The show, starring Leslie Manville and David Morrissey, centres around a hunt for a murderer tormenting a fragmented Nottinghamshire community.
It has garnered rave reviews and it was announced on Wednesday that a second series has been launched. The Telegraph’s five-star review of the finale stated that the show was “authentic, devastating and perfectly cast”.
Newspaper critic Alex Diggins wrote: “2022 has been a purple patch for big, serious drama on the BBC.
“The Tourist, The Responder and This Going to Hurt were all great. But in the clarity of its storytelling and the authenticity of its atmosphere, Sherwood divided Bullseye: the BBC’s best drama ever, and I’m going to have some time to come.”.
Two murders and the toxic legacy of a brawl that tore families apart are at the centre of the play, which was inspired by real-life events in the hometown of writer James Graham.
It follows two police officers in a mining village who were intimidated by the assigned divisions during a miners’ strike decades ago.
Diggins said that Nottinghamshire-born Graham’s “tale of murder, bruises and old wounds has proven to be much more than a simple crime drama”.
Lucy Mangan wrote that the “gloriously directed, superbly written ending was quietly devastating”. She said: “The entire cast has been rightly and unanimously lauded.
“Sherwood has been stuffed with the unquestionable best of a generation of British acting talent in Manville, Morrissey, Lorraine Ashbourne (who gets all the work she deserves but not always the glory – despite never failing to convince absolutely every moment she’s on-screen) and those filling every other main role.
“They all had a fine script to work with and glorious direction that made it even more than the sum of its parts. Every arrow found its mark.”
