TV Critics: The Politician’s Husband; Playhouse Presents; Man Lab; Watson & Oliver

“It has the political sophistication of a fifth-form politics lesson. But its portrait of a marriage…is convincing and intriguing…all that is crude and crass in Westminster becomes charged and visceral in the domestic scenes between David Tennant as Aiden and the superbly intelligent yet sensual Emily Watson as Freya.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

 “Fortunately, the opening scenes of Milne’s drama are delivered at a pace that doesn’t give you a lot of time to think.. When you have time to think there are more problems, though. The biggest of them is Freya’s baffling passivity… I’ll watch, and probably quite eagerly too, given the quality of the cast and the emotional intrigue. But it’s entertainment, not life.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“The political tale seemed stereotyped and slightly old-fashioned. And it feels unlikely to tell us anything surprising in the coming two episodes. As a political drama, The Politician’s Husband is humdrum. What makes me want to watch again is the personal story…That’s the real drama.”
Terry Ramsey, The Telegraph

“There is heaps to enjoy in The Politician’s Husband. Well, him and her, Tennant and Watson; they’re both great, and great together, convincing as a couple… It’s an entertaining, but bleak, picture of politics in this country too, a world of bitter competitiveness and ruthless ambition that has very little to do with the interests of the country…  It’s melodrama, and a lot of fun.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“It was a great 30-minute start to a three-act feature. Alas, acts two and three remain unwritten, so the film ended with the arrival on Lennon’s doorstep of Macca, which is where it should all have got going.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“Ian Hart was excellent as Lennon and the script beautifully captured Lennon’s aggressive wit.”
Tom Sutcliffe, The Independent

“A beautiful vignette… The drama was a gentle, admiring portrait of how the Lennon wit and surrealism might have survived in an average life. It also highlighted the fine line between becoming a legend and becoming a claimant.”
Terry Ramsey, The Telegraph

“I couldn’t fight off the feeling that somewhere, in the upper reaches of the BBC, a committee of people who’d never be seen dead watching this dreck had decided that the rest of us ought to…I’d have less of a problem with Man Lab if it didn’t have the word ‘man’ in it. I’d also be fine with it if it was on in the morning during the school holidays.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express

“A rather limping sketch show…the bulk of the sketches went on far too long. That might indicate a deeper problem in that these two comediennes just don’t have enough material for one show…on the other hand, maybe they just need a decent editor.”
Matt Baylis, Daily Express