Russell T Davies has spent decades bringing queer lives to television, but his latest reflection on love comes from somewhere closer to home.
The writer behind Queer as Folk and It’s a Sin has found a new relationship after losing his husband, Andrew Smith.
What makes his account especially moving is the space he leaves for both the man he lost and the man he loves now.
A new relationship, with room for memory
Speaking to Attitude in a new interview, Davies describes the unexpected happiness of his relationship with Oliver Cole.
He says Oliver brings a different perspective into his life and that they often talk about Andrew, whose memory remains part of their relationship.
That is a tender way of describing a new beginning: one that can carry history with it.
Love after bereavement can invite difficult questions about loyalty, memory and whether another relationship is even imaginable.
Davies’ account offers room for the possibility that affection can grow without requiring the past to disappear.
An unexpected dinner date
In a separate conversation on Begin Again, covered by Attitude, he explained that he and Cole, an Australian model, first connected through Instagram.
After three months of messaging, they met for dinner in London.
Davies had not even understood the invitation as a date until Oliver kissed him.
For a writer so familiar with romantic plot twists, life had apparently kept one in reserve.
The story is charming, but there is also something reassuring about its lack of a grand plan.
A conversation became a dinner, and the dinner became something neither an audience nor a script could arrange.
The life behind the stories
Andrew died in September 2018, as Davies recalled in his earlier conversation with Marie Curie.
They had spent about 20 years together, and Davies spoke with enduring affection about caring for him during his illness.
His new memoir, The Queerest of Folk: A Life in Television, follows the creative career that developed alongside that personal life.
Publisher Penguin’s listing confirms its October 8 release and describes a journey through children’s programming, soaps and the shows that brought queer relationships into mainstream television.
In the new Attitude interview, Davies wonders: “Maybe it’s time for me to write my big gay love story…”
That is a possibility he is considering, rather than an announcement of a new television project.
For now, the meaningful story is already happening in his life.
Readers curious about the experiences behind his work can explore the memoir’s publisher page, another way into the life of a writer whose stories have accompanied so many of ours.
📷 @russelltdavies63 @theolivercole