The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone; All Creatures Great and Small; The Famous Five

“It’s 8 June 2024. Outside Ace cafe on the North Circular in north-west London, the car park is a lot busier and more colourful than usual. Hundreds of bikers have gathered, with most of those who have taken off their leather jacket in the sunshine revealing a garish Hawaiian shirt beneath. The atmosphere is convivial, celebratory and a little tearful: it’s nearly four months since the death of the TV presenter Dave Myers, one half of the Hairy Bikers. Today, on what has been christened “Dave Day”, a mass ride is planned to Myers’ home town of Barrow-in-Furness. The sheer size of the tribute is breathtaking. By the time he arrives in Cumbria, Si King, the other Hairy Biker and Myers’ best pal, will have ridden alongside tens of thousands of motorcyclists and been wished well by tens of thousands more pedestrians lining the route. Making plenty of stops for clips from the best of the Bikers’ two decades on the BBC, the gloriously emotional documentary The Hairy Bikers: You’ll Never Ride Alone – even the title is a tear-jerker – follows King on an extraordinary day. Without any disrespect to Britain’s other favourite TV presenters, and while hoping that it is many years before we find out, it is difficult to imagine such an outpouring for anyone else on the box. Would Ant or Dec shut down Newcastle city centre? Will the Narborough Road into Leicester be a gridlocked party zone when Gary Lineker goes? For Myers, they are out in droves. So many people. So many terrible shirts.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“Wouldn’t it be nice if all those young men who follow Andrew Tate had watched The Hairy Bikers instead? Dave Myers and Si King were the antithesis of toxic masculinity, two well-upholstered chaps who at first glance might have looked a bit intimidating with their beards and big motorbikes but were in fact gentle-voiced, northern everymen whose priorities were love, friendship and having a laugh — but never cruelly. They had no problem saying they loved each other. How refreshing.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Personally, I can’t remember the last time I cried quite so frequently in the space of a single hour. It was exhausting. When the credits rolled, my wife had to fetch the mop. What a beautiful tribute this was, what a testament to the power of friendship and of a life well-lived.”
Nick Duerden, The i

“This hour-long salute included plenty of excerpts from the bikers’ travels, whether they were riding the dunes in the Namibian desert, exploring templesin south-east Asia, or getting sentimental about the northern English landscape. But it was Dave’s delight in raising a laugh that showed why he’s remembered with such affection. His imitation of an excited ostrich was simply brilliant, while his antics on Strictly won him a legion of new fans.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“It takes a confident show to realise that its central characters are the least interesting thing about it. And All Creatures Great and Small (Channel 5) is a very confident show indeed, now 35 episodes into its triumphant remake. I mean no offence to Nicholas Ralph and Rachel Shenton, who do a very fine job of portraying James and Helen Herriot (though they look far too well-rested for a couple with a small baby), but they have few wrinkles to convey. The Herriots’ life is unbridled smoothness (with the odd bit of confected jeopardy chucked in).”
Chris Bennion, Telegraph

“Perhaps only Call the Midwife, for obvious neonatal reasons, has more affinity with Christmas than All Creatures Great and Small. But for pure seasonal comfort and joy, 1940s Herriot country is the place to be. Even in wartime.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i

“Reboots can often be a “why bother?” damp squib. But All Creatures Great and Small (Channel 5) has to be one of the best remakes ever and this its finest Christmas episode yet. It was about time that ever-stoic Mrs Hall (Anna Madeley) got the spotlight for an entire episode, instead of just running the household and smoothing her pinny while saying, “There’s tea in t’pot.””
Carol Midgley, The Times

“It’s clever, it’s cosy, and there’s just enough grit to stop things from becoming too cloying: “Mystery At The Prospect Hotel” is an episode the whole family really can enjoy.”
Marianne Levy, The i