Ben Aldridge to play gay tective ITV's The Long Call

Contents:

• BEN ALDRIDGE AND PEARL MACKIE ON THE SUBTLE WAY THEIR GAY CRIME DRAMA IS HELPG QUEER KIDS BELONG
• FLEABAG STAR BEN ALDRIDGE TO PLAY GAY TECTIVE WH DADDY ISSU MAJOR NEW ITV THRILLER
• 25 UNFETTABLE GAY TV KISS
• OKLAHOMA MOVIE THEATER POSTS 'WARNG' SIGN ABOUT 'LIGHTYEAR' GAY KISS, LOL CALLS THE MOVE 'BIGOTED'

BEN ALDRIDGE AND PEARL MACKIE ON THE SUBTLE WAY THEIR GAY CRIME DRAMA IS HELPG QUEER KIDS BELONG

From Michael Cashman’s famo gay kiss on EastEnrs, to Brian Dowlg’s Big Brother victory and inic dramas like Sugar Rh and It’s a S. The atmospheric astal whodunn follows Matthew, a gay tective who has recently moved back to his hometown Devon. Matthew is portrayed by actor Ben Aldridge, who me out publicly as gay last summer.

FLEABAG STAR BEN ALDRIDGE TO PLAY GAY TECTIVE WH DADDY ISSU MAJOR NEW ITV THRILLER

But a crime drama starrg a gay tective and two openly queer actors feels like new terrory for Brish televisn particular.

25 UNFETTABLE GAY TV KISS

They’re makg gay characters gay but they’re really not necsarily explorg how that affects their life or how that chang their life. I didn’t know about about the part beg the first ever male gay lead tective when I first read .

Pearl: Havg a gay male tective, as the lead a primetime ITV tective drama isn’t somethg that I’d ever seen before.

So I have to challenge myself now wh adulthood to talk about my queerns and my gayns and make sure that ’s somethg that I n volve a nversatn, whout worryg about havg to “manage” the other person’s reactn my fay. We’ve seen lots of gay killers on TV lately, om The Assassatn of Gianni Versace to Don’t F**k wh Cats and Killg Eve.

OKLAHOMA MOVIE THEATER POSTS 'WARNG' SIGN ABOUT 'LIGHTYEAR' GAY KISS, LOL CALLS THE MOVE 'BIGOTED'

B: In The Long Call we’re fely seeg a gay man existg a different space than we have before. Adam* said was dangero to e out as gay his home untry and feared beg forced to an arranged marriage wh a said he was "so lucky" to wed his soulmate, Ray, Manchter and wish everyone uld marry who they love. There are more than 60 untri wh laws that crimalise same-sex sexual acts acrdg to the Internatnal Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Associatn, cludg Sdi Arabia.

'Authentilly myself'Ray said he had also stggled growg up gay the 1970s and 80s England, which was "tough" said his relig school "dmmed to you, 'you are gog to hell'" Adam returned home to Sdi Arabia, spe beg more than 3, 000 apart and later rtricted by the Covid-19 panmic, they kept touch daily and the romance years ago, Ray proposed on a vio ll and after succsfully applyg for a UK fiancé visa, Adam moved to Manchter December 2022.

Adam said he had been aaid to even wear lours his home untry so the first thg he did when he moved was start to "grow my mullet, got my ears pierced and booked appotments for tattoos" relled how, ntrast, one of his gay iends Sdi had been forced to marry a woman, addg: "It has ed not only his life but the life of his wife. The uple, who live London, said a "really betiful memory" was on the way home when one of their sons shouted out of the black b wdow to Trafalgar Square, "My dads jt got married" and cheered "Yay, gay marriage". The gay kissg scen had on the edge of our seats!