Critics have slated Sirs Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi’s new gay sitcom Vicious.

The first episode saw older gay couple Freddie and Stuart, who have lived together for 48 years, hosting a wake and meeting their sexually ambiguous young neighbor.

A call back to a classic kind of comedy filmed in front of a live audience, the show worked well when showing off its camp one-liners about age and relationships.

Sir Ian McKellen, the star of new sitcom Vicious which is based around a gay couple, has said he is glad gay people no longer mostly bear the brunt of jokes in comedy today.

Speaking about the show to The Sun, he said: ‘In the past, gay characters in sitcoms have been figures of fun. They were funny because they were gay.

‘But I like the fact that these characters are funny because of the people they are. That’s a real advance.’

Writer Jonathan Harvey, whose play and film Beautiful Thing defined coming out in Britain under Section 28, has Tweeted against Margaret Thatcher on the day of her funeral.

Thatcher’s Conservative government introduced Section 28 to the UK in 1988. It effectively stopped teachers from talking about being lesbian, gay or bisexual to their pupils in schools.

Writing on Twitter today (17 April) Harvey states: ‘Young gay men fawning over Thatcher clearly have no knowledge of gay history.’

Hobbit star Ian McKellen has posted an obituary to Margaret Thatcher calling her ideology against gay marriage ‘hypocritical and now pointless’.

McKellen, who is world-famous because of his role as Gandalf in blockbuster films Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, published the post about the late former UK Prime Minister on his website from Montreal.

The trailer for the eagerly awaited Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi comedy Vicious was revealed today (12 April).

The two knighted British actors star as ageing partners Freddie (McKellen), a retired actor, and Stuart (Jacobi), a former barman.

With a script by Will & Grace writer Gary Janetti, the show also stars Misfits actor Iwan Rheon and Frances De La Tour, who plays the couple’s best friend Violet.

Sir Ian McKellen got down on one knee and 'proposed' to Sir Derek Jacobi after hearing marriage equality was one step closer to reality.

The Gandalf actor had been filming an episode of the new TV series Vicious, based on the 1960s play Staircase, at London’s South Bank studio.

On 5 February, the House of Commons voted for same-sex marriage in England and Wales.

Gandalf-actor Ian McKellen will officiate at the wedding ceremony of X-men star Patrick Stewart when he marries singer-songwriter Sunny Ozell.

McKellen announced the news when he was being interviewed on The Jonathan Ross show last Saturday.

'I'm going to marry Patrick,' said McKellen who acts opposite Stewart in X-men. 'I am going to officiate at his wedding.'

McKellen said he has officiated once before for two men at a civil partnership in the UK. 'I was crying my eyes out,' he said.

Sir Ian McKellen has talked about his new gay sitcom and growing up in the 1950s.

In the upcoming ITV show ‘Vicious’, starring McKellen and Sir Derek Jacobi, it will look at the life of a 48-year-long relationship between two men living in the heart of Soho.

Talking on The Jonathan Ross Show on Friday night (15 March), McKellen talked about his experiences growing up as a gay man.

Wizardly actor and dedicated gay rights campaigner Ian McKellen was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Ulster yesterday. He was asked to deliver a lecture to an invited audience to mark the occasion, and he spoke about the achievements of the gay rights movement in Britain.

'Thanks to every gay person in public and non-public life who has come out,' McKellen said, BBC News reports.

Movies Les Misérables and Cloud Atlas and TV comedy Modern Family have topped the nominations for the annual gay Dorian Awards.

The Dorians are chosen by the The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association’s (GALECA) members each year.

This year’s Timeless Award ‘honoring an actor or performer whose exemplary career has been marked by character, wisdom and wit’ will go to Sir Ian McKellen, the British actor who became a household name as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings and in 2012 reprised that role in The Hobbit.

Hobbit star Sir Ian McKellen says coming out is the 'best thing I ever did'.

The veteran gay actor is currently reprising his role as wizard Gandalf for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings prequel.

‘When I came out, I told my stepmother Gladys, and she just said she had known for years and was glad I wasn’t lying any more,’ he told The Daily Mail.

‘Before that, I presumed it would be bad for my career.

Two legendary homosexuals are on the covers of this month's FIASCO magazine.

Out actor Sir Ian McKellen photographed by Pip and pop singer Adam Lambert photographed by Miguel Starcevich grace two separate covers and fashion spreads in FIASCO magazine's 23rd issue: the Obsession edition.

In the interview, Adam Lambert recalls his performances with Queen and discusses how gay men feel about his style.