- Network: Starz
- Series Premiere Date: Jun 12, 2026
Critic Reviews
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From its subtle opening to the explosive final episode, this is a truly great piece of television: after all, there’s nothing more powerful than being heard.
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The only besetting flaw in the tale is that there is so much loving attention lavished on Claire and her unravelling that the other characters can feel underdeveloped. .... It’s a loud bum note in a thoughtful, thought-provoking drama otherwise full of nuance and put together with surpassing care and delicacy.
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The Listeners can be challenging. But that doesn’t mean it won’t reward patient viewing. Bravo and Tannahill have created a parabolic nightmare that deploys genre conventions in service of an elliptical tale of human nature.
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At a mere four episodes long, The Listeners is a fast-moving and punchy look at the myriad factors that can draw well-adjusted people to radicalisation; humanising the victims of conspiracy culture – but crucially, not downplaying the damage it has wrought.
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An intriguing, ominous and slightly woo-woo four-parter.
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Thanks to the familiar writing of Tannahill’s novel with sharp nuance, the BBC production captures the subtleties of human connection and detachment that distort our understanding of reality.
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There are times when The Listeners feels akin to a sprawling, uber-woolly episode of Black Mirror. But there’s also the sense that you’re partaking against your will in a televised immersive art installation, and I like that. Here is a drama that aggravates and intrigues in equal measure.
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Its saving graces are Prasanna Puwanarajah and Mia Tharia as Claire’s husband and daughter, Paul and Ashley. While Claire drifts off into a world of hallucinatory oddness, these two keep the drama grounded by behaving exactly as normal people would in this situation – which is to treat Claire with sympathy at first, and then as if she’s gone completely nuts.
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