Reviews and Awards

Paul Merton’s Silent Clowns - Buster Keaton

WINNER – Royal Television Society Regional Awards 2006 Best Network Documentary

FINALIST - Broadcast Awards 2007 Best Documentary Series

2 x 60
Buster Keaton 25th May 2006
– THE MOST POPULAR FACTUAL PROGRAMME EVER ON BBC4

“This was an exemplary hour which unpicked Keaton’s genius without dismantling it, which explained without fuss and which enthused without causing embarrassment.”
Daily Telegraph

”Merton managed to slip extraordinary facts into his narration in a way that was simultaneously scholarly, passionate, inspiring and funny and he's convinced me I ought to watch the entire series - even the one on Chaplin who I know was a comic genius yet somehow never managed to make me smile."
Victor Lewis-Smith - Evening Standard

“I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the first edition of Paul Merton’s Silent Clowns…By the end of the show I was blown away.”
Link to article
Charlie Brooker – The Guardian

“Paul Merton’s enthusiasm and affection made it one of the breeziest hours of TV I’ve seen in a while”
Robert Hanks - The Independent

“[The programme] skilfully weaves several narrative strands into an engaging package… “
Time Out

five - Big Ideas that Changed the World - Communism
"It's a thrilling, not-to-be-missed opportunity to listen to Gorbachev at length... There's real emotion as he recalls how events affected him and his family."
Radio Times
"Wonderful, wonderful stuff."
Alkarim Jivani - BBC Radio 4 - Front Row

"It's truly gripping stuff..."
Independent on Sunday

"With Gorbachev's commentary matched seamlessly to archive film and pictures, this was the model of what an illustrated lecture should look and sound like."
Andrew Billen - New Statesman

"It was fascinating to hear Gorbachev's memoir...As a glimpse into Gorbachev's private turmoil during the death throes of Soviet Communism it was intriguing. And often poignant:.."
Joe Joseph - The Times

"[Mikhail Gorbachev] talks candidly and emotionally... The result is an evocative and enlightening programme." Guardian

"[The] stories are moving and chilling"
Mark Lawson - The Guardian

The Riddle of Einsteins Brain Channel 4 and National Geographic (tx 25th Dec 2004 and Channel 4 17th Jan 2005)

This National Geographic documentary is as wildly eccentric in its presentation as the man himself, its interesting and very more-ish.
Daily Telegraph 15th January 2005

Another cracker of an episode from this great series.This film follows a comic double act of British scientists as they track down the brain that changed the world in order to prove their conflicting theories. Was it the physical structure of Einsteins brain that made his mind so extraordinary, or something less corporeal his spirit or imagination? The answers are surprising and intriguing.
Gabrielle Starkey The Times Dec 6th 2004

This surprisingly entertaining documentary follows two boffins as they try to track down the brain which proves no easy task.
Daily Telegraph Nov 2004
Pick of the Day in all Saturday, Sunday and Monday broadsheets.

Diagnosing Darwin National Geographic
Diagnosing Darwin was the first long form documentary I had directed solo. The film was a finalist at the Living Europe Film Festival 2003.

"[Rob] McCall goes to admirable lengths to prove his theories and further the belief that 'to understand Darwin you have to understand his illness."
Daily Telegraph - Pick of the Day

Constant Craving - BBC2
GlaxoSmithKline Association of British Science Writers' Award 2001 - Best television programme on a science subject
US PRISM Award 2001 - Best TV Documentary
Entertainment Industries Council, presents the PRISM Awards for outstanding efforts in the accurate depiction of drug, alcohol and tobacco use and addiction in film and television.

"[This] excellent programme demonstrated yet again the BBC's unrivalled ability to deal intelligently with serious issues with an authority that ITV simply couldn't muster. Transitory front-of-camera staff may desert the Corporation in a quest for more money, but the brainiest kids on the block are overwhelmingly on the production side and the BBC is still the undisputed home of thoughtful documentary making."
Victor Lewis-Smith - Evening Standard

"Forget Trainspotting: this is the real thing.... compulsory viewing"
The Guardian 30th March 2000

"One of the most enlightening documentaries I have ever seen"
Dr Mark Porter - Radio Times

Secrets of the Palace - Channel 4
"This was a supremely well-informed and dispassionately analytical look at the true costs and benefits of the Royal Family."
Victor Lewis-Smith - Evening Standard 5th June 2002

Science at War
"This revealing film both fascinates and repels..."
Radio Times - Choice

Horizon
"The jury were unanimous in their praise for this giant amongst strands which delivering very watchable, intelligent television for over 36 years. In 1999 it enjoyed one of its most successful runs ever, delivering a range of important and accessible stories with an unusual degree of confidence and authority. Its editorial breadth, its ability to humanise every subject it touches, no matter how abstract, and exceptional storytelling skills still make it a "must watch" show."
Royal Television Society Documentary Strand Of the Year 1999

Horizon - Sudden Death
"This is a riveting and chilling film"
Financial Times

"I felt shell-shocked after watching Horizon. a meticulously researched investigation."
Western Daily Press

Horizon - Dawn of the Clone Age
"this was scientific journalism at its best and most responsible. That is no more than we have come to expect from Horizon, a venerable series which shows no sign of ageing."
Evening Standard

"Horizon at its brilliant best..."
Polly Toynbee Radio Times