In Our Blood (2023– ) User Reviews

Stop Spewing False Controversies

[jftkt · 8/10 · 8 April 2023]

This is in response to the review by lineart-12973, just stop.

DEBUNKING VIRAL CLAIMS Flawed Analysis Leads to False Claim of 'No Excess Deaths' in 2020 By Angelo Fichera

Posted on December 3, 2020

Quick Take An economics professor's flawed interpretation of U. S. mortality data has prompted a viral, false claim that COVID-19 hasn't led to more deaths than normal this year. In fact, multiple analyses have found there to be a higher-than-normal number of deaths during the pandemic - as much as 20%, according to some studies.

The world doesn't need more people spewing falsehoods for some kind of personal gain. This is a great documentary on a serious subject and it doesn't need people like you.

Excellent portrayal of Historical importance

[tm-sheehan · 9/10 · 21 March 2023]

My Review - In Our Blood Complete series on ABC I view

My Rating 9/10

In Our Blood is a very clever concept to present a vital part of Queer History with a combination of fact and fiction in a four part series.

The characters are fictitious but the events that propelled Australia into leading the rest of the World by its example of progressive and responsible Community involvement in fighting the battle to minimise deaths in the AIDS HIV Pandemic are fact.

Thousands of lives were spared because of our prompt and sometimes controversial and radical approaches.

Another very clever technique in this production are the story tellers in the style of a Greek Chorus taking the viewer through the timeline of the early to late 1980's with music humour and dance which I think makes In Our Blood an entertainment as well as a thoughtful docu drama .

It's a very impressive ensemble of fine Australian actors including Tim Draxyl cast as David a researcher and Political assistant to the Federal Labour Minister for Health . His career takes David away from his Sydney home and Colombian partner and lover Gabe played so well by Oscar Leal .

When these boys are together they enjoy all the excitement music and colour of Sydney's Oxford Street bar scene revelling with friends and just living for today.

David's boss the Federal Health Minister played by Matt Day shares his concern in the continuing health updates from America that document a so called Gay Plague that is responsible for multiple deaths and spreading rapidly .

Unfortunately the White House Administration is practically ignoring the epidemic with then President Ronald Reagan not even delivering a major address on AIDS till May 31st 1987 even though it has been written up in The Medical Journals in 1981.

It was perceived by many to be just a disease affecting the Gay community or IV drug users .

Some even going as far as saying it was God reeking vengeance on their hedonistic life style however red alerts sounded when reports of women and baby's who had blood transfusions began to filter down .

In Our Blood details a lesser-known section of that history: the Australian response to Aids, which saw an unprecedented collaboration between gay activist groups and both state and federal governments.

The great thing about our local film and television industry now is that fine actors like Tim Draxyl and most of this cast can experience excellent career success without having to venture abroad .

The series is a credit to the ABC and Screen Australia in producing this excellent series with great skill and great talent.

This activism depicted in this series was responsible for the effective grim reaper add campaigns plus the public funding of Community groups like ACON and the Bobby Goldsmith organisation named after the Australian athlete and Gay Olympic swimmer who died in June 1984 of (AIDS) acquired immune deficiency syndrome .

Both these charities are still working tirelessly 40 years on assisting people living with HIV in a very different environment to the 1980's when AIDS was a death sentence.

There are many impressive performances in In Our Blood it was obviously a labour of love for script writers and storytellers Jane Allen, Adriano Cappelletta and Jonathan Gavin who all have many impressive screen credits to these names.

Directors John Sheedy and Nicholas Verso have steered a very steady course that is a tribute to a generation who left us far too early.

Of course In Our Blood is emotional and confronting it bought back some sad unhappy memories for us from that era when we said goodbye to many dea4 friends but there is optimism also in this very compelling and provocative series.

It's a rare portrayal of Government working with Community to improve the life of its citizens hopefully the same spirit will occur when we vote on our upcoming referendum,

Great job and a testament to the community

[lloydking85 · 9/10 · 20 March 2023]

As an Australian migrant, watching this series felt both familiar and unfamiliar. Familiar, because of some of the places depicted central to the plot (St. Vincent's, Hyde Park, Surry Hills, etc). Unfamiliar, because of the fear and stigma that was prevalent at that time (not that's fully gone in certain spaces even today). As a person who was not yet born at the start of the AIDS epidemic, a series like this can help some of us understand how far we have come and what it took to get here.

There were many parts of the series that filled the gaps in my head, or just things that I took for granted. Like the gallantry of the lesbians on bikes (yes, it's called differently, but it may be flagged as an offensive word without context). Or the level of engagement and involvement of the community when it comes to sexual health treatment, research and education that exists even today. Or the humble beginnings of organisations like ACON. All of these stories are impactful and profound to this day.

Another memorable aspect of the series was the occasional breakout into song that was emotive and didn't feel contrived in any way. There was also one scene portrayed at st. Vincent's chapel in the hospital in the last episode that was well written and portrayed.

However though, not a perfect show. One could always argue that the community wasn't represented enough. Granted, the vernacular in the early 80's wasn't as rich as it is today, so this could have been difficult, but not impossible. Although Tim Draxl played his role well enough, I was not convinced of the casting choice as he doesn't look like your average politician in Canberra. So that took a while to translate. There was also the politics of one particular state that got singled out, and I realised the series had the liberty to, as it was funded by that state. I'm not sure if other states escaped historical attention because of this. And lastly, the editing in the last episode could have been better - some predictable scenes could've been shortened or eliminated altogether to make it less protracted, but that may be my own take.

Overall though, a solid 9/10 for a memorable, thoughtful portrayal on the history of a painful subject in Australian (and much of the world's) history.

I'm not gay but ....................

[jamesmoule-00894 · 10/10 · 19 March 2023]

"In Our Blood" covers, in a semi-fictional way, how Australia addressed AIDS in the 1980s. From the first day of the Hawke government, Health Minister Dr. Neal Blewett gathered a team about him that tackled the issues in a pragmatic way.

In the night that the first part was shown, ABC repeated a documentary from 2007 which featured interviews with some of the characters portrayed in the new series. Bill Bowtell was prominent in the fight to contain Covid-19, having been an adviser to Dr. Blewett when AIDS was emerging.

The series shows the lack of understanding of the disease in the early days. It demonstrates how Australia's response was so much more practical than the measures taken in other countries where right-wing evangelists ensured that the action taken by government was restricted (did someone mention USA?). I remember people saying that AIDS was God's myxomatosis punishing gay people for their lifestyle. Then the Grim Reaper campaign stressed that it would become a threat to everyone if not defeated.

Some of the personal stories are fictional but some are true. It all seems like yesterday but it was 40 years ago. How time flies!

Important Viewing

[philhayes80 · 8/10 · 27 March 2023]

Wow.... this one... this one is hard to put into words because I knew friends that died from HIV/AIDs during those years and to see how it could be portrayed here was how everyone felt, scared, angry and nervous 'could it happen to me'.

ABC chose to do this and boy did they deliver something that is still a massive threat to everyone, the issue of HIV/aids hasn't gone away, the story to tell is still there and everyone who worked on this did a wonderful job bringing to life.

While I did have a few gripes with some of the acting choices by the actors and the weird placement of the 'music element' this was done so well. It could've done without the singing but it's worth watching how the response was handled, how emotions were at the time and how the world reacted.

Another amazing Aussie drama

[di_mifsud · 10/10 · 29 June 2023]

I have to give this a high rating cas it is Aussie drama at its best. The way it was set in a period of so much uncertainty. I won't spoil this as it needs to be watched! The story line used, the way it was created into a musical and the way one tv ad that gave shock value to everyone who watched it back in the 80's!

This tv show needs to be watched by the new generation of kids not just for education purposes but also to respect the people who started organisations and worked extremely hard for love and acceptance!

Well done to the cast, crew, creators and anyone who is involved in this production on this awesome Aussie drama!!

My thoughts

[ozdavid · 6/10 · 21 March 2023]

Episode 1. Overall not too bad , although a lot of the acting was just terrible .... and that singing at the end. Uggh !😒...... and characters suddenly talking to the camera I thought was unnecessary and cringy. Liked the scene of the layout of Patches , created well. I went there every Friday and Saturday back then. Lucky I was not there on any night the cops supposedly arrived , although it might be a bit fictional. I don't remember anyone talking about that actually happening back then , although it happened elsewhere I'm sure. Look forward to Ep 2. It's an important time , so hope it's a respectful depiction of the awful times with the AIDS crisis when we lost so many of our dear friends.

Underdeveloped

[yrgcc · 4/10 · 26 March 2023]

Here was an opportunity to create an outstanding world class television series comparable to Angels In America and The Normal Heart.

The story is so exulting and unique to Australia, and it's a story the world should know but unfortunately the production is cheap, the development is clearly rushed and you really don't feel for any of the characters.

To call it a Musical is an enormous stretch. Yes, the Greek chorus is a fine idea for a stage production but here it plays out as a group of unconnected voices who... well, they sing.... a bit. I mean, one minute the song is soundtrack and the next minute these people appear singing the last few lines of the song. At first I thought they were lip synching which they might have well have been because it doesn't add to the drama, it merely distracts. Because they are not characters in the show it is hard to feel anything for them.

Tim Draxl as David Westfield steals the screen. You'll get through the series purely for him. Sadly, we don't feel anything when he loses his ex-lover Oscar Leal as Gabe. The writing does not create the kind of intimacy needed for the audience to care.

Characters often repeat themselves, slowing down the pace.

What's most disappointing is the budget. Sure, the LGBTQI+ community are undoubtedly grateful that this series has been made but the scenes with queer activists confronting the police are woefully cheap. Ambitious student films have done it better.

The great shame is that this was an opportunity to show the rest of the world what Australia was made of back in the 80's. Our response to the AIDS crisis was truly unique and life saving but this show is messy, underwhelming and it lacks the necessary production values needed to garner an international audience.

*Also the IMDB credit states that it was shot in Sydney but a lot of the media about the show will tell you otherwise.

Amateur Hour at the ABC

[ozjosh · 3/10 · 8 April 2023]

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. There's little doubt that everyone connected to In Our Blood had only the best intentions, but that doesn't excuse this being a cheap, misguided and very poorly executed account of the AIDS crisis in Australia. The weirdness starts with the drama's approach to history. Events and characters are "fictionalised" - except they're not really. Matt Day's Minister of Health is clearly Neal Blewett, and couldn't really be anyone else. The saintly Caroline, who heads the public health campaign, is clearly Ita Buttrose, and couldn't be anyone else. Stranger still, Matt Day appears to be doing a rough impersonation of Blewett, while Caroline is dressed and coiffured like a mean parody of Buttrose. Fictionalising doesn't fool anyone; it only does a disservice to those extremely well-known real life figures. But it's with the fiction that In Our Blood comes really unstuck. There are no characters, just cliched archetypes. And for the most part they mouth dialogue that sounds like it's lifted directly from news articles, government reports and AIDS pamphlets of the day. We're treated to whole scenes of ludicrously stilted dialogue that has all the finesse of an industrial health and safety video. Production values are rock bottom, with Brisbane doing a pretty poor job of trying to pass for Sydney. And there are historical clunkers throughout. Uniformed police officers have long hair (very long hair) in one scene. And the writers clearly have no clue about the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who did not don habits as a lifestyle choice, but to make some serious political points. The musical numbers are High School Musical level (your local high school, not the TV show). And the lipsticked chorus anachronistically imposes 2020s notions of gender diversity on the 1980s in a way that completely misrepresents the gay community of that time. In the few moments where In Our Blood comes close to being dramatically effective, it is painfully obvious that it is also borrowing shamelessly from Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart. Entire scenes were clearly "inspired" by Kramer's infinitely superior work. Aside from Tim Draxl, who struggles manfully to inject some real human emotion into his scenes, the performances are consistently well below the standard you'd expect of a program produced by our national broadcaster. And that's putting it as kindly as possible. Yes, it's important that the lessons of the AIDs years are not forgotten. But there are more than a few landmark dramas on the subject, from Kramer's aforementioned work to Tony Kushner's magnificent Angels In America. In Our Blood really has nothing especially worthwhile to add, and I can't help wishing those responsible hadn't bothered.

Cringeworthy portrayal of important historical events

[thisisforschoolingpurposes · 1/10 · 16 April 2023]

As someone who was eager to tune into ABC's "In Our Blood," I have to say that I was left disappointed and underwhelmed by the show. What initially seemed like a promising concept ultimately fell short

First and foremost, the musical interludes. Oh god the musical interludes. They were so bad that I had to look away. The frequency of them was so unpredictable that it seemed like the show forgot what it was. Was it a drama? Was it a musical? Or was it just bad?

One of the biggest letdowns was the show's execution. The pacing was all over the place, with episodes feeling disjointed and poorly structured. The acting was poor and cliched, making it hard to connect with the characters on an emotional level. Some characters didn't seem to serve a purpose at all. The character Tim (the male nun) was a character that didn't add to the story at all and often took on a heavily stereotypical portrayal of a queer man. The character Michelle I also found to be of no value to the storyline either.

Honestly a really strange move by the ABC to release a show that appears to be so low value in its production.