Critic Reviews

Here, she dug into the origins of the persecution of “witches” in Britain in a gripping season opener that played out like an epoch-spanning whodunnit.

This new series, casting Worsley as an inky-fingered sleuth shedding new light on well-worn episodes in British history, could run and run.

Ms. Worsley, once again boiling the past down to its essence, without belaboring the ironies.

Hugely engaging.

The dead cat story was certainly a vivid start as Worsley began her hunt for clues to why hundreds of women fell victim to a century of state-sanctioned killings. Inevitably, this soon became history that walks to the rhythm of barely concealed antipathy at injustices past.

Worsley’s beady historian’s eye observed that it [the Bayeux tapestry] was technically an embroidery: “This is women’s work, and I suspect that the men who give names to things like this don’t necessarily know what they’re looking at.” Ooh, good point, Ms Worsley, and delivered with such gracious tartness.

The hyped coverage of the crime was an interesting topic, and a precursor to today’s tabloid stories, true crime podcasts and TikTok sleuths. But there was a bit too much padding around the edges, with visits to various experts.

The rejection of British rule by its American colonies is an issue of miscommunication: partners who stopped listening to each other and ended up estranged when that could have been avoided. If this assertion never properly lands, it doesn’t spoil a narrative that’s outlined by the presenter with her customary verve.