TV Critics: Brazil; Prehistoric Autopsy

“It was depressingly like a royal tour – a succession of polite encounters with the folkloric in which Palin played the role of the Queen, smilingly graciously as enthusiastic dancers strutted their stuff in front of him, fulfilling the national stereotype of a people born to samba… The truth is that you just can’t make travel programmes like this any more, as if package tours were still a novelty. Younger pretenders – like Simon Reeve – have shown that it’s possible to knit a backpacker informality together with real journalism about how countries work, and that the result will be considerably more interesting to watch.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“Palin is a thoroughly agreeable companion with whom to spend an hour on a Wednesday evening and I will happily join him again for the remaining three episodes. But it did feel a bit like Brazil on Valium… We were promised a glimpse of the noise and vibrancy of Brazil. So far, it looks more like the Algarve.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“It is pointless to snipe at the amiable and intelligent Palin. The nation loves him. But after a brisk and informative start our friend basically took a less than strenuous holiday in the north east of the country.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“I daresay there will be moments when our presenter will be obliged to attend a football match, dance in the carnival and hang out with some painfully fashionable musicians in a shanty town, but mostly the first episode stayed refreshingly off track.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“The presentation is very glitzy, with a mocked-up science lab and presenters strolling around from work desk to work desk as if the whole thing is a live broadcast. But its best content is very scholarly… The audience for whom this is engrossing subject matter really don’t give a damn what the set looks like. And the audience for whom it isn’t aren’t going to be persuaded to watch however sci-fi you make things look. The bare bones are what matter.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“You may find yourself wondering how the Observers have come to be ruling the world since they appear to be remarkably stupid… On the other hand, you may find yourself thinking this is the most enjoyable sci-fi series of all time and you don’t care that the plotting and the dialogue is schlock. It really is a parallel universe out there.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“This really is a new idea for a programme: follow promiscuous young men and women into a sexual health clinic and guess which of them has the clap or worse. Relentlessly non-judgmental, the doctors and nurses went so far as to advise their patients to ‘strap on’ next time, but never any further. Of particular concern, at least to me, were a 17-year-old girl who saw unprotexcted sex as a lifestyle choice, and a young blade whose advice to a gonorrheal pal – ‘don’t be a fool, wrap your tool’ – was ignored both by himself and his girlfiends. Has Manchester gone mad”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“I wanted to find it funny and at times it bordered on it. The desperation of the young interns, though, was real, just like the 148 other jobless hopefuls who had applied and whose neediness was essentially being exploited for a laugh. No joke.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express