Emily Garside: Gay Aliens and Queer Folk

Join us for the launch of Emily Garside's brand new book, Gay Aliens and Queer Folk: How Russell T Davies Changed TV.

Following the stellar career of Russell T. Davies from Queer as Folk to It’s A Sin, with a nod to the forthcoming Dr Who revival, this book tells how one of Wales’s most renowned and beloved screenwriters represented queer lives on television and the huge cultural impact this has had.

The television writing of Russell T. Davies defies easy categorisation, ranging from children’s programmes, across Shakespeare, historical drama and comedy, to the landmark series that have made him a household name.

Gay Aliens and Queer Folk takes a deep dive into the queer narratives Russell T Davies has brought to our screens, exploring how each work created new space for LGBTQ+ stories to enter our living rooms and looking at their impact on the people who saw themselves reflected on mainstream television, often for the first time.

Covering Russell T Davies’ career from his earliest work to his highly anticipated return to the TARDIS for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, and highlighting key themes such as politics, sex, AIDS and the role of Wales in his writing, Emily Garside reveals how Davies broke down barriers, showing gay characters unapologetically living their lives to the full and celebrating the complexity and joy of queer identities.

Emily Garside is a writer and professional nerd, based in Cardiff. She has a PhD in theatrical responses to the AIDS crisis and is a leading expert on LGBTQ+ theatre. Emily regularly writes for journals such as The Queer Review, American Theatre, and Wales Art Review, and she is also the author of Love That Journey For Me: The Queer Revolution of Schitt’s Creek.