Mr Loverman

Mr Loverman is a thought-provoking, deeply moving drama that explores historic and changing attitudes to gay relationships within the Afro Caribbean community in Britain. But it is much more than that - it is about love in all its guises and about the importance of identity and being true to yourself no matter what culture or community you are brought up in. Lennie James and Sharon D Clarke deserve to win every award going for their stunning performances. In fact, every character in this brilliant drama is beautifully portrayed and I cannot recommend it highly enough. More like this please BBC!

Wow. Just wow. I accidentally stumbled upon this magnificent gem and how delighted I am. Beautifully shot with excellent performances by all, I was truly surprised how much story was tightly packed into each 30 minute episodes (I didn't score a 10 simply because of my selfish desire to see these characters for 60 minutes).

The story authentically captures the essence of West Indian life (the music, the accent and nuances of speech, slang words, the cultural sensitivities, food, and the deep influence of religion) as well as the immigrant experience (prohibition on speaking patois by youngsters, youngsters struggling to straddle both worlds - that of their family and that of their adopted home). The emotions are raw and runs deep.

When people are prohibited from living as their true authentic selves due to fear of ostracism or death, they are more inclined to enter into relationships for cover which creates more hurt and deceit. This series is a gift of remembrance to the many unknown men and women who suffered in silence and forced to live inauthentic lives.

This series is based on a book. However, the screenplay itself uses a very childishly write script to bring it to the screen. The story could easily have been told in two episodes but instead has been dragged out by using eight episodes. The dialog is stilted and often irrelevant. It's really difficult to imagine any West Indian person using some of the words and dialogue that one hears. At times, it all gets a bit too silly and the FF button gets heavy use to move things along. The acting really isn't that great, and at times comes across as very amateurish.

The storyline is good. Interesting. But the colouring and the style of the show makes it look like eastenders. Its poor and cheap. It has great potential for moving drama but it doesnt fly. The voiceover ia also not great. Overall it feels like mrs.marple from 1996 and not a show shoot in 2024. Wasted resources as you can see the show has not generated a lot of interest and imdb has only 200+ reviews. Which is a fail. I would say hire better young, creative directors BBC and just because dude who directed this has whole library of gay doesnt mean he has any talent. Whoever did the research failed to notice all his moves are with score of 5 LOL.

This is a riveting drama and superb acting from all the cast, extremely well written with characters you really get to know and appreciate for who they are or pretend to be. It does not shy away from controversy either and handles the prejudices of the characters with both touching realism tinged with humour and sadness. Lennie James simply surpasses himself in his portrayal of a closeted gay man who is caught between his family and secret lover and understandable split loyalties. Set in the London Borough of Hackney and on the Island of Antigua, I cannot recommend this drama highly enough. Enjoy!