Real-life inspiration behind It’s A Sin dies as creator Russell T Davies shares tribute-Meghna Amin-Entertainment – Metro

Tributes have been paid to one of the inspirations behind It’s A Sin (Picture: Netflix)

It’s A Sin creator Russell T Davies has shared an emotional tribute to a man who inspired the heartbreaking Channel 4 series.

The 2021 series, written by the Doctor Who showrunner, follows the HIV/AIDS crisis in London between 1981 and 1991.

Starring Olly Alexander, Omari Douglas, Lydia West, Nathanial Curtis and Keeley Hawes, It’s A Sin sees a group of gay men and their friends navigating the devastating effects of the disease.

Many scenes of the show took place in the flat they shared, dubbed ‘the Pink Palace’, and Davies has now shared a tribute to one of the people who founded the real location.

He wrote on Instagram alongside a picture with three of his friends: ‘The wonderful Pinky (top left) has died, what a loss. The lovely Phil Lewis.

‘When I joined my Youth Theatre @wgytc in the 70s, Pinky and his gang were camp, hilarious, wise and brilliant.

‘Camp became a way for us to express who we really are. Welsh camp too, the best!

‘Pinky moved to London with @jill.nalder and @jaealexander1 where they founded the Pink Palace, and Pinky went on to become a much-loved drag queen in Brighton.’

Davies went on: ‘I didn’t see him for decades – though I heard the stories! – but we all met up recently, and my God, we laughed. Like I’d seen him yesterday.

‘What a beautiful man. Sympathies and love to his partner Colin, his friends & family and his beloved Jill and Jae. I hope a mysterious woman in a big hat turns up at his funeral, he’d be delighted. 🩷 Night, Pinky darling xxx.’

Followers shared their condolences with Davies, with Jill Nalder, who is thereal-life inspiration behind the show’s character Jill Baxter (played by Lydia West), writing: ‘Beautiful words about our beautiful friend.’

In It’s A Sin, Nalder played the fictional Jill’s love on screen, with Davies calling her: ‘A much more honourable person in that she spent more time on AIDS wards than I ever did, and held the hands of the dying more than I ever did.’

Davies also previously spoke about the inspiration of the Pink Palace in It’s A Sin, while saying the series was taken from his own experience and the stories of his friends who lived through the crisis.

Russell T Davies and Jill Nalder paid tribute to one of their close friends who founded the real ‘Pink Palace’ (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Lydia West’s character Jill Baxter was inspired by Nalder (Picture: Netflix/ROSS FERGUSON)

He told The Express in 2021: ‘A lot of it is based on myself and people I know and stories of people I knew, stories that have built up for decades.’

About the Pink Palace, he added: ‘When I was 18, this series fits in my life literally. I was 18 in 1981 and I went to university and a lot of my friends went to live in London and all my gay friends went to live there and they all moved into a big flat in Hampstead I think it was and they called it the “Pink Palace”.’

‘This quite literally, a lot of the dialogue has got their jokes, their rhythms and stuff like that.’

The drama scored six Bafta TV nominations, and inspired a record number of people to get tested for HIV (Picture: Channel 4)

When It’s A Sin was released, Channel 4 labelled the five-part drama its ‘most-binged new series ever’ and it broke records with 6.5million viewers streaming it in its first month since release.

The drama scored six Bafta TV nominations and had fans in heaps of tears, branding it ‘the greatest television series I’ve ever seen,’ with even Sir Elton John revealing he was a huge fan.

It also inspired a record number of people to get tested for HIV, with Eurovision star Olly highlighting the importance.

It’s A Sin is available to watch on Channel 4.

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