# Man in an Orange Shirt (2017)

> Two films trace a wartime-era gay love story and a present-day gay couple's struggle for happiness, linked by family and memory.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/63678

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 2
- Episode runtime: 60 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, romance
- Created by: Patrick Gale
- Network: BBC Two
- Cast: Julian Morris, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Vanessa Redgrave, Joanna Vanderham, Frances de la Tour, James McArdle, Julian Sands, Tommy Bastow
- TMDB rating: 8.0/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6255500/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: slow
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: mild
- Tone: tender, wistful, melancholic, intimate, bittersweet

## What critics say

Viewers broadly found this two-part BBC drama emotionally tender, with its dual-era love story and lead performances carrying the material.

## Synopsis

Man in an Orange Shirt (2017) is a British two-part romantic drama miniseries created by Patrick Gale for BBC Two. Across two feature-length episodes of roughly an hour each, it follows Michael Berryman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen) and Thomas March (James McArdle) in the aftermath of World War II, as their love must survive a society that treats it as a crime and a family that wants it hidden. Interwoven with their story is the present-day tale of Adam Berryman (Julian Morris) and Steve (David Gyasi), whose relationship faces its own challenges in a more permissive but still uncertain world. Vanessa Redgrave appears as Flora Berryman, a matriarch whose memories tie the two timelines together, while Frances de la Tour and Julian Sands add supporting weight. The engine of the story is the stubborn wish to live openly and honestly, pressed against shame, loss and the cost of secrecy. Each film unfolds slowly, building an intimate portrait of a family reckoning with its past. The tone is tender, wistful and melancholic, with restrained emotion and a strong sense of place in quiet English cottages. Fans of Brokeback Mountain, Maurice and It's a Sin will find resonance in its blend of period romance and modern queer experience, a bittersweet meditation on love persisting through prejudice.

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