Three Little Birds

:

Season 1
Metascore
70

Generally favorable reviews - based on 7 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 7
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 7
  3. Negative: 0 out of 7

Critic Reviews

  1. Decider
    Reviewed by: Joel Keller
    Feb 2, 2024
    80
    Three Little Birds is intended to be a feelgood series, but it’s not schmaltzy and doesn’t shy away from the issues Jamaicans and other Black people faced in England in the 1950s.
  2. i
    Reviewed by: Ed Power
    Dec 11, 2023
    80
    Henry and executive producer Russell T Davies were mindful of their responsibility to tell the story truthfully and unflinchingly, but they never forgot that to succeed, Three Little Birds needed to function at the level of pure drama, to smuggle in its share of soap-opera excitement. In that, it triumphed effortlessly.
  3. The Times
    Reviewed by: Carol Midgley
    Dec 11, 2023
    80
    The drama is still finding its feet and in episode two it does, expanding a story that will doubtless resonate with many children of post-Windrush arrivals, and giving the rest of us a three-dimensional glimpse into a period that documentary can't quite tell in the round.
  5. The Independent
    Reviewed by: Sean O'Grady
    Dec 11, 2023
    80
    All are immensely sympathetic characters, played with a vivid sensitivity.
  6. The Observer (UK)
    Reviewed by: Barbara Ellen
    Sep 10, 2024
    60
    As much as the main characters verge on timestamped stereotypes, they’re performed with panache.
  7. The Telegraph
    Reviewed by: Anita Singh
    Dec 11, 2023
    60
    At times it has the gentle, warm glow and period details of Call the Midwife. Then some unpleasantness occurs, but it lacks punch. It’s a likeable drama that could have offered more.
  8. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Ellen E Jones
    Dec 11, 2023
    40
    Three Little Birds exhibits deep reverence for its characters, but it doesn’t really seem to know them. And while respect for the Windrush generation is entirely appropriate – especially after the profound disrespect demonstrated by successive home secretaries – it doesn’t lend itself to a satisfying, engaging television drama.