Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks; A Man on the Inside

“The hook for Turner: the Secret Sketchbooks is meant to be that many of the 37,000 sketches left behind by the great British painter JMW Turner have rarely been seen and never been filmed; therein may be hints at the nuances of his elusive character that his main oeuvre kept hidden. Equally remarkable, though, is the documentary’s bold choice of contributors. As well as the art historians and present-day British artists who would dominate a standard art film, there are famous laymen, from the obviously somewhat qualified – Timothy Spall played the artist in Mike Leigh’s biographical film Mr Turner; Chris Packham is well placed to comment on Turner’s reverence for the natural world – to the more surprising hire of Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“The BBC last night featured an unexpected art critic who spoke with great eloquence about J.M.W. Turner’s painting Falls Of The Rhine At Schaffhausen. He drew our attention to the movement and thickness of the paint, and highlighted the way the artist expressed turbulence and unrest. If you didn’t watch Turner: The Secret Sketchbooks, you might be surprised to learn that the expert in question was Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones.”
Roland White, Daily Mail

“Its approach could be a whole new style of documentary, a psychological portrait of an artist — or an actor, a politician, anyone — through their work. And Dr Orna Guralnik should be asked to present such a series. Why? Because the psychoanalyst and host of TV’s Couples Therapy was here the standout contributor, offering her professional opinions on Turner’s inner world, the motivations behind why, for instance, he did lots of pornographic sketches.”
James Jackson, The Times

“This is a cosy, lighthearted whodunnit about a retired professor who gets a second wind as a private eye. It’s also a bingo card for just about everything that makes streamer-era TV so patronising, uninspiring and mind-numbingly dull.”
Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian