Lennie James on new BBC TV show Mr Loverman, about a ‘six-decade love affair’ between closeted men

Mr Loverman is on at 9pm on BBC One tonight (Image: BBC/Fable Pictures/Des Willie)

“It’s about time,” actor Lennie James proclaims. Seldom are two gay Caribbean-born elders at the front and centre of a British primetime television drama, but that’s all about to change with Mr Loverman, the BBC adaptation of Bernardine Evaristo’s award-winning novel of the same name. 

James is at the helm of this seismic series, playing the lead part of Barrington Jedidiah Walker, and he couldn’t be prouder that this complex queer Black love story is stepping into the light. “It’s a crucial and important story, particularly within our community, to be having, especially amongst a generation that is largely ignored or hugely stereotyped,” he says. 

Mr Loverman, published in 2013, has been transformed into an eight-part

READ MORE OF THIS POST AT Attitude