The Red King; Growing Up Jewish

“The Red King had red flags that suggested we were heading straight to cliché central. So I was surprised to find that I really enjoyed it. There is an attitude and a dry, dark wit to Toby Whithouse’s thriller, and the cast are high pedigree. I find Anjli Mohindra, who plays Sergeant Grace Narayan, a very watchable actress anyway. Throw in Marc Warren, Adjoa Andoh and Mark Lewis Jones and it becomes better than your average potboiler, with a faint vibe of The Wicker Man.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“It’s a tough role to pull off but Anjli Mohindra hits just the right note, her principles colliding with pragmatism, as Grace gets to grips with St Jory’s dark secrets. Elsewhere the tone is not quite so sure-footed, attempts at subversive humour rather undercut the kind of tension and jeopardy you might expect when it comes to unmasking the culprit in what is, at heart, a grim murder case. But in the savvy coupling of Grace with fresh-faced local copper Owen (James Bamford) we get a welcome addition to the ranks of mismatched crime crackers.”
Keith Watson, The Telegraph

“Writer and creator Toby Whithouse was in the news recently when an episode of his 2014 cold war spy thriller The Game was being touted as the best hour of TV ever. While it seems unlikely that The Red King will challenge that title, its six instalments are refreshingly distinct, avoiding that mid-run slump that can affect other crime dramas.”
Graeme Virtue, The Guardian

“Not having grown up Jewish I am obviously not best placed to review Growing Up Jewish. But I can say that as a piece of television it was charming and educational for the unschooled viewer. It helped that there were four cracking children taking part, preparing for their bar or bat mitzvah ceremonies, including an adorable boy of 13 who thought about things very deeply.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“It’s lovely, but it’s thistledown. As I watch, I assume it is a late-teatime programme aimed at children, maybe as a prophylactic against the rising antisemitism the conflict in Gaza is causing. It has a Newsround tone and level of detail to its explanations of different parts of Jewish culture and religion, and touches only glancingly – albeit movingly – on the conflict itself.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian