''Two of Us'' (also released as ''The Two of Us'' on home video) is a 1987

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

-themed

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television film written by

Leslie Stewart Leslie Matthew Stewart (born 21 March 1961) is a retired Trinidadian boxer. A former world champion and two-time world title challenger, Stewart held the WBA light heavyweight title in 1987. Professional career Known as "Laventille Tiger", S ...

and directed by Roger Tonge. It was produced for the

BBC Schools BBC Schools, also known as BBC for Schools and Colleges or BBC Education, was the educational programming strand set up by the BBC in 1957, broadcasting a range of educational programmes for children aged 5–16. From its launch until June 1983 ...

Scene Scene (from Greek ') may refer to: General * Scene (performing arts), a part of the story held in a single location * Scene (perception), a set of information that can flow from a physical environment into a perceptual system via sensory tran ...

'' series, and intended for young adults. It confronted the

Thatcherite Thatcherism is a form of British conservative ideology named after Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party leader Margaret Thatcher that relates to not just her political platform and particular policies but also her personal character a ...

government's attempt to ban gay sex education in schools via the controversial (and since repealed)

section 28 Section 28 refers to a part of the Local Government Act 1988, which stated that Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities in England, Scotland and Wales "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with t ...

legislation. Given this backdrop, the BBC opted not to show it during the day and it was screened late at night, even though it was originally created for a school audience. It wasn't until February 1990 that the play was shown during the day.BBC Genome Project – BBC2 listings 2 February 1990
/ref>

Plot

The film centres on the life of Phil, a fun loving student in his final year at British

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

. He is currently going steady with girlfriend Sharon, whose best friend Vera (an early role for

Kathy Burke Katherine Lucy Bridget Burke (born 13 June 1964) is an English actress and comedian. She appeared in sketch shows such as '' French and Saunders'' (1988–1999), played a recurring role as Magda on the BBC sitcom '' Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992� ...

) just happens to have the hots for his best mate Matthew. However, Matthew is gay, and dropped out of school the previous year as a means of escaping the abuse of the classroom, only for the discovery of his collection of soft-core gay porn to cause him problems at home as well. Matthew is an ardent swimmer – an opportunity for the film to immediately use and confront an obvious

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

. Phil is torn between the realisation that whilst he loves Sharon, he equally has feelings for Matthew. He tries to have it both ways, introducing the one to the other – prompting Vera to describe him as a "little worm" when Sharon runs off in distress. Tired of the complications of life at home, Phil and Matthew decide to elope to the coastal resort of Seaford on the

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

coast. Sharon follows him, determined to regain her "fella". The film has two endings. In the original 1987 release, Phil returns to Matthew at the beach, and they run together into the ocean. The film was re-released in 1988 with an ending where Phil appears to leave with Sharon, but Matthew decides that life must go on and that he is his own person.

Cast

References

External links

* 1987 television films 1987 films 1987 LGBTQ-related films British LGBTQ-related television films BBC Two original programming 1980s English-language films 1980s British films {{LGBT-film-stub