MEDIA LIST
TELEVISION
FRIDAY 28
0 Lost Empires (Scottish) 9—1()pm. Sex. a few grotesques. a bit of violence, special guest stars and an air ofimpending doom. Irresistible. 0 Scottish Assembly (Scottish) 10.30am. These programmes would be making even more impact if it weren‘t for the coincidental hitting of form ofso many other current affairs shows- This Week. First Tuesday even re-vamped Breakfast Time. Malcolm Wilson once again allows the public access and a vote. Tonight: Education in the light ofthe result of the teachers‘ ballot.
o The Tube (C4) 5.30—7pm. The Housemartins. Alison Moyet, The Human League and Grace Jones. More not so underground musical movements.
SATURDAY 29
0 West Coast Story (BBC 2) 8.40—9.55pm. A new three-part series on the music ofCalifornia. This programme traces the music’s routes.
0 The Khans of Pakistan (C4) 7.30—8.30pm. The story ofone of the world‘s greatest sporting dynasties — from Hashim Khans‘s victory in the 1950 British Open to the awe-inspiring run of victories by Jahangir Khan. the Khans have dominated Squash. This documentary looks at the tribal way of life centred on a small village in the North West Frontier province of Pakistan.
SUNDAY 30
0 Highway (Scottish) 6.40—7. 15pm. Telegoon Secombe takes the lowest common denominator road to the 8.8.85 of Loch Lomond.
o The World atWar (C4)
7. 15—8. 15pm. The immensely impressive 26-part documentary story of World War II narrated by Laurence Olivier and produced by C4‘s Jeremy Isaacs returns to complement the showing ofA People's War (Mondays).
0 Aly Bain (Scottish) 10—1 1pm. St Andrew‘s Night concert — see review.
0 Television on Trial (BBC 2) 8.05—10.20pm. Culmination ofthe ‘celebrations‘ — a debate on TV issues with Anna Ford in the chair.
MONDAY 1
o God's Chosen Carpark (C4) 9-10pm. John Bird and Bill Paterson lead the cast in this promising-looking play. A bunch ofjournalists meet in a carpark for a Press Conference to announce the New Messiah.
0 Turn It Up (C4) 11pm—12.25. One ol four new programmes made by and about young people. The first programme. TV Exclusive, has already won the British Film lnstitute's Grierson award. It concerns the experiences of young gays in Britain today.
TUESDAY 2
0 First Among Equals (Scottish) 9—10pm. Last episode ofthe gripping (honest) drama.
0 Newsnight Afternoon (BBC 2) 3.05—4pm. Afternoon edition of the excellent news round-up.
THURSDAY 4
0 Blood Red Roses (C4) 9.30—10.30pm. John McGrath‘s three-part blockbuster— see Feature.
0 This Week (Scottish)9.30—l()pm. Racism and schools. a special report. 0 20/20 Vision: No Man Wants to Die (C4) 1030—] 1.30pm. Condemned to death by courts. Derrick Gregory now awaits the Gallows. The team responsible for the controversial ‘MlS’s Offical Secrets‘ report last year has obtained an exclusive clandestine interview with him as he
underwent medical tests by a British doctor acting for Gregory's defence. They hope to show that Gregory suffered brain damage in childhood and use this as a basis of mitigation. An account of how the drug ring operated and ofa man facing death: ‘I have lost my life. I‘ve lost everything. . . No man wantsto die. do they?
FRIDAY 5 .
O The Tube (C4) 5.30—7pm. It Bites followed by Freddie McGregor. The Taxi Connection. and The Sly and Robbie Band.
0 Book Choice/Shakespeare: The Complete Works (C4) 7.5(l—spm Peter Hall. director ofThe National Theatre. on the new ()xl‘ord edition edited by Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor.
0 The Two of Us (SCottish) 8.30—0pm. LWT's new comedy — out ofJusI Good Friends by Only Fools and Horses. More likable than the former and Patrick Troughton as Granddad would be a credit to the latter. It also confirms Nicholas Lyndhurst as a fine comedy actor.
SATURDA 6 '
O Hamlet (C4) 2—4.50pm. Directed and produced by Olivier. his 1948 performance as Hamlet is one of the milestones in his career.
0 The Anglo-Indians ((74) 7.30—8.30pm. Tim Pigott-Smith who was Merrick in Granada‘s adaptation of leelmt'e/ in (he ( 'rmwz narrates this two-part documentary about the forgotton Anglo-Indian community in India. The result of British-encouraged marriages
between Indians and British soldiers. these were the people that the imperial rulers could rely on to support the Raj. Now their position in independent India is an uncertain one — some live a colonial lifestyle while others are amongst India‘s poorest. This Central Television programme is directed by David Maloney.
RADIO
Scottish Drama Week Nov 29 — Dec 4
Starting on 2‘) November is a week of Scottish drama produced by Radio Scotland‘s drama department in Edinburgh. The plays. which cover a wide range of themes. include some of the best ofcontemporary Scottish writers and are broadcast simultaneously on Radio 4 and Radio Scotland.
Senior producer in drama. Stewart (‘onn begins the week with a new version of an old story. Jeppe 01 the Hill. Sat 2‘). 7pm. Hector MacMillan has freely adapted the lSthC ‘comedy ofcharacter' by Holberg and John Sheddcn plays the lead.
Shortly after herown 70th birthday. Jessie Kesson‘s new play Three Score Years and Ten, Sir is broadcast Tues 2 Dec. llam. It‘s a sensitive portrait of a grandmother who moves to live with her daughter's family and loses touch with her friends. News of their death catapults her into an unhappiness for
ROCK ON, PETE!
Are you going to be coerced out on Friday night? Nothing to look forward to but a few jars in some mediocre disco where, ifyou’re unlucky, an occasional play of “Slippery People’ or even ‘The Passenger’, is considered enough to satisfy those of more discriminating tastes? For a change, how about staying in this Friday and snuggling up to your transistor for Rock On Scotland (Radio Scotland, 810kllz/370m Medium Wave and 94.3mllz VHF/FM, 11.30pm), essential listening forall followers of new, interesting and particularly Scottish music?
At least a third of any given programme is devoted to singles, LP tracks and demos by Scottish bands, and the policy of the show, as explained by producer Stewart Cruickshank, is strongly to encourage a local talents to keep sending material in. Everything is listened to andthe most recent edition gave first airings to no less than six new bands. The programme has introduced to the listening public many acts who now have record deals and a modicum of success, and there is no reason why the trend should not continue with the bands currently being debuted (The Hook ’n' Pull Gang, The Bachelor Pad, and Baby Lemonade, for instance).
As well as performing this valuable service, music played on the
British independent music to Sixties-style American garage rock and African dance music, ‘placing the Scottish music,’ says Cruickshank, ‘in a widercontext, giving it credibility.‘ Good re-releases stand more than a chance of being played as well. With only sixty minutes a week to jam it all in, the pace rarely flags, and quality control is admirably high.
The serious approach — records are played in their entirety and not ‘gabbled over' — and preference for records that are ‘new, out ofthe mainstream and innovative' mean that
Rock On Scotland covers similar areas to programmes by John Peel, Andy Kershaw and Forth’s Colin Sommerville, and like those DJs, Peter Easton’s unforced, enthusiastic presentation is like a breath of fresh air, doing much forthe programme’s listenability.
And people do listen. Although stuck away at a time when one would imagine that most of its potential listeners would be out on the town, the programme celebrated its 100th edition a few weeks ago. Not only that, the station‘s signal is strong enough to cover Northern Ireland with ease, and the show is frequently heard as far south as London. With cutbacks in Radio Clyde’s coverage of independent music (resulting in lost slots for DJs), Rock On Scotland is one of the few outlets left for the thriving Scottish small band scene and, thankfully, its survival is assured until well into the New Year. Not that that’s any reason to get complacent. Support you local
radio show— it‘s more fun and more civilised that being pestered by drunken bores in lousy discos.
Oh, and the address to send demos to is Rock On Scotland, BBC Radio Scotland, PO Box 370, Glasgow (512 800. (Mab)
The List 28 Nov — 11 Dec 23