Appropriate Adult, tells the story of Gloucester serial killer West through the eyes of Janet Leach. Ms Leach was brought in by police as West's "appropriate adult" - a volunteer brought in to support young people and "vulnerable adults" in police custody.
According to Jim Shelley from the Daily Mirror, Emily Watson was a "stand-out" as Janet Leach, the social worker who sat in on West's police interviews.
The drama has been described in The Guardian as "calm, measured, real, haunting and terrible"
In her five-star review, the Telegraph's Serena Davies said the programme "suggested how manipulative and persuasive West could be".
Dominic West's "look of evil... created a shocking sense of meeting the killer himself", she added.
From Sam Wollaston in the Guardian, praise for Monica Dolan's "convincing and terrifying" portrayal of Fred West's wife Rosemary.
In his four-star review for The Times, meanwhile, Andrew Billen praised writer Neil McKay's use of banality in his script.
"When it comes to putting evil back in its box, banality is the best put-down ever devised," he said.
The Independent's Tom Sutcliffe praised the drama's grip. However, he said he felt it had missed a trick.
In his opinion, Appropriate Adult - which concludes next Sunday - "missed an opportunity to question our appetite for atrocity, rather than just feed it".
On Monday, speaking to BBC Breakfast, Neil McKay defended the programme, saying he hoped it was "restrained and sober and thoughtful".
"Dramas have been made about the Holocaust, about the Vietnam War, about 9/11," he said.
"It's not a matter of whether drama can deal with these subjects. It's a matter of how."
With only two complaints about the drama, ITV1 drew in an average audience of 4.4 million viewers.
News article written by Sarah Richardson
