The Real Marigold on Tour; Concorde: Designing The Dream; Paul Hollywood: A Baker’s Life

“The programme is not really about the realities of retiring. It’s an excuse to throw together some old luvvies whose general eccentricities and warmth for one another make for great TV. If you disagree, you must have missed Margolyes swearing down a mega Chinese marble mall dressed in nothing but her swimsuit.”
Daisy Wyatt, The i

“The producers wisely decided to let Miriam take over, which was sensible since she was going to do just that, whether anyone objected or not. The camera couldn’t get enough of her and her outrageous behaviour.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Recalling a previous Marigold trip involving a Florida retirement complex, you may have spotted a theme. This show sends Miriam off to places she’s going to hate – and films it. As for poor Bobby and Wayne, I’ve little idea what they made of Chengdu and its retirement opportunities but they might have been reminded of what it was like to go on holiday with a teenager.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“Basically, over there, people are healthy, happy and enthusiastic – they do things together, play games, dance and sing. Whereas we are lonely and fat, we squabble and bagsy and moan and fart before we die. Still it does make amusing television, our way.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Ostensibly this was about four celebrity pensioners discovering what it’s like to grow old in China. Really it was just another travel show in which the already privileged get more privilege by being paid to see the world.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“The problem is that the quartet of oddballs were not particularly good or charming guides. Vast dull chasms of time went on transport, accommodation and introductions. It felt like being trapped in the opening chapter of a windy novel.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“Celebrities were mercifully absent from the documentary Concorde: Designing The Dream, a history of the world’s most beautiful airliner. It was low-budget but straightforward — and that was all we needed.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“No one used the term ‘white elephant’ in the first instalment of Concorde: Designing The Dream, but it must have been tempting. As a tale of human stupidity, this documentary mini-series is quite fascinating.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“It was perfectly pleasant if not exactly riveting TV, but did show us that Hollywood comes from a rock-solid family who instilled decent values in him. He is also walking proof that academia isn’t everything.”
Carol Midgley, The Times