How the Two of Us challenged Clause 28
It was 1987 and, under Margaret Thatcher’s administration, Clause 28 of the Local Government Act decreed that schools couldn’t present or promote gay relationships or ‘a pretend family relationship’, as it despicably worded it. As AIDS gripped and spread fear, self-loathing, mistrust and hate (as superbly depicted in Russell T. Davis’ It’s A Sin’), the Clause did all it could to keep all of the UK’s gay boys and girls firmly in the closet.
But regular collaborators Producer / Director Roger Tonge and Writer Leslie Stewart were having none of that. They navigated their way through the BBC’s editorial policy, fears and concerns, to produce the first ever UK gay drama for teens, under the BBC Schools SCENE strand, Two of Us.
Facing homophobic abuse, two teens, Matthew (Jason Rush) and Phil (Lee Whitlock), run away to a seaside town (Seaford) joking that they are on honeymoon. But Phil is still torn between his love for his girlfriend, Sharon and his feelings for Matthew.
The result was bold and courageous but more importantly it was real and it proved a lifeline to many. But it wasn’t an easy journey from script to screen.
Roger, the drama’s Producer, describes how it became a hot topic even before it was made.
“The BBC Annual Program Plans had been published in 1985 (in which I signaled “a drama or documentary on the subject of homosexuality”). Some MPs, led by Dame Jill Knight, and campaigner Mary Whitehouse quickly got onto the BBC. with warnings. questions, pressure etc.”
Clause 28, an upcoming General Election, BBC Director General Alistair Milne’s concerns of not wanting a BBC backlash, all combined to create potential problems for the production. But the drama had a champion at the BBC.
“The then Head of BBC Schools, Alan Rogers was still keen to get it tx’d before the growing anti -gay backlash might tempt the BBC to lose courage and ditch it altogether.” Recalls Roger.
“Alan held outside consultations with MPs, amongst others. Some of the dialogue was a sticking point and so he suggested some cuts which could get us past objections and get a transmission.”
One thing that did change was the ending. After Sharon visits Phil, he catches the train back to London, leaving Matthew behind. Cut was the scene where Phil returns to the beach and urges Matthew to jump into the sea with him. Some would say this was a surprising, decision but it came out of this call for cuts in the dialogue.
“We would have a discussion of what needed changing to get transmission,” explains Roger. “We offered a new ending in return that no dialogue should be cut. Whole speeches were suggested, including cutting the line, ‘You can do it at 16, over there, in France’ [which was a nod to the age of consent being 21 in the UK].”
“The ending was very much my idea,” reveals Leslie. “I knew that these SCENE plays had a long life, and we would get the old ending back.
“I said, in the edit, ‘I’ll tell you what, let’s cut it so they don’t come together’. No one could believe it, but I thought at least we get it out and if we’ve done our job right the audience will have wanted them to come together. There would be enough in it that was positive.”
One thing they did bow under pressure to cut was the scene of the boys kissing.
“We had to take a kiss out, but I didn’t think it would make a difference,” says Leslie. “It was the 80s and we knew that there was enough interest. We weren’t going to scrap the whole project over a kiss.”
He was to be proved right, as Roger recalls, “I secretly re-instated it when it was finally shown in daytime. There was no negative reaction from schools at all.”
Shown at 11.30pm, the press reported that the BBC had bowed to pressure and moved the drama to a late-night slot, but that was viewed as a positive decision by the schedulers.
“It gave teachers the opportunity to record it, so it wasn’t pumped into the classroom.” says Leslie. We were on the edge of legality. Clause 28 was quite onerous. If you thought you were gay and you went to your teacher they couldn’t say ‘it’s alright, it’s fine’. I kept on repeating that line, which the right-wing objected to. It was illegal. It put teachers in a difficult position.
The late-night slot proved a good move. It found an audience, with 3 million tuning in, a record for its slot.
“Leslie and I were thrilled,” says Roger. “We knew what extra publicity a school program at midnight would get and, by god, it did.”
One thing they did bow under pressure to cut was the scene of the boys kissing.
“We had to take a kiss out, but I didn’t think it would make a difference,” says Leslie. “It was the 80s and we knew that there was enough interest. We weren’t going to scrap the whole project over a kiss.”
He was to be proved right, as Roger recalls, “I secretly re-instated it when it was finally shown in daytime. There was no negative reaction from schools at all.”
“I lived in a right-wing area and I went to the pub the next day thinking I was going to get a lot of stick and there was a man who was up for bombing Libya, who said, ‘I saw your play last night. This might surprise but I thought it was really sad that the boys didn’t stay together’.
“We got getting on for 1000 letters,” remembers Roger. “One was from a 19-year-old, who wrote ‘I have tried to commit suicide three times. Now for the first time I feel clean about myself, so I won’t try that again’. It still brings tears,”
“It became less about a piece we had made; it was about the subject,” adds Leslie. “It wasn’t about my great masterpiece being seen. It became much more about the conversation. It was really important we were part of that. We didn’t start the conversation; we didn’t lead it. We wanted to be part of it, and I think we did a good job.”
Indeed, it was sold in 15 countries, including the US and was shown in a schools, family or youth slot.
Perhaps, not surprisingly the Daily Express ran the headline “BBC Accused Over Gay TV For Schools” while The Sun went with “Send this video back to where it belongs- the Closet”. Neither could detract from the drama’s success.
Two of Us still packs a punch today and had a huge impact on some, as Leslie explains.
“I was sitting in a pub in 2001 with Chris, a pub buddy that I always admired. He was totally open; the local shop used to get Gay Times in for him. Growing up in a rural, right-wing area, I asked him how difficult it was for him? He replied not difficult at all, saying. ‘I watched a film on the BBC and that kind of changed things for me’. It was the Two of Us. I told him I wrote that and all he could say for the rest of the evening was ‘Well, I never!’.
On 18th November section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003 repealed Clause 28.
You can view a copy of Two of Us on YouTube (search ‘Two of Us BBC Film’)