Love is all around with these Valentine’s Day treats streaming now on BBC iPlayer.
NORMAL PEOPLE (2020)
In this sublime adaptation of Sally Rooney’s best-selling novel, young Marianne and Connell weave in and out of each other’s lives over twelve stunning episodes. Exploring sex, power and the desire to love and be loved, Normal People is far more than a mere romantic drama; in the hands of Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal, it’s a poignant tale of the beauty, fragility and pain of love.
CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS (2022)
From the makers of Normal People, starring Alison Oliver, Sasha Lane, and Joe Alwyn, prepare to get intimate with Conversations with Friends. Two students and a married couple enter a tangled web of friendship, infidelity and lies in this seductive, intense love story that deserves your undivided attention.
LOVE + HATE
Dominic Savage’s unique love story is set across the racial frontline of a town in northern England. Adam (Tom Hudson) has been brought up in a community that fosters racial hatred. Meanwhile, Naseema (Samina Awan) is a second-generation Asian who abhors the way her peers have espoused violence as a way of reclaiming the lost pride of their fathers. While they are on opposite sides of the tracks, their work at a local DIY store soon brings Adam and Naseema together as they share a desire to break free from their small town.
LOVE, VICTOR
Fear less, love more. Love, Victor is a heartfelt high school tale about discovering who you are and coming out to the world. It centres on a new student at Creekwood High School: the adorable but insecure Victor. Building on the success of Love, Simon in 2018, Love, Victor challenges stereotypes, explores intersectionality, and a series of big relationship themes, from first love to ‘coming out’ and first-time sex.
GAVIN AND STACEY (2007 – 2024)
BBC Three has offered us some of the BBC’s most memorable shows over the years, but it’s James Corden and Ruth Jones’ Gavin & Stacey that takes the crown for longevity and love. Like many shows that began their life on BBC Three, Gavin and Stacey would transition to BBC Two and then BBC One as its popularity grew. Over 17 years, from 2007 to 2024, only 22 episodes were produced.
Those 22 expertly written and beautifully crafted episodes found an eternal place in the hearts of the British public as we followed Essex boy Gavin (Mathew Horne) and the love of his life, Welsh girl Stacey (Joanna Page). But the ‘Will They Won’t They’ highs and lows of Smithy (James Corden) and Nessa (Ruth Jones) cemented this sitcom’s place as one of the most fantastic slices of British comedy ever made. Every character in Gavin and Stacey’s orbit is beautifully realised, from Uncle Bryn (Rob Brydon) to Pam (Alison Steadman) and Dawn (Julia Davis), creating a sitcom in which each could easily carry their own show. In a word, Gavin and Stacey is lush.
MY SUMMER OF LOVE (2004)
Pawel Pawlikowski’s 2004 drama follows the unlikely friendship that develops over the course of a summer between working-class Mona (Natalie Press) and well-to-do Tamsin (Emily Blunt). Set in Yorkshire, tomboy Mona and pampered Tamsin discover that despite their differences, they have much to teach one another and much to explore during a summer of uncertain romance, exploration, and rebirth.
MY FAVOURITE WIFE (1940)
Garson Kanin’s screwball comedy about a woman (Irene Dunne) who reappears after being shipwrecked, only to find that her husband (Cary Grant) has remarried, is a hidden gem. As Grant’s Nick Arden tries to conceal his very alive wife, Ellen (Dunne), from his new bride, his first wife has her own secret – a handsome hunk who was her companion for seven years.
GREAT EXPECTATIONS (2011)
Great Expectations may be one of Dickens’ bleakest novels, almost verging on horror as fates collide, class conflict clouds hope, and manipulation and deceit hide around every corner. Brian Kirk’s 2011 adaptation, written by Sarah Phelps, captures the atmosphere of Dickens’ story in exquisite detail as we follow Pip (Oscar Kennedy/Douglas Booth) from his childhood to his twenties.
Given the darkness of Dickens’ story, you may wonder why Great Expectations should be on your Valentine’s Day BBC iPlayer list. The answer is simple: Great Expectations is about the complexity of love, its unspoken dimensions, and how easily it can become toxic. From Joe’s (Shaun Dooley) love and protection of Pip to Miss Havisham’s (Gillian Anderson) twisted love for Estella (Izzy Meikle-Small/Vanessa Kirby) and Pip’s unrequited love, Great Expectations is a story about the fragility of love amid manipulation, lies, and class conflict. It may not be a drama you initially consider as a Valentine’s Day treat, but it’s one that isn’t afraid to challenge our rose-tinted views of love through stunning period detail and world-class drama.
A SUITABLE BOY (2020)
In a newly independent India in 1951, passionate literature student Lata Mehra (Tanya Maniktala) is looking towards her own future.
Her mother, Rupa (Mahira Kakkar), has successfully arranged the marriage of her eldest daughter, Savita (Rasika Dugal), to Pran Kapoor (Gagandeep Singh Riar), a university lecturer. Now Rupa has her sights set on her spirited younger daughter, but Lata wants to make her own way in the world in this beautiful Andrew Davies adaptation of Vikram Seth’s epic novel.
DOCTOR WHO – ROGUE (2024)
Doctor Who season one’s Rogue sees the Doctor and Ruby land in 1813, where guests at a Duchess’s party are being murdered. But as the Doctor investigates, a mysterious bounty hunter called ‘Rogue’ is about to sweep him off his feet. Is love in the air for the new Doctor?
Ncuti Gatwa’s first season in the Tardis broke new ground in many ways, but his brief and electric rendezvous with Jonathan Groff really got our hearts fluttering.
A VERY BRITISH ROMANCE WITH LUCY WORSLEY (2024)
Join Lucy Worsley this Valentine’s Day as she delves into the history of romance to uncover the forces shaping our very British happily ever after and how social, political, and cultural ideas have shaped our feelings.
LOVE SONGS AT THE BBC
There’s no better way to celebrate love than by spending your evening in the company of Celine Dion, Joe Cocker, Jennifer Warnes, Jason and Kylie, and 10cc, to name just a few. Over three volumes, Love Songs at the BBC is a Valentine’s Day mixtape of pure joy from archive Top of the Pops performances to live BBC treats.
WAR AND PEACE (2016)
Sweeping tales of love and loss don’t come much bigger or more epic than Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace, and the 2026 BBC adaptation honours the complexity and beauty of Tolstoy’s masterpiece. Adapted by Andrew Davies and directed by Tom Harper, this ravishing tale of love, loss, politics, discovery and war brought together a stellar cast, including James Norton, Paul Dano, Lily James, Jack Lowden, Greta Scacchi and yes, even a young Kit Connor, over six stunning cinematic episodes.
Opening in 1805, as Russia declares war on Napoleon Bonaparte’s French army, the lives of three young people are about to change forever. Pierre Bezukhov (Dano) is a lost soul, out of place in St Petersburg society, as the illegitimate son of a wealthy count who is now close to death. His dearest friend, Andrei Bolkonsky (Norton), is a brilliant man but equally unhappy and eager for the challenge of war. Meanwhile, in Moscow, spirited teenager Natasha Rostova (James) is desperate to experience life and love.
While it remains nearly impossible to cover all aspects of Tolstoy’s 1392-page novel, Davies and Harper do an outstanding job of condensing the story without losing sight of Tolstoy’s key themes. As the six episodes unfold (I would advise watching 3 in a row, in two parts), we journey through history, sweeping romance and intellectual endeavour as Tolstoy’s richly detailed characters leap from page to screen in the hands of an enviable ensemble cast. War and Peace is the BBC at its very best and a true Valentine’s Day treat.
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