Ralph & Katie; The Bear; Head On

“There is real joy and comfort in re-entering the A Word world, a beautiful place – we feel as if we’re on holiday in the fabulous Lake District – powered, even more explicitly now, by kindness and tolerance. More importantly, Ralph & Katie isn’t just good-humoured, it is funny. In its best moments it recalls a bygone era of soaps, Coronation Street in particular, before they became overrun with adulterers, murderers and cast-obliterating catastrophes, when they were adept at character-comedy based on low-stakes community events.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“The show is heartwarming – the production values seem to bathe everything in a rosy glow – but that’s not down to the disability. It’s just one of those cosy sorts of shows, like Doc Martin, where every character is a good person and every situation can be happily resolved by the end of each episode (and they are only half an hour long). The show can tip over into saccharine and sanitised. But it gets by on charm and two winning lead performances.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“Today, with the schedules a relentless mix of gory murder and social deprivation, the sheer innocence of Ralph And Katie is a pleasure. Only an irredeemable curmudgeon could harrumph at the endless sweetness of this show.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“For my family and, I’m sure, the families of many disabled young people, it is delightful to see the BBC support Ralph and Katie, a charming and funny sitcom about the life of a married couple with Down’s Syndrome. Often actors with Down’s Syndrome are cast as hapless victims for whom life just passes by. Here they are fully formed characters with agency and rich emotional lives. The comedy is pristine, the actors are fantastic, and you will not see a better routine than Ralph’s choreography to ‘Knock on Wood’ on television this year.”
Kate Solomon, The i

“The Bear is half-hour gobbets of kinetic, pressurised, propulsive brilliance with occasional moments of stillness that make you see how much has been done in order to serve up something so delicious. This is a show that has been meticulously prepped, simmered, reduced, balanced and eventually plated up to perfection by the creator Christopher Storer and co-showrunner Joanna Calo.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“From the very first seconds we are thrown into a heart-attack inducing shift where heat, stress, sweat and misery is etched on Carmy’s long, handsome face that at times resembles an Easter Island statue. To describe the first half-hour as discombobulating would be like saying Waiting for Godot is mildly uneventful.”
Ben Dowell, The Times

“To see Steve Thompson going through his medals and memorabilia was a sad sight. Far sadder, though, was watching him – still in his early 40s – cooking for his children and forgetting his daughter’s name. There was something heartbreaking about seeing this great hulk of a man losing his grip, and to hear him speak with admirable honesty about his struggles and fears. At the same time, the lack of support being offered to Thompson by the rugby authorities was staggering.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph