3 May '12

“It isn’t without its pleasures, if you can put up with the charm of the presenters. And you will occasionally learn something. I didn’t know, for example, that keeping a chandelier lit for a night cost three-quarters of a ploughboy’s yearly wage. But the task of putting up with the charm shouldn’t be underestimated.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“Oh, it’s great, antiques brought alive through stories and people, and through the boundless bounciness of Lucy and Mark. And yet still I can’t get excited. I realise the problem isn’t with them, it’s all mine and deep rooted, and I should probably see someone about it. To me it’s still old brown furniture that smells of beeswax and death.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“I have to say I sometimes fell as if I’m approaching saturation point when it comes to the diminutive historian Dr Lucy Worsely, whose presence on BBC2 is so widespread it might need to be renamed the Dr Lucy Worsely Channel.”
Matt Baylis, The Express

“Blonde and Blonder have a kind of negative chemistry whereby they exchange all sorts of nerdish information but never actually appear to converse.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“If you want historical detail, though, rather than Antiques Uncovered’s condescending popularisations, this is where to come.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“Using much of the same material [as Antiques Uncovered] it went into great deal of detail about the 18^th-century craze for elaborate silverware.”
Matt Baylis, The Express

“Quite a lot, in fact, happened, but, somehow, it didn’t feel as if the plot was making much progress. I feel America’s pain that the writer Veena Sud didn’t manage to things up last season.”
Andrew Billen, The Times