“Is it perhaps just a bit too familiar and formulaic?” Read on for the full verdict on last night’s TV.

Celebrity MasterChef, BBC1
“It is ridiculously overscripted. Gregg Wallace and Torode swap such laboured thoughts about the contestants – ‘But has she REALLY got the commitment?’ - you think, ‘Guys, really, this is just sautéed potatoes’, but then you find yourself thinking way too intently, ‘That tuna was supposed to be rare, not raw’.”
Tim Teeman, The Times

Celebrity MasterChef, BBC1
“I know it’s exactly why we watch MasterChef, why some people even drink along to it. It’s what we expect; we love it, come back for more. But is it perhaps just a bit too familiar and formulaic? Could John and Gregg say something new?”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

Big Brother, C4
“Big Brother shock: They’re all quite nice and it’s quite nice watching them being quite nice. […] This is not pacy drama, but ‘mundane’ is a refreshingly perverse register for Big Brother to operate within. Perhaps it’s getting soft in its old age.”
Tim Teeman, The Times

Living with Monkeys, BBC1
“Unconsciously, Grieve’s antics are perhaps selling the idea that you too could have as much fun in the jungle.”
Andrea Mullaney, The Scotsman

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