The Problematic Gaze

This week we're heading back to Canal Street in 1999 to revisit one of the most influential British television dramas ever made: Queer as Folk.
Created by Russell T Davies, the groundbreaking Channel 4 series exploded onto British television with an honesty and confidence rarely seen before. Funny, provocative, explicit and unapologetically gay, it introduced millions of viewers to a world that had seldom been portrayed so openly on mainstream television.
We focus on the unforgettable first episode, meeting the confident and charismatic Stuart, his best friend Vince, and fifteen-year-old Nathan, whose arrival on Manchester's Canal Street sets the story in motion. Along the way we revisit the moments that made headlines—from explicit sex scenes and frank discussions of gay relationships to Stuart fathering a child through sperm donation, Vince's endearing Doctor Who obsession, and some wonderfully memorable comic moments that remind us why the series became such a phenomenon.
In our Pride Corner, we step back into Britain at the end of the 1990s to explore just how much the country was changing. We discuss shifting public attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people, media representation, advertising, the growing visibility of trans people, and how newspapers such as The Sun gradually changed their approach to outing and reporting on LGBTQ+ lives. We also revisit the television, music and popular culture that formed the backdrop to one of the most talked-about dramas of the decade.
Of course, we also examine the controversies that surrounded Queer as Folk. Was the reaction driven by genuine concerns or by lingering prejudice? How does the series look through modern eyes? We discuss its handling of age, sex and consent, while also considering criticisms of its relatively narrow portrayal of gay life, including its overwhelmingly white cast, limited representation of lesbians, and the notable absence of HIV and AIDS from a story set at the end of the twentieth century.
More than twenty-five years later, Queer as Folk remains funny, moving, controversial and hugely influential. This episode asks not simply what has aged well, but what the series tells us about Britain in 1999—and how far we've travelled since.
Join us as we revisit the drama that changed the conversation about LGBTQ+ lives on British television forever.

GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we turn our focus to the 1986 movie: Crocodile Dundee
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To watch the episode of 'Tales Of The City" discussed in this episode on YouTube: Click here
Pack your bags because this week we're moving to 28 Barbary Lane as our Pride series takes us to one of television's most beloved LGBTQ+ classics: Tales of the City.
First broadcast in the UK on Channel 4 in 1993 and adapted from Armistead Maupin's novels, the series transports us back to San Francisco in 1976—a city of sexual liberation, social change and people arriving from across America hoping to reinvent themselves.
At the centre of it all is Mary Ann Singleton, a wonderfully naïve newcomer from Cleveland who visits San Francisco on holiday and promptly decides never to leave. She finds a home at the gloriously bohemian 28 Barbary Lane, presided over by the mysterious and endlessly fabulous Anna Madrigal, and meets a new chosen family including Mona, Mouse and Brian.
Meanwhile, across town, the wealthy Halcyon family introduces us to a very different San Francisco, complete with money, marriage, infidelity and enough secrets to keep several soap operas running for years.
But this episode is about much more than what happens at Barbary Lane.
In our Pride Corner, we explore how San Francisco became one of the world's great LGBTQ+ centres—from the impact of the Second World War and the growth of queer communities to the rise of the Castro and the political breakthrough of Harvey Milk. We also look at the very different world into which the television adaptation arrived in 1993, when LGBTQ+ visibility was growing even as the AIDS crisis continued to cast an enormous shadow.
We discuss why the idea of found family sits at the heart of Tales of the City and why that message resonated so powerfully with generations of LGBTQ+ viewers. We also revisit Anna Madrigal's groundbreaking trans identity and ask how remarkably progressive her portrayal was for mainstream television in the early 1990s, while examining elements that feel more complicated through modern eyes—including casting choices, the framing of secrecy and "deception," and the limited racial diversity that Armistead Maupin himself later acknowledged.
Plus, we revisit the television and music of 1993, explore the characters and stories that made the series so addictive, and ask the big question: more than 30 years later, how much of Tales of the City still holds up?
Warm, funny, sexy, occasionally messy and filled with unforgettable characters, Tales of the City is ultimately about something beautifully simple: finding the people and the place where you can finally be yourself.
Welcome to Barbary Lane, Gazers. We may be staying for a while.
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And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!
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Watch the '40 Minutes: Rent Boys' documentary on YouTube here
This week, as our Pride series continues, we're discussing one of the most powerful—and perhaps least remembered—BBC documentaries ever broadcast Rent Boys, first shown as part of BBC2's acclaimed 40 Minutes strand in December 1984.
Unlike many of the films we've covered, this isn't entertainment. It's an unflinching documentary that quietly observes the lives of vulnerable young male sex workers without narration, judgement or sensationalism, allowing their own voices to tell a story that remains as shocking today as it was forty years ago.
Before exploring the documentary itself, we return to 1984 in our Culture Corner, looking at the music, television and major events shaping Britain during one of the country's most turbulent decades. Against the backdrop of Thatcher's Britain, high unemployment, industrial decline and the emerging AIDS crisis, we consider what life was like for LGBTQ+ people at a time when fear, prejudice and misunderstanding were becoming increasingly widespread.
The documentary introduces us to teenagers and young men whose lives have been shaped by abuse, family rejection, poverty, time spent in care, homelessness and the struggle simply to survive. It also explores the complex realities of selling sex, including questions of identity, shame, survival, and the blurred lines between sexuality and circumstance. Alongside the young men themselves, we hear from a conflicted client wrestling with guilt and secrecy, and from one mother whose compassion offers a rare glimpse of hope.
Throughout the episode we reflect on why Rent Boys remains such an extraordinary piece of documentary filmmaking. Rather than exploiting its subjects, it asks viewers to confront the human stories behind the headlines and to consider how society failed so many vulnerable young people.
It's a difficult watch, but also a deeply compassionate one—an essential document of a forgotten chapter in British LGBTQ+ history and a powerful reminder of why Pride is about far more than celebration. Sometimes it's about remembering the people and stories that history almost left behind.

GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we focus on 'Tales Of The City" Watch the pilot episode on YouTube here
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Don't forget to hit that FOLLOW button to get every episode of The Problematic Gaze downloaded and ready to listen!

Please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. They really help to spread the word of The Problematic Gaze.

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!
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This week we kick off our Pride Month curation. OK, OK so we thought Pride Month was in July instead of June. Be we are taking ownership of our clanger and calling this 'Milking Pride Month'!!!
We start by revisiting one of the most controversial LGBTQ+ films ever released: The Killing of Sister George (1968). Part psychological drama, part soap-industry satire, and part time capsule of queer Britain, it's a film that was groundbreaking, provocative, and deeply problematic all at once.
Click here to watch the film on YouTube
We explore the remarkable journey from Frank Marcus's hit stage play to Robert Aldrich's uncompromising film adaptation, starring the incomparable Beryl Reid alongside Susannah York. At its heart is June "George" Buckridge, the hard-drinking star of a popular BBC soap whose personal life begins to unravel as rumours spread that her character is about to be written out. As her career collapses, so too does her volatile relationship with her much younger partner, Childie, while television executive Mercy Croft quietly orchestrates events from the sidelines.
But this episode is about much more than the film itself.
In our Pride Corner, we travel back to Britain in the late 1960s to explore what life was really like for LGBTQ+ people. We discuss the limited and often stereotyped representation of lesbians on screen, the social and legal landscape following the partial decriminalisation of sex between men in 1967, and the extraordinary importance of London's legendary Gateways Club, one of the few places where lesbian women could meet openly. The film's scenes inside the club now serve as a rare and fascinating record of a community that was seldom seen on screen.
We also ask whether The Killing of Sister George deserves its reputation. Does it simply recycle harmful stereotypes of predatory, unhappy lesbians, or was it reflecting the harsh realities and prejudices of its time? We unpack the film's voyeuristic additions, controversial seduction scene, complicated power dynamics, and why many LGBTQ+ audiences have had such divided reactions over the decades.
Along the way we celebrate the outstanding performances, uncover behind-the-scenes stories, and consider why, despite its flaws, The Killing of Sister George remains an important piece of British queer cinema and an invaluable snapshot of LGBTQ+ history.
It's funny, uncomfortable, heartbreaking, occasionally infuriating—and one of the most fascinating films we've covered for Pride.

GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we focus on the 40 Minutes documentary 'Rent Boys" from 1984. Click here to watch. Please be aware the programme covers very sensitive topics!
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Please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. They really help to spread the word of The Problematic Gaze.

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!
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Pour yourself a Gin and Tonic, grab the olives, and dust off your Demis Roussos LP', because this week we're stepping inside one of the most gloriously awkward evenings in British television history: Abigail's Party.
Originally broadcast as part of the BBC's Play for Today in 1977, Mike Leigh's masterpiece of social discomfort has become one of Britain's defining television dramas. But what makes a play about drinks, small talk and endless passive aggression so endlessly watchable nearly fifty years later?
We explore the remarkable improvisational process that created the production, the unforgettable performances—especially Alison Steadman's iconic Beverly—and the fascinating story behind the music, including why some of the original songs had to be replaced from the original stage production.
We revisit Beverly and Lawrence's disastrous drinks evening, where every refill of gin, every cigarette, and every painfully polite conversation nudges the guests closer to complete emotional collapse. Along the way we ask whether the play's attitudes to class, gender, race, smoking, drinking and marriage feel dated today—or whether Mike Leigh was cleverly exposing these behaviours rather than celebrating them.
As always, we also travel back to the year itself. Our Culture Corner revisits Britain in 1977, from the Silver Jubilee and the rise of punk to disco, Northern Soul, inflation, trade unions, televisions with three channels, and a time when having a telephone at home was still something of a luxury. We also look back at the biggest chart hits, the programmes everyone was watching, and the events shaping everyday British life.
It's funny, painfully recognisable, occasionally tragic, and proof that sometimes the most gripping drama comes from simply putting five people in a suburban living room and letting them slowly destroy one another with cheese and pineapple sticks.
Just don't mention Abigail... she's having a much better party than this one.

GAZER HOMEWORK: Next week we focus on the 1968 cult classic UK film 'The Killing Of Sister George' from 1968. Click here to watch on YouTube
Click here to follow us on all our socials

Don't forget to hit that FOLLOW button to get every episode of The Problematic Gaze downloaded and ready to listen!

Please leave us a review wherever you get your podcasts. They really help to spread the word of The Problematic Gaze.

And if our fellow Gazers want to comment on what they've heard in our episodes, or to suggest future topics, please email us at theproblematicgaze@gmail.com. We love hearing from you!
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.