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Queer As Folk is the TV programme which made history earlier this year when first broadcast on Channel Four as being the first series ever to take the subject of under-age homosexual sex seriously and in such graphic terms. The first episode signalled the arrival of the controversy train as 29-year-old Stuart (Aidan Gillen) was seen seducing and making love to 15-year-old Nathan (Charlie Hunnam).Yes, in part, it’s a love story and a complicated one at that, so prepare to break out the tissues, albeit not to cry into…
Vince (Craig Kelly) looks up to his best friend Stuart in more ways thanone, but will his affections ever be reciprocated now new blood is on thescene? Both of them spend their nights down Canal Street in Manchester on the gay scene with their friends in the pubs and clubs and what follows is definitely a soap opera with a difference.
Personally, I’ve been down Canal Street a few times, drank in Metz, Bar Icarus and Manto – the latter of which has an outlet in the Trafford Centre – dined in Metz and the long-gone Blue Cafe and danced the night awayin the Paradise Factory. I’m not gay, but it’s pretty much guaranteed that you can go to the gay village for a few drinks without idiots roaming around looking for a fight as they do in the rest of Manchester.
Plus, it only costs £3 to get into Paradise Factory before 11pm on a Friday and the prices of drinks in the area are no worse than anywhere else (apart from the time a friend and I tried to get a drink in Manto after the clubs shut, taking advantage of their late licence – £3 to get in and another couple of quid for two soft drinks… but then I was too pissed to care at the time :D)
When Queer As Folk was broadcast on television, it was one of the few widescreen shows to be presented in the correct aspect ratio of 16:9. That’s how it appears here and on the corresponding video, but it’s a shame it’s not anamorphic. As such it loses a point, but artifacts are rare to be found. The average bitrate is a high 7.31Mb/s for disc 1 and 7.34Mb/s for disc 2, often peaking at 10Mb/s.
Full marks go to the soundmix which is presented in Dolby Surround as intended. From the clear dialogue, through the pumping sounds of the dance beats in the nightclubs and to the pumping sounds of.. er.. men pumping each other, it all comes across clear as a bell. Just don’t play it too loud otherwise your neighbours might start to wonder what’s going on…
There are 32 chapters spread throughout the series, which equates to four per episode. Not bad when each is just on the long-side of thirty minutes, but a few more wouldn’t have gone amiss.
There’s just the one language on this disc – English – and again there are no subtitles for no good reason at all.
The extras are Behind the Scenes, which is not much to look at, but disc 1 contains three minutes of brief interviews and chat about the series, filmed on location and presented by single-eyebrow ginger-loudmouth Ed Hall. Disc 2 has another four minutes of interviews, which were filmed a few weeks into the series being shown on TV, after their sponsors Becks pulled out (oo-er, missus!).
Plus, a photo library, which is a selection of stills from the series – 20 per disc – but for some reason my DVD-ROM player (Creative Dxr2) only lets me see the first one and then reverts back to the ‘extras’ menu even if I select the option to view the next picture.
The menu is static with a shot of the three boys, but contains the funky theme tune from the show.
Despite the lack of extras, this release still comes well-recommmend. Queer As Folk was a very entertaining series – and apparently a Xmas special is in the works so let’s hope that comes out on DVD, it’s been released on two DVD9s to give the best picture quality possible (still a shame about it being non-anamorphic) and, apart from the BBC’s forthcoming offerings, it’s rare at this stage to see a TV series being released on DVD, which confirms VCI‘s commitment to trying something a bit different and giving the customers what they want.
The packaging is worthy of a mention too: a nice Amaray keep-case that houses two discs very well – the first on a hinge – and easy to take out of the box, too.
There are a number of other TV series that VCI have released on video, including Men Behaving Badly and Father Ted, which I’d love to see on DVD, particularly if those with episodes that have been filmed in 16:9 widescreen (such as the Xmas specials of Men Behaving Badly) are released in anamorphic format.
Queer As Folk is out now on and DVD.
|
FILM CONTENT PICTURE QUALITY SOUND QUALITY EXTRAS |
10 8 10 2 |
| OVERALL | 7.5 |
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 260 minutes
Studio: VCI
Year: 1999
Released: 1999
Cat.no: VCD 0023
Region(s): 2, PAL
Chapters: 32
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround)
Languages: English
Subtitles: None
Widescreen: 1.77:1 (16:9)
16:9-Enhanced: Yes
Macrovision: Yes
Disc Format: 2*DVD9
Series Directors: Charles McDougall (Episodes 1-4), Sarah Harding (Episodes 5-8)
Producers: Nicola Shindler, Russell T Davies
Writer: Russell T Davies
Music: Murray Gold
Cast:
Stuart Jones: Aidan Gillen
Vince Tyler: Craig Kelly
Nathan Maloney: Charlie Hunnam
Phil Delaney: Jason Merrells
Cameron: Peter O’Brien
Harvey Black: Andrew Lancel
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.