MasterChef; Criminal Record

“MasterChef is back, emboldened by the strange and giddy euphoria of an enforced refresh. For nigh on 20 years, the BBC’s premier cookery contest was judged by John Torode and Gregg Wallace and was just sort of … there. Not bad, but not very exciting either. That the hosts might have become a little crusty and stale wasn’t widely noticed or discussed. One unsavoury year of allegations, investigations and cancellations later, not one but both of the show’s long-serving overlords have abruptly departed. Yet there’s something freeing about an unplanned change and MasterChef, happily, has embraced that by hiring two relatively low-profile women to replace the old men: season 22 is brought to you by Myrtle chef patron Anna Haugh and Guardian restaurant critic Grace Dent. It’s a risk. Dent and Haugh have long media careers behind them and have previously filled in as judges in the MC universe, but their debut as captains of the flagship is a step up. More famous names were surely available. The early signs, however, are that MasterChef has emerged from disgrace with a clean pair of heels. It’s warmer, funnier, sharper.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“It’s a woman’s world on MasterChef (BBC1) now. A bloke-free zone. Never again will you spy an attractive blonde contestant at the start of an episode and think: “Yep, she’s a shoo-in for the next round.” All traces of Gregg Wallace and John Torode have been excised from the record. And it’s surprising how smoothly the show rolls along without them. Presenters, it turns out, are easily replaceable if the format is strong.”
Anita Singh, Telegraph

“Even after all these years of watching I am still impressed that people can cook under that much pressure, against the clock and with a TV camera poking in their face. There were some talented cooks here as there are in every series. But I’m also surprised that the presenters aren’t the size of a house with all the eating they have to do. Haugh has explained that she doesn’t eat during the day so she is sufficiently hungry. “I’m always thinking of the last person to be judged, particularly early on,” she has said. I suspect from now on we will see less “bantz” and more serious, constructive criticism, but I imagine that’s exactly how (nervous) BBC bosses want it.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“I thought the MasterChef brand was terminally sullied following Wallace and Torode’s dismissal, especially given the odd situation with the previous series of MasterChef (filmed before Wallace was fired) and Celebrity MasterChef (recorded before Torode was axed) keeping viewers in the programme’s dark era for longer than necessary. But it seems there is life in the franchise yet. While Dent might have held the fort for this much-loved but tarnished TV series, it’s Haugh who feels like the real dawn of a new era.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i

“Criminal Record is not an enormously complex affair. Instead, it offers relatively straightforward and beautifully paced storytelling, its narrative twists emerging like handkerchiefs from a sleeve. The show’s complexity lies in its characters. Here, everyone is in their own world, professionally, emotionally and morally: fragile planets circling one another as their weaknesses contract and expand. Now that we know not to trust either Hegarty or Lenker, the tension is, this time round, even greater. Suspense builds, continues to build and then – flamin’ Nora – builds some more. How long, we wonder, before the elastic twangs back?”
Sarah Dempster, The Guardian

“The plot is bewildering: after Lenker spots a face she recognises among the rioters, as Muslim extremists and neo-Nazi thugs clash, she is warned not to follow the lead — even though the youth is supposed to be in prison for murdering his girlfriend. Naturally, Lenker conducts her own private investigation, and finds herself trampling on Hegarty’s surveillance operation. In vivid colours and cinematic composition, London is made to look like a post-apocalyptic hellhole — so gritty, as I said when I last reviewed the show, that you’ll need to take a shower and wash your hair afterwards. To get the full effect, watch it on a widescreen TV if you can — not a phone.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail