Russell T Davies on THAT plot twist in Cucumber
Russell T Davies has spoken about last night’s shock plot twist in gay drama Cucumber.
The latest episode of the Channel 4 drama saw character Lance (Cyril Nyri) murdered in a moment of fury by drunken colleague Daniel, after the pair hooked up.
Showrunner Russell T Davies spoke to the Radio Times about the decision, saying: “I was very aware from the start that this whole series amounted to basically first-world problems. Sex, family, love, money. No one’s in danger of starving!
“When actually, to live as a gay man in the world, even here in the west, means skirting round violence every day. Like it or not. That’s a fact.
“Its potential is always there. And just 3,000 miles away – that’s next door, it’s just next door to us – gay men in Syria are being thrown off rooftops.
“While Putin gathers power every day, what is his obsession with homosexuality? I mean, seriously, what is it?”
He added: “I keep writing that in dramas, that One Bad Night. The night that goes wrong. I think it’s a very gay experience, every gay man out there has had a night like this, in potential, or could have a night like this at any time.
“I shouldn’t claim it as gay – anyone can walk down that path. Just a step too far, just a drink too much, in the city, at night, and you’re in trouble.
“Though I do think this territory belongs to women and gay men in particular, to be honest.
“And while that’s very generalised, then specifically, men like Daniel exist in this exact detail.
“And once or twice a year, you’ll see some story, some man with another man, and a lashing out, and a death, at the end of a long, dark night.
“From the moment I began to think of Cucumber, a decade ago, I knew an act of violence would interrupt a comparatively cosy world.
“It’ll happen this weekend, to some man or some woman.
“A night out will end in harm, or HIV, or a terrible memory, and at its worst – a few times a year, all year round, every year – a night will end like Lance’s.”
