Carry on Brussels; The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs; Taskmaster

“Director Christian Trumble spins comedy and tragedy into a watchable, if at times teeth-grindingly frustrating three-part series that pulls off a remarkably balanced portrait of seven MEPs from across the political spectrum, all working to very different ends.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“This was a treat because you wouldn’t expect a documentary on the workings of the European parliament when we’re just about to leave the EU and certainly not one so farcically entertaining.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“In style, Carry on Brussels closely resembled BBC2’s Inside the Commons, but the comparison is not purely flattering. That programme managed to cast the Mother of Parliaments in a warm light, as body of hard-working if hard-nosed idealists whose work was genuinely important. Here, by contrast, there was an air of well-intentioned pointlessness, which the sly tone did little to dispel.”
Laurence Dodds, The Telegraph

“As the title and the somewhat intrusive soundtrack suggest, this is a tongue-in-cheek affair, homing in on the trivial absurdities of big institutions, as much as the spanners chucked in by Brexit.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs was compulsive viewing because it tapped into something that umpteen parents of young children ask themselves: ‘Do I overuse Calpol?’ The answer is probably yes.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“There are fewer creatures more hysterical than the first-time parents of a new baby. Dr Chris van Tulleken didn’t pretend he was any different. In this programme it was more a case of him looking at an issue through a newly paranoid pair of eyes.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“His medical documentary-cum-social experiment was engaging, moving, and thought-provoking. The second half, devoted to children with ADHD, was powerful and moving, but raised questions it didn’t answer.”
Elisa Bray, The i

“Most startling were the sequences involving some of the more than 60,000 children in the UK who are taking drugs to deal with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Van Tulleken’s documentary was a fascinating and sincere attempt to offer an alternative.”
Chris Harvey, The Telegraph

“Here’s a tip, doc: when dealing with a hyperactive child, don’t ask six questions in a row that start with the word ‘why?’ – it’s guaranteed to provoke a tantrum.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Eventually the format will become stale, changes will be introduced, and the whole thing will fall apart. For now, we can wallow in telly that manages to be inane, spiteful and hilarious at the same time.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail