When it comes to finding decent British gay programming it can be pretty difficult. Russell T Davies divisive triple-whammy Cucumber, Banana and Tofu has been and gone, and aside from the odd token gay character in British shows there isn’t really anything that caters to the LGBT crowd. Lloyd Eyre-Morgan and Rob Ward have teamed up to rectify that with their new creation Outings, a three-part British drama focusing on a group of gay 20-somethings.
Released on DVD via TLA Releasing, Outings is a three-part series that aims to fill the current gap in programming for gay audiences. With a fairly large cast of characters, Outings kicks off with an awkward sexual encounter between Kane (Eyre-Morgan) and his on/off boyfriend Tom (Nathan Morris) that soon turns into an unexpected break-up. Over the course of the three episodes we’re introduced to Kane’s friends Kiegan (Ward), who has a hostile relationship with his sister-in-law to be, and Tim (Daniel Wallace), who is experiencing difficulties with best friend Lucy (Verity-May Henry).
Outings takes fairly common scenarios as its source material and explores them with its cast of colourful characters. Many of the themes and issues highlighted across the three episodes have been done before in other dramas (Skins, Queen as Folk etc) but the cast throws themselves into their roles putting their own spin on them. It’s clear that Eyre-Morgan and Ward are aiming to capture real-life with Outings and largely they achieve it.
Performances across the board are pretty strong. Eyre-Morgan and Ward are among the stronger members of the cast with Henry a delight as Lucy. There’s a natural rapport with the cast and you can tell they all genuinely get along with one another. At times it’s more like watching a bunch of mates living out their lives than a serialised drama.
Outings shows potential and if demand for the show is high enough there could well be more episodes according to Eyre-Morgan. The series is a fun and engaging drama with some great performances and it should easily find a willing audience. Outings is a nice mix of drama and humour with plenty of guy candy on offer to help sweeten the deal. I look forward to seeing where the show goes from here.
[brid video=”41369″ player=”531″ title=”Outings Season 1 Trailer TLA Releasing”]
Cast: Rob Ward, Lloyd Eyre-Morgan, Daniel Wallace, Verity-May Henry, Simon Keen Released By: TLA Releasing Certificate: 15 Duration: 90 mins Release Date: 13th June 2016
