The struggle to get an erection after middle age has haunted men since the dawn of time. And in typically male fashion, we never talk about it. Yet this is a widespread issue, affecting as many as 18 per cent of men in their 50s. It is often mocked and derided, but this is a condition that ruins marriages and lives and ravages men’s self-confidence.
In 1994, a group of middle aged men in Swansea signed up for a clinical trial for a drug developed by Pfizer as a treatment for heart failure. The little white pill, then called UK-92480, was rumoured to have transformative sexual properties and could help men get hard in an instant. It later became known as Viagra: a drug that revolutionised sex and relationships in the 21st century.
The trial is the subject of BBC One drama Men Up, a fictional account of five men who take part in the research to help revive their miserable sex lives. Meurig (Iwan Rheon), Eddie (Mark Lewis Jones) and Pete (Phaldut Sharma) are desperate to rekindle the intimacy that has been lost in their relationships, while widower Colin (Steffan Rhodri) lacks the confidence to have real sex with a woman he is having saucy conversations with on the phone.
Tommy (Paul Rhys) is a gay man who lies to get on the trial, which was only set up for straight sex, in a bid to come to terms with his sexuality. And it wouldn’t be a BBC show set in Wales without Joanna Page, who delivers a strong performance as plucky trial nurse Moira Davies.
On paper, Men Up should have all the right ingredients for a solid, if unspectacular, piece of BBC drama: a quirky plot, a solid cast and a script ripe for cheeky innuendo. Its fundamental problem is that the characters just aren’t that interesting. It is difficult to get deeply attached to any of these men and their family lives in just 90 minutes: all of them deserve an episode each.
As a result, the emotional crescendoes that the plot tries to build for its characters end up falling flat. I was neither sad nor happy for any of these protagonists in the end. The characters in Men Up aren't even based on stories of real people, so the characters feel artificial and a bit forgettable. The cast is good enough to inject them with a bit of life – but not much.
It is particularly disappointing given that Men Up’s writer, Matthew Barry, is a brilliant talent. His banker drama Industry, which has just been renewed for a third season, was edgy and dynamic: qualities that Men Up completely lacks.
There have been plenty of interesting TV dramas exploring health and pharmaceutical issues this year, such as Netflix’s Painkiller or BBC One’s Best Interests. Both were compelling as their characters developed over a few episodes. Cramming everything into an hour and a half rarely works; it requires exceptional writing.
While researching the Swansea trial, I was surprised that no attempt had ever been made by a journalist had been to track down the real participants. This is a void Men Up could have filled: a documentary featuring interviews with them is, to me, a far more interesting prospect. Dr David Price, who conducted one of the original Viagra trials in Wales, told the Guardian earlier this month that he would have preferred if Men Up was factual. I agree. Sometimes, the facts are good enough on their own.
