The Tattooist of Auschwitz; Clarkson’s Farm

“This adaptation of Heather Morris’s 2018 bestseller, based on Sokolov’s true story, does not flinch from the soul-searing cruelty of the death camps. Individuals are shot, battered and clubbed at random by smirking SS troops, while hundreds of others are selected for the conveyor belt of mass murder. But there are stories of love and friendship that make this endurable, both for us and for those few who did survive the camps.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is as harrowing, brutal and soul-sickening as you would expect, laying out six episodes of utter horror. But it also tells us that even in the darkest pit of hell, there is light. That light is human love. It is probably easy to pick holes in this adaptation but it is still a compelling piece of storytelling.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“The scenes of suffering within Auschwitz-Birkenau are so sickening that it feels plain uncomfortable to use it as the setting for a love story, even if that story is based on the recollections of a real Holocaust survivor, Lale Sokolov. Jonah Hauer-King plays the young Lale, and he doesn’t have the depth that the role demands.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a strangely self-hating work. In attempting to disavow its airport-novel, schlocky origins, it inadvertently creates a new tension. Don’t avert your gaze, we are told, but in turning the worst act of suffering and murder ever perpetrated by humans against humans into yet another tale of survival, The Tattooist of Auschwitz adds little to an over-exploited chapter of our shared history.”
Nick Hilton, The Independent

“For all the care taken, there’s no getting past the fact that the series is a romance set against the backdrop of the Nazi death camps. That isn’t to suggest the series is superficial or takes the Holocaust lightly; Nazi savagery is depicted unflinchingly. But all this cruelty coexists with Mills and Boon-esque romance as Lali and Gita’s love story transcends the upheavals of the conflict. They make for a compelling screen couple, but it confuses the tone of the series. Is it possible to make a feel-good Holocaust drama? Should you even try?”
Ed Power, The i

“The Tattooist of Auschwitz is a drama that raises the question of whether fiction can ever be an appropriate response to the Holocaust; on this evidence, perhaps not. It is well made, well acted, well intentioned, and grotesque.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“There aren’t many popular entertainment series that give airtime to the thorny issue of agrarian monocultures. Somehow it also manages to be highly compelling viewing. This is very well-made television, and perfectly balanced. There is serious talk, and there is a lot of titting about on tractors. Each episode ends on a proper cliffhanger. It is far too easy to watch several instalments in one greedy sitting.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“This ensemble cast is what makes the show work so well, alongside a neat editing job that expertly turns months of footage into a coherent narrative.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“You can quickly see Clarkson’s appeal – the bemused grump dismayed at the state of things if rarely offering any practical solutions. It makes Clarkson’s Farm wildly interesting on an anthropological level, as if you’ve stumbled into a club who’d never want you as a member. But then there’s also the rest of the show – its ramshackle pleasantness and easy humour. Whatever your misgivings as to the man behind it all, you’ll find it tricky to resist.”
Adam White, The Independent

“It’s all quite amusing (until it isn’t – the piglet episode is titled “Harrowing”) and – occasionally – educational. It’s impossible to know how much is staged, and Clarkson and Kaleb certainly look like they’re hamming up their squabbles. But there is no feigning an accident caused by Kaleb forgetting that he’s attached to an elastic safety harness.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i