There was some good telly on last night, granted, but would you describe it as the best in 10 years? Neither would I. But long serving The Times' TV critic Andrew Billen is of that opinion.
In his column today, Billen gets slightly over-excited about the mix of ITV1's The Duchess in Hull, BBC2's Class of '62: From 16 to 60, BBC1's Panorama and Channel 4's Reverend Death.
Billen described The Duchess in Hull, in which the Duchess of York attempts to cure a family of their obesity, as having some "ill advised moments" but "some marvellous moments too".
Nancy Banks-Smith, writing in the Guardian, was a little more reserved in her praise, but she admired the Duchess's resilience.
Billen, meanwhile, said Class of '62, which featured the lives of six Yorkshire matriarchs, was "wonderful".
Panorama featured a "worrying report" about the number of people claiming disability benefit while Reverend Death, in which Jon Ronson followed a man as he encouraged the terminally ill to kill themselves, was a "rich, dark comedy of a documentary."
At the end of his review, under a separate headline "Out of the box", Billen singles out Marilyn Gaunt's Class of '62 as the best of last night's bunch, adding:
"My apologies if the above review has a breathless feel to it. I do not usually attempt to discuss four programmes in 750 words. I can honestly say, however, that in more than a decade's reviewing, yesterday's was the best television I have ever seen broadcast on a single night."
Billen has obviously watched a lot of telly in his time, but the best night ever in 10 years?
Granted, from what I have read and heard, Class of '62 and Reverend Death were both good documentaries, but the little I saw of Panorama looked relatively pedestrian while The Duchess in Hull was watchable, but not outstanding.
Billen's choices were pretty spread across the main terrestrial channels, with only Channel Five missing out on a choice.
Might Billen be on to something here, or is he just off his box?
