TV Critics: The Paradise; The Boy Who Can't Forget; The Man Who Saved the World: Revealed; Cuckoo

“People will love it, I’m sure. And people’s mothers, they’ll love it even more. Marvellous, they’ll say, especially the clothes and the beautiful period detail. While a few grumpy old men – this one included – couldn’t give a stuff.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“If you like pretty dresses or are particularly interested in the weird social hierarchy of a 19^th-century retail outlet, you may well find this a sort of TV paradise. Otherwise, you might feel, as I did, that you’re having a dream set in a period version of Debenhams, and no matter how many times you press the lift button, you’re stuck on the same floor, with the same things happening again and again.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“Those switching on last night for undemanding period sentiment will have been unprepared for quite how seamy and unpleasant The Paradise is… It has been a while since I got lost in a department store. I won’t be losing myself in this either.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“There might be more to watch here if, like Zola, Gallagher was a bit more interested in the birth-pangs of a new consumer society… Unfortunately, melodrama persistently trumps history and psychology… Too often, I’m afraid, you giggle when you should gasp.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“It’s absolutely extraordinary. It is also ever so slightly boring after a bit. A bit like juggling; you can appreciate it, but don’t want to hang around long watching.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“It’s often said the Cuban missile crisis brought the planet to the brink of nuclear war and this fascinating documentary showed how events under the sea took destruction even closer.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“If you treat it as drama, it gapes here and there… But if you treat it as a cartoon, it’s often funny.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent