The Split; Fatberg Autopsy

“Nicola Walker’s performance in the opening episode was remarkably moving – especially so given how little help she got from a loose script packed with cliché and legal jargon. The question, though, is whether a knockout performance can sustain a series that, on this evidence at least, looks pretty humdrum.”
Rupert Hawksley, The Telegraph

“It is so far a bit like the mighty US drama The Good Wife lathered by a bar of Kay Mellor soap — sharp-suited, but mushy underneath. The Split is sassy and its themes are rich for exploration, but its mix of sharpness and heart could turn out to be a strength or a weakness.”
James Jackson, The Times

“As my grandmother used to say with a sigh of satisfaction after Sunday lunch: The meat was good, but oh! The gravy! The gravy here is all the scenes in between the ‘important’ ones, in which the family, or friends, or colleagues just … talk. It’s the hardest and most vital kind of dialogue and Abi Morgan is a master of it.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“There have been plenty of other goes at turning family business into fizzing drama. This one might just pull it off as the business is as emotional as what happens outside office hours.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“Because this is a drama about friendships and feuds between women, the men are flimsily drawn. No doubt many male viewers will feel aggrieved at such tepid portrayals. Here’s some advice, chaps — don’t call your lawyer. Instead, let a powerful cast get on with it. We don’t have to like them to relish the drama.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“This programme revelled in the revolting like no other. And you can say this for the TV presenter Rick Edwards as he squelched around boulders of rotten sewage: he takes his career seriously.”
James Jackson, The Times

“Presenter Rick Edwards went wading about in the goop under London’s pavements, and discovered a solid mass of fat half a mile long. Rick had to spend a long time waist-deep in slurry but he looked like he was secretly enjoying it. Well, it’s honest work.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail