Phillip Schofield has returned to the small screen for what will either be the "first seeds of a television comeback" or the "incontrovertible death knell of his career", said Stuart Heritage in The Guardian. "Honestly, at this point it's hard to tell which way it's going to go."
It's been one year and three months since the "This Morning" presenter was sacked by ITV, following the highly publicised scandal of his extramarital affair with a much younger showrunner. Now, he's back on television – this time marooned alone on a remote island off Madagascar for 10 days in a three-part Channel 5 special, "Phillip Schofield: Cast Away".
For the broadcaster, it's a move that makes sense, said Louis Chilton in The Independent. Driven into "irrelevance" for its "all-tat programming", Channel 5 seized on the chance to use the presenter's "sullied name to curry more discussion and media coverage than it's seen in months". More "baffling", though, is Schofield's goal: is he attempting to "revive" his career, or is the show simply a chance for an "airing of grievances"?
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'Main character syndrome'
Whatever your opinion of Schofield, said Heritage in The Guardian, you have to "grudgingly admit" that some parts of the show are "pretty entertaining". His decades-long television career has given him ample time to hone an engaging screen presence, and the scenes where he's "fending for himself" work "tremendously well". "Frank and funny and self-effacing about his lack of survival instinct", it begins to feel "almost like nothing ever happened".
But the man "cannot help himself". Schofield is "incredibly bitter"; before he even leaves his house he is "darkly muttering" about how he would never appear on "I'm A Celebrity", "because there are just some channels, some people you won't work for", and even a family meal filmed at his home "coagulates into something nasty" as he snidely asks his daughter "Are you OK?" in a nod to Holly Willoughby's widely mocked "This Morning" speech.
Schofield's "self-absorption is exhausting and makes for wearying entertainment", added Ed Power in The Irish Times. He seems to be suffering from a "chronic case of main character syndrome"; instead of letting things go and taking the chance to "find peace" on the remote island, he continues to "stew with resentment".
It's clear the presenter is back to "settle some scores", said Anita Singh in The Telegraph. He's using "Castaway" as a "f*ck you" to ITV, his "former-best-friend-turned-moral-enemy" Willoughby, and anyone who he thinks hasn't treated him with sympathy he deserves. Following a 16-month hiatus, he has "decided to blame his downfall on homophobia rather than his deceit", and when addressing his affair won't go beyond calling it "unwise" – a term that feels as if it's been carefully scripted by his lawyers.
What isn't included, said Vicky Jessop in the London Evening Standard, at least in the episodes that have aired so far, is the "power imbalance" in the relationship with his young colleague and the more "toxic elements" of the story, like the "bullying culture" at "This Morning".
While he discusses the fallout from the scandal in detail, he skims over the "particulars of his behaviour", added Chilton in The Independent. Scenes filmed with his family feel like a "PR exercise" attempting to reposition him as a "benevolent victim of a cruel and pernicious hate campaign", and the inclusion of his reflections on coming close to suicide "feel rather calculated".
It's a "compelling" watch, said Anita Singh in The Telegraph, but "not for the reasons Schofield had hoped". "Castaway" is a "revealing study" of an "entitled TV star" struggling to come to terms with his life without the "adulation and stardom" he had become accustomed to.
There's a chance that the presenter's "very modern form of public therapy" could pay off in the "chaotic ecosystem" of TV, public opinion and social media, said Mark Borkowski in The Guardian. The show has been expertly weaved together to "propel Schofield into a redemption arc" – something the public, despite our "harsh, judgemental culture", enjoys. To have any hope of repairing his "battered" career, he must "put in the performance of a lifetime".
The timing of the show, shortly after Huw Edwards pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children, could "work in Schofield's favour, and afford a bit of perspective", added Carol Midgley in The Times. "Revenge is a dish best served cold, they say. Let's see if it also works when served under a hot Madagascan sun."
