A Very English Scandal; Nothing Like A Dame

“After the gleeful Carry On Murdering tendencies of last week, the final part found just the right balance. It’s become tediously predictable to praise this drama but, as Thorpe, Hugh Grant really has proved he’s getting better as he’s getting older.”
James Jackson, The Times

“Hugh Grant played Jeremy Thorpe with the lofty look of a priest attempting to ignore the putrid stench of the gutter. Superbly attuned both to the story’s absurdities and to Thorpe’s cold hard hypocrisy, Grant’s performance was genuinely revelatory. Awards all round to this blissful, blistering trip down memory lane.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“After a middle episode which I thought strayed too far into Carry On… territory writer Russell T Davies and director Stephen Frears were right back on form, expertly balancing black farce with moments of unexpected poignancy.”
Jeff Robson, The i

“Davies dispensed with much of the complex stuff and simply rattled out a cracking and at times darkly farcical human drama. Admittedly, there were moments where it began to a bit like a Carry On film. But rather that, surely, than a ploddingly pedantic, exhaustive account, bogged down by all the details.”
Mike Ward, Daily Express

“I have heard the odd moan about the tone being wrong. Nonsense. Just because something involves serious matters doesn’t mean it needs to be dry. The trial recreation – the whole thing – leaves you reeling, seething and laughing, all at the same time. It’s both scandalous and very English.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Director Roger Michell did a beautiful job with his gentle, hands-off approach, which led to a marvellously entertaining programme. With so many stories to tell, I only wish they had been given a whole series.”
Claudia Connell, Daily Mail