Spring Walks; Putin vs the West; SAS: Who Dares Wins

“It is the product of the same self-harming philosophy as 1970s kids’ show Why Don’t You Just Stop Watching TV and Go and Do Something Less Boring Instead? But, instead of bumptious teens telling you how you should be spending your summer holidays, Spring Walks weaponises virtue-signalling celebs to show you that what you’re doing is wrong. And there’s another problem. Spring? It’s still winter. I’ve scarcely seen the snowdrops yet.”
Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian

“The success of the idea feels more down to the company the viewer is in. Last night’s amble through bluebells of North Yorkshire, gazing across God’s own country, was with the Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Sara Davies, who reflected on how she overcame the odds — defying patronising attitudes — to make it in business. Her points were, of course, laudable and potentially inspirational, but to this viewer they didn’t mean all that much because it was a bit like walking alongside a stranger saying this stuff. Still, the peacefulness of the series prevails, even as Davies trampolined with a goat.”
James Jackson, The Times

“The excellence of the series is being rewarded: 1.4 million viewers watched last week’s first episode, second only in its slot to Silent Witness on BBC1. That is heartening because you do not get this kind of rigorously produced current affairs programme on the streamers; rather, it is something a public broadcaster exists for. Of course if there were any justice it would also have trounced Silent Witness.”
James Jackson, The Times

“The underlying suggestion that Who Dares Wins was a love letter to toxic masculinity persists. Recruits are routinely verbally abused – the series surely has the highest F-bomb per-minute count on British TV – while the unquestioning celebration of militarism feels out of date. Those flaws were still in the background, however much the producers had tried to dial down the yelling-in-your-face noxiousness. It was all a bit ridiculous – and the brutish machismo felt uncomfortable throughout. But there were moving human stories. It brought some much-needed heart to a shoutfest that had otherwise threatened to turn into a bland blizzard of mud, sweat and tears.”
Ed Power, The i