The Bay; Mums Make Porn; Critical Condition

“The Bay is what it is and you can’t fault it. It’s a satisfying knotty, plotty hour. You believe in everyone and everything just enough to get by. In short, come on into The Bay. The water’s lovely.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“The tone and premise here is refreshingly different. It isn’t tied to aspirational homes and chichi restaurants, but working-class Morecambe, which makes a change. But the characters are strangely charmless. I’m not exactly gagging for more, but I am intrigued to see a lead heroine being quite so hard-faced.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Daragh Carville’s thriller did enough to suggest it’s worth sticking with over the next six weeks. He clearly knew his setting and there was a lot to like about an atmospheric opening episode. The question is, can Carville build on that creeping sense of dread and turn The Bay from promising into must-see?”
Sarah Hughes, The i

“The performances were excellent across the board and the family dynamics exquisitely rendered. Morven Christie carried the bulk of it, and she was so good at doing steely exterior with just a touch of flawed centre that she almost swept you past the gargantuan plot sinkhole that opened up after about 20 minutes.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph

“This could have been a gripping set-up if, for instance, exposure meant Lisa risked losing her marriage, her children or her home. Without that compelling threat, the drama lacked rationale. We were left with an unsympathetic central character putting her selfishness above the search for two missing teens. That’s not appealing.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“You may suspect it was an excuse to slip hardcore porn through the back door, and you may have a point (we didn’t need the triple penetration). But the premise here was serious, important and saddening. I applaud the intent, but it showed far more than it needed to make its point.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“You could make all the points Mums Make Porn made without having the mums actually make porn, of course, and there was something of a cooked-up Apprentice task about the whole set up. But it wasn’t all done for entertainment: by intercutting scenes of teenagers talking about their experience, the show cleverly highlighted the reality gap between the generations.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph

“Its title was the worst thing about what turned out to be an engaging and even thought-provoking opening episode. It was fascinating watching Emma, a prop stylist, draw out adult film actor Sam about his problems with sex addiction and early exposure to online porn while the interviews with teenagers about their exposure to and understanding of porn resonated strongly.”
Sarah Hughes, The i

“Critical Condition avoids becoming formula TV by ignoring all the traditions of a fly-on-the-wall hospital documentary, and just concentrating on the operations. This is all full-on surgical action without the amusing banter between nurses or the twee clips of children in the waiting room, so much beloved by Channel 4’s 24 Hours In A&E.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail