25 August, '09

Mario and Nini: A Childhood, Sky 1
“Through all the filming, Ruthven hoped to get the boys to make more considered choices in life, but the viewer is left with the feeling that without her they wouldn’t have had any choices at all.”
Tim Dowling, The Guardian

Mario and Nini: A Childhood, Sky 1
“In this edit (the film lost half an hour to fit Sky’s schedule) it told us nothing of the boys’ background and thus zoomed out too quickly from the specific to the general.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

Can You Bank On Me?, BBC1
“Surprisingly good television: it was Troubleshooters meets Faking It, with a side order of cuteness and redemption.”
John Walsh, The Independent

Would I Lie To You?, BBC1
“How the game works is not important. It’s been a long time since the rules of any panel show mattered, because there isn’t anything at stake – not even pride. This one is basically just an opportunity for comedians to insult each other.”
Tim Dowling, The Guardian 

CaribbeanFood Made Easy, BBC2
“Nice bloke, nice grub, tasty TV.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

CaribbeanFood Made Easy, BBC2
“Probably for fear of breaching some BBC guidelines on advertising…made no reference to Roots’s lively if mathematically challenged appearance on Dragon’s Den two years ago.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

CaribbeanFood Made Easy, BBC2
“Blue skies, dancing girls, translucent seas full of fat snappers - it was no surprise to find the programme thanked the Jamaican Film Commission, which clearly had spent a lot of dough on it.”
John Walsh, The Independent

Future of Food, BBC2
“Sequence by sequence, Alagiah’s film bore the imprint of the last interested party he spoke to.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

The Hotel Inspector, Five
“It makes you wonder why anyone thinks running a hotel is a brilliant idea. If this programme is to be believed, there’s only one person in the world who knows how to do it.”
Matt Bayliss, Daily Express