Russell T Davies has revealed that he rejected an "unbelievably crass" scene idea for It's A Sin during the early days of the show's development.
The five-episode miniseries - set predominantly in the 1980s during the emerging AIDS crisis - was met with almost universal acclaim when it was released on Channel 4 in January.
Davies has admitted that it took some time to get the show commissioned, however, and speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he recalled one particular suggestion that rankled during a pitch meeting with an unnamed broadcaster.
"I was told at one channel, 'What if it starts on an AIDS ward in say, 1990 or 1992, with the machines and people dying, and then went, '10 years earlier...'?'" he said.
"I thought that was unbelievably crass and literally refused to do it. My producer said, 'I know you don't like that scene. If you just type it out, if you just type one page of that, it might get made'.
"I'd rather die than type that page. It's the wrong way to tell it. There was a lot of nonsense like that."
It's A Sin is available to stream on All 4 now.
Neil Wilkes
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