The film industry's early days saw it take as laissez-faire an attitude to homosexuality as most creative arts, but as movies became more and more of a business, puritanical attitudes set in. James Whale (Ian Gelder) was one of the first star directors, making his name with
Journey's End but becoming most famous for
Frankenstein and its best-loved sequel,
Bride of Frankenstein. But by the time we meet him in 1957 he's long since been spat out by the industry. Wealthy but isolated, he lives in a Hollywood mansion, tended by his maid Maria (
Trinity Wells, newsreader of the Apocalypse Lachele Carl) and getting the occasional thrill when he's visited by handsome young fans, whom he likes to convince to strip for him. But following a stroke that's left him with regular blinding headaches, even this is now too much excitement for him.
