TV Critics: Banished; The Nation's Favourite 70s Number One; The Supervet

“It’s just that at times it was hammy as anything. Only Russell Tovey as a pickpocket, James Freeman, and David Wenham, as Governor Phillip, offered rounded, relatable performances; everybody else just served as a costume drama cut-outs – shrill and ever so slightly stupid.”
Ben Machell, The Times

“Elements of the story verged on the sentimental. Others, like the lengthy and painstaking flogging of a beautiful woman, felt like they belonged in a Seventies Bond film. Even so, the beefy, biblical themes of the old McGovern were much in evidence.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“Banished isn’t bad, but to screen it this week is potty – the schedulers’ equivalent of promising to take your family for fish and chips, then stopping at a burger outlet on the way. Hamburgers and fries aren’t half as good, and they’ll ruin everybody’s appetite for the big treat.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Sure, there’s a fair whack of hardship and pain about the place, crime and injustice (social as well as legal). As well as being historically fascinating. But it’s also romantic, sentimental even. Lots of fun, funny too, and maybe not always when it’s meant to be. Raunchy, certainly, what with all the shagging. Even a flogging scene – Elizabeth (MyAnna Buring) tied to a post, which might have been, probably should have been, sickening – actually felt more S&M.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“It all felt rather implausible and grandiose, culminating in a finale that was part execution, part Don’t Tell the Bride, the reality show where grooms organise really awful wedding ceremonies.”
Ceri Radford, The Telegraph

“Classic McGovern dramas like The Accused or last year’s Common may not be to everyone’s taste, but at least they usually have a point to make. If there is any point here it must have been lost at sea en route from England, along with the rest of the colony’s provisions.”
Ellen E Jones, The Independent

“Normally the preserve of Saturday nights, a minimum of three hours long and populated by teenage contributors too young to possibly remember the things they’re making jokes about, this midweek list show was short and quite serious. Like many of the hit singles, it echoed the deep, and disturbing weirdness of the Seventies.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“Countdowns like this, through the 20 best-loved chart-toppers of the disco decade, are too often a dull trudge. This was much better than average, partly because every song was a gem, and partly because quickfire editing revealed a bling array of shocking fashions.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“If you’re not an animal lover, there’s nothing to see here, please move on. If you are an animal lover, then for every minute of cute frolicking puppies, you had to endure two of blood-stained tissues, a tiny Pomeroy paw bristling with surgical pins or an electrical saw cutting into a damaged Rottweiler spine. It was certainly too much for my squeamish tastes”
Ceri Radford, The Telegraph