Is Lost Boys and Fairies based on a true story? Details explored

BBC’s drama series Lost Boys and Fairies follows the heart-warming story of a gay couple looking to adopt a child. Award-winning Welsh playwright Daf James, who created Lost Boys and Fairies in 2024, drew inspiration for the show from his adoption experience. While he states that the miniseries is not a true story, many of the moments resonate with his journey of starting a family with his husband.

In an interview with BBC, Daf James, shared,

‘As with a lot of the stuff that I've written it’s very personally inspired. Though I draw from lived experience, I always adapt story. The themes and emotions resonate with my life but it’s not my autobiography; and roles like Andy, Emrys and Jake aren’t depictions of my family.’

Lost Boys and Fairies is a three-part series that revolves around the lives of Gabriel, portrayed by Sion Daniel Young, and Andy, played by Fra Fee, who are eager to adopt a child. Daf James and his husband went through the process of adoption eight years ago. His experience during the same made him realise that the subject of adoption is hardly represented on screen. He said,

‘I felt like I hadn't seen adoption represented authentically on screen, so it's something I feel really passionate about bringing to the television. That first year after adopting my kids was a challenging period because I went through so many emotions and feelings. My identity completely shifted; my frames of reference in this world shifted. I wanted to be able to put all of those things into a story.’

Lost Boys and Fairies is produced by Duck Soup Films for BBC One, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC iPlayer, with Creative Wales.

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About Lost Boys and Fairies

The show follows the story of an artist and performer, Gabriel, who along with his partner Andy, an accountant, are on a journey to adopt a child with the help of their social worker Jackie (played by Elizabeth Berrington). Set in Cardiff, Andy and Gabriel decide to start a family after eight years of being in a relationship. The couple is faced with societal expectations and challenges that stir up childhood traumas.

About the story James said,

‘It's a drama but there's comedy in it. I think humour is very disarming, and you can take your audiences with you on a journey into emotional depths if you can make them laugh too.’

Speaking about the significance of the series, James said,

‘It's important for me to put this story on screen because it's a queer, bilingual, Welsh/English drama about adoption on the BBC, which absolutely blows my mind. If somebody would have told me that as a kid that this kind of representation was going to be in the mainstream in this way, I wouldn't have believed it.’

Lost Boys and Fairies is available on BBC iPlayer.

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