EastBenders: rewriting the ‘legend’ of Michael Cashman and ‘yuppie poofs’
Lord Michael Cashman, the Labour MEP, is making a return to BBC soap opera EastEnders as Colin Russell, the show’s first gay character.
Colin is remembered for a scene in 1987 when he and Barry Clark (Gary Hailes) preformed the first gay kiss on a British soap opera.
The Sun is delighted Colin is back, calling the character a TV “legend”.
Back then the paper dubbed the show EastBenders and called Barry and Colin “yuppie poofters”, whose “homosexual love scenes” was performed “when millions of children were watching”.
The Gay Times recalls:
When the storyline did air, Michael’s real-life boyfriend found his world turned upside down. On the centre pages of the News of the World read the headline “secret gay love of AIDS scare east ender” – outing Michael’s partner to his friends and family. “They printed our address – all but the door number – and that afternoon a brick came through the window.”
Legends can involve real people. Who knew?
Posted: 8th, September 2016 | In: Reviews, Tabloids, TV & Radio Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
