The Secret Millionaire, C4
“I haven't yet seen an episode that hasn't contained a queasy flutter of condescension and self-aggrandising display. But the series is preserved from contempt by three things: it shows you elements of British life that only very rarely make it on to prime-time television; it illuminates the work of people for whom charity is a tough, daily sacrifice; and, finally, it is virtually impossible not to tear up a little when those people discover that the world has given them a break for once.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent
The Secret Millionaire, C4
“The programme's presentation of poverty is a retort to Shameless but the show is shameless.”
Andrew Billen, The Times
The Secret Millionaire, C4
“I suppose it's nice that he [Kevin Morley] gives away more than £200,000 in the end, and I suppose it's good that worthy but hard-up charities get some exposure, but I still hate all the faux-secrecy. And I also hate how the whole thing has to be a journey of discovery for the millionaire. They never gain much from pretending to be poor for a week anyway, because it's only a week and they're only pretending, and because there isn't anything to gain from being poor.”
Tim Dowling, The Guardian
The No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, BBC1
“I'm not saying everything on TV has to be challenging and wham-bam and that there's no place for fleece-lined, marshmallow-filled escapist dramas. But whose Mondays to Fridays are so hectic that on Sundays they need to unwind to this extent?”
Aidan Smith, The Scotsman
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, BBC2
“If you've endured too many editions of Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, where TV's best-paid interviewer hard-sells his guests' new product by jamming it into the camera lens, this show was for you.”
Aidan Smith, The Scotsman
Lewis, ITV1
“[A] dead clever, beautifully cast episode.”
Andrew Billen, The Times
Chris Moyles's Quiz Night, C4
“The format inventively taps into the appetite for tabloid trivia and gossip, and its presenter is sharp, fast and funny, and considerably less self-indulgent than he is on his Radio 1 show. If you like Moyles, you'll probably love it. But even if you loathe him, you might find it startlingly bearable.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent
Brave Young Men, BBC3
“It is billed as a comic take on the sci-fi series Quantum Leap - a quantum leap backwards.”
Andrew Billen, The Times
Japan in Colour: the Lost World of Albert Kahn, BBC4
“It's rare that anything on television seems like a real ‘treat' these days - when it comes along. It deserves to be treasured.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express
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