TV Critics: Nurse; Sex, Lies, and Love Bites; Critical; One Born Every Minute

“Some will say that Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings’s Nurse is too real to be funny. I’d say it’s too real not to be, for while mental illness is not amusing, its symptoms sometimes are. The one problem with Nurse is that Whitehouse has done it before, but Whitehouse being Whitehouse, this hardly detracts from my admiration.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“Nurse does mental health well – cleverly and believably, but bravely too, not tiptoeing worthily around, pretending it’s not there. And it doesn’t banish humour from the room; well of course it doesn’t, it’s comedy, and a funny one, you can get away with a lot more if it’s funny.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“It’s only funny incidentally. There is the odd eccentric line. But really, we’re not being invited to laugh. It’s a comedy that imitates people only to try to explain them. Whatever ails you of a Tuesday night, tune in. Nurse is the remedy.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“A bittersweet sort of humour was allowed to emerge organically, however bleak the situation. That’s one defence Nurse has against the inevitable accusations that it makes light of a serious issue. Another is that it may just help bring to light how dangerously over-stretched care professionals such as Liz are.”
Ellen E Jones, The Independent

“Perfectly observed, poignantly executed, this was a touching collection of lonely people struggling with mental health issues. There was just one doubt: with sketches instead of storylines, Nurse strayed dangerously close to being a clinically depressed version of The Fast Show.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“At times, one couldn’t help thinking of Whitehouse’s ads for Aviva insurance, in which he also dons facial prosthetics to play a gallery of eccentrics. Yet this was deeper, empathetic comedy, clearly coming from his heart. We weren’t laughing at these marginalised characters, we were laughing with them. Beautifully observed, full of pathos and sensitively performed, Nurse’s bedside manner was near-perfect.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“Sex, Lies And Love Bites promised to be a romp through the history of advice columns and agony aunts, but presenter Philippa Perry couldn’t decide on a direction. It’s a pity BBC4’s producers don’t watch their own output more often, because the channel has already devised the right format for off-kilter history shows such as these.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Amusing as her whole story was, Perry never lost sight of the underlying tragedy. For centuries, people, usually women, often very young women, wrote to strangers in dire need of advice. Sadly, that was the only way they could get it.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“Critical is the strongest drama on TV right now- and I don’t care what anyone says about Aidan Turner’s Poldark, Lennie James is televisions’ coolest man.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“Over seven series of One Born, the various mum moans, dad jokes, and midwife-coping techniques have all become familiar, but there’s one maternity ward cliché that never loses its emotional impact, however many times we see it: a tiny new human emerging into the world and taking that very first breath. One may be born every minute, but it’s still incredibly special to witness.”
Ellen E Jones, The Independent