Against the Law is a BBC film from 2017 which either passed me by at the time of its release or my memory is playing tricks on me. It was shown on BBC Four on August 16th, 2021. It is set in the UK and begins in 1952 when homosexuality was still illegal. It is based on a true story and tells the disturbing account of the relationship between two gay men, Peter Wildeblood (an Anglo-Canadian journalist) and Eddie McNally (a RAF serviceman) that will lead one of them to be arrested, tried and imprisoned for gross indecency and buggery. It is part drama and part documentary from some of those gay men who lived through the period before The Sexual Offences Act 1967 partially decriminalised male homosexuality in the UK. If you are interested in seeing how tough it was for gay men before the law changed in the UK, then I thoroughly recommend this film.
Below is a brief synopsis from IMDb, a review by Julia Raeside of The Guardian, a newspaper front page clipping from the Daily Mirror and a short YouTube BBC trailer and two promotional still photos:
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Source: IMDbPeter Wildeblood's affair with a handsome serviceman he met in Piccadilly during the time homosexuality was a crime and the devastating consequences of their relationship.
For the full article see: The GuardianTV review Television
Against the Law review – when being gay was a crime
This one-off brilliantly melds drama and documentary to tell the story of the only openly gay man to testify before the Wolfenden Committee in 1955, as well as capturing the fear and shame that once surrounded homosexuality
Julia Raeside
Thu 27 Jul 2017 06.00 BST Last modified on Tue 19 Jun 2018 12.24 BST
“I shouldn’t be here. This shouldn’t be happening to me,” rages Peter Wildeblood (Daniel Mays), as a prison doctor (Mark Gatiss) takes him through the treatment options to “cure” him of his homosexuality. He can either be electrocuted while fantasising about sex with men, or he can receive injections to make him vomit and defecate on himself. He will sit, soiled, for three days, untouched and unhelped. As a dramatic sequence, it is shocking, but backed up by real-life testimonies as it is here, it is devastating . . .
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