When I started looking for anything queer aimed at kids on TV from around the time I was born in 1989, I came across a children’s drama called Two of Us. Directed by Roger Tonge and written by Leslie Stewart, it was surprisingly akin to the 2020s series Heartstopper, both in its plot and in the way it makes you feel. But the reaction at the time couldn’t have been more different.
Both feature one character who realises he likes both boys and girls, who falls in love with another guy. Both are set at a comprehensive school. Both have characters who face homophobia and stigma but manage to find a way through because of their love and support for each other.
Yet while Heartstopper resulted in near-universal critical acclaim and received a string of awards, Two of Us was pulled from its planned BBC transmission and was not shown until the following year, 1988. It ended up being shown late at night, with the happy ending changed and a single kiss between the boys removed. The Sun ran an editorial saying that the film should be “returned where it belongs: the closet.” “The real shock for me was that we were quite mild, really,” Stewart tells me now.
I said, the note we must keep, and that I’m keeping, is that it’s a love story, but it’s just two boys.” He’s right. It could be filmed and shown today, albeit without some playground humour between Phil (Lee Whitlock) and his girlfriend Sharon (Jenny Jay). Only 60 minutes long, the film starts with Phil smitten with Sharon but pulling away whenever he is near his close friend Matthew (Jason Rush).
At a disco, Phil shares a slow dance with her but locks eyes with Matthew. I knew what was happening here; any queer viewer would. Phil is clearly developing feelings for Matthew and doesn’t know what to do with them.
Later, he looks at Matthew’s physique for just a little too long while they shower together at a local pool. With just the two of them in the showers, Matthew faces Phil and places his hand first on his cheek, then on his shoulder. He tells him, reassuringly, that everything is going to be OK.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
