Holy Hollyoaks Lads!

Recently, I was introduced to - quite by chance really - a cute little British prime time soap called Hollyoaks where John Paul and Craig have been having a steamy love affair/coming out story that's unlike anything I've ever seen on TV.
As I was browsing Youtube for a video, that David had put together in which I was a Latte Drinker - the show Hollyoaks - which has been a bit of a wank-fodder on Channel 4 for over 14 years now - came up on the side bar.
Boy am I glad for having clicked on it.

Hollyoaks is a soap opera about the young and the restless residents of a sleepy little village in England who are bursting into adulthood and bursting out of their underpants. We watch them growing up and having to deal with with life-issues (Pronounced with a very prolonged "sssss" sound; not a "sh" one - PS) that vary from the typical, class, race, theft and blackmail, arson, pregnancy and adultery to the more delicate ones like eating disorders and most recently a gay coming out.

There is something very refreshing about British TV cause they're able to produce daring shows that challenge the norm in a way that is unheard of in American TV while keeping it all fresh and sexy.

Hollyoaks was never quite "My So Called Life" but it has done a major turnaround recently which has seen its popularity go through the roof. The shows also been raking it in at the British TV awards recently ... all the better to them.

All this started last year when they introduced a storyline about a young man called John Paul McQueen , a 17 year old, bright, athletic and sensitive boy next door type who has 5 sisters, who has fallen in love with his best "Mate" Craig Dean which made him come out as a gay man in the most awkward of circumstances. John Paul has since blossomed into a role model for young gays across England and now globally too...

What's really striking is that his coming out story has been dealt with a surprising amount of candor, maturity and sensitivity compared to most soaps - they've made a point of it. Even Degrassi High never quite managed to pull off the narrative of Hollyoaks' writers, though that's more to do with the range [hear AGE] of the actors than the strength of the writer...

John Paul and Craig's story is OUTSTANDING in its' pacing, sensitivity and scope.

The writing and the acting of the story has caught England by storm and made the show into a major hit. I myself have been catching up to the show through vid-bits on Youtube.
(http://www.youtube.com/user/da3343 - Thanks mate) but got the bulk of the storyline of JP & Craig through some torrents that fellow gays have compiled into an 8 hour+ torrent.

I can't recommend the show enough! I've cried a many a tears living through the trials and tribulations of the coming out story and the maturing of John Paul and Craig. It's made me very melancholy for the earlier days of my youth when falling head-over-heals in love was a daily risk.


Hollyoaks' huge fan base has grown exponentially as the show has been covered all over the entertainment news in England. I predict it's going to reach across the ocean in no time fast - and as many of you know by now, my crystal ball predictions are rarely wrong (remember Jame Blunt, Heroes...). It has really captured my imagination; I've not been able to stop watching it since.
In the process I've developed a healthy crush on the actor who plays John Paul - James Sutton (http://gallery.jamessutton.org) a straight bloke that looks not too unlike a BF I had in my mid 20's called Matt. In the process I'm also developing a love for things English (their phrasings and colloquialisms, their fondness of "pints" and their particular mix of hip-and-square-ness - something I never liked before as I was a devout Francophile...hue donc!

Maybe it was the news of my friend Serge dying a few days ago, or the fact that I'm already something-something years old without a love in ...sigh...or maybe it's that I'm watching this amazing piece of TV that none of my friends can relate to because they've never heard about it which has made me feel ... who can say... it's made me very melancholy more than once...oye!


Look for and watch the show - you won't be disappointed.