TV Review: Violence, tension and brutal scenes in The Underground Railroad 

"The only reason I didn’t turn it off (in the first half-hour) is because my wife has a higher tolerance for torture on telly and she wanted to stay watching."

Thuso Mbedu as Cora in The Underground Railroad.

The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime) dares you to turn it off, half way through the first episode. I’d heard that the 10-part series about two escaped slaves in 19 th century America , based on the book by Colson Whitehead, ha d some brutal scenes. But I wasn’t ready for the drawn out murder of a re-captured escapee on the lawn of the big house.

There had already been a public whipping of a young woman and small boy for a tiny moment of resistance. That was awful, but familiar — the kind of scene we’re used to down the years in everything from Roots to Django Unchained. I won’t go into the details of the murder on the lawn that comes after that, because I think you’re supposed to experience the horror as it unfolds.