#BEMOREJILL The groundbreaking Channel 4 drama 'It’s a Sin' tragedy revealed the traumatic impact of the AIDS pandemic. Jo Henwood talks exclusively to its creator – and the woman whose compassion is a lesson to us all. the 1980s. Jill is the first to take notice of reports of a ‘gay plague’ in America, first to realise that ill friends go home and never return and the first to sit at the bedside of a man dying of AIDS, disowned by his family.
But the woman who won’t be on Facebook, has never Tweeted and has barely got to grips with Instagram, found herself at dizzy social media heights when the hashtag #BeMoreJill started trending.
Russell and Jill have been friends for years – they met first as teenagers at the West Glamorgan Youth Theatre and Jill really lived in a flat in London known amongst her friends as ‘the Pink Palace’. She was not at all surprised that the Channel 4 drama would be a big hit and was thrilled to be offered a cameo role as Jill’s mother Christine Baxter.
The inspiration for the caring, campaigning Jill Baxter (played by Lydia West) in Russell T Davies’s groundbreaking drama It’s a Sin, Jill is the only girl in a group of exuberant and theatrical friends living in London in
Photo: John Burke Photography.
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ill Nalder (right) has had more than her 15 minutes of fame. She has tread the boards of London’s stages and toured the world with her own musical theatre company The Westenders.
Jill Nalder wearing a La. T-shirt created by clothing designer Philip Normal to raise money for people with HIV. ‘La’ was an inside joke between the characters, encapsulating the love and mutual support within friendship groups. see page 9 for more details.
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