The Responder

:

Season 1
  • Network: BritBox
  • Series Premiere Date: May 24, 2022
Season #: 2, 1
Metascore
87

Universal acclaim - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7

Critic Reviews

  1. The Times
    Reviewed by: Carol Midgley
    Dec 2, 2022
    100
    Electrifying. ... A bleak but knockout piece of drama, which shows that Freeman is an actor of extraordinary range.
  2. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Lucy Mangan
    Dec 2, 2022
    100
    An astoundingly tough, vigorous, sinewy thing without a wasted word or moment. Freeman – who must have fallen on it like a hungry dog – does every bit of it justice. ... The Responder is as fast and riveting as a thriller and as harrowing as a documentary.
  3. Radio Times
    Reviewed by: David Craig
    Dec 2, 2022
    100
    This is a phenomenal cast across the board, taking Schumacher's superb scripts and propelling them to even greater heights.
  5. The Telegraph
    Reviewed by: Anita Singh
    Dec 2, 2022
    100
    Freeman, though, absolutely bosses this role. ... It’s an accomplished script for a debut writer, with a plot that is never predictable. The supporting cast is uniformly good.
  6. Decider
    Reviewed by: Joel Keller
    Dec 2, 2022
    80
    If the only reason why you watch The Responder is to see Martin Freeman barely hold it together, then it’s a pretty good reason to watch the show. The rest of the plot is incidental to a performance by Freeman that utilizes all of his copious ability to be the aggrieved everyman who’s ready to crack at any moment.
  7. i
    Reviewed by: Ed Power
    Dec 2, 2022
    80
    Shot almost entirely after dark and populated with outcasts, losers and broken souls, The Responder could have been 60 minutes of misery. Instead, it was a reminder that Jed Mercurio doesn’t have a monopoly on crime drama that gets under your skin.