Dalgliesh; Black Doves

“Bertie Carvel is a master of understatement as the buttoned up Dalgliesh, a man in emotional stasis since the death of his wife; the mid-1970s setting is a breath of fresh air for anyone tired of crime dramas forever pivoting on staring at a phone and/or computer screen. Yet something about Dalgliesh’s latest case, Death in Holy Orders, felt decidedly undercooked.”
Keith Watson, The Telegraph

“Death in Holy Orders isn’t the most thrilling of PD James’s plots but it was helped enormously by two guest performances. The first was Anton Lesser as a priest at a West Sussex seminary accused, wrongly it seemed, of sexual relations with a pupil who later took his own life. The other hefty presence was Phoebe Nicholls as Aggie.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Readers of the books (and the more alert viewers of these new adaptations) will know that Dalgliesh lost his wife and baby in childbirth and that he is a published poet. But if he has a rich and tragic inner life, he is not given to sharing it with us on screen. Carvel also speaks far too quietly. I suppose this all conveys a certain integrity. It might also be healthy to move on from openly anguished detectives like Vienna Blood’s Oskar Rheinhardt and young Morse in Endeavour. In that sense, at least, Dalgliesh does stand out in the cosy crime crowd.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i

“This is a schlocky thriller, stuffed like a turkey with action, twists and a good sense of humour. But if your idea of festive fun involves guns, gore and more white powder than a snowstorm in Lapland, this spy spectacle should be at the top of your gift list.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“Ben Whishaw is one of our finest actors, an A-lister who combines star charisma with a vulnerable charm, whether in Bond movies or Shakespeare, Dickens or Paddington. But even he can do nothing with the risible dialogue in Black Doves — a Netflix spy thriller that veers from Christmas rom-com to all-action ultra-violence, and fails tragically at both.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“The youthful Skeleton Crew is basically The Goonies in space. It is excellent fun.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian