The State; Astronauts; Len Goodman’s Partners in Rhyme; Fake Or Fortune

“Like all Peter Kosminsky’s work, it is clever, gripping and uncomfortable. Well-researched and based on real stories, it also feels genuinely enlightening.”
Emine Saner, The Guardian

“This wasn’t easy viewing but it was eye-openingly powerful. Based on exhaustive research and first-hand accounts, its authenticity shone through. The cast were convincing, the stories compelling. This was the sort of bold programming that Channel 4 was founded for.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“The State is pretty watchable stuff and its main quartet a believably mixed bunch of modern types. It was hard, though, not to feel slightly hoodwinked. They’re all savvy, connected young adults. If we can’t be made to understand [why the went], ultimately we can’t care that much about what happens to any of them.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“A little background or context would have helped to provide balance: we were given few clues as to why or how they came to be there. Consequently, the line between humanising and sympathising was blurred to a troubling degree.”
Gabriel Tate, The Times

“The State is no sort of truthful drama, as it claims to be. This is a recruitment video to rival Nazi propaganda of the Thirties calling young men to join the Brownshirts. God forbid any young Islamic viewers are seduced by his vision, because every frame of this film is a lie. It is poison.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Kosminsky may get some flak by not portraying all potential jihadists as wild-eyed, bloodthirsty fanatics. But, as Nelson Mandela famously said, no one is born hating another person. It’s only by trying to understand what makes outwardly ordinary, integrated Britons travel thousands of miles in secret to embrace a fascist death cult that we can prevent another Jihadi John emerging.”
Jeff Robson, The i

“Whether faced with the dreaded cardiovascular bleep test, having to hover a helicopter or repeat numbered sequences in reverse, the most unlikely people cracked at the most unexpected moments, and it made for fascinating, smartly paced television.”
Gabriel Tate, The Times

“Astronauts: Do You Have What It Takes? was a baggy mess of a format. For a start, watching 12 people tackle the same challenge, even if it is learning to hover a helicopter, is just repetitive. Other tests were plain dull. No one wants to see a dozen assorted scientists and medics jogging up and down a gym hall till they collapse with exhaustion.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“It’s all very tense and the men and women a fair balance of arrogant swine, dull athletes and good eggs. At the end, though, no one is going to be an astronaut. It’s like X Factor without the redord deal.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“This excruciating format felt like one round from another quiz had been stretched across the entire half-hour. Indeed, the whole tragic affair had the whiff of outdated trash – a stench which only grew stronger when Mr Motivator popped up.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“This edition far outstripped anything Fiona’s team had encountered before. It was the perfect combination of an English treasure and a very personal story for one of the show’s regulars.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail