Daniel Mays (Line Of Duty, Rogue One: A Star Wars
Story,
Publi
c Enemie
s) stars in B
BC Two&
amp;#39;s po
werful factua
l drama a
s Peter Wilde
blood, a thou
ghtful and p
rivate gay
journalist
whose lover
Eddie McN
ally (p
layed by newc
omer to t
elevisi
on, Richard
Gadd), u
nder pressu
re from
the author
ities, turned
Queen&#3
9;s evidence
against him in
one of
the mo
st explosiv
e court
cases o
f the 1950s
- the infamous
Montagu Trial
. More tha
n ten year
s before t
he decriminal
isation o
f homosexu
al acts in
1967, Pet
er Wildebloo
d, and his
friends
Lord Monta
gu (Mark Edel
-Hunt) an
d Michael
Pitt-Riv
ers, were foun
d guilty of hom
osexual offence
s and jailed.
With his care
er in tat
ters and his pr
ivate l
ife painfu
lly exposed
, Wildebl
ood began h
is sente
nce a broken m
an, bu
t he emerg
ed from W
ormwood Scrubs
a year la
ter det
ermined to
do all h
e could to
change t
he way these
dracon
ian laws agai
nst homosexua
lity im
pacted
on the l
ives of me
n like him. Dan
iel says:
「I&
#39;m incredi
bly proud
to be part of a
drama th
at tells suc
h an important
real-life st
ory. Peter Wil
deblood
is a fas
cinatin
g, complex,
yet flawed
charac
ter from a time
when being a
gay man in
Britain w
as incr
edibly difficul
t - I can&#
39;t wait to
bring h
is tale to lif
e for t
he BBC Two audi
ence.」 Patric
k Holland,
Channel Edi
tor, B
BC Two, sai
d: 「50 y
ears ago,
it was
a crime
to be
a gay man
in the UK.
Against T
he Law is a stu
nning piece t
hat melds
drama and
documen
tary testimon
y to te
ll the st
ory of
one man,
and his wider
generation,
as they
struggled
to make soc
iety accept the
ir sexuality
as non-crimin
al. It is brill
iant to have a
film that bri
ngs the autho
rship of
Brian Fillis,
the vision
of directo
r Fergus O&amp
;#39;Br
ien, and the
outstanding t
alent of
Daniel M
ays and
cast to
this important
subject」 The
drama also
features Ma
rk Gati
ss (Taboo, She
rlock) a
s Wilde
blood&#39
;s prison ps
ychiatrist, Do
ctor Lander
s and Ch
arlie Creed-Mil
es (Ripper
Street
, Peaky
Blinder
s) as Super
intenden
t Jones
. Woven thr
ough this pow
erful drama
is real-li
fe testimon
y from
a chorus of
men who l
ived th
rough tho
se dark da
ys, when hom
osexuals wer
e routinely im
prisoned or
forced to unde
rgo chemical av
ersion ther
apy in an at
tempt t
o cure t
hem of t
heir &q
uot;conditio
n"
. There i
s also t
estimony
from a retir
ed police offi
cer who
se job it was
to enforce t
hese laws,
and a f
ormer psychiat
ric nurse who
administe
red the so-cal
led cures. All
of these ac
counts serv
e to amplify
the themes of
the drama and
help to im
merse us in th
e reality o
f a dar
k chapte
r in our
recent past,
a past sti
ll withi
n the reach
of livi
ng memory.　　Dan
iel Mays (Li
ne Of Duty,
Rogue One: A
Star W
ars Story, Pub
lic Enemies)
stars in
BBC Two&
amp;amp;
#39;