TV Critics: Chewing Gum; Spy In The Wild; Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?

“Michaela Coel’s sitcom about a black Christian virgin negotiating urban hipness and adulthood is as empowered and confident as Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag, although describing a completely different social strata.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“Considering the international fanfare that Fleabag has attracted, it seems rather unfair that, despite winning awards and critical praise, Chewing Gum didn’t quite become such watercooler TV. This second series definitely deserves it.”
Catherine Gee, The Telegraph

“Hilariously filthy, there is nowhere she – and it – won’t go. But, at the same time, it is also human, tender, maybe even wise. And it is certainly true – a big slice of modern working-class urban life shoved rudely, and gloriously, right in your face.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“This was the other side of the natural world, not the high octane, red-in-tooth-and-claw stuff we’re usually treated to, but the nurturing, tender, communal aspects clearly not limited to us. Narrated perkily by David Tennant, it made for an uplifting hour.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“By concealing cameras in perfect replicas of wild animals, they are able to get documentary footage that no telephoto lens could reproduce. What the show lacked was a segment at the end to explain some of the camera techniques, the way Sir David Attenborough summarises his Planet Earth series.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“One thing that is clear from this balanced, thoughtful, thought-provoking film is that it is not only about identity; it’s political, too. I am going to come down very firmly somewhere in the middle.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“John Conroy’s documentary hedged its bets. A gutsier defence of Dr Zucker might have reawoken a debate that seems to have been concluded without most of us noticing.”
Andrew Billen, The Times