TV Critics: The Fear, Inside Claridge’s

“The Fear is already a good thriller, because there are so many layers to the onion…[It] is a grand idea, grandly executed — with neat filming tricks and heavier bits of thoughtfulness.”
Alex Hardy, The Times

“One of the pleasures of The Fear is that, like Richie Beckett, you can never be entirely sure of what’s real and what’s not. ..[Richard} Cottan’s drama isn’t just Guy Richie face-offs and growling machismo.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“This is one of those productions that, in spite of its brilliant premise, ends up resembling a men’s coffee table magazine. Every detail of every shot is painfully stylish.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“The letdown came from the Guy Ritchie-style direction – is it really obligatory to have a spaghetti-western-style stand-off?.. and a plot..that ticked every cliched box of hip Brit try-hard noir… It’s too early to write The Fear off quite yet, but it needs to get its act together fast. More substance, less style and all would be well.”
John Crace, The Guardian

“An exquisite piece of documentary-making that never put a foot wrong…  it was the rare glimpses, but more often conspicuous absences, of the guests that worked so well… But it was also the persistently gentle probing of the staff that made this such a joy.”
John Crace, The Guardian

“Fortunately the first instalment went beyond the surface appearance and the polite rebuffs to turn up plenty of amusing and intriguing sideshow stuff.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express