TV Critics: Panorama; The Prisoners; Nature Shock; Plebs; Hoarder Next Door; Fit to Rule; Bread; James Nesbitt’s Ireland

“It is very courageous reporting and clearly the right thing to do now…But how much does Sweeney actually discover from inside North Korea that isn’t already known? The interesting analysis and insight comes from outside the country, from escapees over the border in South Korea and from experts and analysts… He finds out that North Korea is a secretive, dangerous place, with a brainwashed people, ruled by fear and the cult of personality. And often in the dark because the lights don’t work. Now I’m no expert but I think we knew quite a lot of that already.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Senol had spent 22 of his 36 years in prison… His heroin addiction can’t have helped much. Or his alcoholism, come to that. But no one brought them up.”
Catherine Nixey, The Times

“At one moment, you were thinking that [prisoner] Jayde needed a good kick up the arse (metaphorically, if not actually). But at the next, you felt like weeping at her childish longing for security… Sometimes it seems as if the only way you can get politicians to take prison reform seriously is to sentence them to a spell inside. Watching this series might start them thinking, though.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“Amid repeated shots of decapitated salmon and suchlike, this well-shot programme bustled melodramatically on to a single conclusion: that the sharks first showed up, and are refusing to leave, because of the vast amounts of sardines that diving expeditions (such as those run by Addison) throw into the water to attract marine life. So, human greed is the culprit, and Addison was the detective on his own trail – and that was pretty much that.”
Mark Monahan, The Telegraph

“Could it really be that these creatures were more intelligent than previously thought? Could it be that they were changing and adapting to new challenges posed by factors such as shark tourism and intensive fishing, just as species have done since the dawn of time. I have no problem accepting that myself, but then I’m no expert.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“Plebs turns out to be a likeable enough affair, though you never entirely feel that they get out of second gear when it comes to the writing.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“It wasn’t entirely clear how Alison, who had filled up her house with ladybird paraphernalia, and Jo, who had filled hers with primary-school teaching aids and out-of-date food, came to be selected for this programme; presumably they must have volunteered, so were in some sense ready to change, but the way the film was edited made it look as if they had been blessed by the random help of Stelios Kiosses, the super-shrink of decluttering…but somehow the programme caught too many false notes; everything was just a bit too pat, too smooth, conveniently dovetailing into TV’s perfect ending.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Lucy Worsley’s quasi-Govian stroll through the kings and queens of Britain was even more of a pleasure than the first. Her thesis that British history has been largely determined by the physical and mental illnesses of our monarchs may be a bit scratchy – it doesn’t allow much for the power of parliament – but her presentation was spot on.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Paul Hollywood’s Bread was packed with slo-mo, libidinous bread-massage; with loaves wantonly tumescing in ovens; with melted butter sliding lasciviously down coquettishly inclined crumpets. By the time he was sinking his incisors into a slice of toast brazenly slathered with smoked salmon pâté – purring ‘I’d have that any day, at any time of day’ as his eyes twinkled like a Wirral-born Warren Beatty – it was time for a cold shower.”
Mark Monahan, The Telegraph

“I don’t know what it is about these ITV travelogue shows but they often have a powerful effect on my resolve. Places I’ve regularly pondered visiting are, within the space of half an hour or so, rendered completely uninteresting to me and I’m left, not just with nowhere to go, but baffled at how things have turned out.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express