Crime; Eurovision Second Semi-Final; City On Fire; Inside No. 9

“Too much swearing. That’s one of the things that marks this so-called ‘hardcore’ drama, previously on BritBox and now available on ITVX, as an Irvine Welsh production. On paper, it’s a standard police procedural – missing girl, list of suspects, experienced investigator thrown together with rookie sidekick – of the kind you find everywhere. But what lifts it above the ordinary is an incendiary performance from Dougray Scott.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“I thought it was terrific, give or take the odd daft scene, a few instances of banging expositional dialogue and that, yet again, we were in the hideous realm of murdered young girls, in this case 13-year-old Britney.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Having front-loaded Tuesday’s first semi-final with Hulk-armed Finnish front-runner Käärijä, Croat avant-gardists Let 3 and Ireland’s catsuit of horror (aka Wild Youth), it was as if the competition had nowhere to go as it returned to the Liverpool Arena. There’s always a lot of padding on Eurovision semi-finals. This time the stuffing overfloweth.”
Ed Power, The Telegraph

“It was always going to be hard to reach the heady heights of the wild ride of the first semi-final. This year’s front-loaded Eurovision qualifiers meant that many of the heavy hitters had already performed on Tuesday night, with slim pickings and a battle of the ballads left for this evening’s slightly disappointing second round. That’s not to say it was a dull show. In classically chaotic Eurovision style, the evening featured a binary rap breakdown, Peppa Pig leading a conga and enough fields of wheat to make Theresa May jealous.”
Michael Chakraverty, The i

“City on Fire is overall a quality product from Apple’s reliable conveyor belt. The script is variable. Yes, you have wistful voiceovers from Charlie during Sam’s MPDG phase, as she introduces him to vinyl records and vintage clothes. But you also have bitter, fiery speeches from Regan when she finds out about Keith’s affair; superbly wounding insults flowing out of Amory; and much else to savour, on top of a solid plot and great performances from everyone involved in creating this panoramic view of New York.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“Love Is a Stranger was an expertly conceived, written and acted piece of television about the horrors of online dating. Claire Rushbrook’s performance was beautifully restrained, oozing shy vulnerability as a series of hideous men popped up on her laptop screen.”
Carol Midgley, The Times