Love And Lies

- Caren Clark

The stark differences and poignant similarities between two gay love affairs 70 years apart are explored this week in BBC2’s compelling new drama Man in an Orange Shirt.

The two-parter, a highlight of the BBC’s Gay Britannia season, is the first TV drama from best-selling author Patrick Gale. It begins in 1944 as soldier Captain Michael Berryman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) is reunited in Italy with a school friend, Thomas March (James McArdle), who is now a war artist.

The men fall deeply in love and during their time together after the conflict has ended, Thomas paints a portrait of his lover entitled Man in an Orange Shirt. But a shadow hangs over their liaison because Michael is about to marry his girlfriend, schoolteacher Flora, played by Joanna Vanderham.

After the wedding, Michael tries desperately to stay away from Thomas but when Flora discovers their secret, all their lives fall apart.