50 free Queer as Folk trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Queer as Folk was three shows. Russell T Davies's 1999 Channel 4 original followed Stuart, Vince and Nathan around Manchester's Canal Street for eight episodes and a two-part sequel, and got a brewery to pull its sponsorship along the way. The Showtime and Showcase remake ran five seasons from 2000 to 2005 with Brian, Justin, Michael, Emmett and Ted on a Pittsburgh Liberty Avenue that was actually Toronto. And in 2022 Peacock relocated the whole idea to New Orleans for a single season. This quiz covers all three: who played whom (and who turned the lead down), what the title actually means and what it was nearly called, the Jeep through the showroom window, the comic book Michael and Justin created, the club, the diner, the nickname, the theme songs, the finale bomb and the song Brian dances to in the last scene, plus the reboot's cast and why it was set where it was. It starts with questions any viewer can get and works up to details only devoted fans will remember. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the three series, their soundtracks and their creators and cast, and each question quotes its source.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01The original 1999 Queer as Folk was set and filmed in which English city?
Manchester
Its gay village around Canal Street was the real location; the same street later featured in the 2001 drama Bob & Rose.
Q 02Who wrote the original British Queer as Folk?
Russell T Davies
He went on to revive Doctor Who in 2005 and later wrote It's a Sin, his first script to focus on AIDS.
Q 03The title comes from a Northern English saying, 'there's nowt so queer as folk', which means what?
Nothing is as strange as people
The script had originally been titled Queer as Fuck before cooler heads prevailed.
Q 04Which British broadcaster aired the original series?
Channel 4
The writer fell out with the channel after it cancelled the spin-off Misfits and did not work with it again until Cucumber in 2015.
Q 05Who played the sexually voracious advertising executive Stuart Alan Jones in the UK series?
Aidan Gillen
He was nominated for the Best Actor BAFTA in 2000 and later played Littlefinger in Game of Thrones and Tommy Carcetti in The Wire.
Q 06Which actor, the writer's first choice for Stuart, declined over his age and suggested a friend?
Christopher Eccleston
He would later be the first Doctor when Doctor Who returned in 2005.
Q 07Vince Tyler, Stuart's long-suffering best friend with a crush on him, was played by whom?
Craig Kelly
He later joined a long-running ITV soap; the character's mother Hazel was played by Denise Black.
Q 08Charlie Hunnam played the schoolboy Nathan Maloney. How old was Nathan supposed to be?
15
Hunnam himself was 18; the premiere's depiction of Nathan with an older man drew 136 complaints to the broadcasting watchdog and criticism from Mary Whitehouse.
Q 09How many episodes did the first British series run for?
Eight
A two-part follow-up, Queer as Folk 2, aired in 2000 and closed the story on 22 February that year.
Q 10Which firm, then owned by the writer's friend Nicola Shindler, made the UK series?
Red Production Company
The show had a budget of about £3 million and drew roughly 3.5 million viewers an episode.
Q 11After a car salesman makes homophobic remarks during a test drive, Stuart does what with the Jeep?
Drives it through the showroom window
He also blows up a car belonging to his friend Alexander's hostile mother; the producers called the trio archetypes rather than characters.
Q 12Which brewery sponsored the first four episodes and then pulled out halfway through the run?
Beck's
After a backlash from the gay community the company offered to sponsor the second series, and the producers turned it down.
Q 13Which composer wrote the UK theme and won an RTS craft award for the score?
Murray Gold
Q 21Which writing duo developed and ran the American version?
Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman
They admitted in 2015 that the backlash that surprised them came not from the right but from parts of the LGBT community.
Q 22Which Australian director, best known for Highlander, directed the American pilot?
Russell Mulcahy
Later episodes used Canadian indie directors including Bruce McDonald and John Greyson.
Q 23Who played Brian Kinney, the American counterpart of Stuart?
Gale Harold
He and Scott Lowell refused to discuss their own sexuality in the press during the first season to avoid distraction.
He would later score the revived Doctor Who for over a decade.
Q 14The soundtrack album to the first UK series sold about how many copies?
125,000
It ended up the 50th biggest-selling compilation of 1999 and features OT Quartet, Ultra Nate and Blondie.
Q 15Antony Cotton, who played Alexander Perry, went on to play a gay character in which soap?
Coronation Street
The role of Alexander was originally written for TV producer Phil Collinson during his brief acting career.
Q 16The 2000 sequel Queer as Folk 2 was driven by which family event?
Vince's half-sister's wedding
It ends with Stuart and Vince leaving for another gay scene in a pastiche of Grease, with Nathan inheriting the scene.
Q 17In 2010, where did The Guardian rank Queer as Folk in its list of the 50 greatest TV dramas of all time?
13th
On release the gay press criticised it for ignoring AIDS; the writer said he refused to let gay lives be defined by the disease.
Q 18The writer says he wrote Queer as Folk to what kind of music, for its 'sheer clubland drive'?
Hi-NRG
He wrote Doctor Who to action-film scores and Bob & Rose to Moby's album Play.
Q 19The American remake was set in Pittsburgh but mostly filmed in which city?
Toronto
Not a single shot of the real Liberty Avenue was used; the gay-village scenes were filmed around Church and Wellesley.
Q 20The American series was co-produced by Showcase in Canada and which US cable network?
Showtime
It quickly became the network's number-one show, and a large share of the audience turned out to be straight women.
Q 24Randy Harrison played Justin Taylor. What nickname does Debbie give him because of his bright smile?
Sunshine
Justin is 17 when he meets Brian, is bashed with a baseball bat at the end of season one and later becomes a visual artist.
Q 25Michael Novotny, played by Hal Sparks, is obsessed with which fictional comic-book hero?
Captain Astro
He starts as a manager at the Big Q department store and eventually opens his own comic shop.
Q 26Michael and Justin's comic book from season two stars a superhero based on Brian. What is it called?
Rage
Justin appears as JT, the hero's lover and sidekick, and Michael as Zephyr, his best friend.
Q 27Peter Paige's flamboyant Emmett Honeycutt originally hails from which state?
Mississippi
His jobs over five seasons include shop assistant at Torso, porn star, naked maid, party planner and TV correspondent.
Q 28Ted Schmidt, played by Scott Lowell, works in what profession?
Accountant
His storyline runs from constant rejection at the clubs to a criminal record from a porn website and a crystal-meth addiction.
Q 29Sharon Gless, formerly of Cagney & Lacey, played Michael's mother Debbie. Where does Debbie work?
Liberty Diner
A proud PFLAG member, she treats all the boys as family and takes in Justin when he runs away from home.
Q 30Ben Bruckner, Michael's long-term partner from season two onward, has what job?
College professor
Ben is HIV-positive, which is why Debbie initially opposes the relationship; the couple marry near the end of season four.