Mr Loverman TV adaptation announced for BBC One starring Lennie James

The BBC has announced brand new drama series Mr Loverman based on the 2013 novel by author Bernardine Evaristo.

Adapted by Nathaniel Price (The Outlaws, Noughts & Crosses), the eight-part show will air on BBC One and iPlayer.

Lennie James (Save Me, Line of Duty) will star as the exuberant protagonist, Barrington Jedidiah Walker with further casting to be announced.

A teaser shares: “Barrington Jedidiah Walker, Esq. Barry to his mates. Trouble to his wife, his daughters, and his lover. Seventy years old, Antiguan born, exuberant Hackney personality, Barry is renowned for his dapper taste and fondness for retro suits.

“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, decades-long passionate affair with his best friend and soulmate, Morris. Now entering the next chapter of his life, Barry has big choices to make that will force his whole family to question their own futures.

“Bringing to life Bernardine Evaristo’s ground-breaking exploration of Britain’s older Caribbean community, Mr Loverman paints an incisive portrait of a family, exploring aspirations and regret, parenthood, and social expectations about sexual orientation and love.”

Bernardine Evaristo said: “I am thrilled that Mr Loverman is being adapted into television drama. I love the idea of them stepping beyond the pages of the novel and into people’s living rooms and lives.”

Lennie James added: “I can’t wait to get Barrington’s swagger on and help tell this crucial and complicated love story. As funny as it is sad. As full of heart as it is heartache…”

Faye Ward, Executive Producer for Fable Pictures, commented: “We have long been fans of both Bernardine Evaristo’s work and the indomitable Lennie James – to bring the two together in an adaptation of Mr Loverman for the BBC with Nathaniel Price’s superb scripts has been a highlight of Fable Pictures to date. It’s got everything you could wish for in its rich and beautiful story, and dives right to the heart of family with all its complexities.”