Tim Macavoy's "Brit Bits:" Pineapple Dance Studios, Prime Minister Debates and More!

Hello, you Yanks, Canucks, Aussies, Brazilians and other readers from around the world! You’ll be glad to hear that the volcanic ash which grounded all the planes here in the UK has had no effect on cyberspace, and I’ve managed to wing another edition of Tim Macavoy's Brit Bits over the Atlantic for your reading pleasure.

Thanks for all your comments on the first column, and keep them coming as I want to know what you want to hear about.

To clear up a few things – Yorkshire is great, Will Young does not use a vocoder, although he was inhaling Sulfur Hexafluoride, and no, Gay in the UK has not come to an end. Indeed I hope by now you will have noticed the new episode, full of all the things we’ve been busy enjoying.

Coming up this week we have a Shameless update, a character in My Family comes out, the jazz hands fest that is Pineapple Dance Studios and the ongoing election debates here in the UK.

But first, at the time of writing it is St George’s Day (he's the patron saint of England). In honor of that I include a picture of the very historic, and in no way gay, English tradition of Morris Dancing.

Nothing gay here. Now dance along your way.

It’s also Shakespeare’s birthday, and you don’t get more English than that. But now on with the column, and to encapsulate these two historic British men, we do so with a shout of “Cry God for Harry, England and St George”.

It is rumored that British TV sitcom My Family will out one of its characters in the upcoming tenth series. My Family is a middle of the road, early evening family sitcom about a dentist, his wife and their offspring which, despite being a critical flop, has now become one of the longest running series on BBC1.

According to the Daily Mail son Michael (played by 23-year-old Gabriel Thomson) will come out to his parents in the new series to be aired later this year, despite his character having thus far been a “ladies man.”

The reveal comes as a team of new writers have been brought in to make the BBC program 'more edgy and relevant."

One insider said: "We were given a brief to turn the show into something a younger audience would relate to and watch. This is just one of the storylines we have come up with. It's handled very sensitively."

Yep. That sounds really promising that they’ve instantly gone to “gay” to try and attract more “edgy” viewers. But you’re going to have to wait a while to find out exactly how much bile I manage to spew as a result of this new “twist.”

Time for a Shameless update!

With his sensible sister Debbie off fighting in Afghanistan, Liam (pictured right), the youngest of the Gallagher clan, has for some reason taken to wearing her dresses under his school uniform. He finds an understanding friend in WWII veteran Reggie but their relationship becomes very confusing, as both are suffering from some kind of trauma. There are also hints that Reggie may want something “more” from Liam, but it all comes to a swift close when Reggie dies.

In a later episode, one of Liam’s schoolfriends notices his new cross-dressing habit, and gets the wrong idea about Liam’s sexuality. What begins as bullying, ends in an attempt to kiss Liam. In typical smart and liberal Liam style, he calmly tells the kid that he’s got the wrong idea, and ends up befriending him. He even encourages him to enter a talent contest and dance Billy Elliot style. Go Billy! (Actually the boy’s name is Dean, so go, Dean!)

With Liam only being 12-years-old, this must be one of the youngest gay storylines on ever on UK television.