Heartbreaking BBC series has people sobbing into their sofas 

Mr Loverman is an eight-episode BBC drama that follows the tear-jerking story of a closeted 74-year-old gay man living in . The epic drama is based on the by Bernardine Evaristo, which explores Britain’s elderly Caribbean community through the eyes of Barrington Jeddiah Walker in the 1960s.

Barrington, nicknamed Barry, who is living in Hackney with his wife, harbouring a decade-long secret. Each episode unveils his story further as we learn about the 50-year love affair with his best friend throughout his marriage to devoted wife Carmel.

As Barry approaches the later years of his life, and his relationships with both his wife and daughters begin to show cracks, his secrets are at risk of being exposed. With themes of love and cultural conflicts within the British Caribbean community, this short series covers a lot of poignant ground.

This moving adaptation of the 2013 novel vividly shows both the light-hearted and melancholic moments of Barry’s life as he grapples with his sexuality in a society that has suppressed his identity. The describes the show as a “life-affirming story about being true to yourself.”

Since its release last year, the series has gained a positive reception from critics and viewers alike, with The Guardian calling it “magnificent TV that will tear your heart open.” Adding to the drama’s well-received reviews, The Telegraph claimed that “Lennie James dazzles in a rarely told story of illicit late-life love.”

Viewers at home are deeply moved by watching Barry’s journey on-screen, and while the story itself is fictional, the themes seem to have hit home for a lot of people. One reviewer wrote: “This is a tender, painful portrait of an older homosexual love affair in a drama that shows how bigotry makes people waste years of their lives.”

Another fan of the series shared: “This is a different, spikier, much braver tale about the Windrush generation than usually makes it onto our screens. There is closeness, vibrancy, violence and sorrow in the mix, plus an examination of many forms of love.”

Ahead of the iPlayer launch, the author of the novel from which the series is adapted, Bernardine Evaristo, opened up about her writing journey and how the story came to fruition. In she wrote: “The novel asks the question: what does it mean to spend a lifetime hiding your sexuality, and what are the consequences of this deception on yourself and those closest to you?”

She went on to explain that: “Like many of his Caribbean generation, Barrington migrated to Britain expecting a utopia, only to be sorely disappointed. As a gay man, he had the added challenge of landing in another culture where homosexuality was illegal.”

One reviewer from The Independent said: “When so many depictions of repressed homosexuality – especially within ethnic minority communities – are marked by relentless suffering, it is refreshing to see a show embrace its characters’ own autonomy.

“Autonomy to make decisions – good and bad – and forge their own path. Mr Loverman is a slim but moving testament to the enduring power of self-acceptance.”

All eight epsiodes of Mr Loverman are available to stream now on .