The script originally started life under the title 'Queer as Fuck' before it was changed to the more suitable 'Queer as Folk', which plays on the traditional Northern English saying 'there's nowt so queer as folk'.

The series was filmed on location around Canal Street in Manchester's gay village, the same area where its story is set.

The producers stated that despite its surface realism, the show was intended as a fantasy, with Stuart, Vince, and Nathan functioning more as gay male archetypes than realistic characters.

The series sparked criticism from the gay press for not addressing the AIDS epidemic, while a Daily Mail commentator called for the show to be censored.

Beck's Brewery sponsored the first four episodes but withdrew halfway through the series; after backlash from the gay community, Beck's later offered to sponsor the second series, but the producers refused.

In 2010, The Guardian ranked Queer as Folk at number 13 in its list of 'The Top 50 TV Dramas of All Time'.

The original soundtrack album, released by Almighty Records and featuring artists like Ultra Naté and Blondie, sold 125,000 copies and became the 50th biggest-selling compilation album of 1999.

A planned spin-off series called Misfits, which would have followed side characters Hazel, Alexander, Donna, and Bernard, was commissioned by Channel 4 with drafts for four episodes and outlines for twenty-two more, but it was cancelled before entering pre-production.

After Channel 4 cancelled the Misfits spin-off, writer Russell T Davies pulled out of a deal to publish Queer as Folk short stories on the broadcaster's website and vowed not to work with Channel 4 again unless he had an idea suited only to that channel; he eventually returned fifteen years later in 2015 with Cucumber, Banana, and Tofu.

The success of the original series led to an American-Canadian co-production for Showtime and Showcase, set in Pittsburgh but actually filmed in Toronto, Ontario.