Trivia / Queer as Folk (UK)

• Breakthrough Hit: This series really put Russell T Davies on the map.
• Creator Recovery: Russell T Davies created the series after surviving a near-fatal drug overdose. The experience not only made him rethink his life, but also make a series celebrating homosexuality.
• Dawson Casting: Nathan is said to be fifteen. Charlie Hunnam was nineteen at the start of the series.
• Prop Recycling: Stuart buys Vince a replica of K-9 in an attempt to buy his affection, and it plays a prominent MacGuffin role in the last couple of episodes. The replica is the BBC's actual K-9 prop.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Christopher Eccleston was Davies' first choice for the role of Stuart Jones after seeing him in Our Friends in the North. Eccleston declined because of his age and suggested his friend Aidan Gillen instead. He would later collaborate with Davies on The Second Coming and the first series of Doctor Who.
  • A Spin-Off series, Misfits was initially commissioned by Channel 4. The series would have followed the characters of Hazel, Alexander, Donna (who was absent from the second series due to scheduling commitments) and Bernard from the original series, while introducing new characters. Although Davies developed draft scripts for four episodes and storylines for a further twenty-two, the series was cancelled before it went into pre-production. As a result of this decision, Davies pulled out of a deal that would have seen a series of Queer as Folk short stories published on the broadcaster's website, and vowed to not work with Channel 4 again, unless he has an idea that only works on that channel.
• Working Title: The Other Side of the Ballroom, Queer as Fuck.
• Write What You Know: The series was based on Russell T Davies' experiences in the Manchester gay scene.