The London production received mixed reviews from critics, with several reviewers noting that Lloyd Webber's score was weaker than in his previous works. Paul Taylor in The Independent said that "too many of the songs emit the generic pop-opera sound of Lloyd Webber-land." In the Evening Standard, Nicholas De Jongh wrote, "I came out humming with boredom: there is just one catchy song - the lovely I Believe My Heart." However, Quentin Letts argued that Lloyd Webber's music, "never before so classical and operatic, becomes hypnotic and slowly unveils its melodies. You have to work for it but it's worth it." De Jongh criticised Jones' book, noting "If only Lloyd Webber had realised Charlotte Jones's free adaptation of Collins's original was preposterous." In his three-star review for The Guardian, Michael Billington praised David Zippel's "deft and neat" lyrics but, like De Jongh, took issue with Jones' book. He said, "I don't object to Jones excising minor characters or altering the story's structure: that inevitably happens when you turn a novel into a musical. What I find objectionable is that, in trying to give the story a modern spin and show all Victorian women as social victims, she actually deprives Marian of much of her odd, independent quirkiness that makes her one of the most original characters in fiction." Some critics noted the show's set design, which employed the innovative use of projections rather than traditional scenery. Allen Bird wrote: "William Dudley’s set design (or should I say video design) is magnificent; the opening projection of a foggy station on which the woman in white first makes her ghostly appearance is spine tingling."