Russell Brand: In Plain Sight; George Michael; The Read; Picture Slam

“As well as organising deeply harrowing testimony into a cogent narrative, the Dispatches film places the women’s claims into a wider context within the industry and our culture as a whole, pinpointing a collective culpability that resonates well beyond whatever one man might have done. The allegations themselves are disturbing enough. Being able to see and hear the words spoken, even by anonymised interviewees filmed in silhouette or, in one case, replaced by an actor, lends every awful detail alleged a piercing immediacy.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“Interviews detailing rape, sexual assault and abuse of power allegations from the documentary had already been published online hours before the programme aired. What could Dispatches possibly add? Well, a lot, actually. Russell Brand: In Plain Sight showed, very uncomfortably, the power of television.”
Chris Harvey, The Telegraph

“By the time that In Plain Sight aired on Saturday evening, the horrifying accusations had been laid out in black and white on the Times website for several hours, but the Dispatches film still managed to add new dimensions to the already harrowing claims. With its montage of clips from Brand’s TV and radio back catalogue (many of which have been taken from Channel 4’s archives, from shows such as Big Brother’s Big Mouth), the 90-minute film suggested how his comedy threw up alarming red flags, over and over again.”
Katie Rosseinsky, The Independent

“The film by Simon Napier-Bell, who managed Wham! from 1983 to 1985, did not airbrush or minimise the truth of Michael’s tragic spiral into drug use, but it handled the facts with love, not sensationalism, which is more than can be said for some following his death in 2016. The result was a nuanced, layered biopic that obviously had the trust of its vast array of contributors, many of them Michael’s close friends.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“This documentary, directed by Wham!’s former manager Simon Napier-Bell, featured a glittering array of George’s friends and admirers — from Stevie Wonder and Tom Robinson to Stephen Fry and Piers Morgan. But it suffered from the absence of Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley or any member of George’s family.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“The Read has the look of a project commissioned in lockdown. The simplest of formats places a lone performer in front of a camera and gives them an hour to read an abridgement of a novel. It has the extra merit of being inexpensive, without particularly looking it.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“Christopher Eccleston did an impressive job in A Kestrel for a Knave: The Read (an abridged version) capturing the bleakness, but also the humour of Barry Hines’s novel.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

Alan’s got the beginnings of a good show here. But that’s all it is — the beginnings. Picture Slam would make a fun, five-minute round on Richard Osman’s quiz compendium, House Of Games. Alan works hard, but even Bruce Forsyth would struggle to make this gripping for 45 minutes.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail