The Split Season 1

What BollyAI Thinks

Series 1 premiered on BBC One in April 2018, written by Abi Morgan, and earned 74% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 72 Metacritic score. Critics found the show's central conceit - a family of divorce lawyers whose own family is fracturing - dramatically rich if occasionally too neatly assembled. Paste Magazine praised the show when it allowed the Defoe women to 'face real decisions and consequences'. The Independent called the sibling dynamic 'a delight, realistically but warmly observed'. Nicola Walker's Hannah established immediately as a performance of controlled emotional precision, and her chemistry with Stephen Mangan as husband Nathan anchored a marriage the show would spend three series slowly and deliberately dismantling. The Times noted the show was 'often too polished for its own good' while acknowledging its pleasures.

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The Room

Standout Episodes

The hours worth arguing about - premieres, finales, and the turning points. BollyAI reads the room episode by episode.

1. E1Episode 17.4

   A sharp, talk-heavy opener where divorce terms cut cleanest, even when the family drama still needs firmer footing.

   The moment: Hannah crossing the Millennium Bridge in expensive heels, cutting between her boardroom confidence and the family gathering she is about to disrupt by changing firms.

   Full review of E1 →
2. E6Episode 68.0

   The S1 finale earned an 88% Rotten Tomatoes audience score and closed the Hannah-Nathan strand with emotional restraint. Den of Geek praised the premiere episode highly, and the finale paid off on those character investments across six episodes. Nicola Walker and Stephen Mangan's performances were the central element singled out in season reviews, and the finale let both actors play the resolution without over-dramatizing it.

   The moment: The Defoe family gathered together with the fractures in their relationships newly visible - warmth and damage occupying the same frame.