Russell T. Davies show ‘Bob and Rose’ debuted on this day
On this day in 2001, Russell T Davies’ six-part drama series Bob and Rose made its UK television debut.
Davies had achieved major success with the original UK version of Queer as Folk, which premiered in 1999. As a result, there was significant interest in his next project when Bob and Rose arrived two years later.
The series was based on the experiences of a close friend of Davies who identified as gay but later found love in a heterosexual relationship. The story follows Bob as he comes to understand his bisexuality, while Rose confronts her own assumptions about his previous relationships. Alan Davies took on the role of Bob, while Lesley Sharpe played Rose.
The show featured a strong ensemble cast, including Dame Penelope Wilton, who would later appear in Downton Abbey and After Life. She played Bob’s mother.
Jessica Hynes, later known for roles in Twenty Twelve, W1A and There She Goes, played Bob’s best friend, while Daniel Ryan portrayed his former boyfriend. Downton Abbey actor Siobhan Finneran also appeared in the series.
Several cast members would later collaborate with Davies again. Lesley Sharp appeared in his next drama series, The Second Coming, and was later reunited with Ryan in Doctor Who. Wilton also became well known to Doctor Who viewers through her recurring role as politician Harriet Jones. Hynes later appeared in Doctor Who before joining the cast of Years and Years.
Bob and Rose did not achieve the same level of commercial success as Queer as Folk, but it was set in the same Manchester location featured in Davies’ earlier series. He would later return to the city in the companion dramas Cucumber and Banana.
At the time of its original broadcast, the programme attracted criticism from some LGBTQ+ commentators and activists who argued it could be interpreted as suggesting sexuality was a choice, or that gay men might simply need to meet the “right” woman.
Others, particularly some bisexual viewers and commentators, welcomed what was then a relatively uncommon depiction of bisexuality on mainstream television.
The series remains difficult to find on streaming platforms. It has been added to the UK version of BritBox, although some music has reportedly been replaced because of licensing restrictions.
Viewers wishing to watch Bob and Rose as originally broadcast may need to seek out an original DVD release.
‘It’s Raining Men’ was released on this day in 1982
Songwriters Paul Jabara and Paul Shaffer wrote the disco song It’s Raining Men over the course of just one afternoon in 1979.
Jabara had released records of his own and also had success penning hits for Disco Queen Donna Summer. He was behind her hits Last Dance, and No More Tears (Enough is Enough), her disco duet with Barbra Streisand.
When they offered their newest composition to Summer, she turned it down. Streisand also passed on the song, as did Cher and Diana Ross. In an interview with Vanity Fair Shaffer would recount how nobody wanted the song.
“Paul Jabara called me up and said, “I’ve got a great song for Donna Summer. I want you to write the song with me.
“What do you think about ‘It’s Raining Men’?” We wrote it in one afternoon. Lyrically she hated it, because she had become a born-again Christian. She thought it was blasphemous. She called Paul and said, “I hate the song. Oh, we’ve lost you.” And then she sent him a Bible the next day.” Shaffer recalled.
A few years passed before Jabara offered to song to duo Two Tons O Fun, who had served as backing singers to Sylvester. The duo comprised singers Martha Wash and Izora Armstead. They too had reservations about the track and considered it too over-the-top to record, but eventually they gave in and laid down the vocals.
When Martha Wash spoke to OUTinPerth in 2011 she recalled recording the song and thinking nothing would come of outrageous tune.
“When we initially recorded the song, we did it in like ninety minutes and just walked out of the studio and said, ‘okay Paul, see you later’. That’s really how we left it.” Wash recalled.
“Until months later when we started hearing it in clubs, and Paul was taking the song around to different clubs and asking the DJs to play it. So, it became a big hit in the clubs long before radio even picked up on it.”
Soon Wash and Armstead were changing the name of their act to The Weather Girls and filming a fun video to match the song. The song topped the Billboard dance chart and was nominated for as Grammy Award.
The song has had a long life though, becoming a party favourite that has filled dance floors over the decades. Some notable covers have also kept it in the public consciousness.
In 1998 Wash teamed up with RuPaul for a new version of the song, but its biggest revival came a few years later when former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell recorded a version of the track.
Halliwell’s 2001 recording of the song was the first single from her second album Scream If You Wanna Go Faster, and it was also featured in the movie Bridget Jones Diary. The video for Halliwell’s version took inspiration from another moment in pop culture, recreating a scene from the 1983 film Flashdance.
The song is also included in the stage musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, pops up in the soundtrack for Magic Mike, and even British girl group The Nolans have laid down a version. Recently Australian band Playlunch opted to cover the song Triple J’s Like a Version, and G-Flip performed song in 2025 changing it into a non-binary anthem as It’s Raining Them.
OIP Staff, This post was first published in 2021 and has been updated.
