TV drama Pose has made headlines with its inclusive and diverse cast, powerful storylines and hits-packed soundtrack.
Set in the underground world of the 1980s transgender ballroom culture at the height of the Aids epidemic, the BBC show stars Billy Porter, MJ Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson and Indya Moore.
Here is everything you need to know about the innovative show.
1. It features the largest recurring cast of LGBTQ actors ever for a scripted series, according to US network FX.
2. It is the first American series where much of the core cast is not only transgender, but played by trans actors.
The behind-the-scenes staff includes writer-director-producer Janet Mock, who became the first out black trans woman to land an overall deal with a major studio when signed with Netflix, and Transparent alumna Our Lady J.
Today, @JanetMock makes history as the first Black trans woman to establish an overall deal with a major studio.
"…there's potential to introduce hundreds of millions of viewers to trans people, and showing people who may not understand us, that we can tell our own stories." pic.twitter.com/nXhaW0STvo
— Strong Black Lead (@strongblacklead) June 19, 2019
3. The featured characters are dancers and models who compete for trophies and recognition in the African-American and Latino trans, gay and gender-nonconforming ballroom culture scene in New York City, and who support one another in a network of chosen families known as Houses.
4. It is created by Ryan Murphy (along with Brad Falchuk and Steven Canals). who is responsible for shows such as American Horror Story, The People v O.J. Simpson, The Assassination Of Gianni Versace, and Glee.
Murphy made a point of turning over much of the show’s vision to Mock, J, Canals and co-executive producer Silas Howard, which means it has a different tone from anything he has done before
5. The episodes catalogue the different ways in which people (many of them marginalised) demand that others conform to a particular vision of what should be.
6. Much of the first series deals with the Aids epidemic and how it affects characters like Billy Porter’s ballroom emcee Pray Tell.
7. The second series, which is yet to air in the UK, shifts to the early 1990s and examines more closely the epidemic of violence faced by trans women, particularly those from minority backgrounds.
Pose is available on BBC iPlayer now.