Django; Daisy Jones & The Six; Saving Lives in Leeds

“From The English to 1883 to The Power of the Dog, there is clearly a renewed appetite for the western on screen, though there is a sense that these newer versions, at least the ones that have worked best, have modernised it. So far, Django feels traditional. It is preposterous and overblown and gory, but if you settle in for the long haul then there is potential in this stranger who has come to town to raise hell.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“I’m frequently baffled when a series indulges itself with ten episodes and then begins so slowly and vaguely that it practically begs the audience to think ‘sod this’ and not stick around for the other nine. Django is one such case. While there are some decent performances, and it picks up around episodes three and four, I wonder how many people will get that far.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“The credits took eight full minutes to scroll by. And that wasn’t even the most boring bit. A fortune has been spent on the cinematography, but the dialogue feels as though it has been rewritten so many times, by so many people, that it’s completely lifeless.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Quentin Tarantino gave us a very different take on the original in Django Unchained, but at least he had a clear and detailed vision of what he was doing and why. This series is underwhelming and over-complicated. Having an international cast (it is an Italian-French co-production) contributes to the lack of coherence. Or maybe the dislocated, dystopian feel is deliberate. I couldn’t tell you.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“Unfortunately, the execution is at times more spaghetti junction than spaghetti western. The family drama is frequently superseded by needless shootouts, and characters come and go with the flash of a muzzle. Without the central crutch of Django’s relationship with Sarah, it would be hard to follow (or care about) the land management and brokering grievances that result in so much bloodshed.”
Nick Hilton, The Independent

“Although the era is reconstructed with lavish attention to detail, there’s no shunning the impression that these are beautiful actors cosplaying Seventies-style hedonism. The orgiastic parties look sweetly innocent, the abuse of drugs and alcohol a mite performative. Yet at its best Daisy Jones & The Six portrays the spine-tingling Dionysian thrill of musical collaboration.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“With a better script, a looser concept and fewer episodes, Daisy Jones and The Six could have been something really special. In its worst moments, however, it’s a banal, thin love story without enough grit or cool laissez-faire to emulate what makes seventies rock bands so fascinating. Unlike many rockstars of the era, I’m glad there won’t be a reunion tour.”
Emily Baker, The i

“There are also so many hospital series now it’s easy to gloss over them. But I’ve never watched one that, despite everything feeling as if it’s falling apart, didn’t leave me awestruck by the extra miles that the NHS doctors go. Saving Lives in Leeds, set at Leeds General Infirmary, was a brilliant example.”
Carol Midgley, The Times