Britain’s Secret War Babies; She-Hulk: Attorney at Law; Shetland

“By the end of Sean Fletcher’s investigation into babies born to white women who’d had relationships with black GIs based in Britain during the Second World War, I was a puddle of tears. It was extraordinary. A fascinating, moving, saddening slice of history that I’m ashamed to say I didn’t know enough about.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“It was all very heart-warming, but Fletcher wouldn’t let the stories unfold naturally. He kept delaying big reveals, as though reading out the winner on Love Island, and nudging Mary and John into following scripted emotional beats. He also inserted himself into the narrative, as a mixed-race British man, but without offering much insight. More disturbing were top-secret Home Office documents from the 1940s expressing fears about a deluge of “semi-coloured” children. A memo from the Secretary of State for War essentially suggested that Brits should abide by the US’s segregation policy – “pandering”, as Fletcher rightly put it.”
Marianka Swain, Telegraph

“To see this history untangled and looped around the lives of families today on both sides of the Atlantic was as moving as it was engrossing”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

Behind the scenes: Britain’s Secret War Babies

“Marvel has never been afraid of comedy – in contrast to its mostly buttock-clenchingly grim rival DC. That humour can be divisive: many fans were alienated by the hammer-blow larfs of Thor: Love and Thunder. But [Tatiana] Maslany – who won an Emmy award for dystopian BBC America thriller Orphan Black – is more than capable of carrying off She-Hulk’s blend of girl power drama and superhero adventure. Whether in hulk or human form, this queen of green smashes it.”
Ed Power, Telegraph

“It doesn’t have the emotional depth, the subtlety or the technical sophistication of WandaVision. It doesn’t have the youthful bounce or a spin as refreshing as the Islamic slant of Ms Marvel. But, oh, you will enjoy yourself thoroughly, for at least 28 minutes straight. And, honestly, who at the moment dare ask for more than that?”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“Perhaps it’s because there’s only one episode. Perhaps it’s because it’s only half an hour long. But this opener doesn’t entice me enough to log into Disney+ next Thursday to catch the second instalment. It feels thin and inconsequential, with not many laughs to pick up the storytelling slack.”
Emily Baker, The i

“The good news in Shetland was that DI Perez finally asked lovely Meg back to his place and cooked her a meal. She said it was “yum”, but ate one mouthful and put her fork down. Let’s hope the “dessert” was more tasty, not that Shetland would show us such shenanigans, which (adjusts Mary Whitehouse specs) is why I like it. The bad news is that this grim, gritty plot is getting increasingly bogged down in drugs/gangs/bent cop territory, which feels so same old, same old.”
Carol Midgley, The Times