The Outlaws; We Are Lady Parts

“Stephen Merchant’s Bristolian comic thriller is both outrageously funny and craftily plotted. Best of all are the characters, a melting pot of lovingly delineated miscreants on community service who get sucked into big-time drug-dealing, only to find that they can hold their own.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“The Outlaws is an ensemble show and works best when the gang are bouncing off each other, but any scene involving Merchant or Jessica Gunning is comedy gold. Any comedy-thriller, however, requires a fine balance between the two genres. And while you don’t co-author this century’s most influential sitcom, The Office, without knowing how to craft a gag or two, what is perhaps more impressive here is the thought that’s gone into the mechanics of the thriller.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i

“Stephen Merchant’s drama can be patchy, the comedy mostly working — although it’s sometimes a bit laboured — but I still find the drugs and gangster bits a tad tedious. This drama is far better when it focuses less on drugs, more on filth.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Series two doesn’t up the ante, but it does takes the show’s tried and tested comedy components and uses them to once again build towards an emotionally satisfying pay-off. So don’t be surprised if you find yourself a little teary in the series’ closing moments, as you contemplate the transcendent power of female friendship and electric guitar riffs. This is a show that’s consistently more than the sum of its (lady) parts.”
Ellen E Jones, The Guardian

“This series shifts further towards drama than the first; there are fewer laughs, less silliness, as Lady Parts are forced to question the reality of success and what they might have to sacrifice to keep it. But the friendships between the band members are more convincing than ever, challenged by material realities of homelessness and money struggles, yet illuminated by sweet moments like the band throwing a surprise birthday breakfast for Saira. We Are Lady Parts series two is a confident return for Nida Manzoor’s punk pioneers, packed with real substance, swells of emotion, and a irrepressible musical heart.”
Rachael Healy, The i

“It never quite catches light like series one. I think it’s because We Are Lady Parts was always Amina’s story, whereas now everyone gets a solo (and denizens of late-night jazz clubs know what that means). The result is a series that’s about so much – diversity, identity, ageing, friendship – that it’s no longer sure what it’s really about.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph