Original UK Region 2 release (2006)
Excellent condition, 5 panel digipack in slipcase with 32page booklet
Notable improvements over the previous individual releases:
* The originals had no commentary, but the 2006 version has relevant commentary for every episode - and for some of the extras - which is both entertaining and historically vital.
* All of the extras from the original DVD versions, plus a couple more, are here on the 4th disc - leaving space for maximum video quality for the series episodes on the other 3 discs.
* The 2006 version includes a superb 32 page "introductory book" with text by Russell T Davies complemented by lovely photos, and the scenes are clearly indexed where you first unfold the case. Each of the original DVD series only included a single slip with a scene index.
* The only improvement would have been to mention somewhere what each disc contains (which is Disc 1: Series 1 parts 1-4, Disc 2: Series 1 parts 5-8, Disc 3: Series 2 which is a 2 parter, Disc 4: all of the extra deleted scenes, documentaries, interviews, etc.)
Queer as Folk is a 1999 British television series that chronicles the lives of three gay men living in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Initially running for eight episodes, a two-part follow up was shown in 2000. It was written by Russell T Davies and produced by Red Production Company for Channel 4.
The main characters are Stuart Allen Jones (Aidan Gillen), who is highly sexually active, and successfully so. His long-time friend Vince Tyler (Craig Kelly), who has a crush on Stuart, has less luck with men. 15-year-old Nathan Maloney (Charlie Hunnam) is new to the gay scene but is not lacking in self-confidence.
The producers say that Queer as Folk, although superficially a realistic depiction of gay urban life in the 1990s, is meant as a fantasy, and that Stuart, Vince, and Nathan are not so much characters as gay male archetypes.
Stuart, an advertising executive, possesses intrinsic power, able to bend anything to his will. Stuart's principal characteristic is that he does whatever he wants, whenever he wants, however he wants. He blows up a car belonging to his friend Alexander's antagonistic mother (in the second series). He invites Vince's female colleague, who has a crush on closeted Vince, to Vince's birthday party and then introduces Vince's boyfriend. When offered a test drive of a Jeep by a car salesman who makes some homophobic comments, Stuart drives the car straight through the large window of the car dealership.
Cast
Aidan Gillen as Stuart Alan Jones, a successful advertising executive
Craig Kelly as Vince Tyler, a supermarket manager
Charlie Hunnam as Nathan Maloney, a 15-year-old rebel
Denise Black as Hazel Tyler; Vince's free-spirited mother
Andy Devine as Bernard Thomas; Hazel's lodger
Jason Merrells as Phil Delaney; a close friend of Vince and Stuart
Esther Hall as Romey Sullivan; whose baby Stuart fathered by donating his sperm
Saira Todd as Lisa Levene; Romey's partner
Carla Henry as Donna Clark; Nathan's best friend
Ben Maguire as Christian Hobbs; an arrogant classmate of Nathan and Donna
Alison Burrows as Sandra Docherty; Stuart's Assistant
Caroline Pegg as Rosalie Cotter; one of Vince's co-workers, who is romantically interested in him
Caroline O'Neill as Janice Maloney; Nathan's mother
Antony Cotton as Alexander Perry; a flamboyant friend of Vince and Stuart
Peter O'Brien as Cameron Roberts; Phil's accountant who starts a relationship with Vince
Jonathon Natynczyk as Dazz Collinson; a bartender who has a brief relationship with Nathan
Maria Doyle Kennedy as Marie Jones Threepwood; Stuart's recently divorced sister
John Brobbey as Lance Amponah; Romey and Lisa's lodger
