November 21, 2013 | Arts / Entertainment

'Queer as Folk' creator back for more

Russell T Davies, the man who brought us Queer as Folk back in 2000, is planning two new queer-centric dramas for British TV to air in 2014.

Cucumber will follow the exploits of a 40-something gay man named Henry and his long-suffering boyfriend Lance. Their comfortable life is destroyed following a disastrous date night involving a death, a threesome, two police cars and the Glee Christmas album.

Banana will focus on younger characters - including a lesbian and a 19-year-old gay man -  who live, work and play in the same universe as Cucumber.

There will also be an online series called Tofu, which will allow real people to share their own sexual experiences and stories.

The names for the shows, explained Davies, come from the various stages of the male erection. "One, tofu. Two, peeled banana. Three, banana. And four, cucumber. Right there and then, I knew I had my drama," he said. "And it’s a joy to be back with Channel 4 to tell these stories."

He added: "Tofu, banana and cucumber are used figuratively, to convey levels of sexual attraction and sexiness. They are a device to show how our sex lives control our behaviour. We are not trying to make a point about seeing the male phallus on screen. It is exploring sexual behaviour in the context of ordinary people's lives."

"He paints an unflinching and forensic portrait of how our sex lives affect us all," Piers Wenger, Channel 4 Head of Drama, said. "It might be 15 years since Queer as Folk, but he has made it more than worth the wait."

Russell T Davies to explore 21st-century gay life in two Channel 4 dramas [The Guardian]