Neil Patrick Harris, Olly Alexander To Star In Russell T. Davies' AIDS Drama 'Boys'

Out actors Neil Patrick Harris and Olly Alexander will star in Russell T. Davies' upcoming AIDS drama Boys.

Boys is set in the 1980s and charts the lives of three friends over the course of a decade. The five-part series will air on Channel 4 in the UK in 2020. Filming begins next week.

Rounding out the cast are Keeley Hawes, Stephen Fry, Tracy Ann Oberman, Shaun Dooley, Omari Douglas, Callum Scott Howells, and Lydia West.

According to Deadline, the series will follow the three men as they confront the AIDS epidemic from its start.

“Boys follows the story of the 1980s, the story of AIDS, and the story of three boys, Ritchie, played by Alexander, Roscoe and Colin, across the decade. The young trio, strangers at first, leave home at 18 and head off to London in 1981 with hope and ambition and joy. However, they’re walking straight into a plague that most of the world ignores. Year by year, episode by episode, their lives change, as the mystery of a new virus starts as a rumor, then a threat, then a terror, and then something that binds them together in the fight. It’s the story of their friends, lovers and families too, especially Jill, the girl who loves them and helps them, and galvanizes them in the battles to come. Together they will endure the horror of the epidemic, the pain of rejection and the prejudices that gay men faced throughout the decade,” the outlet wrote.

Harris said in a statement that he was honored to help tell this story.

“I’m so pleased, and incredibly proud, to be a part of Russell T Davies’ new series,” he said. “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 honor to help tell this story.”

Davies' best-known works include Queer as Folk, the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, and the trilogy Cucumber, Tofu, and Banana. His latest projects include A Very English Scandal and Years and Years.