Bob & Rose

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!

It is to typical of people complaining about something when they no nothing about it...So this is about a gay man falling for a straight women. First of all...This is a true story so you cant say its not believable Second its written by a gay man so the whole thing about this being against the gays are just plain stupid. Personally I think this was the best love story I've ever seen. And I am very pro gay. I think this shows that real love is about personality not just looks and sex. And it has nothing against anyone who is gay, straight or bi unlike so many other shows. Maybe we in Europe take to it more cus most TV here are a bit deeper and make you think more then American TV...Plus we don't fear when it comes to showing certain things.

If you want something funny with one of Englands best (Lesley Sharp) and you want to see a decent believable love story without too much sap this is for you. I know I love it

I saw this program at a screening at the NY Gay/Lesbian Film Festival. While Bob maintains that he's still gay even though he's fallen in love and lust with a woman, I seriously doubt that's a concept most people would grasp, let alone believe. Even the British press who covered this program generally called it a "gay man goes straight" show, which I gather is not what Davies had in mind.

I didn't really buy what "Bob and Rose" is selling, but it was better written and acted than expected. What the show depicts may indeed occur once in a blue moon, but I was surprised that "Bob and Rose" painted a rather dreary picture of gay relationships (breakups, shagging in the alleyway) while turning the gay/straight relationship in to a complex, but finally positive and romantic experience. Double-standard, eh? And from a gay man like Davies, you'd expect better.

Back in 1978, there was an American film called "A Different Story," about a gay man and a lesbian who wound up falling in love, getting married, and having a kid. "Bob & Rose" has been called "mold-breaking" in the U.K., but it's not that far from the older film in many ways.

If someone really wanted to break a mold, they'd make a film about a straight male who finds himself attracted to a gay man, and finally falls in love with him. I wonder if audiences would embrace that scenario as readily as they do "Bob & Rose," or simply refuse to believe such things could happen, while more than willing to believe a gay man can "change?"

I have watched all but the last episode of this series and really look forward to finding out how the the story pans out. The characters are fully believable and likeable -warts and all. Alan Davies is developing into a credible actor and has shed the lisp (?) and the overgrown-boy-image.

Bob's mother (played by Penelope Wilton) is an absolute hoot and would drive any son to drink, gay or straight. A lovely, gentle series, funny but not shallow - it puts a smile on your face.

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....