Nazanin; A Town Called Malice; Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming

“This is a very intimate piece of storytelling, almost entirely through the family’s words, with Richard always unscripted and calmly straightforward. We are there with them at home as Richard and, later daughter Gabriella, take the calls from prison or house arrest in Iran. We share the frustration of the Zoom call with British ministers. We feel the cold and the tummy cramps as he sleeps rough outside the Iranian Embassy and the Foreign Office on hunger strike – this was a six-year fight for his right to a family life. We share the heartbreak when Nazanin says she can’t go on or reveals that she’s been arrested by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards yet again, and told, before a “trial”, that she’d better pack a bag because she’s obviously going back to prison. Nazanin kept a kind of audio diary, and we now hear recordings that reflect her private thoughts at the time.”
Sean O’Grady, Independent

“Watching Nazanin, the documentary that chronicles Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s imprisonment in Iran and the fight to bring her home, is an emotional rollercoaster. The unwavering dedication of her husband, Richard, who campaigned to free her, the reunions for both with their daughter, Gabriella, and the hunger strikes that Richard and Nazanin endured are incredibly moving. But as the 75-minute film draws to a close, one emotion far surpasses all others: this film will make you furious.”
Leila Latif, The Guardian

“No one who watched Nazanin could fail to be moved as he allowed the cameras to follow him, bringing up their daughter, Gabriella, in London and living from one phone call to the next with his wife in jail. She was falsely accused of spying in 2016, after visiting her Iranian parents. But the documentary, directed and produced by Darius Bazargan, failed to put this heart-wrenching story in its real context.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“How did Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe keep her sanity over the six years that she was outrageously imprisoned in Iran? How did her husband, Richard, keep his temper? Her immense stoicism and his unfailing politeness (even when talking to Dominic Raab!) were among the most impressive features of this remarkable documentary.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“The emotional toll on both of them was clear. As a viewer, you may have shared some of that fury, such as when British police officers guarding the Iranian embassy in London tried to prevent Richard from handing in a petition, because the Iranians did not want him standing on their steps.”
Anita Singh, Telegraph

“Is it Peaky Blinders but 50 years on with cockney accents? Is it Gangs of London but 50 years ago with sunshine? Is it McMafia but worth watching? The answer is yes. Sky’s new drama series A Town Called Malice is, fairly unabashedly, a little bit of every crime family thriller of the past few years, this time set – completely unabashedly – in the 1980s.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“A Town Called Malice is vibrant and stylish. Neon signs and street lettering spell out plot information, while blood spatters land on a camera lens and then stay there as it sweeps through the next shot. For a TV show named after a song that’s named after a book that’s named after a place, A Town Called Malice is, unsurprisingly, referential. Each episode is named after an Eighties hit, from “I Want To Know What Love Is” to “Daddy Cool”, and the soundtrack is a carnival of Gen X nostalgia, from Spandau Ballet to The Buggles.”
Nick Hilton, The i

“Its 1980s pop soundtrack is impeccable, right down to the Radio 1 jingle with ‘Oooh, Gary Davies’. But the cast look exactly what they are — 21st-century actors in Thatcher-era clobber. The big shoulders are worn with no conviction at all, and hero Gene (Jack Rowan) can hardly walk with his pullover tucked into his skinny jeans.
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“A Sort of Homecoming ends with a rendition of Forty Foot Man, a ditty Bono and the Edge wrote for Letterman inspired by his visit to the famous south Dublin swimming location of the same name. As Letterman dons a wetsuit and steps into the freezing water the song chugs enthusiastically. U2 have struggled to put out truly memorable material in the past decade or so but this is lovely, with sweet humour and a nicely chiming guitar. After 84 minutes of looking over their shoulders, it suggests Bono and chums may not be ripe for the scrapheap just yet.”
Ed Power, Telegraph