Meet the Cast of Channel 4's It's a Sin
It's A Sin: Meet the Exciting Newcomers Joining the Cast of Channel 4's Vibrant LGBTQI+ Series
Now that we've officially entered 2021, a slew of new shows are on their way. One series we're looking forward to is Channel 4's It's A Sin, a five-part series that depicts the HIV epidemic in London during the 1980s.
In the series's first teaser, released this month, we see Ritchie Tozer (played by Olly Alexander from the band Years & Years) giving an impressive monologue about his extreme scepticism about HIV/AIDS. Backed by a jaunty disco beat, he laughingly recaps all of the conspiracy theories about the illness and how vehemently he believes none of it in the early days of the epidemic.
The series is written and created by Russell T Davies (Doctor Who and Years and Years series showrunner) and follows a young group of friends through the joys and heartbreaks through the '80s. When speaking with RadioTimes, Davies explained the story is loosely based on his own experiences as a gay man who was 18 years old in 1981, just like Ritchie.
Davies also spoke about the importance of casting LGBTQI+ actors in LGBTQI+ roles. "I'm not being woke about this ... but I feel strongly that if I cast someone in a story, I am casting them to act as a lover, or an enemy, or someone on drugs or a criminal or a saint ... they are not there to 'act gay' because 'acting gay' is a bunch of codes for a performance. It's about authenticity," he said. "You wouldn't cast someone able-bodied and put them in a wheelchair, you wouldn't black someone up. Authenticity is leading us to joyous places."
It's A Sin will premiere on 22 Jan. at 9 p.m. on Channel 4, and you won't want to miss it. Ahead, get up to speed on the cast, which is stacked with both relative newcomers and veteran actors alike.
Olly Alexander as Ritchie Tozer
Nathaniel Curtis as Ash Mukherjee
Omari Douglas as Roscoe Babatunde
Lydia West as Jill Baxter
Callum Scott Howells as Colin Morris-Jones
Keeley Hawes as Valerie Tozer
Stephen Fry as Arthur Garrison
Neil Patrick Harris as Henry Coltrane
