Radio Times

• Episode 1/7 Welcome to Normal

  The first series ended with Lucy getting stabbed by actress Julia Mallory and calling out to Don for help. This second run picks up from exactly that moment as Lucy's life hangs in the balance - and Don's schizophrenia worsens. But in this world, absence makes other people grow stronger, and Willa's star is ascending at DirtNow magazine.

  RT Choice (Claire Webb, 28 April 2008)

  If the first episode is anything to go by, series two will be as glossy, bitchy and scandal-hungry as the last.

• Episode 2/7 Dirty Slutty Whores

  You would expect DirtNow magazine to be thrilled when a star self-destructs - especially if they've got pictures - but this time there's something strange going on as Willa and Farber try to hunt down the source of the scoop. And Lucy is suspicious when a celebrity is released from prison remarkably early.

  RT Choice (Claire Webb, 5 May 2008)

  Series two of Courteney Cox's pet project is proving as juicy as the tabloid magazine world she dramatises.

• Episode 3/7 God Bless the Child

  Everyone knows Lucy is the power behind DirtNow magazine - everyone except Brent, who has quietly simmered for long enough. Taking unusual steps to assert control, he teams up with gigolo Adam Proteau. Lucy, meanwhile, is intent on using the magazine to destroy the career of gangster/showbiz celebrity Tweedy McDaniel - and Don's digging for a story gets him locked in a basement.

• Episode 4/7 Ties That (Don't) Bind

  It's the Willa and Farber show once more as they crack open a hit TV series to reveal the huge range of dirt behind the scenes there. But it's not all about dishing it out this week, it's a little bit about taking it too, as Holt finds himself in trouble when a relative decides to reveal something about him. For once, though, Lucy isn't looking for secrets, she's trying to create a few with a studio boss.

  RT Choice (Claire Webb, 19 May 2007)

  LA life has rarely been so entertainingly slimy.

• Episode 5/7 What Is This Thing Called?

  Lucy may never be capable of an honest, straightforward conversation: even as she debates her affair with Holt, she's hiring someone to tail him. But of course if he's interested in someone else, Lucy is also rather increasingly involved with Ted Rothman. And poor Don's new friendship takes turns he might not be ready for. It seems life is only business as usual for Willa and Farber.

  RT Choice (Claire Webb, 26 May 2008)

  Cheap shots and illicit kisses are only to be expected, but it's the razor-sharp dialogue that sets this glossy drama apart.

• Episode 6/7 And the Winner Is

  Follow the glamour and the clamour as Dirt covers an awards show where everybody's a star and everybody needs attention - of one sort or another. But as the whole magazine staff attends in their finery, the real story is what's happening behind the podium. Lucy's treading a fine line, someone's going to get thumped, and one person is going to be throwing up in suspicious circumstances.

  RT Choice (Claire Webb, 2 June 2008)

  Guest star Rosanna Arquette is terrific as Mia, the ageing star desperate for some publicity.

• Episode 7/7 In Lieu of Flowers

  In the finale to this foreshortened season (truncated because of the US writers' strike), DirtNow is zeroing in on an overweight actor it wants to feature on its cover. And he'll do anything he conceivably can to avoid that happening. Lucy finds herself looking back over her previous romances - and the ace team of Willa and Farber is in trouble.

Go to Series one