Critical Condition: Apple Tree Yard

Apple Tree Yard (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Sundays)

“Apple Tree Yard is an adaptation of Louise Doughty’s best-selling novel, starring Emily Watson and Ben Chaplin as two unknowns who enter into a wild and impulsive affair that ultimately rips their lives apart. The book itself is excellent, and Doughty’s story will serve as a strong backbone for the series – even if it does teeter a little into the well-trod territory of Fifty Shades of Grey.” — Radio Times.

“The drama isn’t flawless … What makes it compelling is Watson, who has a rare talent for wearing her thoughts, fears and joys on her face, while Chaplin adeptly puts solid flesh on the bones of a mystery wrapped in an enigma … This steamy, sleazy tale of collapsing middle-class certainties is horribly moreish.” — The Telegraph.

“The new Sunday night drama Apple Tree Yard is carefully written, imaginatively directed and very well acted. Already I wish it had not been made. Its first episode displayed, I thought, a vengeful hatred of female sexuality.” — The Times.

“Occasionally it was a little too slow-burning – but the final twist was just as dark and intense as the opener. The sex scenes may have generated the publicity, but Apple Tree Yard is adult drama in the best sense – subtle, unsettling and richly rewarding.” — The i.

“Regardless of the pretentious voiceover and the faint whiff of Fifty Shades, watching it all happen is very addictive. Women’s midlife crises don’t get much attention, dramatically speaking, and when they do it tends to be of the gentle, restless sort. This is ugly, sleazy, passionate and dangerous – and why shouldn’t it be?” — Daily Express.

“Apple Tree Yard turns out to be rotten at the core. Like a Golden Delicious blighted by damp and maggots, it had a promising waxy shine on the outside, but is now revealed as a dark, distasteful mess under the skin. Not since the crime series Broadchurch fell apart so disastrously has a TV blockbuster promised so much and delivered such dreadful sludge.” — Daily Mail.