Louis Theroux: Selling Sex; The New Pope; Doctor Who; Winter Love Island

“This is a fine exploration of a potentially sensationalist, exploitative topic and an excellent showcase for Theroux’s softer skills – patience, reasoning, hanging back and letting subjects find their own words. Like an archaeologist brushing away layers, Theroux gradually reveals the depth of the women’s stories through his questions.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“Theroux, always straddling the line between counsellor and observer, drew out miserable stories from all the contributors. But what did this film actually tell us? Picking three women at random to tell stories that otherwise had little in common was unenlightening. It all felt a bit tired; Theroux can do much better than this.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“It was certainly an interesting documentary, emotionally revealing and with remarkable access, Theroux making good use of his long, judgy stares. But it also felt, like all such documentaries, a tad voyeuristic.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“This investigation into the growing number of women who work from home as prostitutes was a masterclass in silent interrogation. Each of the three women Louis met needed little prompting to talk about why they chose to go to bed with strangers for money.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“This is not your average drama. It lurches from hilarious to sinister to surreal. There are moments when you are really not sure what is actually happening. Some scenes have the sublime beauty and stillness of Renaissance paintings, others verge on parodic Dolce and Gabbana perfume ads, and there is a soundtrack of house music bangers. It is all deeply weird.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“There is a rich set of ingredients which Paulo Sorrentino (as co-writer and director) will undoubtedly mix to lavishly surreal, unpredictable effect – this is the kind of drama where weighty one-on-one dialogues between heavyweight character actors are followed by fantasy interludes where partying nuns dance around a huge neon cross to a techno soundtrack.”
Jeff Robson, The i

“Never before has one of the Doctor’s trips abroad been quite so dull. The episode ended with the Doctor’s plea to humanity: it is not too late to save Earth from climate change! People need to step up! The future is in your hands! It’s not a bad message, of course, but it was fairly wishy-washy and landed with a thundering clunk.”
Stephen Kelly, The i

“Love Island returns almost entirely unchanged. Just as you remember, it is tanned, vacuous and smelling a little too pungently of after-shave.”
Ed Power, The Telegraph