School Swap: UK to USA; The Au Pair

“Mena high school and Elmgreen, and their teens and parents, have been cleverly chosen for a social experiment that will make you laugh, cry – big, blobby tears that fall when you’re not ready for them – and repeatedly change your mind. You’re appalled at Arkansas and proud of south London; later, it’s the other way around. Then you flip back a couple more times before thinking: maybe it’s time to be less appalled and less proud.”
Jack Seale, The Guardian

“So, culture shocks all round, but what, you ask, is the point? Perhaps to show horizons being broadened, which is nice. Or maybe, more queasily, to engineer a first-hand view of racism in a predominantly white US region? Racist slurs are indeed soon overheard at the high school, proving that sadly it still lurks in this American state. Alas, where doesn’t it? Meanwhile, over in London, two of the American pupils are placed with a lesbian couple — to provoke Bible-belt views? If so, the kids don’t bat an eyelid.”
James Jackson, The Times

“I’m never sure whether it’s OK to film teenagers – even with their full consent – and this programme’s interest relies solely in its subjects’ vulnerability. That said, it makes for a compelling and often unhappy picture of what it is like to be young, both in America and here in the UK. These children are funny and sweet, clever and, in so many cases, carrying great burdens of sadness. I am rooting for them all.”
Marianne Levy, The i

“If you’re in the mood for some enjoyably schlocky nonsense, Channel 5’s The Au Pair fits the bill. It’s the kind of mile-a-minute, OTT thriller in which 25 outlandish things happen in the first episode. You could drive a luxury SUV through the plotholes. Still, it’s mindless fun, and I rushed to watch the second episode straight after the first.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“It’s all completely bonkers, but that’s the delirious fun of this drama. Looking for logic will only spoil it.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail