The Resort; The Commonwealth Games: Opening Ceremony; Lancaster; Big Oil v The World

“The show is aiming for an eccentric, Big Lebowski energy that it can’t quite achieve, but at least it has a good go. Clues and red herrings abound, from a mysterious mural to a warning about “the yellow snake with four noses”.The plot is so crammed with these things that sometimes it stops making sense, but just carries us along to the next stage of the adventure. The easy chemistry between Milioti and Harper helps with this, as does the generous helping of comedy. The meditations on memory, ageing and time are done in an unpretentious way.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“It is difficult, initially at least, not to think of The White Lotus, Mike White’s smash-hit 2021 series about a bunch of spoilt, unhappy guests and hard-partying staff at a swanky Hawaiian hotel, which becomes the site of a brutal killing. Both shows play on the tension between opulent getaways and the murky arrangements that underpin them, although The Resort doesn’t feature nearly as much side-eyed commentary on privilege, exploitation and cultural appropriation. Both shows also meld comedy, drama and frequently horrifying mystery, yet The Resort manages to be the much goofier and more hair-raisingly menacing. Unsurprisingly, the show feels most like a spiritual successor to Palm Springs, Siara’s archly silly, mildly terrifying and intellectually satisfying 2020 romcom”
Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian 

“A gleeful parade of athletes from every corner of the globe, with Ghana and Scotland tied for best outfits. As a joyous portrait of a modern British city that makes the most of its kaleidoscopic traditions, it was a triumph for artistic director Iqbal Khan (the associate director of Birmingham Rep) and producer Stephen Wright, creator of Peaky Blinders – which he wisely doesn’t over-promote. Was it as good as the Danny Boyle spectacular of the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony? Not quite. How could it be without The Queen, her bloomers billowing, jumping out of a helicopter with James Bond?” 
Sean O’Grady, The Independent 

“This ceremony gave a good go of challenging Danny Boyle’s 2012 production. It was ambitious in scale, enjoyably loopy and swung hallucinogenically in tone between surreal and sincere…But that bull – which will be on display in the city after the ceremony – really was a striking, graceful feat of moving sculpture; art and machinery come together and to vivid, strange life.”
Sarah Carson, The i 

“The show is aiming for an eccentric, Big Lebowski energy that it can’t quite achieve, but at least it has a good go. Clues and red herrings abound, from a mysterious mural to a warning about “the yellow snake with four noses”.The plot is so crammed with these things that sometimes it stops making sense, but just carries us along to the next stage of the adventure. The easy chemistry between Milioti and Harper helps with this, as does the generous helping of comedy. The meditations on memory, ageing and time are done in an unpretentious way.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“It is difficult, initially at least, not to think of The White Lotus, Mike White’s smash-hit 2021 series about a bunch of spoilt, unhappy guests and hard-partying staff at a swanky Hawaiian hotel, which becomes the site of a brutal killing. Both shows play on the tension between opulent getaways and the murky arrangements that underpin them, although The Resort doesn’t feature nearly as much side-eyed commentary on privilege, exploitation and cultural appropriation. Both shows also meld comedy, drama and frequently horrifying mystery, yet The Resort manages to be the much goofier and more hair-raisingly menacing. Unsurprisingly, the show feels most like a spiritual successor to Palm Springs, Siara’s archly silly, mildly terrifying and intellectually satisfying 2020 romcom”
Rachel Aroesti, The Guardian 

“An encyclopedically detailed and immensely moving film about the role of the iconic bomber aircraft in the Second World War, was no exception…They chose the most impressively restrained words to describe what was obviously mind-blowing terror.David Fairhead and Anthony Palmer, the team behind Spitfire, have produced a sober, thoughtful film, narrated with pitch-perfect gravitas by Charles Dance, which repeatedly showed the modesty of these men, who helped to turn the tide towards victory. Their tone was never one of pride, only gratitude that they survived when thousands didn’t.” 
Carol Midgley, The Times

“There was much breast-beating and wringing of hands. Jerry Taylor, a regular on the U.S. talk network Fox News, described himself proudly as a ‘gunslinger’ in TV debates, but admitted he’d got the arguments all wrong. Climate geoscientist Bill Heins, who worked for petroleum giant ExxonMobil, said he knew the damage pollution did to the planet but ‘I averted my gaze’. The perspective was relentlessly American and this, of course, is half the problem. Politicians, talk show pundits and protesters in the States are so filled with self-importance that they are oblivious to the existence of the rest of the world. The UN has described climate change as ‘a Code Red for humanity’. But, watching this, you’d think only one nation was involved.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail