Dr Peter Willis brings a unique dual perspective to HIV - as both physician and patient during the epidemic's most challenging years. Working as a GP in the early days when HIV meant certain death, Peter witnessed the professional helplessness of medicine whilst quietly assuming his own positive status after his 16-year partner Malcolm showed clear signs of AIDS. Malcolm refused testing and died in 1994, leaving Peter to navigate his own eventual diagnosis in 1995, just as combination therapy emerged to transform his prognosis from months to decades.

Now 83, Peter has been married to his Japanese partner for nearly 30 years and reflects on the extraordinary journey from expecting death before retirement to discovering pottery in his ninth decade. His story captures the medical profession's evolution from powerlessness to hope, the personal cost of stigma in healthcare settings, and the grace found in both losing love and finding it again. Peter's measured wisdom about ageing with HIV, drawn from both clinical knowledge and lived experience, offers profound insights into resilience, acceptance, and the unexpected gifts of longevity.

02:52 - Early medical stigma: "Sometimes the envelopes... had 'HIV positive' written in red on the outside of the packet."

03:59 - Medical helplessness: "Initially, you really couldn't do anything."

04:48 - Malcolm's AIDS: "It was quite clear that he had AIDS. He didn't want to be tested."

05:49 - Professional compartmentalisation: "I treated patients as patients... separate from me."

06:26 - Assumed prognosis: "I always assumed that I wouldn't have very long to live, five years at the most."

06:53 - Early retirement: "Such a relief... I retired on the basis that I had less than six months to live."

08:05 - Limited gay scene engagement: "I was never much good at dancing... very self-conscious."

09:37 - Police warning: "If I were you, I'd get out of here. I'm a policeman."

10:27 - Professional fears: "I just couldn't face the prospect of being in the local newspaper as a GP."

11:16 - Diagnosis journey: "A friend... said, I'm coming to see you... I'm taking you to hospital."

12:57 - Receiving the news: "Steve said, I'm sorry, I have bad news for you."

13:45 - Survival factors: "I seem to be... immunologically tough... combination therapy came along in the nick of time."

14:34 - Social life impact: "My social life... was Golders Green Crematorium."

15:38 - Emotional detachment: "I didn't seem to get too stressed by what I... wonder, is it all suppressed?"

16:05 - Treatment transformation: "It's wonderful... it really changes everything."

16:41 - Current health: "HIV causes me no problems whatever."

17:10 - Disbelief at longevity: "I wouldn't have believed it... I can put it aside as being a kind thought."

19:29 - NHS appreciation: "Relies very heavily on people believing very much in what they're doing."

20:08 - U=U significance: "Wonderful idea that people no longer need to be fearful of having a relationship."

21:03 - Remembering Malcolm: "I was in love with him... all the time for 16 years."

23:35 - Final goodbye: "I said quietly in his ear, it's all right, love. You can go. I'll be all right without you."

25:06 - Funeral tribute: "I've never heard anything so wonderful about love."

25:26 - Final wisdom: "Enjoy life, be happy. Don't worry about challenges you can't achieve."