“Tonally and narratively the result was a mess.” Read on for the verdict on the weekend’s TV.

Small Island, BBC1

“It wanted to be a lush, Hollywood-style melodrama … while… it was proudly proclaiming its relevance by sticking in knobbly chunks of socio-realism. Tonally and narratively the result was a mess.”
John Preston, the Daily Telegraph

“There are only so many sex scenes a girl can see in her life where the cinematographer has got excited about framing white hands on a brown back — fingers suddenly starfishing in orgasm — to make a wider point about humanity.”
Caitlin Moran, The Times

“Suffered from the curse of the two-episode drama, where much of the first episode is spent preparing for the second. It was like watching a set being constructed for the main drama of the evening.”
Roland White, The Sunday Times

British Comedy Awards, ITV1

“Gaucherie on a grand scale, an agonising spectacle barely endurable without heavy medication.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Lolita?, BBC4

“While the content of these interviews was sometimes less than insightful, as an introduction to the book the documentary hung together well.”
Rob Sharp, The Independent

Get Up Stand Up: The Story of Pop and Politics, Sky Arts 1

“For about two minutes, everything was going so well. Then, suddenly, without warning, Bono appeared. What had we done to deserve this?”
Roland White, The Sunday Times

Topics