Vicious, the British-to-PBS sitcom starring Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi as a hilariously bitchy older gay couple, finished up its two-season run in June with a series finale special. The hourlong episode was organized around the four seasons, with each of the characters—the main couple, Violet (Frances de la Tour), Ash (Iwan Rheon), Penelope (Marcia Warren), and Mason (Philip Voss)—receiving a satisfying resolution of one sort or another. As my colleague June Thomas noted in her review, the finale “focused on the love and kindness that Freddie and Stuart … had previously kept hidden under layers and layers of arch putdowns and distinctively gay snark.”
I had the privilege of interviewing the full cast, along with writer Gary Janetti and producer Gary Reich, for PBS on the occasion of the series’ conclusion. We discussed the show’s deceptively radical treatment of gay love and aging, its moving portrait of unlikely friendships, and the dubious situation of having an American like Janetti craft an old-school British sitcom—which included, incidentally, writing a fart joke for some of the U.K.’s greatest living actors.
