Nicola Shindler

Predictably, Fleet Street was outraged. Queer as Folk, foamed the Daily Mail, “proves that we need censorship… we shouldn’t be at liberty to watch naked actors having relentless homosexual sex”.

Some commentators in the gay press were also critical, arguing that the series should have been less celebratory and angrier about the tragedy of Aids. But, if you are being attacked from both sides, perhaps you are doing something right. Most television viewers and critics certainly thought so as they marvelled at Russell T Davies’s breakthrough drama series.

For a show that took six years and multiple knock-backs before it hit our screens, It’s a Sin is a formidable reminder of the power of TV drama.

The series follows a group of gay friends during the Aids crisis of the 1980s, and earlier this year became All 4’s biggest ever show when it was watched by 18.9 million viewers.

Viewers were drawn in by Russell T Davies’s compelling story and his finely crafted characters, whom we couldn’t help but feel invested in.

Almost every minute of every day used to be very different. Now, what I’m doing might still vary all the time, but each day starts pretty much the same as they have done since last March: heading to my home office after wrangling the kids to start their home schooling.