TV Critics: Andrew Marr's History of the World?; Kevin McCloud's Man Made Home; Parade's End; Jimmy and the Whale Whisperer

“How did one of the Corporation’s most valued broadcasting assets end up trapped in this mangled wreck?… I’m guessing that unsettling word ‘co-production’ might be a clue.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“It’s a good edit, a clever path through all that time that tells the important stories along the way… What isn’t good at all though is the ridiculous ‘dramatic reconstruction’… It doesn’t add anything; it trivialises, because it’s so laughable.”
Sam Wollaston , The Guardian

“The BBC once knew how to deploy Marr in a documentary… Here he is overwhelmed by re-enactments where he needs to be propped up by expertise.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“Why can’t we bring the past alive without drawing on Stig of the Dump and Raquel Welsh in One Million Years BC? It was a shame because what was a familiar story contained some original stuff.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“The building isn’t nearly as interesting as his usual Grand Designs, which get just an hour each. This is four parts! Which means a lot of padding.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Tom Stoppard’s script was witty, the acting exceptional, and the direction had the equipoise to maintain a distance from its hero yet feel his every thought. I gave Downton four stars last week. This was in a different class.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“Jimbo has a job to do out in the Caribbean. It involves swimming through whales’ waste products and collecting samples. You can imagine how a creature that consumes two tons of squid a day has a lot of waste products to offer and no TV presenter could make swimming around in them look like fun.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express