Archie Panjabi and Christopher Plummer's Departure borrows all the worst aspects of 24

The Hollywood Reporter

The Peacock Canadian-British thriller about the investigation into a doomed international flight is similar enough to 24 to be intriguing, but not similar enough to be good, says Daniel Fienberg. "What is borrowed liberally from 24 are all of the show's editing rhythms, right down to the almost Pavlovian instinct to hear that trademark ticking clock before every commercial break and after every episode-closing cliffhanger," he says. "I say 'cliffhanger' rather than 'surprise,' because as the alleged twists come along, they become less and less surprising, especially if you're familiar with TV procedural conventions involving guest stars. The sixth episode is basically one talky twist after another, delivered with no sense of staging or excitement, which is almost a relief after one head-scratchingly poorly choreographed action scene in the fifth episode."

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• Departure isn't challenging, but it will hook viewers seeking an adrenaline rush
• Archie Panjabi knew Departure would be good after binge-reading the scripts: "I loved it and it was one of those luxuries of all the six scripts in advance, which I've never had that experience before, so that was great to see where the story was going and I just didn't know whilst I was reading it," she said. "I read it all in one go because I just wanted to know what was going to happen by the end, and I felt if I was feeling that, that it had that much suspense it would definitely be something that the audience would feel as well."
• Why Christopher Plummer waited 25 years and until he was age 90 to return to TV