Bob & Rose

Bob and Rose is a terrific love story, full of humor, misunderstandings, sex, hurt, and love. Like most relationships. And it's a story that wraps you up in it; you root for this couple. You have to stay and find out what happens to them.

This story was really ahead of its time. Just like true racial equality will come when race is no longer even a subject, sexual equality will come when people no longer use labels and just love who they love, period.

Bob and Rose (as well as many of those around them) go through some confusion about their relationship because it doesn't fit the molds society has created. Their relationship would be much simpler if those molds didn't exist. But right now, they do exist.

What does it mean that Bob has always been gay, but is now in love with a woman? What does it mean that Rose is in love with a man who has always been gay?

It means they fell in love. That's all.

Bob maintains that he is a gay man who just happened to fall in love with a woman. He hasn't become "un-gay" or "changed teams," he just fell in love. This reminds me of what another Russell T Davies character said several years later: when Ianto Jones of Torchwood tries to explain his love for Jack Harkness to his sister, she asks when he became gay; his reply is that "It's not all men. It's just him." He just happened to fall in love with another man.

Would that the world let it be that easy. Hopefully one day it will be.

Bob and Rose is a very good, very real love story. There are realistic conflicts and problems and the solutions are not always clear-cut. It is well worth your time to watch it. And you're going to wish it was longer.

So I heard about this little miniseries a few years ago and having seen all the bad press it got I was immediately turned off. How dare RTD write a show about a gay man going straight! Of course, what I didn't know when I was thinking that was that this little gem isn't about a gay man going straight. A few weeks ago I again come across this title and decide to sit down and watch it for myself, or at least try to.

Turns out, the point of this story is not to say that a gay man can become straight; Bob doesn't ever become straight. Throughout the entire series he is constantly trying to explain to others as well as to himself just what the heck is going on, but never does he tell anyone that he has been 'converted.' He's a gay man who is sexually attracted to other men and, for whatever reason, one woman.

The suggestion that the series depicts gay life as horrible and depressing while shining a light of goodness onto heterosexual relationships is also missing the point. The heterosexual dating scene is depicted as being just as fraught with problems as the gay dating scene. Rose is just as unsatisfied with going out on the pull at a straight pub as Bob is trying to pull at a gay pub. In fact there is a scene which closely parallels one with the other.

So don't let your own preconceptions of what this series is about deter you from watching it. Watching it will probably throw all your preconceptions out the window. Really the only reason to not watch this series is if romantic comedy/dramas aren't your preferred genre. And if that's the case, what are you doing reading a review for a romantic comedy/drama series anyway?

I'm only a few episodes into 'Bob & Rose' as I write this, but the programme is already shaping up to be a far superior product to Russell Davies' last TV hit 'Queer As Folk'. Daring and provocative (and just damn-well needed) as that series was, it always smacked of 'preaching to the converted'.

'Bob & Rose' is a far more more mainstream affair than 'QAF', but in many ways is slowly proving to be more subversive. The characters in 'QAF' lived almost exclusively in the gay ghetto and thus the series sometimes seemed to avoid addressing the more common truth about those of us who attempt to live an open gay lifestyle whilst also operating in the 'real' world. By making 'Bob & Rose' a gay/straight affair, Davies has succeeded in telling a few home truths about the strained relations that exist within the supposed 'liberal' masses, who may be comfortable with gay lifestyles in the abstract, but who often react somewhat differently when faced with the less glamourised reality. The writer has, as a result, produced a far more profound and touching study of (shifting) sexuality than his - perhaps in retrospect - overrated last work.

Moreover, the language is frank and realistic throughout, avoiding the overbearing coyness that other gay/mainstream programming ultimately suffers from (I'm talking to you, 'Will & Grace'!)

One minor quibble, though, in relation to Alan Davies' character. I've been 'out' for almost 5 years now, and I have yet to have met any self-respecting gay man sporting a 'wet-look' shaggy perm. We're talking 'meek suburban white boy sporting early-eighties Rick James jeri-curls' here. Please sort your barnet out in time for series 2, sweetheart....

This is one of my favorite love stories of all time! it was fantastically written.

The show had controversy due to gay people thinking the show made out that being gay is a choice, but they forget... that a gay man wrote it.... based on his friend, who it happened to.

I'm a gay man, and I have had feelings for women in the past... i wouldn't say im bisexual by any means, but now and again, a woman will just seem appealing. i don't know why people got so upset about this TV program, as it was very well represented, and all the gay issues brought up by the gays on the outside about the theory were brought up in the show... such as bob's friend saying ''great, now all our mums will be hoping we'll settle down with a girl'' it was a wonderful TV program, suitable for all! a little bit like an adult sugar rush! my parents loved it... I've got friends who loved it both straight and gay.

its hillariously funny, and will make you cry with both joy and sadness at times. don't allow silly accusations put you off this. it is wonderfully written and one of the best shows itv has every created.

a come back would be brilliant... but then again you never know if it would be any good... maybe let a brilliant show die brilliantly. who knows! but if there was a sequel, i wouldn't miss it for the world.

That rare combination in today's hypermedia, short attention spanned televisual world, Bob and Rose is witty, warm, provocative and honest storytelling.

The ever-prolific Russell T. Davies has delivered a small screen delight with a touching, funny, soul-mate saga that challenges and entertains. The show is awash with superb performances, Davies, Sharp and Stevenson a standout.

I can understand the subject matter provoking strong reactions, but I think that's surely RTD's point. Let's not forget he's the genius behind Queer as Folk - a refreshingly no holds barred writer, inclined to shake things up a bit whatever he turns his hand to.

Upstanding, outstanding television!