Truelove; The Traitors

“This is the first drama series written by Iain Weatherby, and what a debut. Full of great lines, but also deft, dense and, as we move through the episodes, deeply moving. Elegiac without ever becoming bleak, a sort-of murder mystery/police procedural that never descends into cliche or thrillerdom, and set firmly and unapologetically within the world of seventysomethings instead of gesturing at it or mocking it.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“This drama took a while and a lot of exposition to warm up, a group of old friends, all over 70, who now only meet up at funerals, making a pact while drunk at a wake that they won’t let each other suffer like poor old dead Dennis had done, wretchedly, from cancer. But once it had set out its stall it was compelling, and pretty brutal stuff.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Truelove is rather glorious in parts, despite the subject matter. For starters, it soon develops the structure of a thriller, as a police constable notices something suspicious about the death and begins to investigate. It also does that all-too-rare thing of depicting older people as interesting and complicated and still up for having a damn good time.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“Written by Iain Weatherby and directed by Chloe Wicks, it’s an immensely powerful piece of television, with a superb cast that also includes Sue Johnston and Phil Davis. That drunken but unbreakable pact forged by the friends, to save each other from protracted deaths no matter what the cost, is convincing and believable.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Gallows humour permeated the script written by The End of the F***ing Worldcreator Charlie Covell and Iain Weatherby (Humans). It was clear that Truelove wasn’t going to be a dour issue-driven drama – more a duty to watch than a pleasure – but rather a darkly entertaining and very human tale. And how refreshing to see old people so unpatronisingly central to the drama instead of cliched ‘nan’ or ‘grandpa’ types.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i

“What friend would possibly risk their life and liberty to fulfil a drunken, semi-bantering promise? This is the question explored over four episodes by writers Iain Wetherby and Charlie Covell (no stranger to pitch-black scenarios after co-writing The End of the F***ingWorld). It’s a premise that laces the potential mawkishness of a euthanasia drama with the spirit of a police procedural – and the twist of a serial killer saga.”
Nick Hilton, The Independent

“This superlative TV show has single-handedly given the increasingly cynical and tired reality genre a new lease of life. Maintaining the same feel will be key to series two’s success: the producers need charisma (last time the nice-but-shamelessly-treacherous Wilf proved TV dynamite) but also a cast that isn’t one-note. So far, it looks very promising – we have a nice mix of ages, personalities and backgrounds – yet only time will tell how well this cohort gels.”
Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian

“A certain element of surprise has gone. Some of the players also feel as if they’ve been hired from reality TV central casting. [But] it’s a winning formula, and this is a show that builds excitement with each episode.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“So far, The Traitors is pretty much the same game. And that’s certainly no bad thing. The BBC knows they have a hit on their hands, and it would be very stupid indeed to mess with the formula too much. Whether this second series will live up to the first all depends on how the game is played. With a cast of intriguing characters, more twists and Claudia Winkleman’s magic touch, I have faith.”
Emily Baker, The i

“So far, so good. It seems like The Traitors still has all the things you liked before. Winkleman commenting drolly on outdoor activities. An innocent young man saying something innocuous and then having the finger of blame pointed at him. People making statements about themselves in a vaguely threatening tone. And extremely impressive poker faces. The show must be a living panic attack to participate in, but it’s so, so much fun to watch.”
Jessie Thompson, The Independent

“That’s how perilous this game is. A word out of place, a careless gasp and a pack of lies is exposed. I love it. I must be a horrible person.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail