Lennie James on playing the lead in a six-part BBC adaptation of author Bernadine Evaristo's novel Mr Loverman.

Wonderfully complex' show tells the story of a gay septuagenarian as he contemplates leaving his wife for his lifelong best friend

Lennie James, star of Mr Loverman, has been a mainstay on the British TV scene for many years but international TV viewers will recognise him from The Walking Dead franchise

Many TV dramas have a good opening episode and then go downhill. Mr Loverman (BBC One) is the opposite. I didn’t really get on with it in the beginning. It’s based on a charming novel by Booker Prize winner Bernardine Evaristo,

Lennie James has stressed the importance of including intimate sex scenes in his poignant new BBC drama, Mr Loverman.

The rest of the Walker clan are played by Tamara Lawrance (Get Millie Black, Time series two) and Sharlene Whyte (Small Axe, Stephen) as Barrington and Carmel’s daughters, Maxine and Donna. Tahj Miles (Death in Paradise, Small Axe), is Daniel, Donna’s son and Carmel and Barrington’s grandson.

It’d hard to think of a better casting choice than the great Lennie James in Mr Loverman (BBC1, Monday, October 14; all 8 episodes on BBC iPlayer), based on Booker Prize winner Bernadine Evaristo’s 2013 novel.