Mayflies on BBC One review: Martin Compston brings the festive tears

Festive cheer is overrated, what about a good festive cry? Well, for those of us too repressed to let emotion out to family members, thankfully we have TV to help us at least let some out in their general vicinity.

And so to Mayflies, a BBC two-part series about how brief and precious life is. Adapted by Andrea Gibb, whose own partner died from cancer in 2018, this is a heartfelt and personable show delivered with a deeply sensitive sincerity. Basically, it’s ugly sob time, folks.

This heartfelt drama is an adaptation of a novel by Andrew O’Hagan and stars Martin Compston as novelist Jimmy, who goes back home to Scotland to visit his old friend Tully (Tony Curran), a rebellious musician.

Tully tells him he has terminal cancer and wants Jimmy to help him go to an assisted dying clinic in Switzerland – oh, and not tell the plan to his wife-to-be Anna (Ashley Jensen). The show goes to great lengths to explain why he doesn’t want her to know, without ever truly being convincing, which is somewhat unfortunate as it is the main engine of the plot.

Still, in a drama such as this, it’s more about watching great actors being great, and for sure, Compston and Curran (real-life old friends since they were in the 2006 film Red Road together) make a powerful and warm pairing as they organise the wedding, a farewell gig, and wrestle with mortality.

It sounds impossibly grim but it actually isn’t, helped by extended flashback scenes of the young Jimmy (Rian Gordon) and Tully (an excellent Tom Glynn-Carney) back in the day when they were post-punk fans. This allows for a rollicking soundtrack of The Fall and Joy Division, and also makes an effective point about not just how quickly time goes by but how certain memories stay with you throughout your life, and how certain people are your life.

The scenes of the young days are notable for how soft-hearted the group of boys are: there’s piss-taking but no malice, and a lot of physical affection, which is a unique and refreshing take on male friendship groups which feels a little closer to the truth than most ‘lads, lads, lads’ depictions of young men. Such visible love between men is at the core of the scenes between Compston and Curran in a manner that feels unique too. And will eventually leave you crying out your internal organs.

Mayflies is not without flaws. Aside from that plot engine gripe, the supremely talented Tracy Ifeachor is a little under-used as Compston’s wife, Iona, and the script feels a little bit safe with regards to Tully’s one-liners: few deliver on being as outrageous or funny as his character is set up to be.

Nevertheless, this big hearted drama manages to stay away from sentimentality while turning you to mush. It may even convince you to make some emotional connections with your family, before you switch over to Gogglebox.

Mayflies will be on BBC iPlayer from December 27 and will air on BBC One on December 28