MEDIA LIST
Leslie Grantham.
I 0E0 (BBCI ) 9.3()—I().2()pm. New series of the quirky investigative show which returns by putting to test the psychologists‘ claim that men and women differ in their verbal skills and visual/spatial awareness.
I Thirtysomelhing (C4) 10.15-1 1.15pm. Americans as they see themselves. Addictive stuff.
I The Late Show(BBC2)11.15—11.55pm. The Late Show‘s contribution to assessing the effect of Satellite TV. In particular it looks at the impact it might make on the film business.
I The Evening Standard British Film Awards (Scottish) 10.35-1 1.35pm. Chris Kelly talks to the winners.
THURSDAY 2
I 40 Minutes (BBC2)9.3()-10. l0pm. Three case histories of men and women who have been ‘taken over‘ by sexual jealousy.
ITrue Stories (C4) 10.25-1 1.50pm. ‘Coverup‘: Acclaimed American film narrated by Elizabeth Montgomery (of Bewitched fame) about the Iran Contra Affair.
I The Blood is Strong (Scottish)
10.35-1 1 .35pm. Final part of the series on the Gaels.
I The Bitch (Scottish) 12.30—2pm. Forgettable (but possiny hilarious by now) I979 follow up to The Srud. Stars Joan Collins.
FRIDAY 3
I [laid About The USSR (C-t) 2—3pm. Re-run ofJimmy Reid‘s documentary series of about life in Russia.
I Wagon Train (C4) 6—7pm. In the week that Channel Four brings back The Lone Ranger the Wagon Train (also of the Fifties vintage) sets off once more. Ward Bond is wagonmaster Major Seth Adams. I Arena (BBC2) 9.30— 10.30pm. Two film biographies. One on author and traveller Laurens van der Post and the second on a Texan criminal. Albert Sample who spent sixteen years in a notorious Texan prison. I Macgregor's Scotland ( BBCl) l().2()—I().5()pm. Jimmie Macgregor in a new series of jaunts — this time he visits Scotland‘s most remote islands.
I The Late Show (BBC2) 11.15pm—midinight. Jessica Mitford. Bruce Kent and Max Hastings discussthc relationship between the individual and the state.
SATURDAY 4
I Burning. Burning (C4) 7—8.05pm. Impressionistic study of the changing fortunes and way of life of the people of South Wales.
I Carrott Confidential (BBC 1)
1025—1 lpm. First in a new series ofeight live shows featuring Carrott's own form satire.
I Film Club: The Ballad ol Gregorio Cortez; Alambristal (BBC2) 10.20-2am. Two films from director Robert M. Young. The first. made in 1982. is based on a true story about a Mexican who kills a sheriff and is hunted down by a posse of 600 men. The second. Young‘s first film ( 1977) again deals with a Mexican. who this time is exploited when he crosses the border into the states in search of work.
SUNDAY 5
I The Princess 01 Wales in New York (Scottish) 3—3.3(lpm. Coverage from ITN. I The Media Show (C4) 9. 15—10. 15pm. The Lisr‘s own Allan Hunter contributes to an examination of the policies of the ‘ national film distributors.
I Three-Minute Culture (BBC2) 9.45—10.15pm. Architect Maxwell Hutchinson talks to Michael lgantieff in the latest in the series developing the theme that our culture is growing ever less sophisticated.
I Screen Two: Leaving ( BBCZ)
10.15—1 1.45pm. See panel.
I The South Bank Show (Scottish)
10.30—1 1.30pm. Profile of playwright Christopher Hampton who adapted Les Liaisons Dangereuses for the stage.
I Loot (Scottish) I .55—3.5()pm. Richard Attenborough in the I972 film version of Joe Orton‘s black comedy.
MONDAY 6
I Amazing Animals (BBC! ) 8.30-9pm. Beginning a repeat season of the celebrated natural history programme: ‘Daylight Robbery” tells the tale (long and bushy) of the thieving grey squirrels. IChiller(BBC1) 10. 10—1 I.4()pm. Made for TV film about a man frozen in suspended animation.
I Cactus (BBC2) 9— l0.3()pm. Latest in the season of Australian films. Paul Cox‘s I986 film is a slow paced account ofa relationship between a blind man and a woman whose sight is impaired after a car accident.
I ll Lives Again (Scottish) 12.30-2.(l5pm. Three murdering babies. . . Film from 1978.
TUESDAY 7
I Open Space (BBC2) 8—8.3(lpm. The access programme is given over to the inhabitants of the Outer Hebrides who are protesting against the arrival of a Sunday ferry service.
I Variety Club Awards (BBC1 )8—9pm. Terry Wogan presents the 37th annual set of awards.
I Talking Heads ( BBC2) 9—9.4(lpm. Alan Bennett stars in his own monologue.A Trip in The Sugar. repeated tonight.
I Moving Stories (BBC2)9.40-10.z0pm. New series of six programmes about the painful process of moving home - apparently after bereavement and divorce it‘s the greatest cause of stress in most people‘s lives.
I First Tuesday (Scottish) 10.35—1 1.35pm. Pedigree Chums: not dogs. but debutantes.
I Moving Pictures ( C4) 10.55—1 1.15pm. Look ahead to the new season of Film on Four presentations.
WEDNESDAY 8
I Scotspon Special (Scottish) 1.30-3.30pm. Coverage of the Scotland v Cyprus match from Limassol.
I The Benny Hill Show (Scottish) 8—9pm. A brand new show. Same old jokes.
I Dispatches (C4) 8.30—9. 15pm. As Russia withdraws its troops this film attempts to capture the Afghanistan experience.
I Timewatch (BBC2) 8. 10—9pm. Profile of Marxist historian Eric Hobsbawn.
I Flying Squad (Scottish) 9—9.3()pm. Start of [TV fly-on-the-wall documentary series about the workings of the real Sweeney. I Monities: The De Lorean Tapes (BBC2) 9.25-10.25pm. Third of three plays from Northern Ireland: Manning Redwood plays the auto tycoon whose attempt to manufacture a super sports car in Northern Ireland came spectacularly to grief. This drama is based on the FBI ‘sting’ aimed at setting up De Lorean on a drugs bust.
I That's Love (Scottish) 9.30—10pm. New series of the comedy starringJimmy MulvilIe.
I Invasion ol the Body Snatchers (Scottish) 10.35pm- 12.30pm. The 1978 remake of the 1956 classic — but no less enjoyable for that.
I The Bocldord Files (BBCI)
l I .30pm—12.2()am. Repeat from a decade ago of one of the best of the then fashionable genre of gum shoe shows.
THURSDAY 9
I Focal Point (380 ) 8.30-9pm. Blood Money: report on the stomach-turning world of dog fighting.
I The llorth Sea (BBC2) 8.30-9pm. last programme in the series examining the shared problems of the communities that live around the North Sea.
I 40 Minutes (BBC2)9.30-10. 10pm. Documentary about the work of the Dorothy Brooke‘s veterinary hospital in Cairo which follows top Glasgow vet Graham Monroe on a one month assignment to this unique establishment. I Fragile Earth (C4) 10.20—1 l.25pm. A special programme entitled Seal Mourning timed to coincide with the running out of the five year ban on large scale slaughter ofseals.
I Steel ot Fire (Scottish) 10.35—1 1.35pm. Music and poetry by young Gaelic performers including Cape rcaillie.
I Revenge (Scottish) 12.30—2pm. Bottom ofthe barrel (or should that be barrel ofa bottom?) Joan Collins film from 1971.
RADIO
Old disc-jockeys never die. They just carry their turntables into the sunset and end up spinning Family Favourites on Hospital radio. Not Alan Freeman however. Fluff has been around since Edsel knocked his first deck together and still shows no sign ofslacking.
The idea ofan Antipodean pensioner hosting. not one. but two new shows may fill you with terror but Freeman has always had enough genuine enthusiasm to pull anything off. His new series Night Bockin (R 1. Sat 28th — 12.00am) centres on classic and archive heavy rock (quelle surprise . . . ) while his Pick of the Pops (R1 Sun 29th — 12.30pm) utilises the latest DAT technology to bring you the classic hits of the Sixties. Bit ofa shame that the songs were originally recorded on glorified biscuit-tins but that's the Ozzies for you.
A more bizarre twist on the whole concept of nostalgia programming comes courtesy of Bill Smith’s Sixties Show on Radio Clyde (Tuesdays — 10.30pm) In between endless slices of Dave. Dee, Dozy, Grumpy and Sleepy our host treats us to a motley selection of reminiscences from the golden-age ofthruppeny bit. when the days were longer, the grass was greener and the policemen weren‘t scared to give you a good clip round the ear. So. ifyou can remember that far back. get in touch with Bill and your recollection will be shared with similar by-gone fetishists.
Music ofa more contemprary mien is to be found on Radio Clyde. With the recent triumphant proclamation that eleven bands who recorded sessions for Clyde last year have now won major label record contracts. the station introduces us over the next couple of weeks to His Latest Flame (Sun. Jan 29th — 7pm) and The Hummingbirds (Feb 5th - 7pm) The in-concert schedules for the next fortnight look decidely ropier; Bruce Hornsby and the Range dispense their anaesthetising brand of glissando piano-rock on Radio One next week (Fri Feb 3rd — 9.30pm). Love and Money are to be found never saying die on Radio Clyde (Saturday. Jan 28th — 9pm) while at the same time on the same station the following week Goodbye Mr MacKenzie tread
the boards. strut their stuff and generally make a nuisance of themselves.
The amazingly-monickered Tall Old Man Standing Beside Ella Fitzgerald looks at a more traditional type of beat. The story of legendary jazz producer Norman Granz. this is the fourth in a seven part tour through the man‘s life and work. This week (Radio Scotland. Mon Jan 30th — 12.02pm) the show focuses on Granz‘s involvement with the great and the good ofjazz vocalising. among whom number Bing Crosby and Billie Holiday. and includes interviews with the stars and the relevant numbers. The following week. Granz‘s work with that natty old skin-beater Buddy Rich is highlighted (Mon Feb 6th — 12.02pm).
Spiffing titles are not the sole province of Radio Scotland as The Miracle at Roger’s Legs all too clearly displays. A tender tale ofadolescent love and unmitigated disaster. the play (Radio 4. Tues 7th Feb — 3.02pm) features the equally splendid Johnathen Spivv as the eponymous hero. The previous Monday on Radio Four (6th Feb— 8. 15pm) Me and My Shadow is the dramatisation ofwriter and Trappist monk Thomas Merton‘s life. Torn by the conflicting demands of his two professions. Merton wrestles with himselfand finally wins.
Equally dramatic. though perhaps more famous. is the Friday Play (Radio 3. 3rd Feb — 9.20pm) this week being that old bundle of laughs Virginia Woolfwith her frolicsome paddle into the pond of mental illness. Mrs Dalloway; An innocent tea-party is the beginning ofa day of ‘reality and unreality; sanity and madness.‘ Personally speaking. I‘ve always found Woolf‘s forays into such murky waters a trifle too calculated and stylistically dry for comfort but her work is perenially popular with student sorts so there must be something there.
Woolf‘s spiky modernism is counterd by a trip into Hardy‘s county of Wessex in Down Your Way (Radio 4. 5th Feb - 5.02pm) Quite what the programme‘s host Leslie Thomas (author of the Virgin Soldier novels) is supposed to know about literature is still something ofa mystery but his amble into the leafy lanes of Dorset and Cornwall will doubtlessly be relaxing enough.
Two other notables on the literature front involve the last of the programmes commemorating the fiftieth anniversary ofW.B. Yeats's death. The Dreaming ol the Bones (Radio 3. Jan 29th — 10.05pm) is an explosive adaptation of Yeats's famed verse play. Centred on the 1916 Dublin riots. a young man is confronted by two spirits from Ireland‘s past who quiz him on the nature of forgiveness. lfthat sounds as dry as twigs. it should be enlivened by Jane Cassidy who as the press blurb informs us. ‘sings the haunting melodies that only bones can
dream‘. Watch out also for local boy Russell Hunter in the award-winning account ofthe life ofGerman astronomer Kepler (Radio 3. Feb 7th — 7.30pm). (Allan Brown)
The List 27 January — 9 February 29)