Cruel Intentions; The Colosseum with Dan Snow

“In spite of my better judgment, I like the B-plot involving Caroline’s sorority deputy CeCe. But, really, this feels like a generic teen series by any other name. You can’t help but wonder what the writers might have come up with had they not been confined by the streaming economy’s desperate need for nostalgia, which even extends to an obligatory cover of Bitter Sweet Symphony. If you want soapy, mindless melodrama to pass the time, press play. But if you want to watch Cruel Intentions, for God’s sake, just dust off the DVD.”
Hannah J Davis, The Guardian

“The original film positively brimmed over with sex and intrigue; cheesy dialogue and far-fetched plots became no issue up against Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe’s chemistry. You left that film wishing you were them, tragedy and daddy issues aside. In Amazon’s series, however, you’re just left cringing. A core plot about a fraternity hazing gone wrong feels half-soaked, while the relationship between the main siblings plays as icky rather than sexually-charged.”
Poppie Platt, The Telegraph

“Nobody has any chemistry, and – because it’s all stretched across eight episodes – what little momentum there is quickly dissipates, even with the occasional sex tape or embezzlement scandal. In trying to emulate both hammy 90s classics and frivolous Noughties high school series without embracing the melodrama, it ends up not achieving either. It’s flat and virtuous, stripping back all the silliness and leaving in its place a humdrum drama about rich people getting het up about absolutely nothing.”
Francesca Steele, The i

“Thankfully even a slightly cheap-looking, repetitive Channel 5 documentary can’t spoil the thrill of the subject. Much of this was down to Snow, a man who seems to get more and more like his father, Peter, the election swingometer king with every passing year. It’s not just the height or the near-identical vocal intonation, he has inherited his father’s knack for illuminating detail with panache and expertise.”
Ben Dowell, The Times

“Dan’s lively and beautifully shot celebration of the vast amphitheatre in Italy’s capital city was crammed with factoids. Dan has a talent for evoking the past, helping us to see beyond the ruins into years gone by.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail