Lost Boys & Fairies writer anticipates "angry" audience reaction after tragic development

After trying to break up a fight between a group of young men while on his way home from a date night with Gabriel, he sustains a head injury after being slammed against a wall, which proves fatal.

It's a particularly distressing development, given that Andy and Gabriel were finally back on track after Gabriel's trauma threatened to derail their relationship and their adoption entirely.

"If I've done my job, and if they're in love with those characters, they're going to be as upset and angry as I am every time I watch it," said Daf James. "Every time I watch it, I'm angry with myself."

He went on to explain why he "knew from the beginning" that Andy was going to die.

"One of the reasons this drama was born was because when we were going through the first year together [James and his husband also adopted a child], and when I was going through all of these emotions about becoming a parent, whether or not I could do it, my husband was my rock, like Andy is Gabriel's rock," he said.

Read more:

• Lost Boys & Fairies writer on gay adoption drama: 'Love comes in many shapes'
• Why Lost Boys & Fairies is TV's most authentic depiction of gay shame

"And I used to have this absolute anxiety and fear, like what would happen if I didn't have him anymore? It was a real, tangible, powerful, compulsive thought. So I almost had to write that so that [it didn't happen]. I almost had to exorcise that ghost through writing that into a show."

James also explained that Lost Boys & Fairies is a "coming-of-middle-age story for Gabe, and from a dramatic function he has to lose Andy in order to fully realise himself and become a parent".

"And I'm hoping that the audience will go on that journey with Gabe and will realise that," he continued. "And that the show becomes something very different from what you assume it's going to be."

James referenced the meeting between Gabriel and Jake's birth mother, which happens in the final episode.

"The redemption of the story isn't between Gabe and Andy, it's between Gabe and Becky," he said. "And that is so crucial in terms of representing adoption authentically because I think many people judge birth parents for putting these children through these terrible things, and I certainly went on that journey myself.

"But also, you have to recognise that while they are responsible for their children, and therefore in that context the children must be removed because we need to protect them, often those parents are people who have not been loved.

"They have gone through their own trauma, and there weren't any interventions, there was no safety net for those people."

James added: "As a society, we are responsible for all of those people as well. And so that's why for me, it's a story that's bigger than just gay adoption. It's a story about society across the wide range of it."

All three episodes of Lost Boys & Fairies are now available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Episodes will also air weekly on Mondays at 9pm on BBC One.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.