The Teacher; Jack Whitehall: Fatherhood with My Father; Mr Bates vs the Post Office: The Impact

“I thought this was going to be terribly schlocky. But those couple of twists at the end are the sign that this sequel to the 2022 drama of the same name starring Sheridan Smith is worth tucking into for the four episodes.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“The story plays out as a whodunit over four episodes. I’ve watched the lot and the ending isn’t bad but the quality of the drama is pretty schlocky.”
Anita Singh, The Telegraph

“It’s one thing to give your story clear signposting, but The Teacher treated its audience like a classroom of dunces. Secrets and sex don’t need any zhuzhing-up to make them interesting, but this obvious, slapdash storytelling stripped intrigue from even the meatiest bones.”
Emily Watkins, The i

“Whitehall has a magnetic personality and delivers some excellent pieces to camera that weave the series together, and there are some genuinely amusing funny moments (a scene where Michael dines with an AI robot in a Cornish pub is well constructed). Yet too much of the show is left to Jack being young, cool and naive and his dad being old, fussy and out of touch. Appearances from Jack’s mum, Hilary, and Roxy offer welcome relief, but they feature too infrequently to break up this overused formula.”
Tim Glanfield, The Times

“Given real fatherhood is awaiting Jack at home, it takes a while to understand precisely why they’re visiting Cornwall to meet a robot, or Los Angeles to take a driverless taxi. Ostensibly, he is both trying to learn how to ‘elongate’ his life in order to remain a father for longer, and also to understand the tomorrow world his daughter will inherit. Mostly, though, he and his father spend their time eating lobster and faux-bickering, while in Italy an old woman makes them a plate of gnocchi.”
Nick Duerden, The i

“Mr Bates vs the Post Office: The Impact did not blow its own trumpet very much at all, only showing brief clips of the series and letting real-life victims of the outrageous Post Office scandal take centre stage, eloquently. I bet Paula Vennells hated it.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“This devastating documentary revealed not only how the general public rose up to support the campaign but how dozens more former sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were emboldened to come forward.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail