“It shouldn’t work..but it’s almost joyous.” Read on for the verdict on last night’s TV.

Hidden Talent, Channel 4

“It may turn out to be a rare – possibly unique – instance in which a programme started out as a high concept in a meeting room, and then ended up being much much better than the idea.”
Zoe Williams, The Guardian

“It is reminiscent of another sometimes inspiring Channel 4 doc, Faking It. It shouldn’t work either – let’s find someone who’s good at trampoline and get them to trampoline! – but it’s almost joyous.”
Wild Dean, The Independent

“It was hard to see how rock-climbing could transform anyone’s life, unless perhaps their life depended on it.”
Matt Baylis, The Express

“The show suffered from C4 parsimony, so it looked a bit scrappy, and its host Richard Bacon, under the weight of an expensively bad hair day, had too little to do, but it was revelatory TV nonetheless.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“It ended as we might have predicted. Crime did not pay, money did not buy happiness; honesty was the best policy.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

Topics