The Great British Bake Off; Storyville: Gorbachev. Heaven; Heartbreak High

“Most revealing about them, perhaps, were their showstopper creations: cakes representing their homes, which ranged from Carole’s sweet cottage in the countryside to Janusz’s tribute to his mum’s “very sad block of flats” in Poland. The cake looked a lot prettier. Bake Off is always good-humoured, offering an hour of companionability as light as a fairy cake, Lucas and Fielding’s jokey remarks the sprinkles on top — and there’s your obligatory weak baking analogy.”
James Jackson, The Times 

“Bake Off is a beautiful thing, a depiction of a diverse Britain healing itself through the medium of cake. That diversity is solemnised in the showstopper challenge, where contestants are asked to bake a cake of a fondly remembered house.”
Stuart Jeffries, The Guardian

“This hard-man image was mentioned more than once as he prowled around the tent. Actually, Paul is as soft as a choux bun. He doesn’t pull his punches as a judge, but he also offers sympathetic words of encouragement. Prue Leith can be just as critical, in fact, but it’s hard to act tough when you’re wearing shocking pink spectacles.”
Roland White, Daily Mail

“Noel and Matt were delightfully frivolous, Prue was still giddy at the prospect of eating a very boozy cake, and Paul’s “white walker” eyes still stalked the tent like a lioness hunting a gazelle. Bake Off has become a vital part of British culture and anything other than the delightfully twee show we know and love would cause riots in the flour aisles. The last thing Britain needs right now is more change.”
Emily Baker, The i

“The film took a more poetic approach, keeping things locked in on the man as he gave a sombre testimony on his life. Yet it might be unique in being a fly-on-the-wall portrait of a great world leader as they face their mortality. The film took a more poetic approach, keeping things locked in on the man as he gave a sombre testimony on his life. Yet it might be unique in being a fly-on-the-wall portrait of a great world leader as they face their mortality.”
Ben Dowell, The Times

“I started watching this wearily, ready to be underwhelmed by yet another reboot, and in that respect it exceeds expectations. It is well-trodden territory, sure, but it is funny and dry, and more gripping than it initially seems.”
Rebecca Nicholson, The Guardian