Buried With Michael Sheen; Lanterns

“You may scoff at celebrity-fronted documentaries, but there’s no need to moan about Buried With Michael Sheen, an investigation into how toxic “forever chemicals” were dumped in Welsh quarries in the middle of the 20th century. Much of our knowledge of the subject comes from a filmed interview given nearly 10 years ago by the environmental campaigner Douglas Gowan, who, after decades of trying to raise awareness, had only weeks to live and wanted to divulge all he had learned. The person behind the camera and asking the questions? Sheen. The actor and director is a little coy about how or why he came to spend two days – two days! – grilling a stranger to create the most valuable document we have about an underappreciated injustice. He says something about stumbling across Gowan online during a career lull and wanting to know more. But however it happened, the fact is that the best qualified person to present this two-parter is the award-winning Hollywood star, so here he is. And very good he is, too: passionate about the outrage, but sober in his pursuit of truth. It proves to be a story that keeps throwing up moments and characters for which a scriptwriter would congratulate themselves. Sheen fits right in.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“This dispiriting story has already been covered superbly in the BBC podcast Buried: The Last Witness and pleasingly the journalists behind that work, Lucy Taylor and Dan Ashby, were central here too. Sheen’s interest in the case, it should be pointed out, long predates the podcast. The actor makes for the ideal guide. Of course there’s the Hollywood gravitas, as well as a built-in A-grade voiceover, but Sheen’s connection to the case – that his own home soil, his own people, have been poisoned – adds a powerful layer. There is also the added bonus that his appearance ebbed and flowed throughout the investigation – at times, when unkempt, he looked the ideal bookish don; at other moments, when well-groomed, he provided the needed glamour and starpower. Sheen’s late-career transformation into a campaigner suits him.”
Chris Bennion, Telegraph

“This is an interesting watch, and a convincing call-to-action, even if a series of disclaimers at the end of each episode make clear that the evidence of chemical contamination is still very much a matter of legal and scientific dispute. This is a subject that transcends the purview of a two-part BBC documentary, something that demands rigorous, in-depth investigation without being simplified so it is digestible to a casual viewing audience. But Buried is a start – and if the claims it contains turn out to be accurate, then it’s a vital one.”
Louis Chilton, The Independent

“It would be nice to say that Buried with Michael Sheen (BBC2) left me agog at the cynicism of which some global companies are allegedly capable. However, the depressing truth is that over the years people have become so wearily accustomed to some of the big industries’ casual disregard for human and animal health that little shocks. Though let’s be clear: this is an excellent two-parter and Sheen is a passionate activist who is clearly fully invested in this issue for the long haul. As you would expect from an actor, he is a great communicator in a gig that is considerably heavier than his new one hosting House of Games in place of Richard Osman.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“PCBs are known as ‘the Godfather of Forever Chemicals’, because they never dissipate. We heard of children suffering scabs on their legs after paddling in contaminated water, waves of tumours killing dogs that were exercised near the dumps, and a farmer who died from blood cancer. Proving with certainty that the chemicals were to blame was impossible - but tests showed the late farmer’s land registered PCB levels 2,000 times greater than average. This news deserves to be much more widely known - but Sheen’s involvement is more a distraction than a publicity boost.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Lanterns is following the trend for setting fantastical IP in as gritty and realistic a world as possible. This can work brilliantly – look at The Penguin and Watchmen – but when it doesn’t, it can be a real bust. Lanterns works hard and has its moments, but it always feels slightly dull and flat. You long for more, either in terms of spectacle or in a Penguin-style reckoning with the human condition. It may be enough to please fans, but I’ll be surprised if it delights them. For the rest of us, there are better options out there.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“The series leaps on to the screen as a promising concept hobbled by cluttered execution. It is a superhero show in the tradition of those revisionist westerns where Clint Eastwood or Kevin Costner would portray a cowboy haunted by their violent past. In this case, Kyle Chandler takes on the mantle of the grizzled gunslinger as a world-weary version of Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern, protector of Earth who caused Ryan Reynolds such bother 15 years ago. Chandler is great as a jaundiced crime fighter. But the series built around the character is a confused mess and never makes good on its desire to be a sort of True Detective in spandex. One mistake has been giving the titular Green Lantern second billing to his protégé John Stewart (Aaron Pierre). This would be like making a show about Batman and having Robin as the main character. Not a terrible idea, but a letdown if you expected something more Bat-tastic.”
Ed Power, Telegraph