TV Critics: Atlantis; Agents of SHIELD; The Ginge, the Geordie and the Geek; Downton Abbey; IT Crowd; X Factor; Story of the Jews

“It might not be much good for brushing up on your Apollodorus of Athens, but as a bit of light, family Saturday-evening entertainment, in a Merlin kinda groove, it’s fine. Rather nice, actually, with a bit of something for everyone on the sofa.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“The people behind it – Merlin ‘s Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps, and Misfits’ Howard Overman – had the confidence to play fast and loose with stories that have amused and entertained for millennia, adding a slick contemporary edge while also paying homage to the classical source material… As action-packed, big fun Saturday evening entertainment this really did work.”
Gerard O’Donovan, The Telegraph

“If some of the gags were a bit weak, that only added to the general sense of Saturday tea-time nostalgia. It was Ray Harryhausen’s Jason and the Argonauts meets Game of Thrones (minus the rude bits) with a touch of  The Chronicles of Narnia thrown in. Thanks for the treat, BBC, and it’s not even Christmas yet!”
Ellen E Jones, The Independent

“Atlantis has brought high jinks and family fun back to Saturdays. It promises to be unmissable.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“A sunny 50 minutes of sword, sorcery and CGI… It was quite a romp… If you really want your children to have their classical iconography screwed up, make them watch this.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“It was rather a fun show: a toga-swathed, swashbuckling, chase-filled, escapist rescue package for the early Saturday slot. It might even inspire a few young minds to learn about the real classical world.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“Neither bad nor boring, this was not to the standard expected from such a high-pressure entry into the vast Marvel Universe canon. This is much less a superhero series than a secret agent series… That said, this is merely episode one and there’s certainly enough here to turn into a solid series once it hits its swing.”
Catherine Gee, Daily Telegraph

“It was all but impossible to know who to root for, who had superpowers and which identikit slim brunette was which… Bring back Heroes.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“The Fast Show was meant to be the meta-sketch show to end all sketch shows, and that broadcast its last episode in 1997, so what does that make this? Old-fashioned? Absolutely. Uncool? Probably. But will it make you laugh? Oh, yes.”
Ellen E Jones, The Independent

“Their sketch show was promising. It had seagulls mugging chip shops, Bletchley Park cypher-breakers trying to decode the female mind and a ventriloquist’s doll that was planning to elope with another puppeteer. The question is whether they can maintain the laughs when their stage material runs out.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Julain Fellowes is once again giving viewers the show they first fell in love with… For both Lady Rose and Lady Mary, there are intriguing times ahead. And the same is true for Britain’s favourite TV drama.”
Neil Midgley, The Telegraph

“Not only has all the glamour upped sticks and gone, they appear to have run out of stories, too. Now it’s mainly about probate and estate management. Zzzzz.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“So deftly pursued was the chain of misunderstandings, so casually witty the dialogue and so effortless the cast’s resumption of their old characters, that I can only think it took the writer-director Graham Linehan six months of late nights to get this adieu so right.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“The revamped Boot Camp on The X Factor had so much potential. The teaser clips and trailers looked tense and dramatic. Unfortunately, weaknesses in the format, ponderous pacing and unsubtle editing meant it only partially delivered on its promise.”
Michael Horgan, Daily Telegraph

“Throughout this series I’ve enjoyed the personal honesty of Simon Schama, his little asides, private memories and moments of anger and grief. Nevertheless I was grateful that he chose to end his epic study of Jewish civlisation not on today’s problems in the region but on a glimmer of hope for what tomorrow might hold.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express