The Real Crown; Reunion Hotel; Dead Ringers

“You’d think that after all the thousands of TV hours and column inches that have been spent on the royal family there would be no gossip left to monger. But The Real Crown: Inside the House of Windsor, a sprightly, buzzy and highly watchable documentary series, proves it isn’t so. The royals really are gossip’s golden geese.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“If you’re an avid royal watcher, an avid Netflix viewer, or have simply found no escape from royal stories over the past couple of years, very little here will be new. It’s a gossipy record of the royals and features the usual mix of archive footage and talking heads. But the quality of both feels a cut above most documentaries of this type.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“Is it wrong to think, when watching some of the cases on Reunion Hotel, ‘couldn’t you just have used social media?’ Such as the four impressive women who 25 years ago went on an expedition to the North Pole. Surely such resourceful women didn’t need Alex Jones from The One Show to arrange their get-together. But it made for nice TV and, dammit, I can’t deny that some brought a tear to my eye.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“Presenter Alex Jones, who seemed overly respectful and polite in the first episode, has now swung too far in the other direction. She listens at doors, and withholds information so we can enjoy the looks of shock when she chooses to reveal secrets. The most disconcerting element, though, is the way both Alex and the show’s therapists stand in the foyer, discussing the guests’ personal lives with the waiter and receptionist. It’s obviously staged, but it’s also unnerving.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“Perhaps it’s because I don’t much care for the original movie (itself based on a novel) or because this version veers away from telling the same story, but Dead Ringers feels entirely new and inventive. Yes, TV does rely too much on remakes and reboots, but maybe I shouldn’t care when the result is this good.”
Emily Baker, The i

“The stage is set for what promises to be a rather magnificent drama, with a lean, dark, genuinely funny script by Alice Birch and two knockout performances by Rachel Weisz.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“This was the first episode of a series filmed in a London garage where owners are able to tinker with their prized motors, while experts offer advice and aid. Most eyes were drawn to an open-top sports car with a growl like a grizzly bear on steroids. ‘It is just lairy, no other word for it,’ declared the owner of this 289 AC Cobra happily — though he’d have been happier still if the vehicle had been an original. There are fewer than half a dozen left in the world, and they fetch well in excess of $1 million. This one had an intermittent fault with an indicator. Mechanic Amand, known to colleagues as the Prof, inserted himself upside-down in the footwell under the steering wheel to test the loom of 40 electrical wires. ‘You’ve got to be flexible in this job,’ he said, and added, ‘I’ve got a good osteopath as well.’”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail