Aids: The Unheard Tapes

Original version

Simulcast of BBC Two Northern Ireland in high definition

BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

Documentaries

Factual

Factual: Real Life Stories

Innovative series featuring interviews recorded at the height of the Aids crisis.

Real stories, real voices. The Aids crisis as never told before, by those who survived - and those who did not. Frank, intimate accounts from the heart of a devastating epidemic.

Series 1

BBC Two England

England

Simulcast of network BBC Two in high definition.

BBC Two HD

Simulcast of BBC Two Wales in high definition

BBC Two Wales HD

Until 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales (analogue) was known simply as BBC Two Wales. BBC Two Wales (digital) was BBC 2W. From 03/01/2009 BBC Two Wales schedules on both analogue and digital became identical

BBC Two Wales

BBC Two Northern Ireland

Mark Henderson

Morgana Pugh

Leanne Klein

Aids: The Unheard Tapes: Series 1: The Aids Generation

The Aids Generation

BBC Two - Aids: The Unheard Tapes, Series 1, The Aids Generation

The gay community is devastated by Aids. The government acts, but public fear increases.

Amid rising rates of infection, the government educates the nation about Aids. Dedicated hospital wards provide a haven, but deaths continue increasing in the gay community.

London, 1986. Four years after the first appearance of Aids in Britain and the death of Terry Higgins, more gay men than ever are believed to be infected with HIV, and the number receiving Aids diagnoses is rising.

Amid increased calls from the gay community for a national public health strategy, government action is still yet to be fully realised. Those arriving at hospitals with Aids receive variable care or even open hostility. A bombshell hits when predictions show an exponential rise in cases outside of the gay community, and the government creates the high-impact ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ campaign, targeting every household in the country, in the biggest public health emergency since World War II.

Britain’s first specialist Aids ward is opened by Princess Diana, and this watershed moment shows the public that the virus cannot be contracted merely by touch. Dedicated wards across London create a haven for the vast numbers of gay men facing horrific and complex opportunistic infections.

The emotional and political rollercoaster of the late 1980s continues as Section 28 is introduced, preventing teachers from educating their pupils on homosexual issues. Mass protests break out amidst increasing deaths from Aids.

The stories of men including Jeremy, John, Martyn and Tony, recorded at the time, bring these experiences to life. Their real voices are lip-synced by actors, giving first-hand insight into their lives at the time. They try to adapt to their lives as part of the 'Aids generation’ and struggle with the deaths of those they love.

There is still no cure, but finally towards the turn of the decade, public responses to people with Aids seem to be beginning to take small steps forward.

Aids: The Unheard Tapes: Series 1

BBC Two

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Innovative series featuring interviews recorded at the height of the Aids crisis in 80s and 90s Britain, lip-synced by actors, telling the story of HIV and Aids in their own words.

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Aids: The Unheard Tapes

Series 1

The Aids Generation

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BBC Two Northern Ireland HD

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