Comments on Episode 2

It would not take a genius to guess that this episode was tampered with. When Jane saw the rushes she argued that I tone it down a bit so I spoke that entirely unnecessary message at the start, had Jason issue that safety warning, and finally curtlailed the ending. Let us deal with the controversial issues one by one in reverse order of offense, judging by viewer complaints, and then I shall talk about how they came to happen.

3. The Fisting.
   For a start this is a misnomer because no-one has balled up their hand and stuck it in any orifice. Ed has put his well lubricated fingers in a beak shape inside Kate’s equally well lubricated anus and vagina. At no point did his whole hand vanish inside although it could have had and as for what Kate does with her own pussy, that is her business. Of course you have to be careful not to cause injury but, in a show like this, the viewers must surely assume the participants are experienced. Maybe it was because it was Kate rather than Aria or Tabitha Gash and people in Britain still remember her more innocent soap opera days.

4. The Child.
   Second top, and quite close to the biggest complaint in numbers, was the use of a young child. Even though he was not present during any of the sex scenes, the implication that he heard what was going on, or. probably worse. that he is only one door away from depravity, was too much for a lot of people, because they had obviously never been brought up in a house where their parents had sex! The child was an integral part of the story and I can assure you he witnessed nothing of the love making.

5. The Asphyxia.
   Hands up anyone who has seen **** in a film or one of those extremely graphic horror films, so beloved in America! Honestly this subject has been addressed in films dating back to the last century in art house films, but if I put asphyxia in a general audience friendly porn TV programme, which has already featured watersports and arse cleaning, then it is suddenly a big deal. Yes it is risky, just like rock climbing or motor racing is risky. That does not mean thrill seekers will stop doing such things. Two sober people who know what they are doing should be perfectly safe, but I admit it was possibly too shocking for some.

Jacqui had not been a good mood when I was working on the sex scenes for this episode. For someone whose job and hobby involve sex with many partners, she was get surprisingly jealous about Kate and me. It is all very well for the rest of the cast and crew to have fun in the evening ,but I have very little time to myself so, with my partner spending so much time in Dante’s Inferno working her way through all the VIPs, I decided I wanted a more settled routine. This meant separate rooms so I got a decent night’s sleep and increasingly often I would wake up next to Kate. I am not sure what the tipping point was but I had certainly gone over it and Jacqui was pissed. With Gallic theatricality ringing in my ears I decided to make the most controversial episode I could get away with.

I sat down with the couples in this episode and asked how far they were prepared to go. As Kate’s entrances were used to accommodating the larger male and Ed confessed that they had never tried fisting when they were a couple, they said they would be up for it if Aria or Jacqui gave them some coaching, which the former agreed to do. The filmed scenes still required a lot of lubricant, but my and Jacqui’s two protégés really showed how much they had learnt in the last couple of years.

If you have been reading the comments, you might have guessed that Jason’s sexual tastes are almost unlimited so I should not have been surprised when he suggested the strangulation and an experienced hardcore actress like Aria confessed that scene was not unfamiliar to her. Because of my row, I just accepted it straight away as I was confident no risk would be taken without considering the audience reaction. Despite having many attempts to get it right which took Jason to the edge many times, which Aria seemed to revel in, he said it was one of the most powerful orgasms he had had in his life. I got the feeling he and Aria were going to try it off screen.

According to sources, fisting was invented by gay men in the second half of the 20th century but I say poppycock. Just because de Sade does not mention it, I cannot believe 18th century libertines or even Romans had not tried it so that was my justification for it not being anachronistic. However I cannot really say the same for the asphyxia so one might say I had lost the historical accuracy I so readily promoted in my works. I actually felt worse about that than anything else.

Discounting the nature of the sex scenes, it was a faithful relating of the tale. It is pretty obvious that the maid and the younger friar are having as much fun as their elders, although the singing does seem both an odd excuse and extremely convenient. It is not entirely clear where the cot was situated, either in the room or on a balcony, but we decided we had to put a door in the way to avoid any accusations and yet … Because of the belt marks around Jason’s neck, we also had to add the extra explanation of the big worm. Several people suggested other candidates for ‘the big worm’.

This episode was filmed in the wonderful mediaeval city of Siena and I would have loved it if the two lovers’ eyes could have met while watching the Palio in the heat of the passion of the famously wild horse race, but unfortunately that was not run until 300 years after our story. Still we used the famous piazza to great effect.