“A Mike Leigh drama from which all the angst and pain and disappointment has been drained.” Read on for the verdict on last night’s TV.

Chris Ryan's Strike Back

“A terminally dim-witted bit of SAS combat porn… If, on the other hand, you like explosions and Spooks-like operation centres…you may have fun.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“Who is this for? The kind of sad men who know their IOCs from the IEDs, who like to dress up and play soldiers at weekends because they haven’t got girlfriends. And me. I quite enjoyed it, I’m embarrassed to say.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“There is a grittiness, almost a realism, to this piece that is not entirely expected by those of us who equate action movies with Die Hard.”
Andrew Billen, The Times  

TIMOTHY SPALL: SOMEWHERE AT SEA, BBC4

“It’s like a Mike Leigh drama from which all the angst and pain and disappointment has been drained away, leaving only optimism and affection and a large pleasure in small things.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“Boaty people tend to be terribly tedious, I find, but the Spalls are delightful.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“I found the programme oddly intrusive… too intimate for the series’ a star-goes-on-his-hols format.”
Andrew Billen, The Times  

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