TV Critics: Catastrophe; Professor Green: Suicide and Me; Imagine: Shylock's Ghost

“It celebrates the small, warm moments of a relationship, but truly rejoices in the fingernail-digging anger that surges when your other half takes too long to reach for the door key. For all its claims to be a comedy about real people, at times Catastrophe seems a bit too perfect to be true.”
Daisy Wyatt, The Independent

“A romantic comedy for those who start itching at the term, honest, authentic and warm-hearted, but at the same time truly, filthily funny. It takes some serious writing chops to pack that galloping plot into six episodes of just 24 minutes apiece, finding time along the way for storylines about cervical dysplasia and Down’s syndrome, and all the while making your central couple and their fast-forward romance believable and likable. And, crucially, leaving enough room for the jokes.”
Esther Addley, The Guardian

“The two leads had crackling chemistry with a warm sense of “us against the world”. Romantic yet realistic, they flipped from sex to nappy-changing to shouting match in a way that will resonate with frazzled parents. “Bittersweet” is an overused adjective in reviews but that’s exactly what this confident series-opener was. Fearless comedy, full of black farce and unflinching observation, yet never ashamed to be downright silly.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“The writing was on the nose, juggling romance and rows with rare skill. Everyone has had these conversations, or ones very similar to them, whether parent, partner or just person. As all three (and the first only recently), I was in tears – of laughter, recognition, or maybe just tears – as they marvelled at their son.”
Gabriel Tate, The Times

“Manderson’s repeated crying throughout the programme had an impact all of its own. It may be that the rapper’s tears will usher in a watershed moment. Young men must know that expressing emotion is normal.”
Daisy Wyatt, The Independent

“Not an easy subject, but the thoughtful, articulate, deeply sensitive young man at the centre of the story gave this film its considerable heart. It was a gentle but impassioned plea for depressed men to talk about their feelings, and in opting to be so open about his own, plentiful, tears, Manderson led the way commendably.”
Esther Addley, The Guardian

“Howard Jacobson has a book out reinterpreting both character and play, but this was no glorified plug. The results were thoughtful, provocative and occasionally revelatory, with the ever-Pooterish Alan Yentob providing inadvertent comic relief as he nosed around Jacobson’s bookshelves. Almost every encounter brought fresh insights. I could only agree with Jacobson’s conclusion: ‘Shlock gets bigger as I discover more and more different perceptions of him. He is a character for all time.’”
Gabriel Tate, The Times