Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps; 999: The Critical List

“As with Gone Fishing, the unassuming chatter of people in nature really draws you in when it’s presented this skilfully. Pilgrimage is quietly brilliant in the way TV isn’t really allowed to be anymore – everything else is fighting to grab headlines and eyeballs in order to justify its existence. This delight may never make headlines, but by thunder, it’s a salve in these wretchedly shrill times we live in.”
Julia Raeside, The i

“Because it isn’t a competition it is freed from much of the usual tiresome reality TV furniture. It also handily fulfils a religious quota of programming at Easter, and fair enough. It is a quiet, contemplative series, which proves that reality TV doesn’t have to be shouty or combative to be entertaining and can actually be quite insightful.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“On the face of it, Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps looks like a shoddy attempt by the BBC to fulfil some embarrassing clause lingering in its public service remit. But – a miracle! Pilgrimage quickly reveals itself to be not too bad and, before the three episodes are up, you could be moved to call it really quite good and admit that the whole experience has, against all odds and expectations, been rather uplifting.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“This is the seventh series of Pilgrimage and the format is unvarying. The celebs take it in turns to buttonhole each other and ask searching questions about faith, God and the meaning of life. The pretence is that these are intimate and private moments. In reality, they’re surrounded by a camera crew, and the soul-searching is staged, though some of the confessionals were clearly heartfelt.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“It is rare that doctors are shown swearing in frustration, even in documentaries more tightly focused on the problems in the NHS than this one. But there are many such moments here, as the number of equally critically ill patients demands the kind of decision-making no human should have to make as part of a standard working day.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“999: The Critical List is refreshing in its clinical approach, focusing less on the emotional stories of the patients of the Royal Blackburn Hospital in favour of an insight into how the place is run. Instead of coming across as uncaring or sterile, the programme is a testimony to just how much strain the NHS is under.”
Emily Baker, The i