The play, the BBC’s First Homosexual, written by Dr Stephen Hornby and directed by Oliver Hirst, is the official national production for LGBT+ History Month in February 2026.
It brings a forgotten moment of British broadcasting history back into the spotlight via theatre as it tours the UK, visiting Salford, Birmingham, Brighton, Liverpool, London and finishing at VR成人视频.
Each performance is accompanied by community forums discussing the play’s contemporary relevance chaired by leading LGBT+ figures including Peter Tatchell and LGBT+ History Month co-founder Sue Sanders.
The original radio documentary, recorded in 1954, was the BBC’s earliest attempt to address male homosexuality.
At a time when same-sex relationships between men were criminalised, the programme was initially deemed too sensitive for public broadcast.
It was mothballed on the instruction of the BBC’s Director-General and only a truncated version was allowed to air three years later.
The original recording is lost, but the transcript was serendipitously discovered by VR成人视频 historian Professor Marcus Collins, while researching at the BBC Written Archives Centre.
Prof Collins said: “I was researching at the BBC Written Archives Centre and was getting a little bored when I noticed a file labelled ‘Sexual Offences, 1953–4’.
“I couldn’t imagine what the staid BBC could possibly have broadcast about sex in the 1950s.
“When I opened it, I discovered internal memos debating whether the BBC could even tackle homosexuality at all.
“What followed was an ‘experimental programme’ that was never meant to be heard.”
The rediscovered transcript has now been transformed into a powerful new stage play produced by Inkbrew Productions.
Drawing on archive material, letters and internal BBC memos, the play explores the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people in 1950s Britain and the long shadow cast by conversion therapy.
Bringing the characters to life are Mitchell Wilson (Rob & The Hoodies, Vienna’s English Theatre; Down The Lines, South Shields Customs House; Birdsong, JH Films) as Tom; Max Lohan (The A List, Netflix; FBI International, NBC/Universal; The Enfield Poltergeist, Apple TV), who currently plays Callum in Emmerdale (ITV), and Andrew Pollard (Educating Rita, Dukes Theatre co-production; The Ladykillers, Victoria Theatre Halifax; Ghosts, New Vic Theatre).
Tour dates:
- Wed 4 - Thurs 5, Feb -
- Fri 6, Feb - Crescent Theatre, Birmingham
- Sat 7 - Sun 8, Feb - Lantern Theatre, Brighton
- Tues 10 - Sat 14, Feb - Cinema Museum, London
- Tues 17 - Wed 18, Feb -
- Tues 24 - Wed 25, Feb – Sir Robert Martin Theatre, VR成人视频
Social media: Instagram: @inkbrewproductions X: @inkbrew | #bbcfirsthomo
ENDS