“Vivid and terrifying… and leaving many loose ends.” Read on for the verdict on last night’s TV

Coronation Street

Coronation Street, ITV1

Click here to read Broadcast’s special reports on Corrie’s 50th, which includes a behind the scenes report on the tram crash

“Death and destruction is all very well, but I’d rather have Ena Sharples telling Florrie Lindley that “it’s very bay window” down Esmerelda Street.”
Brian Viner, The Independent

“The tram crash, when it finally happened, was vivid and terrifying, arriving at the worst possible moment, and leaving many loose ends.”
Grace Dent, The Guardian

“It chose to mark a stag night and its own 50th birthday with an explosion and a tram hurtling off the viaduct.”
Matt Baylis, The Express

The Day John Lennon Died, ITV1

“An interest in journalism was a prerequisite for enjoying this programme almost as much as an interest in Lennon”
Brian Viner, The Independent

“Perhaps that was the most striking thing about this documentary: the way that, even 30 years after the event, the death of this one man seems to have defined all those who were close to him.”
Sarah Vine, The Times

Accused, BBC1

“Last night’s episode was as superb as it was grim, with a mesmerising performance by Andy Serkis as Liam, a Manchester minicab driver whose life, already on the brink of collapse, caved in completely as a consequence of his obsession with an attractive young fare”
Brian Viner, The Independent

“The sentences seem to be creeping up week by week …By my calculation, this means that the final Christmas bumper episode will have to involve someone being beheaded  or actually going to hell and being slowly toasted by Satan’s pitchfork.”
Matt Baylis, The Express

Kirstie and Phil’s Perfect Christmas, C4

“This first episode was all about keeping the kids happy: a style-conscious version of Blue Peter.”
Sarah Vine, The Times

“It’s merely an economic version of the touched-up magazine models, telling people that they’re not quite good enough.”
Matt Baylis, The Express

Kerry Katona: The Next Chapter

“By the end of this latest pitiful offering, I found I hadn’t been taking notes, but unconsciously drafting protective legislation for her and that small section of the celebrity population who are not sociopaths but of her damaged, desperate ilk.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

Topics