The Vanishings

“Sorry, but I find this subject matter all too predictably grim with more than a whiff of exploitation. And that’s before we get started on the ropey, clichéd portrayal of journalists, though that’s not unusual for TV drama. The script, generally, is fine but if I was related to any of those real missing women I couldn’t bear to watch it.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“If you are going to repackage actual suffering as a cosy crime for a channel-surfing midweek audience, at least have the courage to own it. Real-life murders can make for compelling drama. But only if approached with the correct spirit of diligence and a resolve to do right by the victims and their families. Rather than trying to do justice to the real victims, this story spools off into noirish nonsense.”
Ed Power, The i

“If the drama stayed closer to the real facts, it would be stronger for it. But there’s enough here to keep me gripped.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“A fictionalised version of the story, inserting scenes and characters from the writer’s imagination, feels horribly inappropriate. The Vanishings rehashes all the familiar imagery of women being abducted and bound and murdered.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph