“Surely the best writing in TV drama since Steven Moffat’s Sherlock.” Read on for the verdict on the weekend’s TV.

The Last Weekend

The Last Weekend, ITV1

“Ford’s writing is surely the best in TV drama since Steven Moffat’s Sherlock.”
Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian

“It did a fine job of applying that Chekhov maxim about showing us a loaded gun on the kitchen table in the first act if you intend to use it in the third… That gun is definitely going to go off, and I’m looking forward to finding out who fires it.”
Archie Bland, The Independent

“A taut piece of work.”
Virginia Blackburn, Daily Express

The X Factor, ITV1

“Nothing much is any different to the previous series, except, it is to be hoped, our growing sense of ennui. Will I keep watching? Probably, yes. Please don’t join me.”
Archie Bland, The Independent

“There’s the one that’s surprisingly good, the one that’s surprisingly bad, the one that’s really, really angry… But we’ve now seen these little packages go by so often that watching the X Factor feels like watching the Generation Game conveyor belt.”
Alex Hardy, The Times

The Function Room, Channel 4

“I’m not sure where Maier goes after this pilot, but I really want to find out. Commission a series, Channel 4!”
Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian

Casualty, BBC1

“Every bit as fresh and exciting as it was on its 1986 debut.”
Virginia Blackburn, Daily Express

I’m Spazticus, Channel 4

“The title filled me with as much dread as C4’s grotesquely named Make Bradford British. In the event it was a jolly prank show with a twist.”
Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian

Once Upon A Time, Channel 5

“What an enchanting series it has been.”

Virginia Blackburn, Daily Express

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