Thursday, June 20, 2024

My Review of Lost Boys And Fairies (2024, BBC1 Miniseries)

 


Written by Daf James
Directed by James Kent

Gabriel (to Andy): "It's like being back at school and no one wants to play with us."
Jake: "That's what I feel. Hi."

For Pride Month, the BBC gave us this charming three part miniseries. The premise focused on a couple named Gabriel (Sion Daniel Young) and Andy (Fra Free) who decided the next step in their relationship was to become parents. This miniseries certainly depicted the struggle in that journey.

Working with a kind social worker named Jackie (Elizabeth Barrington), both Gabe and Andy had past and current issues to work through in order to be seen as viable candidates for raising a child. Then they met Jake (Leo Harris) and both were nearly on the same page.

For the most part, the emphasis in this three part series was more on Gabriel than either Andy or Jake. We're given a rundown of his difficult childhood with both Arthur Sion Evans and Dylan Malyn playing the younger and teenage versions of the character, very much complimenting Sion Daniel Young's present day version.

As Gabriel recountered his issues with his sexuality and addictions to alcohol and drugs, in the present day he worked as a drag entertainer and had an uneasy dynamic with his father, Emrys (William Thomas). This served as a contrast to the more easy going one that Andy had with his mother, Sandra (Maria Doyle Kennedy). Sandra's a great character throughout the series.

Of course by the time we're past the second episode, Gabe and Andy actually get to adopt Jake and things were going well. Then Andy was killed and Gabe ended up spiralling into his old habits with the threat of losing Jake as well as having lost Andy. Gabe might not have had his father's unconditional support but he did have Jackie, Sandra, his boss Berwyn (Arwel Gruffydd) and co-worker, Celyn (Shaheen Jafargholi) in his corner.

While I wasn't particularly keen on Andy dying over halfway through this miniseries, I do think the focus was always focused on Gabriel from the start with his personal growth being somewhat paramount to everything else. The ending's definitely predictable but in no way was it unearned. 

- Other great performances in the series included the likes of Sharon D. Clarke and Gwyneth Keyworth as Jake's social worker Claire and birth mother, Becky.
- Gabe and Andy showed up that meeting showing themselves to be Supergirl fans and that was lovely.
- We got a lot of devil imagery thanks to Gabe. He saw the devil a lot in this series.
- Andy got no real flashbacks in this episode and was often depicted as the more sensible one of the couple.
- Standout music: The big cast rendition of Mad World in the final episode certainly stood out.
- Chronology: It felt very present day, though we did see teenage Gabe lust after Take That.

Lost Boys And Fairies does suffer from some cliches that may feel a tad reductive but it's also a beautiful miniseries telling the story of one couple's quest to become parents and in my opinion, it does that well. Easily one of the best things BBC have done this year.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

No comments:

Post a Comment