Lost Boys & Fairies creator reveals ‘extraordinary’ impact of BBC gay adoption series

Daf James, the creator of the BBC’s recent three-part drama about gay adoption, Lost Boys & Fairies, has shared some of the “extraordinary” ways the series has impacted queer people across the UK.

Speaking to PinkNews as he was named as one-to-watch in this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough initiative, Daf James explained that the show has led to some queer couples considering adoption, and changed other’s minds about queer people’s right to parent.

Lost Boys & Fairies starred Hawkeye’s Fra Fee and Slow Horses’ Siôn Daniel Young as gay couple Andy and Gabriel, who are going through the process of adoption. 

Yet the show honed in on drag performer Gabriel – or Gabe, as he’s known – and his past experiences with drug addition, chemsex, and growing up with a difficult family background. While his mother died when he was young, his father, played by William Thomas, is distant and quietly homophobic.

After it was released back in June, the miniseries garnered acclaim with critics and audiences for its frank portrayal of adoption – an experience James himself has had, as the father of the three children – and the depiction of queer people as fallible. 

“That’s been the most extraordinary thing, is the personal stories that I’ve had over social media or emails or in person,” he explained.

“I’ve heard somebody [say] that a parent of a friend of theirs who actually didn’t think gay people should be parents, they’ve changed their mind. I mean that’s an extraordinary thing to me and a really beautiful thing.”

He’s also heard from viewers of the show who “weren’t sure about adopting [who are] now considering it, or they’re just starting on the process”.

“It feels like there’s just been an understanding from a lot of different perspectives,” he added.

While the show did accurately and honestly portray the struggle families face in going through the adoption process, Lost Boys & Fairies has also been praised for not demonising the social workers involved. 

Often, TV projects can fall into stereotypes that portray social workers as villains or people who put their children up for adoption as failures. For James, the most important part of writing the show was to “invite an audience to look at all the characters… with deep compassion”.

He also wanted to show that queer people can and do make poor decisions, even those who are trying to become parents.

“As queer people, it often feels like we have to try even harder to be perfect. It’s part of the way that we armour up and it’s part of gay shame and how gay shame manifests itself in so many different ways,” he said.

“It almost feels like, as a parent, you feel like you have to prove society that we should be doing this [or] we’ve got to be even better parents. Of course, that’s just nonsense to start with, because there’s no such thing as perfect parenting. As a parent, you fail all the time. It’s part of the learning.

“It’s important that we fail all the time, because… we can also repair, and actually, that is an extraordinary lesson that you could teach your children.”

Online, fans of the show thanked James for giving queer people “a safe space to f**k up”.

“Let’s just be honest, every single human is a f**k up,” he said in response.

“That’s the truth of the matter, aren’t they, you know? I mean, like we all f**k up… It’s really important that we admit our vulnerabilities, because I think that and that’s where our humanity lies.”

The full list of industry professionals included in this year’s BAFTA Breakthrough initiative can be seen here.

Lost Boys & Fairies is streaming now on BBC iPlayer.

Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.