Two of Us was commissioned by the BBC in 1986 as part of its Scene TV series for schools and sixth form colleges. But the plans were quickly derailed by the increasingly rabid homophobia generated to justify Section 28.

The tabloids were already obsessed with the notion that ‘innocent children’ were being subjected to ratepayer funded homosexual propaganda in schools. When word got out about Two of Us, it triggered another round of righteous indignation.

Two of Us is the story of teenagers Matthew and Phil. Matthew is very clear that he’s gay. In the course of the film Phil begins to realise that he may be bisexual and becomes increasingly torn between his feelings for Matthew and those for his girlfriend. (SPOILER ALERT!) By the end of the film Phil chooses to be with Matthew.

After a session in the school swimming pool Phil becomes aware of his feelings for Matthew.

But the notion that a young man would choose another man over a woman was clearly political dynamite in Thatcherite Britain. Consequently, the BBC made a number of changes.

Firstly, they delayed screening the film until 1988. Then they screened it at 11.30 at night – eleven hours later than all the other films in the Scene series. (It was supposed to be a programme for schools, after all!) And finally, they asked that the ending be re-edited to suggest that Phil chose to leave Matthew and go back to his girlfriend.

Despite its late-night time slot it still attracted an audience of 1.5 million. And only a handful of complaints (three of which were about the changed ending!).

The original (un-censored) version of Two of Us is available on You Tube.