#BeMoreJill and the Limited Visibility of Female Carers in It’s a Sin

Russell T Davies’ It’s a Sin (2021) chronicles a group of young people coming of age during the first decade of Britain’s HIV/AIDS crisis. Promotion for the television series highlights Davies’ ‘real-life’ connections to many of It’s a Sin’s characters, with much publicity focussing on his childhood friend Jill Nalder, an actor and prolific HIV/AIDS activist. Depicted in the series by Lydia West, the character of Jill Baxter emerges as a loyal friend and staunch ally. Yet, despite the hashtag #BeMoreJill trending on Twitter throughout the initial broadcast of the series in the United Kingdom, the character of Jill remains underdeveloped. Using the publicity surrounding Jill Nalder as an example, this chapter suggests that the lack of development for Jill Baxter is indicative of the invisible work that female caregivers carried out during the first decade of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the global North. Discussing the representation of caregiving in It’s a Sin, the chapter details how popular television shapes viewers’ perceptions of HIV/AIDS. The chapter closes by suggesting that #BeMoreJill is a platform that provides It’s a Sin’s viewing audience with an opportunity to share their personal stories of HIV/AIDS caregiving.