The Extraordinary Life of April Ashley; Big Zuu’s Big Eats; 24 Hours in Police Custody: The Murder of Rikki Neave

“Amid the current hysteria about trans rights, with its fears about predatory men lurking in changing rooms, here was a film which humanised the experience of feeling that you were born in the wrong body. It didn’t need to ladle on the sympathy” 
Anita Singh, The Telegraph 

“Ashley, though, who steals the limelight. The strength, humour and sheer guts of a woman dragged over the coals for daring to become herself is breathtaking to witness. As is her grace and articulacy when answering the relentless barrage of nasty, thoughtless, fetishising questions through the decades. The archive footage is marvellous and telling.”
Chitra Ramaswamy, The Guardian 

“It was a powerful moment, to watch her friends and trans activists listen to – and be devastated by – the judge’s shocking ruling that “April Ashley is not a woman for the purposes of marriage and was at all times a biological male”…This was an illuminating and equally entertaining film, and a worthy addition to Channel 4’s comprehensive Pride line-up. But there was little interrogation of how her story had changed things for transgender people today. The 2004 Gender Recognition Act was in part informed by her divorce, posited Dawson, and her fame had certainly opened the eyes of the public to the existence of trans women. Otherwise, there was little recognition that transgender people go through much of the same struggles – an obsession over anatomy, a pre-occupation with genitals, and the pervasive idea that trans people are trying to “trick” others – today.”
Emily Baker, The i 

“This documentary was crammed with more well-known faces than The Ivy on a Friday night…This was a rare example of Channel 4 playing down some of the more sensational aspects of a life. April was such a charismatic star that her chat show clips are still wildly amusing, but more could have been done to emphasise the abuse she suffered.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Zuu is loud, often very loud, a student of the suck-the-air-from-the-room school of presenting. This can sometimes drown out his nifty cooking that clearly derives from a genuine love of food. His opening cheesy chippy concoction was inventive, and the final meal of pepper soup, smoked eel butty, “Wham, lamb and 30 garlic clams” had me salivating. When Vegas, tucking into said eel, remarked that he loves “stuff that’s smoked” Zuu gave the camera a deliciously knowing look, the cuteness and skill of that brief moment highlighting the slightly staged nature of some of the comic set pieces that came before.”
Ben Dowell, The Times

“It turns out to be an unpretentious show as uplifting as Big Zuu’s Bafta appearance. With his straight-faced sidekicks, Hyder and Tubsey, he travels the country in a food truck and cooks for a celebrity. He larks about making cheeky, good-natured jokes…He’s a breath of fresh air. It’s all done with humour and loud enthusiasm and, frankly, people at home are more likely to attempt Big Zuu’s uncomplicated recipes than something demonstrated by Marcus Wareing.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph 

“There is a slightly distasteful thirst for true-crime stories these days. Yet while there were many sensational aspects to this story, it was told with skill, clarity and compassion, weaving archive footage with testimony from officers reinvestigating the case.”
Ben Dowell, The Times

“Much of their testimony was bitterly sad, as were the recollections of those who lived through the initial epidemic. But there was hope, with the intervention of Princess Diana in 1987. Her determination to treat Aids patients as ordinary people, rather than shameful freaks as some saw them, triggered a change in attitudes. Amid frequent criticism of the royals, it is rarely noted that no one else could have done this — no politician, no mere celebrity. It required the superstardom and national leadership that only a princess could supply. This programme failed to recognise that, though it was there for all to see.” 
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail