16 July ‘09

Getting On, BBC4
“Somehow Jo Brand, Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine have created a comedy about a modern NHS ward that is piercingly weird, coldly plausible, heartbreaking and hilarious.”
Tim Teeman, The Times

Who Do You Think You Are?, BBC1
“Now that chat shows have become mere opportunities for stars to shuffle out well-rehearsed anecdotes, or awkwardly grin while Jonathan Ross or Graham Norton makes suggestive comments, this has almost become the replacement for a good, revealing television interview.”
Andrea Mullaney, The Scotsman

Mission to the Moon, ITV1
“For those of us who don’t remember the Moon landing, it did give a sense of how it all played out; but somehow, all those modern graphics and presenters didn’t make it seem as exciting as the grainy old pictures.”
Andrea Mullaney, The Scotsman

Taking the Flak, BBC2
“Taking the Flak delivers one cod gag after another, an unremitting barrage of banality made worse by its obvious belief in its own brilliance.”
Tim Teeman, The Times

Dragons’ Den, BBC2
“Personally, I like it best when these applicants toy with them for an extended period – levering the deal steadily upwards – and then announce that they’re confident they can do better on their own. Didn’t happen this time sadly, but at least a few snouts were put out of joint.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

Storyville: The Trials of Oppenheimer, BBC4
“Storyville: The Trials of Oppenheimer was what the Americans call deep-dish stuff, a detailed account of Robert Oppenheimer’s career and his later ordeal at the hands of a confederacy of dunces.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent