The Times

An uncomfortable watch for us men. But such is this drama’s relentless, mesmerising power, it is impossible to avert your gaze.

It is flamboyant, extravagant and extremely camp, and Reid is fantastic, but I think the tonal shift might jar with some veteran viewers.

The pure history bits are gripping, as Pompeii never fails to be. It’s just a pity about the execution.

It’s perfectly functional as a series, I’m just not sure I have the patience.

Suffice it to say, this is a comedy with the nutritional value of a jelly doughnut. .... It’s a show to be watched while drinking beer and belching out loud. Judged in that way, it’s a winner.

The premise feels forced with the desire to orchestrate another luxe reunion drama in the style of Big Little Lies, The Perfect Couple and The Four Seasons evidently so great that an implausibility is allowed to drive the plot. But there are some good lines — and some refreshing sullen ungirlyness from Hollis’s oldest friend, Tatum (Chloe Sevigny).

This is mainly just a heart-thumping ride, defiantly undemanding but enjoyably brainless fun.

Netflix may want us to feel Laura’s struggles but she’s slightly lost in this account, which seems more keen to see her life through the eyes of a liberal arts college professor in 2026. This Prairie pulls its punches.

For all its murky longueurs, Silo is a show full of ambitious and fascinating ideas.

I’ll be honest, the series (which tilts towards a second one at the end) is all a bit young for a fogey like me, but it is a nice, slick nostalgia fix — a throwback to simpler, happier times — and as a prequel, it definitely works.