiences broadly acclaim the miniseries for its emotional honesty, sharp writing and vivid portrayal of a friend group living through the early AIDS crisis in 1980s London.

## Synopsis

It's a Sin (2021) is a British limited series created by Russell T Davies for Channel 4, a five-episode period drama that follows a close circle of young friends sharing a bright, crowded London house through the 1980s. Ritchie Tozer (Olly Alexander) is the wide-eyed newcomer chasing the city's nightlife, while Roscoe Babatunde (Omari Douglas) pursues an ambitious dream and Colin Morris-Jones (Callum Scott Howells) wrestles with his family back home. Jill Baxter (Lydia West) and Ash Mukherjee (Nathaniel Curtis) round out the household, their friendships tested by secrets, ambition and the shifting cost of living openly. The engine is simple and painful: the friends want to build lives of freedom and pleasure while a mysterious illness spreads through their community and officials and neighbours look away. Each episode moves through parties, jobs, family rejections and hospital waiting rooms, so the warmth of the friendship keeps colliding with dread. Told as one continuing story across a single season, it carries the defiant joy of a queer chosen family alongside the grief and anger of a public crisis. Tone is melodramatic yet sincere, equal parts funny and heartbreaking, with a historical texture that recalls Pose and Angels in America. Fans of Queer as Folk and Skins will find resonance in its youthful ensemble and its frank handling of desire and loss.

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