“There seemed to be too much familiar material and not enough revelation.” Read on for the verdict on last night’s TV.

The 70s, BBC2

“The penultimate instalment of his four-part series turned up a perfectly adequate history of 1975 to 1977 (beginning with the women’s movement and the Sex Discrimination Act), there seemed to be too much familiar material and not enough revelation.”
Arifa Akbar, The Independent

“Racing through an entire decade in four one-hour episodes was always going to be a selective journey, but by and large Sandbrook has steered a steady passage between hardcore politics and softer social trends.”
John Crace, The Guardian

“The 1975 sex discrimination act came in, yet women kept getting the raw end of pay deals, some went on strike wearing little more than a bikini – here were women who were definitely using their equipment, as Parky might put it.”
Alex Hardy, The Times

“You had to remind yourself there is a huge gulf between history as seen by historians and history as lived out by the ordinary folk.”
Matt Baylis, The Express

Scott and Bailey, ITV1

“It is a huge advance for women. And for viewers, as Janet, Rachel and Gill are by far the most compelling cops on TV. The second series ended with Janet being dumped by Adrian and Rachel going on a bender and finding herself under suspicion for murdering Nick.”
John Crace, The Guardian

Silent Witness, BBC1

“The series started well with a couple of cracking stories, but it’s turning into a car crash. I thought I had seen it all with last week’s nonsense about the paedophile and the prison, but that was pure social realism compared with this week’s gothic melodrama.”
John Crace, The Guardian

“Dramas such as this are like super-strong Polyfilla, covering that cracks that might otherwise make ITV1 slightly unworthy of its “channel of the year”status.
Alex Hardy, The Times

Escape from the World’s Most Dangerous Place, BBC3

“The first few minutes of this documentary weren’t the best portends either, but, after that, everything transformed into utterly compelling viewing. Samira Hashi was shown preparing for a three-week trip back to Somalia, the country that she had left at the age of three to escape the blistering poverty of a refugee camp.” 
Arifa Akbar, The Independent

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