A Very British Scandal is a sophisticated piece of television that delivers in every department. Phelps' exquisite turn of phrase is flexed to full capacity throughout as she seamlessly straddles both high drama and comedy.

An entertaining, beautifully filmed, and dynamically acted portrait.

Ms. Foy keeps one entranced and is abetted by the work of the series’ makeup artists (the designer was Catherine Scoble; the supervisor was Suzi Long) and costume designer Ian Fulcher. ... Mr. Bettany, who’s a little young for the term “beloved,” is an extremely likable actor, but he’s also good at being morally dubious. He makes the allegedly high-born Ian convincingly dissolute, insouciant and seedy.

Over the three-episode trajectory, Foy and Bettany are at the top of their games with emotional performances that will undoubtedly garner attention come awards season. Their driving takes, along with the beautiful cinematography and world-building that went into the period piece are indeed the main reasons to watch. ... However, if the point is to remind viewers of the people and motives at the heart of this story, there’s a failed opportunity to expand the characters beyond previously spilled ink.

While [A Very English Scandal] was an effervescent, almost feelgood trot through Thorpe's Old Bailey trial, this feels bleaker and sadder. ... [A] series which gets better with each episode.

[Bettany's] depiction of Ian's cruel frigidity is a match by Foy's sharpness, as she trades the distant stateliness she brought to "The Crown" for fumes of aristocratic entitlement. Together they duel with a restrained sadism that prevents the story from whirling into melodrama, even when his temper explodes. ... "A Very British Scandal" exists to illustrate the double standard society applies to men and women in measuring individual culpability, although the Argylls' tenacious rancor submerges that point too often.

There isn’t a single sympathetic note. ... It is effective as an invitation to gawp at the upper classes, and reassure ourselves that we are better than them. And it looks beautiful – the costumes, the make-up, the interiors. The high production values and the quality cast give the impression of a premium product. But the period tropes are lazy.