TV Critics: Human Universe; The Driver; Cat Watch 2014

“It’s a breathless journey, that leaves you reeling. The really amazing thing for me – and something I don’t often find with Coxy’s shows – is that I kind of get it…Maybe it’s a kind of narcissism; this is not just about distant rocks, it’s my story, so I’m paying more attention. Perhaps it’s just the way Brian tells it.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“The desire to lead us ‘on a journey’ was so overwhelming, it seemed, that many of the points got lost along the way.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“Cox has called this series a “love letter to humanity” and, visually, it is as beautiful as Cox himself. Yet although its majestic pace made his argument clear, it also left us time to question it. Some of it was surely overblown.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“As a collective ego boost for our species, this was a feelgood watch for everybody, but it should also be admired as a feat of concision. Cox manages to compress the entirety of human history – all 200,000 years of tool construction, agriculture, metropolis building and space travel – into an entertaining hour of television. That’s not to say it didn’t sometimes rely too heavily on visual cliché.”
Ellen E Jones, The Independent

“The thriller side of things, in particular the extreme and routine violence, left me increasingly cold. And where did this idea come from that David Morrissey’s Vince was such a brilliant driver? That guy couldn’t do a run to the shops without getting into a smash.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“The problem was writer Danny Brocklehurst’s efforts to blend aching domestic drama with high-octane crime thriller – no doubt an ambitious, even admirable aim, but the two parts failed to gel.”
Gerard O’Donovan, The Telegraph

“If you enjoyed the hugely successful 2013 programme The Secret Life of the Cat, this was more of the same – popular science programming conceived with pet owners in mind.”
Ellen E Jones, The Independent