The Deuce; Doctor Foster

“David Simon and George Pelecanos’s new series about the sex and emerging porn industry in 70s New York is not just an extraordinary creation; it’s an extraordinary recreation of the area around Times Square nearly half a century ago. You can smell it, the trash piled up by the side of the streets, the corruption and danger, but also the thrill of that time and that place.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“The Deuce is Simon’s gutter TV series, and what a pleasure it is to bathe in this human cesspool. The series is what Martin Scorsese’s Vinyl could have been if it hadn’t kept turning into Stars in Their Eyes nostalgia.”
James Jackson, The Times

“Doctor Foster reached berserk levels of melodrama as things went belly-up for Simon Foster. You have to hand it to Mike Bartlett, he has given us something rarer than a Trump apology: a genuine TV cliffhanger.”
James Jackson, The Times

“Even by the eye-rolling rules of engagement already established by writer Mike Bartlett, this was a wildly loopy episode – a blur of betrayal, back-stabbing and barking plot twists. Quite enjoyable, too – provided you’d fastened your psychological safety belt and didn’t take fright at the screeching silliness.”
Ed Power, The Telegraph

“Watching Simon’s life fall apart in front of him is hugely satisfying, which is testament to actor Bertie Carvel’s ability to morph himself into a truly detestable serpentine creep.”
Finlay Greig, The i

“A special mention must go to young actor Tom Taylor who, as the Foster’s increasingly tormented teenage son, has been extraordinary. Next week’s finale can’t come quickly enough.”
Claudia Connell, Daily Mail

“We see body parts being sliced open… And that is as far as I got, I’m afraid. Brilliant, that it can happen, and that these lovely people can talk about it so well and openly so that there is better understanding. The surgical process, though, I don’t want to see.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Last night’s Horizon focused to an unusual extent on the stories of various people born the wrong gender. I say unusual, because there was little science in the show, and a lot more about the individuals and the experiences they were going through in order to put things right. In a quiet way, though, that made a major point.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express