Candy; Trump: The Comeback?; Sensationalists

“Only two episodes of Candy have been released for review, but so far it seems to be settling comfortably at the better-quality end of things. Candy is intelligently scripted and directed. It also has two phenomenal performances. Jessica Biel as Candy provides a mesmerising portrait of the effort that goes into being the perfect mom and homemaker, the jittery energy beneath the smooth facade, and what happens when maintaining that facade and the local kudos that comes with it is no longer enough. She is matched by Melanie Lynskey as Betty.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“The episodes are teeming with beautiful details – the costuming, sets and interior texture are all certainly rich – but the people occupying these spaces feel undercooked. Part of the problem is that Candy is trying to be all the things simultaneously: a gritty true-crime series, a tense courtroom drama and a rich character study. But without committing to any of these ideas, it ends up going nowhere.”
Chris Mandle, The i

“If you really like true-crime dramas, you’ll probably like this one. But if you like true stories – ones that create layered versions of real people and use them to illustrate something universal about the human experience – Candy won’t hit the sweet spot.”
Amanda Whiting, The Independent

“By the end of this lucid snapshot of America today you were left in little doubt that, as the midterms approach, a battle is under way for nothing less than the country’s soul. Unlike some other TV travelogues looking in on modern America — such as Sue Perkins wringing her hands at the Mexican border wall — this didn’t feel bleeding heart as it took the temperature before events that may predestine the election outcome in two years.”
James Jackson, The Times

“Trump’s hints that he might run for the U.S. presidency again in 2024 were enough to give TV journalist Katty Kay an excuse to mislabel her report on America’s mid-term elections as Trump: The Comeback. But what unfolded was a dull briefing on Republican rifts and the resigned frustration of voters who dislike Democrat President Joe Biden. Even Katty got bored with the programme, and joined a cattle round-up on horseback instead. One thing’s clear: America’s liberal media really miss their bogeyman.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Over three frequently terrific hours, Sensationalists: The Bad Girls and Boys of British Art has given a vibrant flavour of the rise of the Young British Artists against the era’s economic and political backdrop. Hats off to this series for not just giving a Britpop-and-the-Spice-Girls narrative of the 1990s. Instead, it captured the more interesting, subversive irreverence that underpinned the decade, one that, you were left feeling, culture hasn’t come close to matching since.”
James Jackson, The Times