Go Back to Where You Came From: 'eye-opening' series faces 'backlash'

Polarising new reality show "Go Back to Where You Came From" sees six opinionated Britons sent to war-torn Syria and Somalia to trace perilous migrant routes back to the UK. The broadcaster's blurb asks if the "eye-opening" journey will "change hearts and minds", said Anita Singh in The Telegraph. "I haven't seen the whole series, but I'll wager that the answer is no."

'Dumb clickbait'

"Who else but Channel 4 would commission a reality 'experiment' about immigration and title it with that old xenophobic phrase, 'Go Back to Where You Came From'?", asked Gerard Gilbert in The i Paper. Given the provocative name, this programme is clearly designed to "get your back up" from the start, said Abha Shah in The Standard. But upon introduction to the participants, it becomes clear "I'm a Bigot, Get Me Out of Here!" would have been "far more fitting".

"What was Channel 4 thinking?", asked Carol Midgely in The Times. While a show tackling the "very complex subject" of immigration is necessary, the issue is that it is treated "with all the sophistication of a custard pie to the face". A programme like this should feature "the shades of grey people" who are worried about immigration, but still "feel compassion". Instead, the broadcaster has selected its participants "precisely because they may create a ruckus on social media".

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It's this "dumb clickbait" that means the series is "let down", said Singh in The Telegraph. Empathy for asylum seekers notwithstanding, people will never want "them living in a hostel at the end of your road", so the show is unlikely to change minds – "and why should it?"

'Rare insights'

The "backlash" to this series seems to miss a vital question, said charity director Gareth Benest in The Guardian, "if this was an educational documentary, would anyone watch it?" It would be better to "hear the voices of people with direct experience" of immigration, rather than the "toxic bigotry" throughout. But "contentious issues" like these require "alternative formats to find a mass audience" or run the risk of being forgotten entirely.

If for nothing else, the show can be applauded in the sense that it offers "rare insights into the terrible plight of millions of poor and displaced people", said Gilbert in The i Paper. And while it is, at times, "uncomfortably voyeuristic", added Benest, "I'm glad it was made" if it can "shed light" on a spiralling crisis in a "primetime slot".