TV Critics: Broadchurch; Mayday; The Flying Scotsman: A Rail Romance; Death on the Wards

“There was a pace about Broadchurch that compelled; the main whodunnit and mini whodunnits mounting up as we got to know the locals. It seemed that Broadchurch’s creator/writer Chris Chibnall and director James Strong knew exactly which dark corner they would allow you into next.”
Alex Hardy, The Times

“David Tennant’s character seems to have been designed to look good on his fan website – the stubble and the loosened tie as much badges of style as clues to personal disarray. But Olivia Colman, effortless convincing in her distress when she recognises the dead job, is something much rarer on television. Not an obsessive loner like Sarah Lund [The Killing], but a woman with a husband and children whose job is part of her life, not all of it. Watch for her, if no other reason.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“Colman puts in an extraordinary performance – she’s the emotional centre of the piece and, like her, the viewer is definitely going to need to toughen up for what lies ahead.”
Tim Dowling, The Guardian

“When I suggested to my wife that she join me in watching Broadchurch, her response was: “Oh no, not another TV drama about a dead child.” I was minded to agree with her, having committed loyalty and time to Mayday on the other side. This isn’t remotely like Mayday, except that Mayday is good and this is too, for very different reasons.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“It is a wonderful moment when a much anticipated new post-watershed thriller turns out to deliver as well as Broadchurch (ITV) did last night. We know now that a dark undertow from small-town Dorset will be pulling us deeper for the next seven Monday nights.

We’ll find out who strangled 11-year-old Danny, maybe while his mother was watching telly instead of checking in on him, and on the way we’ll learn about the murk in everyone’s closet. In just one hour minus adverts last night we discovered that Broadchurch had more hidden skeletons than Pol Pot’s dungeons in a blackout.”
Adrian Michaels, The Telegraph

 “As the oddities pile up like the Hungry Caterpillar’s lunchbox, Mayday has tipped from compelling to confusing. It will need one hell of a punchline to bring it all back together.”
Alex Hardy, The Times

 “The Flying Scotsman featured a lot of people getting misty-eyed about the idea of being covered in soot, a concept I understand as little as I understand being in love with a train. For all that, lots of people are or have been in love with The Flying Scotsman.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“It interviewed the really bereaved, and those genuinely about to die; it unintentionally cast a different light on the efforts of actors fictionally portraying the effects of death and dying. Though interesting, the documentary was a let-down. We were promised revelations but instead we mostly got a rehash of hair-raising stories and predictable, though intelligent, debate.”
Adrian Michaels, The Telegraph