Davina McCall’s Pill Revolution; The Shadow and the Light; The Crowded Room

“There are some glaring gaps in the narrative. Class, race and disability aren’t really broached when it comes to access and care. Nor does the programme dive into the fact that some of the issues around contraception access are rooted in a desire to suppress women’s sexual freedom. But it is still a powerful documentary that will leave many viewers making more informed decisions about their bodies, saving them from pain – and potentially saving lives as well.”
Leila Latif, The Guardian

“I may not always like her gimmicky presentation — pushing a giant pill packet on wheels through a public square and aping a Wheel of Fortune presenter in a sparkly dress because contraception is a bit of a gamble with your mental and physical health — but it is extremely effective. She even took one for the team in having a coil fitted on camera, which I can guarantee made every woman watching clamp their thighs together.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“The menopause stuff was so effective because it was clearly McCall’s passion project. But the Pill thing doesn’t relate closely to this part of her life and nothing she discussed here seemed particularly outrageous. It felt woolly and unscientific.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“As well as serious analysis of his music, we got a real picture of the man himself. There was an impressive array of interviewees who waxed ardently about his ability to write music, but concurred that his skills were limited when it came to conducting or playing piano. It is a hypnotising, tender story told with love.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“As homage to the thumping dinginess of Seventies Manhattan, The Crowded Room works brilliantly. But when show-runner Akiva Goldsman switches to a more earnest mode, much of that fun drains away. Tom Holland (who also serves as an executive producer) and Amanda Seyfried throw themselves into the melodrama. Yet they are up against it as the tale crawls to a thuddingly obvious conclusion.”
Ed Power, The Telegraph

“The Crowded Room doesn’t work (other than an exquisite title sequence), which is a shame because, individually, the elements are good. From Tom Holland to Sasha Lane, Emmy Rossum to Jason Isaacs (who appears as an implausible, urbane Englishman), the cast is strong. The basis of the story – which has been dramatised before, usually more explicitly in the horror genre – is compelling. But The Crowded Room is an unsatisfying blend of these components, which takes, at best, a curate’s egg, and scrambles it.”
Nick Hilton, The Independent