“Louisa Harland carries the whole series and is sensational”
Renegade Nell, Disney+
“Louisa Harland, who made her name as the glaikit Orla in Derry Girls, could not be more brilliant here in a wholly different part. Every episode contains two or three set pieces in which she gets to dodge bullets, throw villains into trees and generally gain the upper hand over those who seek to hurt her or her family. All that said – it only works by the finest of margins. The pell-mell plot and the energy all the actors bring to their parts only just hold the disparate pieces together.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian
“Louisa Harland carries the whole series and is sensational. Harland has a gift for physical comedy – she’s best known as dim Orla in Derry Girls – but here she must also play the swashbuckling action heroine and mistress of disguise while mastering a Cockney accent. The opening episode is strong, grounding the story in Nell’s family life. The further we get into the supernatural stuff, though, the more it feels like a rejected episode of Doctor Who.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph
“Like Garraway herself, all the films have been brisk, to the point, honest and deeply loving. This last part, despite covering the final year of Draper’s life, is as short, punchy and sweet as all the others. It feels like a privilege to watch, this testament to the best there can be in humanity.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian
“As with the previous two documentaries, Lucy Wilcox’s film was as intensely personal as TV gets while making a far wider point: the cost and complexities of caring for someone at home. This wasn’t her whinging – although if anyone has earned the right to… – it was more like Garraway’s cri de coeur on behalf of the 10.6 million people in Britain.”
James Jackson, The Times
“This documentary was a powerful cry for help on behalf of Britain’s carers.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph
“The films are perhaps some of the most personal, visceral and vital documents of the continuing effects of the pandemic to date. Derek’s Story might have only been an hour-long film, but the questions it poses over the state of the care system should echo in parliament for years. Our politicians simply cannot ignore a voice as powerful as Garraway’s.”
Emily Baker, The i
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