DOCU-DRAMA

BBC2, 9pm Fifty years ago it was a crime to be gay in the UK. Homosexual men were described using words such as filthy and evil. And more than 10 years before the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1967, Peter Wildeblood, a gay journalist, was found guilty of homosexual offences and jailed.

In this docu-drama, Line of Duty star Daniel Mays is outstanding as Wildeblood, a man who emerged from Wormwood Scrubs one year later, determined to campaign for gay rights.

Docu-dramas don’t always work because the documentary can distract from the drama. But here the real life testimony – from men who lived through those days when homosexuals were routinely imprisoned or forced to undergo chemical aversion therapy in an attempt to ‘cure’ them – is used to powerful effect.

One man explains: “You could be arrested for just looking at someone in the street.” CAMPAIGN Mays as Wildeblood