Saving Lives in Cardiff; Field of Dreams On Tour; The Kingdom

“Even viewers addicted to fly-on-the-wall medical documentaries may question the need for yet another. This one manages to carve out a niche for itself by soberly showing how after a patient gets into the operating theatre, which can seem like a miracle in itself, real miracles then happen.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“As the NHS crumbles around us, I suppose it’s reassuring to know that the institution is made up of such dedicated and skilled individuals. Surgeons are the supreme craftspeople of the medical world – and I’m not being flippant when I say that if you enjoy the experts on The Repair Shop restoring cherished objects then you’ll love watching these experts at work painstakingly repairing sick people.”
Gerard Gilbert, The i

“There is little danger of these series feeling like filler because every time the cynical viewer clicks on one of them, they are sucked in all over again to the heightened emotion of it all: to the murmured narration, the stories of everyday people facing a health catastrophe and the brilliant work of the not-so-arrogant-after-all consultant surgeons. Indeed, these shows continue to show surgeons not as brash, god-complex psychopaths but emotionally intelligent humans all too aware of the weight of responsibility.”
James Jackson, The Times

“As the first series and the first half of the previous episode amply demonstrated, Flintoff was already blessed with a knack for connecting with lost boys who aren’t used to talking of fears and feelings. The accident seems only to have expanded his gift for empathy. The result is honest, uplifting and non-manipulative. These sparky lads are growing in front of the lens, fed by private one-on-ones with Flintoff rounded off with a fatherly hug. If only Freddie Flintoff’s feel-good endorphins could be prescribed on the NHS.”
Jasper Rees, The Telegraph

“Most of this complicated but intriguing documentary, the first of two, comprised a portrait of the Crown Prince, told partly by those who know him - both friends and enemies - but chiefly through archive news footage and Morven Christie’s narration. He’s a smiling playboy, who loves the Maldives and owns a South African game reserve. But one former high-ranking Saudi insider now in exile claims he also once proposed assassinating his father’s predecessor as king. The murder weapon was to be a handshake - while wearing an antique Russian ring armed with a poison-tipped needle. You’re unlikely to hear a stranger tale all week.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail