A dramatisation of Mr Loverman was filmed in Abney Park cemetery, Stoke Newington. Mr Loverman has been adapted from the 2013 novel of the same name by the Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo.
The novel is set in Hackney and so filming took place in the cemetery and on Stoke Newington Church Street.
Local residents received letters in advance of the filming and warned of upcoming disruption to bus routes and parking. The east and west bound Abney Park bus stops were suspended for the day alongside parking on several roads in the area.
BBC cast Line of Duty star in lead role
Lennie James – who stars in Save Me, The Walking Dead, and Line of Duty – is confirmed as the lead, Barrington Jedidiah Walker. The eight-part drama explores Barrington’s hidden homosexuality, an affair spanning decades and how this is affected by his Caribbean cultural identity.
After the BBC series was announced in June this year, further details about the series have been kept a mystery. Will McLaverty, Cultural Lead for Hackney Council, confirmed that as filming continues for the series, the “production will film throughout the borough” to ensure the continuity of the novel’s narrative.
The script for Mr Loverman has been written by Nathaniel Price – The Outlaws, and Noughts & Crosses. Hong Khaou – known for Baptiste and Monsoon – is the director.
Series set to be released in 2024
After the series announcement earlier this year, Lennie James said: “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.”
Bernardine Evaristo shared her excitement for the adaptation: “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.”
