The Crane Gang

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]

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]

• The Crane Gang at BBC Online
• Radio Times, The Crane Gang