Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV
4.7/5
Critic Rating
The dumbest genre in entertainment, or the one that tells us the most about ourselves? Since its conception, reality TV has divided its viewers. Unreal: A Critical History of Reality TV is a 10-part audio documentary written and presented by journalists Pandora Sykes and Sirin Kale. They've been fans of reality TV since they first watched Big Brother as pre-teens and they've spent a fair amount of time defending reality TV when people are snobby about it, or dismiss its importance in our wider culture. But they've also been troubled by what they've seen in the genre: the exploitation; the...
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Helen Bownass • Stylist • Dec 24, 2022
"...explore the highs and lows of the genre, in an incredibly well researched and fascinating way."
Score: 5
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian • May 21, 2022
"There is much to enjoy. Kale and Sykes are great interviewers, unafraid of asking tricky questions, and they land some excellent chats with the right people. They are comprehensive: grilling contestants, commentators, producers, psychotherapists."
Score: 4
James Marriot • The Times UK • May 20, 2022
"Unreal, hosted by the journalists Sirin Kale and Pandora Sykes, is an entertaining and depressing survey of the history of reality television. Unreal summons a melancholy parade of reality TV’s victims."
