5 August, '09

Desperate Romantics, BBC2
“I gave it three episodes in the hope that something might come up, but I’m now seeking an annulment of our relationship on ground of non-consummation and cruelty.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

Desperate Romantics, BBC2
“The artists energies are flagging – but it’s still pretty torrid amid the canvases and turpentine.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

16: Too Young to Vote?, BBC3
“EastEnders actress Melissa Suffield… clearly cared about her subject. But the Liverpool episode didn’t really advance her argument. Sadly – and even though she was arguing for something very sensible and possible – very few of her points hit home.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Mail

16: Too Young to Vote?, BBC3
“The show’s gimmicks repeatedly revealed that [Suffield’s] judgement and knowledge were in much shorter supply than her passion.”
Alex Hardy, The Times

16: Too Young to Vote?, BBC3
“Decidedly uncherishable. An uneducative flit through the arguments for an against extending the franchise to the under-18s.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

The Inbetweeners, Channel 4
“Much of the teen awkwardness is so accurately observed that it’s almost hard to laugh.”
Alex Hardy, The Times

Neighbourhood Watched, BBC1
“Neighbourhood Watched, it must be said, was not great watching. But seeing the care and concern with which one housing officer sought out relatives of a man who’d died alone, merely so he’d have a decent burial, we were shown the better side of officialdom.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Mail

Neighbourhood Watched, BBC1
“Sounds as if it should be about CCTV cameras but is actually about housing officers, the poor beleaguered types who are sometimes the only thing standing between the quiet couple next door and imminent nervous breakdown.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

Coast, BBC2
“Like going on a hike with a good-natured, slightly mad uncle.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian