3 ms·
I believe at the time in the UK not just homosexuality (cf. Alan Turing) but also depictions of it were illegal, so this was a way to have gay characters withou
by grkvlt 9y ago
I believe at the time in the UK not just homosexuality (cf. Alan Turing) but also depictions of it were illegal, so this was a way to have gay characters without the BBC directors or censors realising.
- pvg 9y agoalso depictions of it were illegal I don't think 'having a gay character' was illegal or that there was any doubt in the minds of directors, censors or audience the characters were gay.
- jdietrich 9y agoDepicting gay characters wasn't illegal, but it would have caused an almighty shitstorm in the tabloid press. In the 60s and 70s, British comedy and light entertainment was rife with "confirmed bachelors" with a flamboyant manner - John Inman, Kenneth Williams, Frankie Howerd, Larry Grayson etc. A metropolitan audience would see them as obviously gay, but there was a level of plausible deniability, aided by straight camp and drag performers like Dick Emery and Stanley Baxter.