“As a recap it was as fascinating as it was elegantly packaged, frequently telling big stories via small, revealing moments”
“Much of this story is well known and there were no bombshell revelations. However, as a recap it was as fascinating as it was elegantly packaged, frequently telling big stories via small, revealing moments.”
Ben Dowell, The Times
“On the face of it, a series about internecine struggles in the Labour Party doesn’t sound like something you’d settle down to with a glass of wine and a bowl of peanuts. But my goodness, it’s an interesting watch. There is politics, of course, but at heart it’s a character study of two men and their flaws. The series is by the people who brought you Thatcher: A Very British Revolution and it has the same feel: what we’re getting here is the unvarnished and sometimes painful truth, often told in gossipy anecdotes.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph
“It’s these first-hand testimonies, self-serving or otherwise, along with the intelligent marshalling of news and current affairs footage, that promises an engrossing watch in the weeks to come. And, as with the Thatcher series, the knowledge of where it will end makes it all the more poignant.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i
“The navel-gazing insider perspective means there was insufficient scepticism about the agreement that Blair and Brown concocted before the 1997 election, whereby after Blair’s second term as PM, he would hand over the reins of power to Brown. All that said, the footage of Blair’s keynote speech at the 1997 Labour conference sends a frisson through me. If only Labour could bottle that youthful swagger, sense of mission and aura of competence, and pour it down Keir Starmer’s throat.”
Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian
“Mostly this chronology, covering the 11 years following Michael Foot’s defeat by Mrs Thatcher in 1983, was dry and tight-mouthed. For light entertainment we had to grab at snippets of film, such as the shot of Blair in the 1980s wearing stonewashed jeans, legs akimbo and locks flowing, like U.S. rockers Bon Jovi.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail
Eggheads, Channel 5
“Jeremy Vine was revelling in the mischief of reviving Eggheads, after BBC2 inexplicably decided to cancel the successful teatime quiz. Ads mean the show is trimmed, with only four rounds. The tone is unchanged, though, and the midway commercial gave Egg Kevin Ashman a chance to set viewers a question.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail
“Somehow it looks a little shinier, but it’s otherwise unchanged: the logo, the studio, Jeremy Vine’s flowery shirts. Vine is already a Channel 5 name and clearly thrilled that the show has found its new home. Even the question-setters were having fun with it.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph
No comments yet