TV Critics: Cucumber, Banana and Tofu; Surviving The Holocaust; Bring Back Borstal

“Gloriously, explicitly, triumphantly, cucumberly, gay to the core. But I never once felt left out, or that this wasn’t relevant to me (on the contrary, I felt a worrying connection with Henry). As you’d expect from Davies, it’s also dead funny and – most of all – very, very human.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Cucumber is unlikely to be a cultural phenomenon in the same way as Queer of Folk. That’s almost a shame, because its ambitious scope is evidence of a TV maestro on top form. In Russel T Davies’s hands, the tragi-comedy of middle-aged desperation is so sad, but so, very, very funny.”
Ellen E Jones, The Independent

“In terms of comedy it worked brilliantly, the brio and louche wit of Davies’s writing bringing a rare energy and grit to the unfolding chaos. But you got the sense, too, that there was a lot more to Henry than comedy – a lot more yet to be discovered.”
Gerard O’Donovan, The Telegraph

“The first episode was crude in every sense. Translated into a heterosexual context, Henry’s eyeballing of denim bottoms and the vegetable iconography was nearer Benny Hill than Dennis Potter. Oddly, Banana, was more successful. It is funnier than Cucumber and explores a more interesting dilemma than midlife crisis. As for Tofu, If only Aardman had matched the sexual confessions with Claymation animals, then they would have had a show.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“As an adventure story, it was thrilling enough, but it was Knoller’s candour that really made this documentary stand out amid the BBC’s Holocaust Memorial season.”
Ellen E Jones, The Independent

“By any standards the now 93-year-old Knoller’s story was exceptional. Not only for the amount of time he managed to stay one step ahead of the Nazis, having been sent away at the age of 17 by his Viennese parents following the Anschluss. But also for the disarming frankness with which he told it.”
Gerard O’Donovan, The Telegraph

“Much of this experiment is just veneer. The boys have all signed up for the programme, and they can leave whenever they wish. And, of course, that mainstay of real Thirties borstal, the birch, cannot be used. But it does demonstrate the real route to rehabilitation – giving young offenders a dose of self-belief.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail