Love Cheats; DI Ray

“I’m not quite sure whether the point of this quartet of stories is to educate, titillate or give us somewhere to put our hate, but I’m pretty sure the makers don’t know, or care. And whatever the intent, the effect is to leave us just that bit more aware that the world is even worse than we thought, and that to hope and trust in other people is a fool’s game.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“What you want to know about these fantasists and liars is why? Obviously it’s about narcissism, ruthlessness and greed but where does it come from? Are they addicted to deception itself? We didn’t get any insight into that beyond the detail that the fake lord came from a council estate in Hastings.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Love Cheats was a little bit sensationalist and it didn’t set out to do much more than tell a story you couldn’t make up about a man who made everything up. It didn’t try to delve further in to criminal psychology, or ask much why it is that people are taken in by serial con artists.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph

“There is an extra layer of oomph in DI Ray that you don’t get in most cop dramas, which is her experience of casual and not so casual racism. And that’s just at work. Parminder Nagra’s performance is convincing and nuanced, even if DI Ray annoyingly wades into situations she is not supposed to.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“This was a bostin’ return for one of my favourite police procedurals on TV. DI Ray has a lot more to say than just ‘not all brown people speak Hindi’ – and it’s well worth watching.”
Isabella Silvers, The i

“There’s nothing wrong with a drama tackling racism within the police. But in this second outing, the issues drag everything else down. If you want viewers to become hooked by a detective series, you need to pour your energies into the crime. Ray has become so mired in misery over her treatment that it distracts from everything else, and also blinds her to the fact that she is deservedly in trouble half the time for ignoring orders and going into dangerous situations without the required back-up.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“It’s sharp, fast-moving, observant and arch, while never taking itself too seriously. Cleverest of all, it celebrates Dame Jilly’s joyful enthusiasm for sex without being seedy.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail