There’s no question that the stakes are low in The Split: Barcelona. Its plot? A family of high-flying divorce lawyers go to a mansion set at the top of a rolling vineyard for a wedding and suffer a series of slight disappointments. But the return of The Split – and its smart, well heeled and sensible characters – is still an utterly enchanting piece of work.
After three acclaimed series created by Emmy-winning writer Abi Morgan, the Defoe family of divorce lawyers reunite for two episodes where Hannah (the resplendent Nicola Walker) and ex-husband Nathan’s (Stephen Mangan) daughter Liv (Elizabeth Roberts) is due to marry into a Spanish wine dynasty, with a new mother- and father-in-law who spend most of their dialogue describing the intensity of their three-decades-old love. But things are further complicated when Liv has to sign a prenup and it transpires that the family lawyer who devised it is Archie (the perma-smouldering Toby Stephens) – whom Hannah ghosted during a bout of acute commitment-phobia after six extremely hot dates.
