It’s A Sin, the unmissable TV series about a group of friends during the 1980’s AIDS crisis, has racked up both acclaim and glowing reviews, but now it’s also added a couple of records to its haul – including becoming All 4’s biggest ever drama launch.

The show has become a huge TV talking point while also bringing about important conversations that need to be had. GCN reviewer Chris Rooke shared, “What is really remarkable is just how much within the show remains relevant: the stigma and shame around both gay sex and HIV remains, as do the myths and falsities about transmission of the latter.” Its creator, the legendary Russell T Davies, described, “I’ve always been wary about talking about it in the past tense. There’s still an awful lot of people who don’t get tested and still an awful lot of prejudice.”

IMPORTANT.

HIV has changed a huge amount since #ItsASin — but too many people haven’t been paying attention.

Including that we can now say with absolute confidence that someone living with HIV & on effective treatment #CantPassItOn.

Tell everyone. https://t.co/sikHYsRTMz

— Terrence Higgins Trust (@THTorguk) January 24, 2021

Now All4 have shared that It’s A Sin has been viewed over 6.5 million times, and has broken records including becoming their biggest ever instant box set, their biggest ever drama launch, becoming their most binged new series ever and their third biggest series ever.

All4 spokesperson, Ian Katz, shared, “The extraordinary performance of It’s A Sin is a reminder that powerful drama with something important to say about the world can also be commercially successful.”

Critically acclaimed new drama #ItsASin drives record All 4 streaming in January🎉
🌟All 4’s biggest ever instant box set
🌟Most binged new series ever
🌟All 4’s biggest ever drama launchhttps://t.co/I4KX3Bcetc pic.twitter.com/2tSClfV3S8

— Channel 4 Press (@C4Press) February 2, 2021

Michael Cashman, one of the founders of the UK LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall, shared how the show has made him see that the community has a long way to go before we eradicate stigma – especially in how trans people are treated.

In a piece for The Independent, he described his anger after finishing the show; “So why was I overcome with such deep anger? I realised that despite the sacrifices over the years, the pain, the decimation of people’s humanity, the denial of their integrity and their identity, the stigma that they had faced, the same things are happening again now. This time the target is not LGB people, but trans women, trans men, non-binary people and trans teenagers.

“The fact that some of the instigators of these misrepresentations are LGB people, including some who lived through this period, angered me even more. It signifies that, for some, nothing has been learnt.”

Cashman concluded, “We should all have the imagination to stand in the shoes of the ‘other’ and imagine their lives; their needs, hopes, their treatment and experiences. And so, if we wouldn’t want such discrimination and injustice to happen to us then how dare we allow it to happen to others?”