Peaky Blinders; Mary Berry’s Country House Secrets; Secrets in the Mist; The Channel

“Dramatic outbursts of action. The most outrageous slow-motion strut in the show’s history (which is saying something). And, most excitingly of all, the return of Tom Hardy as shambolic, volatile Camden gangster Alfie Solomons. Peaky Blinders’ latest series really hit its stride this week.”
Mark Butler, The i

“The final scene with Aiden Gillen, Tom Hardy and Cillian Murphy really gave a sense of TV at its finest. It’s witty, thrilling and a total pleasure to watch.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian

“Tom Hardy was in last night’s Peaky Blinders for just seven minutes, but it was a masterclass in how seven minutes can steal a show. Returning as Alfie Solomons, the Jewish gangster with the crazed eyes, Hardy made each word he spoke so potent and multi-layered it was as if they had been fortified with rum.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“This is a series where the anti-heroes swagger in slow-motion down stylised Twenties streets, set to an anachronistic indie-rock soundtrack, while flames belch, sparks fly and the sky turns strange colours. We don’t go to the dramatised slums of Small Heath for realism, we go for hard-boiled thrills, simmering feuds and snarled one-liners.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“This four-part series was Berry’s own idea and her confection is as light as a low-fat sponge cake. It’s also a warm, watchable and charming way to while away a midweek winter evening as we wait for Christmas.”
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph

“The only disappointment was that Mary discovered no freshly murdered vicars or poisoned butlers. She would make a perfect Miss Marple. Instead, she did some cooking, which oddly has been the weak point in this series. In fact, the recipes for apple sauce and boiled asparagus simply got in the way. We wanted more gossip and sightseeing.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Dian Fossey: Secrets of the Mist was the first of three gripping documentaries, made with forensic restraint but obvious affection, that celebrate her life and retrace her murder, its poor investigation and the enemies she made. The stark photos of Fossey’s body under a sheet, six machete wounds to her head, were a grotesque reminder that this extraordinary woman was butchered as pitilessly as some of the gorillas whose future she saved.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“A four-part series about the stretch of sea between Dover and Calais might sound like the definition of dull TV but the opposite is true: there’s too much going on. Overwhelmed by their material, the producers hurled everything at us in a blizzard of clips. If the aim was to impress us with how busy it all was, we were left in no doubt about that. But by the end of the hour I was thoroughly confused.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail