I thought: ‘It’s time you introduce bisexuals properly into mainstream television,’” he said. “The most boring drama would be – ‘Oh, I’m bisexual, oh my bleeding heart’ nighttime drama. Tedious, dull. But if you say it’s a bisexual space pirate swaggering in with guns and attitude and cheek and humour into primetime family viewing – that was enormously attractive to me.

I often get asked to write dramas or films about a man coming out of the closet to his wife, or a man coming out of the closet to his children, or a man who’s beaten up because he’s secretly gay. I always refuse if it’s a negative take on homosexuality – if the only aspect being portrayed is the trouble, the tears and the angst.