Add BBC TV series Mr Loverman to your autumn watchlists – you won’t regret it.
Adapted from the novel by Girl, Woman, Other author Bernadine Evaristo, the series will be led by Line of Duty star Lennie James, who plays an elderly family man who is having an affair with his soulmate and (male) best friend – and must come to terms with what he wants out of the rest of his life, despite what society and his family might expect of him.
One of Bernadine’s biggest goals when writing the book was offering representation for parts of the Windrush Generation, as she felt that the demographic had been portrayed as mostly heteronormative, and that “an elderly, Caribbean gay protagonist seemed the perfect way to address this”.
The author has described the TV series as “drama that is constantly moving from comedy to tragedy in an emotional rollercoaster”. Voicing her happiness at how the adaptation from book to TV has turned out, she described it as “very faithful to the book in the sense of the storylines, characters and even some of the dialogue”.
“It’s the first time any of my books have been adapted for the screen so it’s a new and revelatory experience for me,” she said. “To my great relief, I absolutely love every aspect of the series from the script to the casting, to the direction, to the set design, to the costumes, to the soundtrack and cinematography.”
Here’s what we know about Mr Loverman.
Parisa Taghizadeh/BBC Pictures
Mr Loverman plot
The BBC’s plot description has got us seriously intrigued. “Barrington Jedidiah Walker, Barry to his mates, is a seventy-four year old, Antiguan born, exuberant Hackney personality, renowned for his dapper taste and fondness for retro suits,” it reads. “Carmel, his wife of 50 years, senses that Barry has been cheating on her with other women. Little does she know what’s really going on: a secret, passionate affair with his best friend and soulmate, Morris.