24/07/2022
BBC Two has been broadcasting a documentary series called “The Lost AIDS Tapes” based around real audio recordings with protagonists, activists and ordinary people impacted by the AIDS pandemic between 1981 and the advent of highly active anti-retroviral therapies in 1996. This fifteen year period saw the worst devastation of the pandemic and yet out of that came community activism which is still shaping health policy on a wide range of conditions to this day. With accurate lip synching by actors to breathe new urgency into the recordings, the BBC says that “The stories of men including John, Jeremy and Tony, recorded at the time, bring these experiences to life. Their real voices are lip-synced by actors, giving first-hand insight into what they lived through. They blaze a trail through self-care and activism, finding agency and helping others to find their voices.” Finally, the corner is reached and as HIV becomes a long term manageable condition, people involved reflect on what was won and what was lost in the pandemic. This ground breaking documentary will be available on the BBC I-Player for your to enjoy at your leisure.
