Cast Away; How to Survive a Dictator: North Korea

“Whatever you think of the man, you do have to grudgingly admit that the parts where he carries out the actual premise of the show – on an island, sunburned to hell, trying to Go-Pro himself boiling limpets for sustenance – are pretty entertaining. Decades on the telly have taught Schofield how to effectively communicate whatever he happens to be doing. However (and this is a big however), the man absolutely cannot help himself. It’s one thing to fend for yourself in the middle of nowhere, quite another to do it without acting like the most bitter man ever to walk the Earth.”
Stuart Heritage, The Guardian

“The opening episode of the three-part reality show-meets-endurance test was a self-indulgent pity party that punished anyone curious enough to watch with manipulative, plaintive attempts at redemption. He knows television inside out and after four decades in the industry, he knows exactly how to get an audience on side. From teary confessions to a dramatic cliffhanger (getting lost in the jungle at night time), Schofield pulled every trick in the book – even Joanna Lumley appeared via a pre-recorded video to deliver a good luck message.”
Emily Baker, The i

“Schofield discusses being close to suicide, the ‘anguish’ of coming out as gay when middle-aged and married, and the devastation he felt at losing his job. All true and heartfelt, I’m sure, but there was no sense that this was tumbling out of him as a result of his isolation. Every disclosure felt like something he had been planning to share, knowing it would make a good TV moment. And it was compelling television, but not for the reasons Schofield hoped. It was a revealing study of what happens to an entitled TV star, fuelled by a belief that the public adores them, when the stardom and adulation is taken away.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“By far the most entertainment to be had from last night’s episode of Cast Away was imagining the meeting which persuaded Phillip Schofield that it was a good idea to take part. ‘This could really put you back in the public eye, Phillip love,’ they might have said. ‘Because what people really want to watch these days is a big celebrity feeling sorry for themselves for an hour’. Only an hour? It felt a lot longer. This could be the biggest television misjudgment since Prince Andrew smiled across at Emily Maitlis and said: ‘That went well, didn’t it?’”
Roland White, Daily Mail

“Did Schofield seem bitter or self-pitying as he prepared to spend ten days alone except for a camera on an uninhabited tropical island off the coast of Madagascar? Yes! ‘I think there’ll be an awful lot of people who hope that I never come back,’ he said, melodramatically. I hate to say it, Phillip, but most people have probably forgotten all about it and are more worried about their gas bill.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“It is not the satirical sketches and raps with which the personal accounts are interleaved that jar – they punch up and find the right marks – but the lack of proper weight given to the evidence amassed. Nevertheless, Munya Chawawa is a witty, engaging presenter. Assuming that the point of commissioning someone of his talents with a predominantly young online following is to create an energetic, accessible documentary about a deeply serious problem that would not preach to an already-converted choir, the job has been done very well indeed.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“Standard-issue shaky camera reportage stuff was mixed with comedy sketches which fast-forwarded us through Kim’s history. A soulful ballad chronicling Kim’s failed bromance with Donald Trump was the pick of the bunch, nailing a farcical publicity stunt with lyrical precision. In truth Chawawa fell a touch short, like many before him, of cracking the enigma that is Kim Jong-un. But what he did manage to do was take my mind off Kim’s poised finger and ponder what kind of man he is.”
Keith Watson, The Telegraph