Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama; Emily in Paris

“Do you remember that glorious time 800 years ago – that is to say, earlier in 2022 – when we watched the libel case brought by Rebekah Vardy against Coleen Rooney unfold in a million tabloid reports and a hundred billion social media posts? The so-called “Wagatha Christie” trial – that was the name that stuck, but I would just like to give a shout-out to whichever equal genius came up with “The Scousetrap”– was the highest drama for the lowest stakes, and briefly restored happiness and vigour to the nation. Channel 4’s distillation of this hugely enjoyable time, Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama, is its Christmas present to us. The endeavour is partly a regifting – it is almost entirely composed of trial transcripts and media reports – and partly a selection box. All the best bits have been whomped together and a bow, in the form of Michael Sheen as Rooney’s lawyer David Sherborne, stuck on top to make it feel that bit more special.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“It was a good reminder of the emptiness of modern culture, privileged people with the world at their feet constantly obsessing over their phones and their “socials”. The drama used some of the actual court transcripts so we were hearing it like it was said. However, it didn’t develop much beyond that, other than showing Vardy texting like an ice queen from a bubble bath or sending titbits of gossip to her agent to sell to the tabloids, saying: “I want paying for this.””
Carol Midgley, The Times

“It’s ITV’s Crown Court with lip filler. As someone who sat through almost every day of the case, I can say with some authority that the drama has got the window-dressing right (the set is a pretty accurate representation of the real-life courtroom) but the tone wrong. Vardy’s demeanour in the witness box was far more proud, while the boiling tension between the two couples on the day Jamie Vardy turned up is nowhere to be seen.”
Anita Singh, Telegraph

“When the real Wagatha Christie trial was unfolding, we revelled in the showdown’s double whammy of low stakes and high drama. In this genreless remake, where everyone watching already knows the outcome, the drama part of that equation never quite made the crossing.”
Emily Watkins, The i

“After watching the second and third seasons in close succession I now know that Emily in Paris is horribly moreish. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but it is so relentlessly chirpy it doesn’t really need to. The clothes are bright and hypnotically garish, to the extent that, like its ancestor Sex and the City, you just want a new episode to start so you can see what everyone is wearing. The plot lurches from melodrama to high farce – there’s a rumoured death and a hologram interlude, which, you know, go for it, why not – and whisper it, it’s actually quite fun. So fine, Emily in Paris, I give up. You win.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“They sell macarons in Parisian branches of McDonald’s. This is one of the few things I remember after watching another 10 episodes of Emily in Paris (Netflix). Yes, our terribly dressed heroine is back for another series, and it’s a series in which absolutely nothing happens. Perhaps show creator Darren Star thinks this can run and run, like Ross and Rachel in Friends, but that was a much sharper show.”
Anita Singh, Telegraph

“This is Emily in Paris, a show unbothered by anything more than chic hats, cutesy campaigns for luxury goods and, of course, hot chefs. It only works if one is willing to give oneself over to such flights of fancy and abandon any hope of intricate storylines that make sense or have any lasting impact. It’s fun!”
Emily Baker, The i