“It’s so interesting how history repeats itself, and how misinformation is so prevalent”
Olly Alexander discusses the eerie parallels between the HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 pandemics during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show.
While promoting his new show It’s A Sin the, the Years & Years singer discussed how peoples disbelief of the current pandemic was similar to those who denied the HIV/AID pandemic.
In the a recent clip, we see Alexander’s character, Ritchie Tozer, downplaying the virus.
“It’s not fair, everytime we go out it’s this s***, the whole thing is a pack of lies,” he said.
Norton pointed out the similarities to today where many people around the world have denied the legitimacy of COVID-19.
“Can you hear how timely that’s become? Because we kind of think misinformation is a new thing but it was always there,” Norton says.
Alexander went on to say that the COVID consipirary theories sounded exactly like his character.
“We finished filming a year ago and then when the pandemic started happening and people were saying all these crazy rumours about where it came from and where it was made, honestly my character was saying the same lines.
“This is a period show about the ’80s, it blew my mind. It’s so interesting how history repeats itself, and how misinformation is so prevalent,” Alexander says.
It’s A Sin is a five-part drama from Queer as Folk visionary Russell T Davies and follows a group of friends in 1980s London who grow up in the shadow of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
He is joined by Roscoe Babatunde (played by newcomer Omari Douglas), Colin Morris-Jones (Callum Scott Howells), Jill Baxter (Lydia West) and Ash Mukherjee (Nathaniel Curtis).
Neil Patrick Harris, Keeley Hawes, Stephen Fry, Tracy Ann Oberman, and Shaun Dooler also star in the series, which airs January on Channel 4 and HBO Max in the US.
An official synopsis for the show reads: “It’s 1981, the start of a new decade and Ritchie, Roscoe and Colin begin a new life in London.
“Strangers at first, these young gay lads, and their best friend Jill, find themselves thrown together, and soon share each other’s adventures.
“But a new virus is on the rise, and soon their lives will be tested in ways they never imagined. As the decade passes, and they grow up in the shadow of AIDS, they’re determined to live and love more fiercely than ever.”
Watch the full sneak peek below.
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