“They all talk candidly about honour, about matters of principle and decency.” Read on for the verdict on last night’s TV.

My Resignation, BBC4

“We spend our lives demanding leadership from public figures. The minute they transgress a silly, tabloid morality (Profumo, Smith), or fall to an Establishment stooge (Dyke) we allow them to avoid the demands of leadership, and engage the simplest SOP of all – resignation. Perhaps mimetic desire is overwhelming, or irrepressible. But we should have the courage to challenge it, if only because those featured in this show so obviously wish they had.”
Amol Rajan, The Independent

“There were some classy interviewees in this documentary…Dr Stephen Bolsin, the anaesthetist who blew the whistle on the bungling killer surgeons at Bristol Royal Infirmary; Catherine Gun, who leaked a US national security agency’s request to bug the offices of the UN; Alastair Campbell. They all talk candidly about honour, about matters of principle and decency.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

The Code, BBC2

“By reference to trees, Jackson, Pollock and Pixar animation, du Sautoy was soon explaining the hidden order of disorder as described by fractals, the maths of self-similarity and repetition.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“Professor Marcus du Sautoy traverses both magnificently in The Code, and is in danger of becoming our finest explainer of scientific wonder.”
Amol Rajan, The Independent

The Corrie Years, ITV1

“Given that Corrie is currently destroying itself by trying so hard to be “relevant” this was a salutary reminder that it has never shied away from controversy.”
Virginia Blackburn, The Express

The Removal Men: Pickfords, Channel 5

“Not since I was a child watching Doctor Who have I wanted to hide behind the sofa but seeing priceless paintings being hoiked about the place very nearly did the trick.”
Virginia Blackburn, The Express

Highlands on Film, BBC4

“If you wanted to learn anything about Scotland or even just admire the scenery then forget it.”
Virginia Blackburn, The Express

“In less sure hands than the producer Samantha Peters, this might have come across as an attempt to make the Scots look silly. However, most of the film came with plumy English commentary and it was the film-makers of yesteryear who came off worst.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

Topics