Olly Alexander to star in Russell T Davies drama with Keely Hawes

Years & Years singer Olly Alexander is among the cast announced for a new five-part TV drama from Russell T Davies, titled Boys.

Alexander will star in the lead role as an 18-year-old gay man growing up “in the shadow of Aids”.

The singer, who has also appeared in series such as Skins as well as films such as The Riot Club and God Help the Girl. In 2017 he presented the BBC Three documentary Growing Up Gay.

Alexander wrote on Twitter that he feels like “the luckiest boy in the world” to take on the role.

“I’ve been a fan of Russell T Davies ever since I watched Queer as Folk in secret at 14 years old,” he said. “His work helped shape my identity as a gay person so I’m absolutely over the moon we’ll be working together.”

Years & Years have achieved five UK top five singles since their debut in 2015. Their second album Palo Santo went to number three in 2018.

Boys will air on Channel 4 and chart “the joy and heartbreak of four friends during a decade in which everything changed”. It will star Alexander, Keely Hawes, Stephen Fry, Neil Patrick Harris and Tracy Ann Oberman.

Harris said in a statement: “I’m so pleased, and incredibly proud, to be a part of Russell T Davies’ new series. This drama, Boys, is two things: it is an irresistible, funny, jubilant story of young people discovering their true identities and the unalloyed joy of living life to the fullest. It is also a deeply resonant exploration of a decade when so many of these lives were cut short by the devastating effects of the nascent Aids pandemic.

“Russell’s scripts chart the highs and lows of this time so beautifully and deftly, it’s an honour to tell this story.”