Musical icon Elton John has praised Russell T Davies’ Channel 4 drama It’s A Sin for offering “an incredibly moving account” of the AIDS crisis in 1980s London.

The singer joins the likes of Sir Ian McKellen in applauding the five-part series, which follows the lives of a group of friends during the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Taking to Instagram to congratulate the It’s A Sin cast - which includes Years & Years bandleader Olly Alexander - and Davies for creating such a ‘triumph’, Sir Elton penned:

"It’s A Sin is an incredibly moving account of the arrival of AIDS in the UK in the 1980s. Watching it, so many sad and devastating memories came flooding back. Many people were callous, ignorant and cruel. Thank God we have come so far since then."

"Hats off to Russell T Davies on creating this moving testament to a pivotal and important moment in LGBTQ history," Elton added.

"The cast are sublime. Congratulations all round. A TRIUMPH of creativity and humanity."

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Early on, AIDS was known as "GRID" (gay-related immune deficiency) and terms such as "gay plague" were used openly.

The singer established the Elton John AIDS Foundation in 1992 to battle the ongoing epidemic, which has since raised over $125 million to support programs in 55 countries around the world.

New data from HIV charity the Terrence Higgins Trust - based on YouGov polling of more than 2,000 adults - shows just one in five people (20%) have ever been tested for the virus in the UK, and the Trust estimates there are about 6,000 adults living with HIV undiagnosed.

The UK government's goal is to end new cases of the virus by 2030 - but routine testing needs to "drastically" increase to achieve this, according to the charity.

HIV negative people are now able to take PrEP, an antiretroviral medicine, to stop the virus replicating in the body.

For more information, visit HIV Ireland's website here.

Photo credit: Ben Blackall/Channel 4.