Evil Genius With Russell Kane; Deal Or No Deal

“This was a lively, knockabout affair that Kane presented with enthusiasm, assisted by an actual historian, Professor Chandrika Kaul from the University of St Andrews. OK, so it’s not exactly serious academic study to reduce huge figures to binary goodies or baddies, but it’s a fresh way to discuss history in an irreverent, light-entertainment format.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“With his natural charm, Kane pulls off the trick of being both referee and provocateur. All the obvious things came up on Churchill’s charge sheet: imperialism, racism, disdain for the Welsh, Irish, women, working classes and immigrants. Judi Love, who seemed to be encountering some of this for the first time, said ‘wow’ a lot. Yes, it’s not academia, but sometimes the rush to judgement denies nuance.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“The seriousness of the subject matter eventually brings the whole enterprise down. It’s not that warmongering, authoritarianism and genocide are out of bounds for comedy, but tackling them within a chatty, podcasty ‘I’m joined by three comedians’ setup gives Evil Genius what can at best be called tonal problems.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“Stephen Mulgern was good with the contestants, but his chat needs a bit of work. He was almost upstaged by Sian, who was the first contestant in the hot seat and never seemed to have a thought she didn’t say out loud. She left with a respectable £17,500. Deal Or No Deal shouldn’t really work. There is nothing for the viewer to contribute, no answers to shout. It’s all about opening boxes and guesswork. Yet when contestant Daryl opened his box to reveal 1p, I found myself gasping with relief.”
Roland White, Daily Mail