The Crane Gang is a British documentary television series that first broadcast on BBC Two on 22 September 2013. The final episode aired on 6 October 2013.

The Crane Gang
GenreFactual
Directed byRob McCabe
Narrated byJohn Thomson
ComposerMiguel d'Oliveira
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes3 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Samantha Anstiss
  • Maxine Watson
  • Matthew Gordon
  • Jamie Isaacs
ProducerEmma Love
Running time60 minutes
Production companyAvalon Group
Original release
Network
Release22 September (2013-09-22) –
6 October 2013 (2013-10-06)

Episode list edit

# Title Directed by Original air date UK viewers
(millions)[1]
1"Episode 1"Rob McCabe22 September 2013 (2013-09-22)1.24
2"Episode 2"Rob McCabe29 September 2013 (2013-09-29)0.925 (overnight)
3"Episode 3"Rob McCabe6 October 2013 (2013-10-06)0.992 (overnight)

Reception edit

Ratings edit

The first episode attracted 1.24 million viewers on BBC Two. It was watched by 4.5% of television viewers during its broadcast.[2] Overnight figures show that the second episode was watched by 925,000 people, with an audience share of 3.7%.[3] The final episode received 992,000 viewers and a 4.0% share of the audience.[4]

Critical reception edit

Time Out gave the series two stars out of five and noticed a move towards documenting working lives recently (Ice Road Truckers, The London Markets and The Call Centre have been broadcast recently).[5] Jane Rackman of Radio Times called it "terrific viewing for fans of shows like Monster Moves – and there are as many characters as on Ice Road Truckers - while the sight of a German construction fair bristling with gigantic cranes is simply astounding."[6] The Daily Telegraph named it in an article about terrible television shows and said: "The hi-viz crane jockeys of Manchester’s Ainscough Crane Hire are no doubt very good at their jobs, and if you ever want a wind turbine or a Barbara Hepworth moving from A to B, they’d definitely be the people to call. But are their day-to-day lives truly deserving of their own TV showcase? Only if you’re Alan Partridge."[7]

References edit

  1. ^ "BARB Top 30s".
  2. ^ Eames, Tom (23 September 2013). "'Downton Abbey' returns with over 9 million, down from last series". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  3. ^ Eames, Tom (30 September 2013). "'Downton Abbey' rises in ratings for second episode on ITV". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  4. ^ Eames, Tom (7 October 2013). "'Strictly' beats 'X Factor' on Sunday, 'Downton Abbey' drops". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  5. ^ Harrison, Phil (13 September 2013). "The Crane Gang". Time Out. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  6. ^ Rackman, Jane. "Series 1 Episode 1". Radio Times. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  7. ^ Jones, Ross (18 October 2013). "10 terrible TV shows". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 October 2013.

External links edit