TV Critics: World’s Weirdest Homes; A Very Murray Christmas; Doctor Who

“There were some fabulous joints on the documentary The World’s Weirdest Homes last night — a giant shoe, a missile silo turned into a peace camp, a cargo ship stranded on a cliff — but it was not a fabulous documentary. By turning the anthology into a top 20 list, and a pretty random one at that, the buildings were robbed of historical context.”
Andrew Billen, The Times

“There were some fascinating stories that merited further exploration, but were cheapened by gratuitous point-and-laugh entries. Architect Charlie Luxton linked the clips in likeably enthusiastic style, but this felt like a bodge job by cowboy builders, and library footage was stretched too thin over the 90 minutes.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“It’s quite amusing. More of a Google search than a television programme really. In fact, if you do search for world’s weirdest homes you get most of this lot. Not such a hard one to research, then.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“The problem with big lists of weird things is that ultimately it’s hard to argue that any one thing should come before or after another. In the number 1 spot was a choice that looked tame compared to all the toilet-shaped residences and converted missile bases that had gone before.”
Mayy Baylis, Daily Express

“Presented by architectural designer Charlie Luxton, this did what it said on the tin. From an underground Playboy-style bunker to a dog-shaped B&B, this had it all.”
Amy Burns, The Independent

“How much fun is all this? As much fun as being the only sober inhabitant of a bar populated by rich, drunk, ironic show-offs deliberately singing off-key. Miley Cyrus is by far the best thing about this indulgent hour.”
Jonathan Bernstein, The Telegraph

“The whole experience is like finding yourself at the wrong family Christmas, a showbiz family who are putting on a show, for themselves. Indulgent, self-indulgent, overindulgent don’t cover it; it’s a celebrity daisy chain of nodding and mutual masturbation.”
Sam Wollaston, The Guardian

“Underneath all the action, this was an emotional and humorous episode. What with Clara constantly welling up and a Harry Potter-style realisation that they couldn’t all live, I nearly felt myself going a few times – and that despite not understanding about half of what happened.”
Amy Burns, The Independent

“This was another super-sized episode, but the tone was much more playful than last week’s expressionist masterpiece — a bumper, end-of-term edition, perhaps. At the end, Clara and Ashildr (the inadequate Maisie Williams) zoomed off in their own Tardis, taking the long way back to Gallifrey. There has to be a spin-off here, at least in comic books.”
Andrew Billen, The Times