There seems to be so much misunderstanding about this programme. It covers 8 distinct topics.
1. There is no more need for programmes about gay mens' lives.
2. There are gay men in the closet who go cottaging for some sex on the way home to the family.
3. There are gay psychopaths who go cruising, go back with the pickup, viciously attack him, and then go home to mum. The psychopath may himself be beaten up!
4. There are gay men in long term relationships who, even at the wedding party, will go for some sex with a cute waiter.
5. There are homophobic thugs who go looking for gay men to attack and, as in this case, may kill.
6. There are boys under the age of 16 who are desperate for sex and affection with an older man. And older men who have had a bad experience who will try to reject this love.
7. There are chattering class dinner parties where the people display varying degrees of intelligence or hysteria.
8. There are mothers whose silliness, or perhaps sexual desire for their son, passeth all understanding.
All of these topics are real, happening now, part of contemporary gay life. While beneficial law change has revolutionised much of gay life it has not altered much of its real substance. Homophobia is certainly alive and well although gone into the closet in its upper echelons.
I think the programme was mistaken in bringing all these things together in one time, and one place, so that many people gained the impression that they were happening all the time. It might have been better to present them as seperate examples of what could occur. It is ridiculous that only the three short violent events (about 2 minutes altogether) are remembered by so many, including the critics.
boby