You may or may not have heard about Channel 4's new three-fold drama series, Cucumber, Banana, Tofu, which begins next week.
The trio of programmes, written by Russel T Davies, will focus on life in the gay community and has been billed as 'controversial but exciting' by Cucumber actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, who played Hayley Cropper in Coronation Street.
Cucumber will air on Channel 4 and follows the story of 46-year-old Henry and his boyfriend, Lance, who seem to be in an awkward relationship. Lance, who's upset by the lack of sex between the pair welcomes newcomer, Daniel, into his life - while Henry is drawn to his enigmatic work colleague, Freddie Baxter. But Henry will soon step into a dangerous trap and after cutting ties with Henry, Lance finds out that Daniel may not be as straight as he seems.
Over on E4, Cucumber is followed up with Banana, which focuses in more detail on the younger characters in Cucumber.These include 19-year-old Dean, who's problems are soon to catch with him, no matter how far away he runs. Scotty who's life spirals out of control, after love turns to obsession and Sian and Violet, who discover what could happen when opposites attract.
Then you have Tofu, which will be an online companion to Cucumber and Banana, taking a look at real-life sex stories from members of the public, exploring all facets of contemporary sex culture.
Each episode of the documentary will be 20-minutes long and look at a different topic through a dynamic combination of interviews, sketch comedy, animation and fantasy elements, along with musical set pieces.
It will be fronted by Benjamin Cook and also have a diverse range of interviewees including the stars of Cucumber and Banana, celebrities, stars of the porn world and members of the public.
Each episode of the documentary will be 20-minutes long and look at a different topic through a dynamic combination of interviews, sketch comedy, animation and fantasy elements, along with musical set pieces.
It will be fronted by Benjamin Cook and also have a diverse range of interviewees including the stars of Cucumber and Banana, celebrities, stars of the porn world and members of the public.
Russell T Davies said: "While Cucumber and Banana are fictional, we know that often the sweetest, most heart-warming, most tragic and most heartbreaking stories are real life tales.Tofu is all about highlighting the very real issues that we reference in the fictional shows - it will be a unique mixture of content made by the very talented Benjamin Cook."
Meanwhile, Julie Hesmondhalgh, who plays Henry's sister, Cleo, in Cucumber has asked those viewers who aren't comfortable with the series' scenes to simply turn it off, instead of complaining.
She said:"It's about sex and love and relationships and mid-life crises... and salad vegetables!
It's full on, and [some] people won't like it… and if you don't like it, please just turn off! It won't be to everyone's taste - it's a Channel 4 series about sex. But it's exciting and wonderful and Russell is just the best writer in the world. But it is an amazing programme and I think it'll cause a lot of controversy!"
Having taken a look at the first couple of episodes, Cucumber and Banana seem to both be gripping dramas, with Cucumber just inching as my favorite of the two - so far.
Click here, to watch the trailer for Cucumber, Banana, Tofu - which will be an eight-part series.
SOAP NEWS
