Last night I ended up binging the whole series of It’s a Sin. It wasn’t until this afternoon that the sheer gravitas of the show hit me. What an utter amazing series which I am sure will stay with me for a long time to come.  This TV series is an absolute triumph! Brilliant, funny, poignant, important.

 

I grew up on the London gay scene in the early 00s and by that time, safe sex was so much drummed into us that HIV and AIDS never really seemed like a big issue, but watching this show made me realise what it was like back in those days. Thankfully, we have come a long way and it is not the death sentence it used to be and the vast majority of people go on to live a perfectly normal life. It’s very important to know all about the history of the epidemic and I hope that this show educates a whole younger generation.

 

The show has been available to watch on channel 4 in the UK since January and last week in US.

 

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/a35319007/its-a-sin-us-release-hbo-max/

It’s on Amazon Prime in Canada. I think I am on Ep3 but I have almost a dozen series on the go across many platforms. 

My first related death of a friend was 1985 ... that’s when it really started hitting home in Toronto and I adopted safe sex likely about just in time. He was a blue-collar worker, very popular in the ‘scene’ and much loved. 

It all happened very quickly. In contrast to the bleak endings early in this new series there were dozens of relatives and hundreds of community members at a huge church service and cemetery burial. 

Twelve years of devastation before highly active antiretroviral therapy started kicking in. 

I wish it had been a longer run than the 5 episodes,. It felt rushed in parts but boy the last episode really was amazing drama. I’ve not sobbed like that for a while. A horrific topic dealt with intelligently and delicately.

Is it only available on HBO Max in the US?

Yes, I have only seen it on HBO Max here in the US.