Outrageous: glossy Mitford family drama is full of 'fun, fashion and froth'

Although it is based on Mary S. Lovell's biography of the Mitford family, this new drama "could easily be mistaken for a work of fiction", said Megan Bull in the Radio Times. The aristocratic Mitford sisters (Nancy, Diana, Decca, Pamela, Deborah and Unity) were almost implausibly "outrageous", and their antics – political and romantic – enthralled the public in the 1930s.

Narrated by Nancy (Bessie Carter), the series traces the family's fortunes from the Wall Street crash to the eve of the Second World War, by which point Diana (Joanna Vanderham) had eloped with Oswald Mosley, while Unity (Shannon Watson) had become a devotee of Adolf Hitler. The series is full of "fun, fashion and froth", but it also poses a serious question: "Could you stand by your family, no matter what?"

It's pretty watchable, said Ben Dowell in The Times. Through Nancy's eyes, we observe the sisters' "absurdities", while getting a sense of the "warmth and love" that existed between them. And while we're not expected to sympathise with Diana or Unity, we do get insights into what drew them to fascism.

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I'm afraid I found it "cartoony", said Rachel Cooke in The New Statesman. The acting is deft, and if you like looking at clothes and country houses, you'll find it a feast. But it all flies by so fast, context is lost, and neither Nancy's cleverness, nor Decca's turn to communism, are properly explored. If you're interested in the Mitfords, you won't need this primer; if you're not, you may just be baffled by this soapish confection.