Daddy Issues; Stags; Who Do You Think You Are?

“Daddy Issues is daft, honest, funny and tinged with bleakness. It gives stereotypes a twist – Derek, for example, is just that bit more vicious than the traditional sitcom sexist is normally allowed to be – and everything feels that bit more resonant as a result. You will laugh, but you might also cry. Or at least find yourself staring at the wall, having a think and sighing very deeply before you go on with your day. A comedy for our times.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“David Morrissey is really rather good as a gormless, cack-handed father, Malcolm, depressed that his wife left him. And, praise be, it’s actually funny. It has a glorious cast and cracking one-liners.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“It’s an unusual set-up, for sure, but comedian Danielle Ward – whose first original series this is – carefully structures it as a picaresque narrative in which every episode tells a self-contained story. Morrissey, who so often embodies authority to a priapic degree, is a delightful revelation as a gamma-male without a plan or a clue.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“At first, Gemma and Malcolm appear to be drawn in broad strokes: the useless dad who can barely use a washing machine and the chaotic party girl. But as the series goes on, their characters seem to gain real nuance and heart as their bond deepens. There’s also an appealing oddball silliness to screenwriter Danielle Ward’s scripts – like a set piece involving a poorly conceived Taken-themed escape room – that nicely counterbalances the emotional heft of the main storyline. Thanks to its winning central duo, Daddy Issues feels like a warm hug of a show, but with just enough edge to keep you on your toes.”
Katie Rosseinsky, The Independent

“It’s an exhilarating ride, gorgeously shot, beautifully played by all and seeded with multiple conflicts – of class, of temperament, between loyalties and between collective and individual responsibility – and grounded in a premise that is not too far-fetched to prevent the stakes from feeling genuine and high.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“Stags is touted as coming from the producers of Sex Education, which is all well and good. The problem is it doesn’t come from its writers and the basics have not been attended to. Make us care about the characters. Give them things to say and do that contribute to the plot’s internal logic.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“Who Do You Think You Are? can sometimes feel, at least to this old cynic, like luvvies being self-indulgent about their great-great-great-aunt Fanny. But not the returning episode featuring Vicky McClure. This was WDYTYA? at its best. The story behind her maternal great-grandfather Harry Millership, who was taken as a Japanese prisoner of war in 1942, was sickening and hugely important.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“After two decades, Who Do You Think You Are? is still one of the most popular series the BBC has. The way it combines historical insights (perhaps boring in any other context) with a revealing glimpse of the celebrity involved makes it a genuine journey of discovery, with us by their side. Long may it continue.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i