Grayson Perry’s Full English; Shrinking

“Perry’s programmes are always entertaining. He is witty and eloquent, sharply observant but unfailingly good-natured. Here, though, those traits obscure the fact that this is a series without a coherent argument. It is more a succession of meetings with random people. Everyone has their own idea of Englishness – Perry may as well have interviewed you or me. It was an enjoyable hour, but got us no closer to pinning down an English identity.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“The series isn’t an original idea, but there remains no-one better to needle our fractured, complicated national consciousness than Grayson Perry. That’s not to say that Perry is a wholly impartial guide to England’s ideological nooks and crannies. He’s not a journalist and it’s clear he doesn’t intend to be, freely sharing his own opinions and disagreeing with his interview subjects. Grayson Perry’s Full English doesn’t give any answers to what Englishness means in 2023. But amidst the raging culture wars, it does give the sense that we’re not quite as disconnected as we seem.”
Emily Baker, The i

“Perry’s mission is to explore what people mean by ‘Englishness’ through interviewing denizens of the north, south and the Midlands. These are questions that have already been at least partly addressed in his previous films. Of course it is a fertile field and you can see why they have returned to it for a less oblique study. But a hint of overexposure is there, and it taints a brand like Perry’s that is predicated on him being an outsider – not part of the usual presenter gang who are known for A Thing and are prepared to squeeze every last drop out of it.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“They galloped through some of the more obvious clichés, such as having afternoon tea, while Kirk the white van man who was driving Perry round did some stilted scripted stuff about whether the milk should go in first, which felt more clichéd than the cliché itself. The most interesting bits were when Perry followed England football fans abroad and Jay, a black man, explained his own patriotism. Also fascinating were the right-to-roam campaigners, who pointed out that the English don’t have access to England and can visit only 8 per cent of the countryside. They made their point by trespassing on a private landowner’s vast estate.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“The only thing that mattered to Perry was the opportunity to flaunt his liberal credentials. And that’s all this show is.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“All the performances are wonderful, and the chemistry between every combination of actors is a job. But it is Harrison Ford – in only his second ever small screen role, and the first to let him remind us all of his comic as well as dramatic chops – who holds it all together. His dry delivery of Paul’s acerbic one-liners and verdicts on his younger colleagues’ antics provides a much-needed counterpoint to the schmaltz that often threatens to overwhelm, and his gravitas grounds a show whose fluffy pieces could otherwise easily float away.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“There are decent performances from Maxwell and Luke Tennie as Sean, one of Jimmy’s patients, but neither character is particularly well-rounded. And while Ford’s gruff sarcasm is fun, he doesn’t seem to fit in with the gloss of the rest of the show, which feels like a mismatched patchwork of workplace sitcom, feelgood heart warmer and provocative dramedy.”
Rachel Sigee, The i