TV Critics: George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces; Calculating Ada; The Special Needs Hotel; Three Kinds of Stupid; Hunted

“Much of the programme consists of rapid-fire editing that flickers from one flashback to another, so fast that you can barely work out what each building is before it’s gone. The first four minutes of this episode were just a blurred collage of designs, which soon became unwatchable.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“If I’ve got one moan about the show it’s that there is one bit too many in it. I know they’re small projects, not Grand Designs – that’s the point. But with four elements, plus all the flashbacks to previous projects and flash-forwards to treats in store, it’s a little bit frantic.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Peter the sculptor’s new ‘magical stargazing cabin’ was a remarkable achievement, given that Peter refuses to draw any plans, use a measuring tape or even a spirit level as he creates his space. But fellow residents and tourists looking up at a 30ft-high wood and corrugated iron super-shed in the shape of a coffin may not find the view quite so magical.”
Sean O’Grady, The Independent

“Calculating Ada: the Countess of Computing was such fun, I bet I wasn’t the only one casting ‘Ada: The Movie’ in their head, although I’d give Hannah Fry first refusal as lead. I have no idea if this maths lecturer from University College London can act, but she can certainly present.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“This was a nuanced and complex story. Dr Fry was an enthusiastic explorer of the proto-computing side of things. Like most telly academics, she seemed to know most of the answers already, but asked anyway. But by my computation, Calculating Ada might have profited from a bit of subtracting. Minus 20 minutes, say.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“This series strikes a pleasing balance been showing us how talented and able people with learning disabilities are, but also recognising their various shortcomings, as with the rest of the population.”
Sean O’Grady, The Independent

“The title of the Playhouse comedy one-off Three Kinds of Stupid refers to three community support officers who can’t go off in separate directions in a park without bumping into one another. It might also refer to the commissioning, execution and broadcasting of this waste of talent, a silent comedy with dialogue but no laughs.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“It might have something important to say about racial stereotyping, civil liberties and state surveillance but at heart, Hunted is an old-fashioned chase thriller. And an surprisingly effective one at that. This high-concept series is the most innovative reality show to arrive on our screens in years.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph