TV Critics: Posh Neighbours at War; Veep; Marcella; Paul Merton’s Secret Stations

“There is the faint whiff of snobbery, of vulgar new arrivals – new money probably – not playing by the rules. But the show really belongs to Zipporah and to Niall, and the makers did well to get both parties to play. Amusing to watch, but it’s also quite frightening how something relatively petty can get so out of hand.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“A programme such as this succeeds through its interviewees, or ‘characters’, and this doc found itself the Chelsea property developer Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring, aka TV gold. The whole thing just seemed to confirm that if you’re one of the 0.1 per cent you don’t worry about what the rest of the world thinks.”
James Jackson, The Times

“Most of the documentary centred on the row in Kensington between the ghastly Zipporah Lisle-Mainwaring and the equally dislikeable South African man next-door. The programme gave far too much airtime to a pair of appalling people. If you can’t afford to live near them, be thankful.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Veep has always felt like a baby given birth to in America but conceived here (which it is – that’s probably why). I think that’s also why I’ve never quite believed in it the way I believed The Thick Of It. It doesn’t make it any less razor-sharp, gloriously sweary or hilarious, though. And the good news is that none of that seems to have changed.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“As satire of American political chaos it was as light and innocuous as 30 Rock or Parks and Recreation; the show seemed instead to be aiming for a quips-per-episode record; you could almost hear the sweaty writers’ room sniggering over their ornate metaphors. Sometimes funny is enough, though.”
James Jackson, The Times

“The show’s trademark similes, tottering word clusters that reflect the dead-eyed amorality of the grievous world Veep lampoons, have started to feel a tad formulaic. Veep still barrels manically along as if it’s forgotten to take its Ritalin. But the relationship between British comedy and the American presidency is not quite as special as it was.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“From the first, it was obvious that this serial killer mystery was a load of tosh. Friel is acting so hard, you can almost see her thoughts running across her face like tickertape. My toes were curling so badly, my feet looked like a pair of Turkish slippers.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“It all felt a bit weary, stale and unprofitable. Part of the problem is the tottering implausibility of Anna Friel in the role of Marcella Backland, a hard-boiled detective with not very intriguing psychological baggage. Nothing about the character seems to be grounded in anything you can believe in. Instead it feels like an impersonator going through the motions.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“None of this was side-splittingly rollicking or original. But that suited the mood of the programme, while Merton’s reliably eccentric worldview made for good company. This series may never make destination viewing, but there are undoubted pleasures to be had from putting one’s hand out and stopping here awhile.”
Gerard O’Donovan, The Telegraph

“It was necessary for Paul to step away from the stations and into the surrounding countryside. And this was not always very interesting. Dixe Wills, whose book Tiny Stations is all about the places Paul is visiting, summed it up perfectly. Much as I like Paul Merton, I wondered if he should have taken the train home at that point and let the expert carry on.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express