Paxman: Putting Up With Parkinson’s; Make Me Prime Minister; The Bear

“He is a wonderfully unsentimental documentarian, insisting that he is not participating in the film to elicit sympathy and refusing to be cajoled into ‘blubbing’ on camera. His worst fear is that he will come across as suffering from ‘poor little me syndrome’. He has a journalistic interest in finding out more about practically everything, and so it stands to reason that he would try to find out all that he can about his own diagnosis. It makes for fascinating, grown-up, unsparing television.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“There could easily be, say, a Horizon film about this stuff, but only Paxo being Paxo could make it so bluntly absorbing. And as we saw him taking up bowls, this poignant film seemed to have a simpler point: you get older, accept what’s thrown at you, and keep buggering on.”
James Jackson, The Times

“The presenter approached this documentary with exactly the same suffer-no-fools attitude he has displayed throughout his broadcasting career. As is usual with documentaries of this type, Paxman travelled around meeting people who are conducting research into the condition or offering ways to deal with the symptoms. The point of difference here was that Paxman didn’t attempt to put a positive spin on his situation.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“His determination to be honest about all aspects meant a saddening look behind the scenes of University Challenge, the quiz show he has hosted for 29 years. He is due to record his last episode on October 15. In the questionmaster’s chair, he is incisive and contumacious as ever. But to see him shuffling through the studio, gripping an assistant’s arm as he tackled a low step, and being helped with his shirt buttons, is to realise how much he has kept hidden from the public gaze.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Celebrity documentaries typically follow a gentle arc whereby the star receives an unwelcome diagnosis, suffers through the ensuing angst and then concludes on an upbeat note. But Paxman has never been one for neat endings, giving Putting Up with Parkinson’s an unsatisfying quality. His reluctance to engage with the emotional side of his illness made for a documentary that was difficult to connect with.”
Ed Power, The i

“As a writer and journalist of rare calibre, he can’t help but be inquisitive about this still-mysterious disease, and going on this slightly unsteady journey of discovery about it suits him very well. Just like when he was in the Newsnight chair, he asks all the right questions – though he’s less aggressive towards doctors and medical researchers than he was, famously, with the likes of Michael Howard.”
Sean O’Grady, The Independent

“There’s the seed of a great TV format here but first it has to decide what it’s trying to do: encourage people to get involved at Westminster, or mock the pretensions of show-offs desperate for a dose of TV fame.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“There is barely a character, a scenario or a conversation that isn’t about to boil over. Filmed with a roving camera always on the shoulder or in the face of our chefs, it makes The Bear a gut-punch of a show, like a HIIT session or a spin class where you come out of your half hour flayed to the bone, but quickly book the next one nonetheless. That’s because the writing and performances are all exquisite – every character distinct and fully served, even those who get minimal screen time.”
Benji Wilson, The Telegraph