Howards End: Reviews from Episode 2

Here's a roundup of some of the reviews from the second episode of Howards End: 

Radio Times:

Matthew Macfadyen is emerging as the real star of this excellent drama which continues to deftly expose the cruelty behind the respectable facade of Edwardian England, says Ben Dowell

and

...there is no doubting the brilliance of Matthew Macfadyen who steals every scene he’s in.

It’s a performance which perfectly captures his class-bound patrician disdain, conservatism and scorn as well as his beaming magnetism. This really is one of The Ripper Street star’s best performances yet – conveying a man who is clearly attracting the love of Margaret (Hayley Atwell) while never leaving us in any doubt about his shortcomings. Anyone who knows the book will also realise that Wilcox’s journey to self-knowledge is a long and interesting one.

The Telegraph:

Anyway, the telling of the story so far has been immaculate, with Hayley Atwell andMatthew Macfadyen both terrific as Margaret Schlegel and Henry Wilcox. Last night, we were treated to some marvellously nuanced two-handers, through which both actors managed to make a forthcoming love affair between two people from camp chalk and camp cheese seem not just plausible but inevitable.

The Times:

Matthew Macfadyen is becoming ever more convincing as the bombastic, hard-nosed Mr Wilcox, but keeps a smile about his lips and glint in his eye so you can begin to believe how Margaret would fancy him.