Meet the characters
Meet the cast of characters whose lives play out in Man In An Orange Shirt - the flagship drama in the BBC’s Gay Britannia season.
Published: 20 July 2017
Pictured: Adam (Julian Morris) and Flora (Vanessa Redgrave)
Michael Berryman - played by Oliver Jackson-Cohen
A captain in the British Armed Forces during the Second World War, Michael Berryman finds himself stationed in Italy during the final years of the Allied campaign. Orphaned, public school educated and expecting to marry his childhood sweetheart Flora on his return home, sensitive Michael has long buried his own desires toward other men, fully prepared to live the life expected of him. So his sudden attraction to Thomas March, a war artist attached to his regiment, is quite unexpected. For Michael, the thought of a continuing domestic relationship with another man is absurd. But Michael is a romantic at heart, and the brief time he spends in Thomas's company releases a longing in him that cannot be ignored.
Thomas March - played by James McArdle
A war artist for the British forces during the Second World War, Thomas March is rescued during a battle by an army captain called Michael. In Michael he sees a tender soul, himself in need of rescue. Shipped home from the war, Thomas returns to his Soho studio flat, delighted when Michael tracks him down, allowing their relationship to grow. Thomas's actorly parents and bohemian upbringing have given him a wider world view that doesn't shut down the possibility of gay domestic happiness - but he soon finds this crashing against Michael's own attitude of self-denial and his plans to marry his childhood sweetheart.
Flora Talbot - played by Joanna Vanderham
It's 1945, and Flora Talbot is teaching at an evacuated boys' boarding school in Shropshire. Intelligent, educated, passionate, and curious about sex - of which she knows practically nothing - she is betrothed to her childhood sweetheart Michael. They marry upon his return from the war and she becomes pregnant soon afterwards. She is aware that Michael is distant, and the discovery of love letters between him and another man turns her world upside down. But Flora is not going to roll over and give her husband up. Flora is prepared to fight for her new family...
Lucien - played by Adrian Schiller
Owner of a lampshade shop in 1940s Soho, Lucien is the bohemian older friend and landlord of Thomas March. Affecting a grand air, Lucien is worldly, wary and watchful, noticing everything. When Thomas is imprisoned it's Lucien who, discretely, reaches out to Michael, and furnishes him with the details and means of visiting.
Daphne Talbot - played by Laura Carmichael
Daphne, who works in a London auction house in the late 1940s, is bubbly and worldly. She has lost a husband during the war and contends with "dirty old men and their mucky pictures" all day at work. She is matron of honour for her younger sister Flora, and enjoys being her confidante and source of gossip.
Mrs March - played by Frances de la Tour
Mrs March still lives in the shadow of her 1920s theatrical heyday, and is every inch the tragic dame: imperious and accustomed to disappointment and solitude. Her home is a shrine to her and her late husband’s acting careers and her son's art.
Adam - played by Julian Morris
Adam is a hardworking, kind and sensitive London vet. After his parents died in a car crash, his doting but cool-hearted grandmother Flora raised him the best way she knew - packing him off to boarding school. He now lives in her basement flat and they enjoy weekly suppers together. Adam's sexuality is completely compartmentalised - it’s never spoken of at home with Flora; instead he arranges meaningless hook ups through his favoured dating apps. Flora's unspoken disapproval has infused him with a shame that makes intimacy impossible, no matter how much he subconsciously craves it. When he meets Steve, Adam has the chance to build something more tender and meaningful - but only if he can start to overcome his addiction to danger, and trust himself to love.
Steve - played by David Gyasi
Steve is an architectural designer living in London. Originally from a big, working-class family of builders, he moved to London to train as an architect but was swept off his feet by Caspar, an older and more experience urbanite, who, in Steve's words, taught him "how to be gay". Almost 20 years later they're still together - but for Steve, the cracks are starting to show.
Their open relationship no longer seems like such a freeing achievement, and Steve is secretly yearning for something more rooted and domestic, echoing the family life he knew growing up. In Adam, Steve discovers someone in need of rescuing, and who might have that same desire to escape city living - but he can't risk everything he has for someone who cannot let go of their past.
Flora Talbot (2017) - played by Vanessa Redgrave
Lively widow Flora dotes on her grandson Adam. Assisted by her housekeeper Rita, she leads a life of bridge club meetings and weekly suppers with Adam, who lives in her basement flat. Once an upbeat and passionate young teacher, Flora has grown cool-hearted, weary and judgemental. When Adam begins a relationship with a man, Flora’s old pain come bubbling to the surface, challenging her to face her deepest prejudices and threatening the happiness of the person she holds most dear.
Caspar - played by Julian Sands
Sophisticated silver fox Caspar is an urbane art buyer and Steve's partner of almost 20 years. Cool in every sense and highly observant, he is happy with their open relationship and the opportunity to meet other people - often via dating apps - whilst having a soulmate at home. And between Steve's design sense and Caspar's art, their home is becoming a "gay heaven". But Caspar is no fool, and is quickly aware of Steve's pull toward the young vet Adam, who is in need of emotional rescue.
Claudie - played by Angel Coulby
Playful Claudie is Adam's upbeat best friend from college. As their circle of friends started to pair up, she's always kept an eye on Adam, and pushed him towards romantic opportunities, whilst apologising for the awful ones her husband suggests. But she’s also wary of Adam’s reliance on dating apps and how they’re beginning to disrupt his life. She's now heavily pregnant with twins - the awkwardness of which she delights in using as a source of humour.
