The Times

It tries its best, even giving Rhaenyra a speech about having the “weak and feeble body of a woman”, which borrows almost word for word from Elizabeth I’s famous address at Tilbury before the Spanish Armada arrived. But this points to an essential difficulty I have with this show: all too often it feels so old hat, so reheated and, well, so, so boring.

Of course we want the terror plot to be foiled but none of the protagonists is particularly likeable or empathetic, and their beef with each other is of modest interest as the plot twists away gently like an airsock in a light breeze.

There isn’t anything to truly despise about this nostalgia fest of young love, blanket-wrapped heart-to-hearts, sunlit skies and lakeside swims that are really just excuses for many close-ups of Charlie (Michael Bradway) and Sam’s torsos. But, fairly faithfully adapted from Carley Fortune’s 2022 novel Every Summer After, this Prime Video series does feel cynical.

Let’s just say Alice and Steve embark on petty tit-for-tat revenges that wreak havoc on both their lives and show us, very entertainingly, that the fogeys are far more immature than the youngsters.

All of this unfolds like a kind of heatwave fever dream, the cicadas buzzing incessantly, oblivious bystanders to the mad psychodrama unfolding around them. It’s gripping late-night summer viewing.

Thankfully, the series does not recreate the killing or show its aftermath, but does effectively reveal the morass of horrors inflicted on this family. .... The middle part of the drama inevitably becomes bogged down by the complexities of the investigation.

This is a raw drama that could easily have been depressing (and at times it is), but ends up ultimately being a buoyant story of resilience.

While there are moments when you feel he is winging it, Clarkson winging it is still deliciously funny, such as when he settles down for a healthy dairy-based breakfast and rails against eating “knob cheese”.

If this is the more slow-burn sibling to For All Mankind, it’s one that gradually draws you in for something perhaps even more satisfying altogether. English accents and all.

Part Thursday Murder Club, part Stranger Things, The Boroughs may not sweep the board at the Emmys but it is an unexpectedly entertaining mix of adventure and wonder, drama and humour.