Welsh playwright Daf James is bringing his own experience of adopting as a gay man to drama Lost Boys and Fairies – something he never imagined would happen when applying for a BBC writing programme five years ago.
The writer, who began his career putting on Welsh-language plays and performing as his alter ego Sue, was accepted into the BBC Drama Writers Programme in 2019. He began developing what would become Lost Boys and Fairies after being paired with various production companies.
“It was a bit like TV speed-dating, it changed my life,” he says. “I wanted to be an actor first and foremost and a composer. I wasn’t interested in writing, I didn’t know anyone who wrote, I didn’t know it was a job or an option. I didn’t write for telly until I was 31. When it came to writing the pilot for Lost Boys and Fairies, I went, ‘This is what I want to say and this is how I want to say it.’”
(Image: BBC / Duck Soup Films / Simon Ridgway)
The three-parter stars Slow Horses’ Sion Daniel Young as Gabriel, a “queer artist extraordinaire” who begins the process of adopting with his long-time partner Andy (Les Miserables’ Fra Fee) while dealing with his traumatic upbringing and the strained relationship with his father. The story was inspired by Daf’s own experience of adopting three kids between the ages of two and five with his husband.
“Eight years ago, we adopted children for the first time and it was the most incredible, life-changing, life-affirming, challenging thing I’d ever been through,” he admits. “It changed me as a human and an artist, and I needed to write about it.
“The characters of Gabriel’s father, Andy and the child – they’re not based on my family or children, they are works of art. But the themes and emotions of the piece definitely come from my real life.”
(Image: BBC / Duck Soup Films / Simon Ridgway)
Watching stars Sion and Fra act out scenes from Daf’s story proved to be a “cathartic” experience. “Sion and Fra have the most extraordinary chemistry on screen. I found it deeply moving and humbling as a writer to have these people manifest those things from my life,” he says.
Throughout the adoption process, Gabriel finds himself battling his past demons – such as his previous drug addiction and his father’s attitude to his sexuality. With a number of darkly intense scenes in the script, Sion admits that he initially “dreaded” filming them.
“I knew they were going to be hard days – but they’re made so much easier when you’re enjoying everyone’s company. Fra and I would laugh every day and that makes doing the heavier stuff a lot easier,” he says. “You’ve got someone who’s going to pull you out of it on the other side and then take the p**s out of you for it later on.”
(Image: BBC / Duck Soup Films / Simon Ridgway)
Sanditon’s Elizabeth Berrington plays social worker Jackie, who Daf wrote as a tribute to the many social workers he’s dealt with over the years. “My experience of social services is so different to what we see on screen and it annoys me that they’re always depicted as the antagonist,” he says.
“The social workers in our lives with our children have been angels to us – they’ve helped us through difficult times and joyful times. It’s a professional role but they’ve gone beyond the call of duty. They work exceptionally hard. I wanted to celebrate that and so Jackie is an amalgamation of all of that.”
Despite the challenges depicted on the show, Fra’s outlook on adopting has now changed. “My friends seem to be shacking up and building families,” he says. “Several of them have adopted kids, they’re in gay relationships – it’s not something I thought I would like to pursue myself.
“But immersing myself in this story was so moving. It’s a really beautiful thing someone can do for a child so I might think twice about what my future as a potential parent might hold.”
As for Daf, it would be a “triumph” if the show inspires more viewers to adopt. “It would be a win because there are hundreds of kids in the UK who need loving homes,” he says. “But also, my job as a storyteller is to entertain and if I can make the audience think or laugh or cry and care for these characters, that would be an amazing thing.”
Lost Boys and Fairies lands on Monday 3rd June on BBC iPlayer, before airing on BBC One on Monday 9th June at 9pm.
View news Source: https://www.ok.co.uk/tv/we-adopted-four-kids-gay-32876679
