Mr Loverman: 'wonderfully complex' show starring Lennie James
TV adaptation of Bernardine Evaristo's novel tells the story of a gay septuagenarian contemplating leaving his wife for his lifelong best friend

"It's hard to think of a better casting choice than the great Lennie James" as Barrington Walker in BBC One's adaptation of Bernardine Evaristo's 2013 novel "Mr Loverman". "You can't visualise anyone else" as the "dapper, roguish" septuagenarian, driving around in his "gleaming Daimler".
He's been married to the "God-fearing" Carmel for half a century but their marriage is clearly "under strain". Carmel is "fed up" with her husband's antics; he regularly stays out late drinking and ends up "rolling home" in the early hours, said Pat Stacy in the Irish Independent.
It turns out Barry has been the "secret lover" and "soulmate" of his best friend, Morris, since their boyhood in Antigua, said Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. This is the story of a "good life built on lies"; their happiness is "almost palpable" when on screen together, but the "50 misspent years are tragic and their effects corrosive".
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
As he faces up to old age, Barry "knows time is running out and regrets are rushing in". He promises Morris that he is finally ready to leave Carmel but his lover looks at him with "weary tenderness" – they have "been here before" many times.
Despite its painful examination of the community's deep-rooted homophobia, this is no "miseryfest". "There is plenty of light as well as shade", much of which is provided by Barry and Carmel's "high-maintenance drama queen" younger daughter Maxine (Tamara Lawrance).
"I didn't really get on with it in the beginning", said Anita Singh in The Telegraph. The opening episode "screams 'adapted from a book'" – it felt as if writer Nathaniel Price was "so reverential" to Evaristo's novel that he had "thrown in" every one of the Booker prize-winning author's lines rather than having the "confidence to pare it down". The show takes the characters' "innermost thoughts" from the page and translates them into a voiceover that "clutters" each scene.
But I'm glad I "persevered". The narration gradually becomes "less obtrusive and the characters more appealing". Throughout the series, there are flashbacks to Barry's early relationship with Morris in Antigua but it's the present-day scenes of his life in east London "with their exploration of love and longing in old age" that are "the strongest".
Evaristo's "clever, sparky novel is relatively short", added Carol Midgley in The Times, and as the action is "stretched" across eight episodes it can make the series feel at times like it's moving at a "glacial pace". Even if you sometimes wish things would "speed up a bit", though, James is "layered and twinkling" as Barry, and Sharon D. Clarke gives a "stand-out performance" as the long-suffering Carmel, wearing the "disappointment, hurt and rage" of spending most of her life with a husband she knows is cheating in "every movement of her body". The final scenes when Barry and Carmel are "pulling at the entrails of their rotted marriage" are "easily the best".
All in all, "Mr Loverman" is a "wonderfully complex" show that threads together issues spanning everything from sexuality and racism to marital breakdown and infidelity, said Jeff Ingold on the i news site. It's "rare and powerful to see two elderly Black gay men on-screen in love – and having sex", and the series should be "celebrated" as part of the "changing cultural tide" bringing these stories to the mainstream.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Irenie Forshaw is a features writer at The Week, covering arts, culture and travel. She began her career in journalism at Leeds University, where she wrote for the student newspaper, The Gryphon, before working at The Guardian and The New Statesman Group. Irenie then became a senior writer at Elite Traveler, where she oversaw The Experts column.
-
Book reviews: ‘Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America’ and ‘How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998’
Feature A political ‘witch hunt’ and Helen Garner’s journal entries
By The Week US Published
-
The backlash against ChatGPT's Studio Ghibli filter
The Explainer The studio's charming style has become part of a nebulous social media trend
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Why are student loan borrowers falling behind on payments?
Today's Big Question Delinquencies surge as the Trump administration upends the program
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Scottish hospitality shines at these 7 hotels
The Week Recommends Sleep well at these lovely inns across Scotland
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
7 ways to drink spectacularly across the United States this spring
The Week Recommends A bar for every springtime occasion
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
6 welcoming recipes for cooking and baking during your spring days
The Week Recommends You want it flavorful, and you want it exciting
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Spring's best new cookbooks, from pizza to pastries
The Week Recommends Pizza, an array of brownies and Cantonese-American mash-ups are on the menu
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
10 upcoming albums to stream in the hazy spring
The Week Recommends Ring in the end of the cold weather with some new music
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Video games to play this spring, including 'Split Fiction' and 'South of Midnight'
The Week Recommends A meta co-op game puts you in a game within a game, and a life simulator that can compete with the 'Sims' franchise
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
7 new and long-established musicals to see on tour this spring
The Week Recommends Even 'Les Misérables' is back on the road
By Scott Hocker, The Week US Published
-
Museum exhibitions across the globe are in artful bloom this spring. These are 5 to experience.
The Week Recommends See treasures from ancient Japan, Versailles and the Forbidden City
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published