Doctor Who; Lockerbie; The Doll Factory

“The episode was fabulously realised, with plenty of whizz-bang battle scenes that clearly benefited from the extra wonga of the new co-investors Disney. The Doctor-Donna partnership will please fans, or at least those who consistently voted Tennant their favourite Time Lord.”
Ben Dowell, The Times

“Their comeback is a treat, a bonus – and the first of the new stories, The Star Beast, romps merrily, just as it should. The ensuing battles and chases do contain evidence of the comfy new Disney budget, mainly via the Doctor’s sonic screwdriver, which can now draw cosmic maps in the air and create floating bulletproof glass to hide behind. But Doctor Who remains kooky, slightly sitcommy and deeply British.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“The Star Beast is a perfect re-entry for a franchise that needs to win back the public’s affection, a return to Doctor Who as a teatime treat with a gentle plot twist that everyone over the age of six could see coming but was happy to indulge anyway.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“This episode, written by Russell T. Davies, was Doctor Who back to its uproarious, eccentric, action-packed best. There was hardly a moment’s peace. It’s true that The Meep, a deceptively ferocious furry gonk voiced by Miriam Margolyes, took a moment to explain its pronouns (not he or she, but The) but I think that was a joke.”
Roland White, Daily Mail

“What a relief: it has been a long time since the series has felt so full of personality and life, so full of manic momentum. Comfortingly familiar yet also thrillingly new, this was a reminder of the show it used to be.”
Stephen Kelly, The i

“Who-heads will be relieved and delighted to know that, after the lows of the Chibnall years, the Doctor is back to his eccentric best.”
Ed Power, The Independent

“The four-part series Lockerbie is a masterly example of a true-crime documentary put together with great care and compassion, which offers compelling insights into a familiar story.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“Splicing footage with recent interviews, Lockerbie offers a kaleidoscopic survey of the tragedy and its reverberations, in which – as David Johnston, one of the first reporters at the scene, put it – ‘nothing quite adds up’. This is a masterclass in documentary-making, clear-eyed, humane and deft in its handling of conflicting perspectives.”
Orlando Bird, The Telegraph

“It is a slow burner, only really picking up the pace by the end of the first episode, by which point it may have lost viewers. It drifts around atmospherically, nudging all the pieces into place, while gathering a creeping sense of dread. What it lacks in zip, though, it makes up for in vivid imagery: specimen jars, in particular, make its themes clear. By episode two, it ratchets up the tension, and the stifling oppression of Iris’s world begins to feel palpable. It is gruesome, at points, earning its goth badge with honours.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“Scary dolls, repressed sexuality, and stuffed squirrels are a potentially heady mix. Alas, the retelling of the Elizabeth Macneal novel from the producers of ITV’s Marcella loses its way in the Dickensian gloom. It’s undeniably pretty, with present-day Dublin an effective stand-in for Victorian London. Yet the pacing is so slothful it’s hard to stay invested. Entire scenes go by when the cast does little beyond sitting in the dark, looking glum.”
Ed Power, The Telegraph