“If you've watched this far you've earned a reward, and if you haven't I've made the down-payment for you and I'd hate it to go to waste.” Read on for the critics' full verdict on last night's TV.

Queens of British Pop, BBC1
“A more interesting programme could have been made of Annie Lennox and Alison Moyet's struggles to define themselves outside of the record industry's narrow rules for female singers (and they should have found room for Tracey Thorn and Kirsty MacColl, I think), or exploring how Amy Winehouse's tabloid notoriety fits into the template of more typical male rock star debauchery. But hey, why bother to provoke any thoughts, when you can just string together some clips and random talking heads.”
Andrea Mullaney, The Scotsman

The Speaker, BBC2
 “If you've watched this far you've earned a reward, and if you haven't I've made the down-payment for you and I'd hate it to go to waste.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

Alan Whicker's Journey of a Lifetime, BBC2
 “Why do people tell Alan Whicker anything? He doesn't exactly give out much. Maybe they just think his ramrod demeanour requires softening, or his stolid Englishness is charming, so they tell him all about their hideous marriages and cosmetic surgery.”
Tim Teeman, The Times

Topics