Kaos; The Rings of Power; Celebrity Race Across The World

“It all looks splendidly expensive, even without many special effects. The cast brings a Babel of accents, each the actors’ own: Poseidon is a Kiwi, Orpheus (Killian Scott) is Irish, Persephone (Rakie Ayola) Welsh, and Hades (David Thewlis) speaks uncut Lancashire. The Fates, Suzy Eddie Izzard among them, are camp as tents. The musical palette travels all over the shop too from Mozart to Bowie via Enya. The gods are at their most watchable when behaving supernaturally, smiting humanity with locusts and molten ice caps. But whenever they act and sound and joke like us, the great risk – and the thing that just prevents this lively entertainment from clambering to an almighty climax – is bathos.”
Jasper Rees, Telegraph

“Those looking for more of Covell’s grungy take on teenage angst as so brilliantly illustrated in The End of the F***ing World might be disappointed by the flashier, certainly less subtle Kaos. But that same inherent nihilism eventually shines through, and among the bling and blood, there’s a cunning, political-adjacent denouncement of dictatorial leadership to be found. Not that Kaos needs such grand themes to make it watchable – seeing Orpheus attempt to gain access to the underworld via a grotty pub quiz hosted by the Fates is more than enough.”
Emily Baker, The i

“Multi-stranded, immaculately paced and plotted, it’s a reimagining of Greek mythology that is subtle and intricate, witty, rigorous, hugely intelligent, funny and brutal. It flies.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“Annatar/Sauron is about to get right inside the head of the elf who creates those magical rings — the ones that will end up spawning millennia of war and $1 billion screen franchises. In fairness to Sauron (Charlie Vickers), his manipulation of the hapless Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) and indeed all of Middle-earth, a deception that runs like a spine through series two of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power (Prime Video), is the best thing about this gargantuan opus. It amplifies how frustrating the rest of it can be: epic but hopelessly overcooked, thrilling and even scary at times, a real slog at others (the first series, it should be said, did tidy business, viewed by 100 million people, according to the dark tower of Amazon).”
James Jackson, The Times

“It’s not perfect – there are still occasional longueurs and not all storylines are equally gripping. I couldn’t work up a huge amount of interest in the political maneuverings in Númenor, for example. But if you enjoyed what you saw in 2022, these eight episodes will, much like magical rings, really get their hooks in you. Five seasons are planned, and I, for one, want to see them all.”
Neil Armstrong, The i

“Were it anything other than a Lord of the Rings prequel, The Rings of Power would be passably entertaining and there’s no denying its naff charm. It has the creaky quality of a cheesy Eighties fantasy movie – think The Beastmaster on a blockbuster budget or Krull with better CGI. But as the series blunders through Tolkien’s meticulously crafted lore, fans of the source material may recall the author’s quote about the perils of showing too much of Middle-earth.”
Ed Power, Telegraph

“After two weeks of travelling, the celebs are just halfway to the finish line in Chile on the other side of the Andes. Each pair has a film crew with them, and the footage must run to hundreds of hours, before it is distilled to 60 minutes. Race Across The World is becoming such a popular series that perhaps it will spawn a spinoff show of outtakes, like Strictly or I’m A Celebrity. To my shame, I must admit — I’d watch that.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail