Screenwriter Russell T Davies, most known for producing TV shows Doctor Who and Queer As Folk, expressed his concerns about gay representation on the new streaming platform Disney Plus.
Speaking at the virtual Edinburgh TV Festival last week, Davies spoke about how Disney’s ‘family friendly’ service may impact LGBTQ+ representation.
Davies said: “When Disney Plus launched they had 3,931 hours of entertainment and it took 23 weeks to watch. I could watch the gay content in half an hour and that’s really important to me and really scares me.”
He used the new series ‘Love, Victor’ to highlight his concerns. The spin-off of the 2018 film ‘Love, Simon’ was originally meant to air on Disney Plus before moving to Hulu over fears that the show’s adult themes of sexual exploration would not fit into Disney’s family focussed content.
He added that this move could be a “small sign” of what’s next to come as Disney continues to buy other studios. “Disney is out to buy all of these companies and will keep buying them, and then, as a gay man, I’m sitting there going ‘Well where is my content?’”
However, Davies told festival viewers he has been “impressed with the intelligence” of recent shows such as ‘When They See Us’ and ‘I May Destroy You’ which have shed light on important stories about rape and racism which need to be told.
