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Lazarus

Aids: The Unheard Tapes Series 1
Episode 3 of 3

Hopes of a cure are raised and ruined as Aids continues to decimate the gay community. Finally, a miracle may be on the horizon, leaving many to face an unexpected future.

In a blaze of hope, the first drug to be believed to prolong the lives of those with HIV infections is hailed as a potential 鈥榤iracle cure鈥�. Trials get underway, and hopes are high. But soon, severe and debilitating side effects begin to show themselves, and many of those participating in the trials become desperately sick. The results of the failed AZT trials are released in 1993 and provoke backlash against both drug companies and, sometimes, the doctors and nurses caring for Aids patients.

Many in the gay and HIV communities begin to take further action for themselves, and a wave of revolutionary activism and direct action builds momentum. Complementary therapies and quack cures are tried as those living with HIV longer-term attempt to stave off an Aids-defining diagnosis.

As infections rise further outside the gay community, women are significantly affected and turn to the now-established community groups for help. Stigma and fear are still deeply ingrained in the way the public reacts to the virus.

The stories of men including John, Jeremy and Tony, recorded at the time, bring these experiences to life. Their real voices are lip-synced by actors, giving first-hand insight into what they lived through. They blaze a trail through self-care and activism, finding agency and helping others to find their voices. Ultimately, they begin to face the inevitability of their decline and deaths.

Peak deaths are reached, and hospitals and hospices have to work together to cope with the number of patients who need palliative care. Behind the scenes, trials have been taking place with combinations of different drugs, although each is eventually resisted by the evolving virus that is HIV.

In 1995, a final element called a protease inhibitor is developed, and completes the drug combination that finally proves successful in managing HIV. A treatment has been discovered, against all the odds, for those who can access it. In Britain鈥檚 hospitals, patients responding well to these new medications experience the 'Lazarus effect鈥�, leaving their hospital beds to face unexpected futures.

Available now

59 minutes

Last on

Fri 15 Jul 2022 00:15
成人论坛 Two England & HD only

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:00

    Pet Shop Boys

    It's A Sin

  • 00:02

    Erasure

    Breath Of Life

  • 00:07

    Orbital

    Halcyon and On and On

  • 00:08

    Boney M.

    Young, Free and Single (12" Version)

  • 00:19

    Massive Attack

    Unfinished Sympathy

  • 00:26

    Faithless

    Insomnia

  • 00:29

    The Stone Roses

    I Wanna Be Adored - Remastered

  • 00:40

    Rozalla

    Everybody's Free (To Feel Good)

  • 00:56

    Massive Attack

    Teardrop

Credits

Narrator Russell Tovey
Director Morgana Pugh
Series Producer Morgana Pugh

Broadcasts

Featured in...

Discover more about the reality of living with HIV, by watching personal stories from The Open University

Visit The Open University website to learn more about HIV and AIDS.