“Many of the antics reminded me of children’s TV. Apt, given I’m not sure that this show will appeal to anyone over 10.”

pompidou

“Many of the antics reminded me of children’s TV. Apt, given I’m not sure that this show (appropriately in a 6.30pm timeslot) will appeal to anyone over 10.”
Sally Newall, The Independent

“There were some decent sight gags…mostly, though, this was pretty painful: 25 minutes that felt like 75, with telegraphed jokes and interminable scenes. Justin “Mr Tumble” Fletcher does this sort of clowning better over on CBeebies.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“The physical comedy is joyful as is Lucas’s characterization, although I wonder if 25 minutes of both is not ten minutes too much. Pompidou could also do with a few more jokes for the dads and mums. At least yesterday’s were good.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“Like a lot of seemingly simple ideas, a lot of talent has gone into making it, and also a degree of risk. The BBC commissioning moguls must have worried whether today’s kids, reared on CGI and high-speed downloads, would be much tickled by a fat man falling over. If my seven-year-old is anything to go by, they needn’t fret. The best jokes have no sell-by date.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“While the cast were superb and the cinematography luscious, the show floundered without ever really working out what it was and you couldn’t help but feel that Rowling’s novel had been rather shoehorned into the three hours.”
Chris Bennion, The Independent

“This biting, blackly comic drama reminded me of mid-Eighties series A Very Peculiar Practice, Blott on the Landscape and Porterhouse Blue – panoramic ensemble pieces with a cartoonish sense of the absurd. This, in case you’re in any doubt, is entirely a good thing.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

Keeley Hawes and Julia McKenzie were splendidly ferocious. Yet almost everyone was so flawed in this tale that it was hard to root even for their redemption. I have concluded that JK Rowling must have meant to write a modern-day medieval mystery play with every character a personification of some vice (greed, lust, envy…)
Andrew Billen, The Times

“Let’s hope the show picks up momentum along with the revolutionary cause it’s following, because there’s juice there.”
Rhik Samadder, The Guardian

“Indian Summers is not just a sumptuous period drama, it’s a gripping and unpredictable thriller. Creator Paul Rutman is keeping his viewers attention with a tightly written script that is full of detail and moves at just the right pace. It really is the antidote for any Downton-related frustration.”
Neela Debnath, The Independent