EastEnders; Ladhood; The Boys from Brazil

“A bracingly bold episode of the Cockney soap opera saw the action flash back to 1979. Jaime (daughter of Ray) Winstone guest-starred as the young Peggy Mitchell – the much-loved matriarch played for 22 years by the late Dame Barbara Windsor – for a gritty period piece portraying the fearsome Mitchell family’s chequered past. In less talented hands, it might have felt like a naff tribute turn or act of mild sacrilege. It was to Winstone’s credit that within just half an hour, she made the character her own. As a standalone episode, this was a pacy caper. It was Life On Mars meets kitchen-sink drama, sensitively weaving together past and present. A palpable labour of love and a fitting tribute to Cockney royalty.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“This was an engrossing flashback episode of the 37-year-old soap that showed us the Mitchells in their Winter of Discontent. The story, which climaxed with Peggy Mitchell holding a bread knife to her husband’s chest, was a battle for the soul of her two sons. Either they stuck with their mother’s instinct for decency and hard work, or their dad’s criminal tendencies were going to drag them down. That’s the story of Phil Mitchell’s whole life, condensed into half an hour.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Never mind the peroxide blonde wig and the distinctive London tones, Winstone brought a subtle nuance to her portrayal, bringing out the softer layers in the character that the older woman had presumably buried in the years since. You couldn’t fault the production values. Every teacup, every carpet lining, was pure 1979. When you consider the comparably tiny budget of this episode, it really was an ambitious and mostly successful effort.”
Caroline Frost, The i

“As ever, this semi-autobiographical comedy – although its humour pinballs around slapstick and despair – switches between the lives of adult Liam, now 34, in a rut and wondering how he ended up like this, and teenage Liam, 18, preparing for his A-levels and being encouraged to apply for Oxbridge by his school and his parents. One is at the start of something; the other is at the end. It meets in the middle with a peculiarly entertaining sort of bleakness, and it bows out without sacrificing any of its surly irony or mordant wit.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“Ladhood started as a Radio 4 comedy and sometimes you can tell. It’s not just Williams’s sometimes booming delivery, it’s that, very occasionally, the gags feel a little tame, like The Inbetweeners with the filth extracted. It works best when it plays boldly and self-consciously with its central contrivance, such as the moment Liam’s careers teachers observed his character’s knack for ‘giving important information at the top of a scene’.”
Ben Dowell, The Times

“The documentary was a decent primer on Bolsonaro’s life story, and the last 60 years of Brazilian politics. I’m not quite sure where this series fits into the BBC’s quest for impartiality – with the exception of Steve Bannon and one of Bolsonaro’s sons, the talking heads were critical, and it feels like the broadcaster is holding its nose to explore the concept of populism.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“Jair Bolsonaro and his three sons are manifestly unpleasant characters, intent on exploiting the Amazon whatever the environmental cost. But viewers aren’t trusted to form their own conclusions. The Bolsonaros, said the narrator, are ‘a political insurgency’. Cheap graphics painted the family as gangsters toting guns and parrots. They were framed by banana leaves. Yes, we get it, this is South America, it must be a banana republic, right?”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail