Russell T Davies teases ‘gorgeous’ It’s a Sin dance adaptation as Channel 4 drama heads to the stage (EXCLUSIVE)

Russell T Davies has teased details of the It’s a Sin dance adaptation, after it was announced the landmark Channel 4 drama would be adapted for the stage.

The series, which followed a group of young gay men during the HIV/AIDS crisis in 1980s London, is being reimagined by Rambert, with Davies and Pet Shop Boys attached as executive producers. 

Set to premiere at Aviva Studios in Manchester before touring, the “gorgeous” adaptation will reinterpret the story through movement, music and cinematic visuals. Speaking exclusively to Attitude before his BFI Flare Screen Talk yesterday (23 March), Davies explained why now felt like the right time to return to the story.

He also discussed the ever-expanding LGBTQ+ “alphabet”, the joy of new queer stories emerging, and his decision not to engage with online backlash.

Attitude: You’ve shaped queer British TV for decades – do you feel a responsibility when you write, or are you just trying to entertain?

Russell: I think when I’m writing it’s – I don’t exactly feel a responsibility to the queer community because that’s the most boring way to write. I just write notes then, and polemics. I just have to think of the story and the characters when I’m writing. That’s my full responsibility. When I then step back from it, then it turns out, sometimes to my surprise, that I have been writing about the queer community and us and stuff like that. But that’s just natural to me. So no, it’s just so I am. I mean, the fact that I’m gay and bent and homosexual to every degree means that that’s how it comes out in my work. But it’s not a conscious plan as such.

What excites you most about telling queer stories in 2026 compared to when you first started out?

It’s great to be telling stories. The marvellous thing about us with our L and G and B and T and Q and I and A is that we keep on adding letters. And there’s a film being shown at the Flare Festival – a romantic love story, or just a story – and that’s new territory. And the more we define ourselves – I like the way people take the piss out of the number of letters we put in our identity – but actually what that means is that we think about ourselves more than other people do, and define ourselves and discover ourselves more. And I think that’s brilliant. So bring on the letters. For every new letter, there’s a thousand new stories and a thousand new storytellers waiting to tell those stories. So it’s brilliant. Yeah, yeah. Non stop.

Why did it feel right to bring It’s a Sin back now, and why through dance rather than a traditional play?

Yeah, it was simply – Rambert approached us and they’d done the stage version of Peaky Blinders, which was actually absolutely beautiful, which has finished in theatres now, I think, but it’s still on the iPlayer. You can see that. I thought that was such a stunning piece of work, and they came to us with such a good heart and such good ideas. I’d always slightly dreaded that a musical might be dreadful. People had asked us about a musical and just imagine those two women on the seafront singing an aria at the end of the lounge – I’m not sure that would work. It might work. Maybe that’ll happen one day. But this seemed like a perfect marriage of visuals and ambition and love. They love the material, that’s the point of it. And so we’re very excited. It’s going to take a while, won’t be out till 2027, but it’s going to be gorgeous. I can’t wait to see it.

Can you tell me about the pushback to queerness in Doctor Who and how you respond to that?

Well, I kind of had pushback against what I’ve written all my life, and have I paid any attention? No. Here I am. So I don’t worry about that for a second. And those who do – those pushing back – I can confidently say will never achieve anything with their lives. They won’t even be good friends or good parents or good lovers. I can happily say those people shouting hate online will never achieve anything. Clearly they haven’t. There they are. So why worry about that?

Is there a story that you’re still desperate to tell that hasn’t been made yet?

There’s a million stories still to be told, and it’s because there’s a million versions of us, aren’t there? I think the most common feeling when watching a queer story is to sit at home and think, that’s not me, that doesn’t represent me. That’s actually quite a healthy feeling. That’s fine, that’s great. And so get off your ass and do something about it. Get yourself out there, get yourself represented. Do it.