TV Critics: The Americans; Spying on Hitler’s Army; Les Dawson

“ITV don’t normally do US acquisitions, but with its drama department resurgent, the channel is hoping for a Homeland-style hit. They’ve ambitiously scheduled this 13-part series for Saturday nights, hoping to vacuum up viewers who’d normally be watching Match of the Day or Jonathan Ross. Well, it worked. The Americans was pacy and smart, with enough sex and action to attract casual viewers. By the time the closing credits rolled, I was hooked.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“It’s an enticing idea, and a pacy ride, like a kind of hammier Homeland – also with antiheroes, deception, lie-living, family conflict, politics v love, moral dilemmas, kids unwittingly getting caught up in it, paranoia, two strong leads (plus two convincing performances) and One Big Threat to American national security … There are 13 parts to this series, plus another in the pipeline. Can it maintain its momentum long enough to justify investing all that time? My hunch is probably not.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“It’s an interesting idea to build a classic them-and-us drama around the enemy perspective, but unfortunately The Americans doesn’t  have anything like the daring of Homeland, which led the way  with this secret suburbia theme.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“An account of wartime eavesdropping on high-ranking German PoWs that began with the ludicrously over-hyped claim that it was: ‘One of the most audacious operations ever carried out by British Intelligence.’ Oh sure, they wired a stately home for sound and then… the sheer nerve is just breathtaking… transcribed the resulting recordings! It was very interesting though in its account of political arguments between German generals and the chilling matter-of-factness with which prisoners talked of experiences of atrocities on the Eastern front.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“The hologram was billed as ‘staggeringly realistic’ and perhaps it was if you were in the same room. On TV, it merely looked like a cut-out image of Dawson wearing an unnaturally bright blue jacket and a low hairline, standing strangely still and occasionally moving jerkily… Despite the presence of Dawson’s widow and daughter, who were visibly moved, this still felt like a macabre cash-in.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph