How to Survive a Dictator; Blockbuster; Lost Worlds; The Russell Howard Hour

“Making a documentary about Robert Mugabe via a parodic Supermarket Sweep and a few comedy sketches doesn’t sound like the best idea. In fact, it sounds like a terrible one. So it’s all the more surprising that How to Survive a Dictator with Munya Chawawa not only worked, it worked very well. Chawawa, a comedian, mixed just the right amount of comedy with serious interviews, the former used to explain, say, how the British press were only interested in Zimbabwean violence when it was visited on white farmers, and how Britain and other European countries had helped themselves to Africa like it was a sweet shop. Somehow this didn’t detract from the serious interviews.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Comedian Munya Chawawa may have survived under a brutal dictator’s rule. But I have no idea how he’ll survive the embarrassment of the film he made about it. The stupidity of sending YouTube personalities to do investigative journalism was brutally exposed, as his ignorance was outweighed only by his immaturity. Attempts to interview former associates of Mugabe were a cringeing humiliation. The despot’s nephews, Leo and Patrick, ran rings round him, and laughed as they did it.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Blockbuster is perfectly pleasant, in an old-fashioned way, which is, perhaps, appropriate. It feels like a sitcom from long ago, where gentle quips and mild slapstick were enough to fill half an hour of pre-watershed television. But the streaming age has put an end to that, and there is now so much choice, doled out by algorithms, that to be fine no longer seems like enough.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“Blockbuster has potential to be a feelgood workplace comedy with a warm, nostalgic glow. Sadly, you can’t create alchemy via a Netflix algorithm. Its elements don’t add up and the result is frustratingly flimsy.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“Fogle is good at this; he’s sort of half veteran presenter, half ordinary bloke in plimsolls. The history part of his film was fascinating, showing Nicosia International Airport, once a hub for supermodels and the glamorous rich, run to seed, large parts of it dilapidated.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Greta Thunberg reportedly said off-camera that her time with Howard was her favourite ever interview, since she felt able to be herself. That translated onto the screen. She’s rarely seemed so relaxed, and, as she and the host affectionately teased one another, her eyes shone with pleasure.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph