TV Critics: Horizon; Supervet In The Field; The Great British Bake Off

“Michael Mosley’s kindly sharing his bowel scope with us. Makes an alternative to The Great British Bake Off on BBC1. It’s making me wince, and clench a little, just watching; suddenly the (also wince-making) punnery of Mel’n’Sue on the other side seems like a very attractive option.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Mosely is a likeable presenter who’s not afraid to reveal vulnerability. This was a balanced assessment. It was also, surprisingly for a medical-focused film, evocatively shot. From the pavements of Harley Street via a bowls green in Caerphilly to a shepherd’s hut across the Atlantic, there were moments of beauty.”
Sally Newall, The Independent

“The drama was all in seeing how Mosley did in his tests. Over the hour we lived through his minor alarm at a speck of plaque on the side of an artery, his emotional relief when a DIY DNA test told him he lacked the code for Alzheimer’s and his cockiness on the way to a cutting-edge genetic test for ageing.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“Ingesting a tapeworm and auto-cannibalism have become old hat for Michael. What he did last night wasn’t on, the face of it, quite so extreme but in a way he put his wellbeing far more at risk. For all their stiffness and headmasterly tones, the Horizon programmes of 50 years ago would never have used (or abused) a presenter in this manner.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“Noel Fitzpatrick’s a TV producer’s dream in that he can go from rolling around on a floor with dog, to performing a complex operation while talking the viewer through it, as well coming out with stellar soundbites. You got the sense that Fitzpatrick thinks every dog is equally ‘awesome’, which made this a heartwarming hour on the sofa.”
Sally Newall, The Independent

“Supervet in the Field looked to be a misstep on Fitzpatrick’s part. It felt like an attempt to jump aboard the light-entertainment bandwagon that, ever since Pudsey won Britain’s Got Talent, seems to have made dogs the default ‘ooh-ah’ option for TV producers devoid of good ideas. It all smacked of a desperation to be fun and popular.”
Gerard O’Donovan, The Telegraph

“In terms of what we have come to expect from the Bake Off – high drama, sabotage – this week’s episode was itself rather dull. And Mel and Sue were weak on banter. There was a distinct lack of quips which gave the episode the feeling of a quietly deflating balloon.”
Rachel Ward, The Telegraph

“This year’s bakers are so adept that some of them are displaying skills new even to Paul and Mary. More than half the contestants have had semi-professional training or experience. The days of straight-forward, no-nonsense cookery on Bake Off are gone.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“The contestants are tasked with making a biscotti, then something called an arlette, a French biscuit that no one has ever heard of, or will ever make again, as it seems to involve an awful lot of effort for a very unexciting biscuit.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian