MEDIA LIST
TUESDAY 17
o Whistle Test (BBCZ)
Mark Ellen on the Orient Express with the Cure. Andy Kershaw in the studio with happily recovered Pogue Shane MacGowan plus the weird and wonderful ‘performance artist’ Laurie Anderson.
0 The Devil’s Playground (BBC2) 9—10.50. The Best of Oz season continues with this 1976 production set in a Catholic seminary in Victoria during the 19505. As a group of boys reach the age of puberty the
; repressed confines of the college and i the neurotic behaviour of the
'j brothers have disastrous
consequences for all.
0 A Letter to Three Wives (Channel 4) 9—10.55. A trio of women receive a letter form a ‘best friend‘ stating that 1 she is about to skip town with the
husband ofone ofthem. She offers
5 no more specific information but her 5 missive provokes a great deal of
‘ soul-searching. Entertaining. polished Oscar-winning
comedy-drama from 1950.
WEDNESDAY 18 ‘
0 Box Extra (Channel 4)
' 3.30—4.30pm. To complement the
; on-going Open the Box series Channel 4 has dusted off a selection ’ of ITV documentaries. This
i afternoon sees a re-run ofa 1971
. profile of Quentin Crisp plus Kevin Brownlow‘s futuristic 1966 documentary on the threat posed by the proliferation of the motor car.
i 0 Tell Them I'm a Mermaid
(Channel 4) 6.35—7pm. Jane Fonda introduces this musical-theatre
; documentary in which seven
physically handicapped women sing and talk about their lives. their would-be loves and their work.
. hoping to break down other people‘s preconceptions.
. 0 Three Days of the Condor (STV)
; 8—10pm or 10.30—12.40am. Robert : Redford and Faye Dunaway work well together. as maverick CIA
I operative and innocent hostage respectively. in this smooth, satisfying conspiracy thriller. 1975. 0 Un Mauvais Fils (Channel 4) 10—12.05am. British television premiere of this 1980 film in which Patrick Dewaere tries to readjust to life in France after five years in an American jail.
THURSDAY 19
0 Too Hot to Handle (Channel 4) 8—9pm. First of a timely three-part investigation of the physics. biology and psychology of radiation and nuclear power. This programme traces the history of radioactivity culminating in the fist atom bomb.
0 Caribbean Nights (BBCZ)
The double life of Mallica Reynolds is the subject of the final Arena programme. Part of the time he is the revivalist bishop of a small church in Kingston. but he is also Kapo. one of the island‘s highly regarded painters. He‘s also 75 and has lost both legs as a result ofdiabetes!
o The Innocent (Channel 4)
930—1 1 . 15pm. Set in Yorkshire in 1932 this Film on Four presentation focuses on the coming of age of a 12
year-old epileptic as he reacts to the problematic adult world around him. 1984.
0 With Babies and Banners (Channel 4) 11.15—12 midnight. The series of films on key moments in America's labour history continues with a film on the 40-day strike at the General Motors plant in 1937 and the solidarity of the women who helped ensure labour's victory.
FRIDAY 20
0 Asian Arts (Channel 4) 3.30—4.30pm. First of a seven part series on the creativity ofAsians living and working in Britain includes sculpture. miniature pair‘lting photography and music.
0 The Streetlighter (S'I‘V)
7.30—9pm. Lean. mean fighting-machine Charles Bronson earns a living as a bare knuckle boxer in New Orleans during the Depression. Colourful. spare macho drama featuring one of Bronson's best roles. Director Walter Hill‘s feature debut. 1975.
0 Book Choice (Channel 4)
7.50—8pm Lady Antonia Fraser is allowed a few brief choice words to review T. C. Smout‘s A Century of the Scottish People.
0 Tennis CirIS(BBC1)
As they trim the last blade ofgrass on the centenary Wimbledon greens. the Beeb‘s all-female crew go behind the scenes ofthe gruellingly competitive American tennis circuit.
SUNDAY 22 '
o The Future 01 Things Past (Channel 4). First of two programmes on the many and varied traditional customs that persist in modern Britain including The l-lare Pie Scramble and Bottle Kicking, Tar Barrel Rolling. The Burryman and the Mari Lywd.
MONDAY 23
0 Sheer Filth (Channel 4) l()—10.45pm. The final programme
in the Open the Box series examines the claims of television‘s inordinate power on the viewer and the resultant copycat crimes. riots etc. The programme presents a case for an altogether more subtle and insidious influence.
THURSDAY 26
0 Success is the Best Revenge (Channel 4)
9.3(l—11pm. Dismal Film on Four presentation about an exiled Pole in London trying to stage a dramatic ‘happening' to express his concerns over the troubles in his country. Michael York leads a talented and squandered cast ofJane Asher. John l lurt. Anouk Aimee etc.
0 Free Voice of Labour (Channel 4) llpm. Continuing the series of documentaries about the American labour movement this tells the history of the Jewish Anarchist Movement and their influential weekly newspaper.
RADIO
Wimbledon and Ascot start (Mon 23 R2. 3pm and \Ved IS. R3. 2.30pm). Scotland play 17ruguay in Mexico (R (‘1) de and l-‘orth. l’ri 1.3.b..3ilpin - phone-in after the game on the ‘()pen l.ine‘ (141-941 2261 ) and lingland play India at lleadingley 'l‘hurs 19. R3. 111.45am. the second of three lest Matchesmo phone-in)
l’ace the Facts the new series presented by former Scottish MP Margo MacDonald which replaces Roger ( ‘ook's Checkpoint begins Wed 25. R4. 7.20pm. demanding answers to injustices bureaucratic. incompetent. fraudulent or prejudiced. getting behind the brick walls other people are banging their heads against.
Liz Lochhead is the first of six young poets who read and discuss their work in a new series ‘Up and Coming’
starting on Channel 4 on Monday 16 June atfipm.
32 The List 13 — 26 June
Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart give an exclusive preview of their new album in E urythmics Special Mon 23. R1 . 7.3(1pm from Paris. Eric Clapton. Elton .lohn and Tina Turner are amongst those performing in the bumper Prince's Trust l(lth Birthday Concert Steve l’i’rlglll Fri 21). R l . 3pm at Wembley Arena with Mike Smith doing the interviewing and presentation.
John Clifford's funny. lively and boisterous play Losing Venice. a 'l‘raverse Company commission and ‘Fringe First‘ winner at the Edinburgh Festival last year. is broadcast Tue 24. R3. 7.30pm. produced in Edinburgh by Stewart Conn and the cynical. allegorical short story The Clay Frog. Mon l6. R3. Spot is also from the Edinburgh studios. Produced by (iregor (iraham it is the first story to be broadcast by Scottish writer Susan Campbell.
Rift and religion and pride and prejudice are examined in Ireland - .l/lyth and Message?. Thurs 19. R4. 7.4(lpm and issues oriental are expressed in John [)unn in China Wed 18. R1.5.()5pm.with the help of Radio Beijing.
The highlight of this years‘ St Magnus Festival in Orkney is transmitted by direct relay from the island cathedral in Kirkwall. Sat 21. midsummer's night. when the nights there will scarcely be getting dark. The programme includes the world premiere of a Violin Concerto by the festival‘s founder and artistic director Peter Maxwell Davies and Mendlessohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream R3. 8pm (see Back/is! feature). The final concert ofthe Aldeburgh Festival Sun 22. R3. 8.05pm falls on the birthday of co-founder Sir Peter Pears who died earlier this year. The concert ends with The Songs and Proverbs of William Blake - the words selected by Pears. set to music by Britten and sung by John Shirley-Quirk.
The Mask of Orpheus Harrison Birtwistlc's second opera. was the focus of much critical attention at its premiere last month in London. Its first UK broadcast is Tue 17. R3 7pm. sung in English by the END: Under a Cloud (of acid rain) R4. Sat 14. 4pm examines the pollution
problem and what the government is doing about it and the live broadcast
in Alright Allnight R Clyde. Sat 14. 12.06am is from Cleopatra‘s in Glasgow.
A passionate love at the end of
Janacek‘s life was poured out in an
extraordinary series of letters to a girl much his junior. and also into his last musical work. Intimate Letters. His life and music is the subject of Intimate Voices Sun 15. R4. 8.30pm. with Richard Pasco. Barbara Leigh-Hunt and the Medici String Quartet.
Finally a play to watch out for is That Man. Bracken Fri 20. R3 7.30pm written by Tom Kilroy (based on the stage play Double Cross, a great success at the Royal Court in London) and produced by Robert Cooper. responsible for some fine plays from both the BBC Northern Ireland studios and now Manchester.