John Lennon; Hunting the Rolex Rippers; Quentin Blake’s Box of Treasures

“If the fundamental measure of a documentary series is how many first-hand witnesses it can recruit, John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial is unimpeachable. Between them they offer a vivid picture of events, from the blood and discarded glasses and Ono wailing with her husband’s head in her lap, to the extremely suspicious behaviour of Chapman hours before the shooting and his bewilderingly placid reaction immediately after it.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“It is remarkable to listen to these first-hand accounts, so vivid and detailed despite the passage of more than 40 years. There is a danger that documentaries like these can be little more than true-crime titillation, but here there is a sense that those present wanted history to be recorded.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“Many of the eyewitnesses are speaking on camera for the first time. The emotional punch of the three-part series comes from the unflinching fashion in which they share their recollections, along with flinty narration by Kiefer Sutherland. Nick Holt’s efficient and sober film draws a vivid snapshot of the killing, which put a tragic full stop to the story of The Beatles and permanently scarred the psyche of rock’n’roll itself.”
Ed Power, The i

“The problem here, and I hope this doesn’t sound callous, is why should we care? This series shifts between Chapman’s story and recollections of Lennon and the grief of his widow (who is heard on voiceover or viewed via archive, so one assumes she didn’t want to take part). However much we listen in on unheard recordings, or hear Chapman’s old friends talk about his traumatic childhood, it’s a struggle to feel involved.”
Ben Dowell, The Times

“Documentary journalist Tir Dhondy doesn’t lead with politics or her point of view. Still, she skilfully gets her subjects to open up to her with a Louis Theroux-esque anti-Socratic line of questioning that makes them feel comfortable confessing their greatest sins (albeit with their faces concealed and voices distorted). What money cannot buy you is time and, sadly, that is what is truly lacking in this programme. In a mere half hour, it’s hard to pack in enough substance.”
Leila Latif, The Guardian

“Many things went unexplained, because Tir admitted she felt too intimidated to ask awkward questions. Tir timidly suggested that some people might not like being robbed at knifepoint, that an elderly victim might even suffer a heart attack. But there was no real challenge to their criminal logic.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Blake, famous for giving Roald Dahl’s tales their visual identity, has that familiar illustrative style — deceptively simple, almost sketch-like — and it’s immaculately brought to life in a series that is sweet and just the right side of cloying, from the two episodes I’ve seen. The first, Zagazoo, is the one that adults might enjoy more (even if not watching with children) because the story is one of those little animated tales, such as The Snowman, where something ostensibly childlike becomes an oddly profound observation on the impermanence of human existence.”
James Jackson, The Times

“It has become surprisingly acceptable for kids’ entertainment to cater as much, if not rather more, to adults than to their offspring. But Zagazoo is that rare thing, an absorbing and delightful children’s story that gives parents plenty to smile about.”
Marianne Levy, The i