MEDIA LIST
FRIDAY 12
I Wogan(BBC1)7—7.40pm. Sole guest tonight is Margaret Thatcher.
I Passion Play(C-1)8—9pm. An examination. talking to players. management and fans ofGlasgow Rangers and Derry City. ofsectarianism in those teams.
I CamplDMBBCl)8.(15—9pm. Peter Davidson returns. with Brian Glovcras his trusty sidekick. in the first ot'four two-part adventures as Margery Allingham‘s private detective Albert Campion.
I Colin's Sandwich (BBC2)9-9.3t)pm. Colin Watkins" (Mel Smith) dreams of literary fame and immortality are given a boost when he is commissioned to write a treatment for a screenplay — but he has only a week to do it. and doesn't even know what a treatment is. First show of the second series.
I Duke Bluebeard'seastle ( BBCB)
9.3(1— 10.30pm. What lurks behind the seven locked doors in the Dukes castle? His wives — murdered? Leslie Megahey's version of the Bartok opera won the prestigious Prix Italia last October.
I Silkwood(BBC1)9.3o—11.40pm. Meryl Streep stars iii the chilling biopic ofthe nuclear employee who set out to ntake the public aware of the dreadful contamination risks in the industry. and met a mysterious death.
I 3 Women (C4) 1 1pm—l .leam. Robert (MASH) Altman's 1077 movie is one of his most personal and elliptical. fashioning a tale front one of ltis dreams andgiving full rein to the talents of Shelley Duv all. Sissy Spacek and Janice Rule.
SATURDAY 13
I Embassy Word Professional Darts Championships: The Final ( BBCZ) 4.45—6.3(ipm. Amazing. isn‘t it. that two unattractive and overweight men moving only their rigltt arms can provide such compulsive viewing for millions. btit there you have it. The pot for the winneris £24.llll(l. which at least explains why the players do it.
I For Your Eyes Only (Scottish) 7—9.25pm. 1981 's instalntcnt ofllll7 is notable for backpcdalling. by swapping the opulent sets and special effects for clever stunts. btit little else. Roger Moore still hanging in there.
I Rhythms oi the World ( BBCZ) 7.30—8.5tlpm. This week. the programme gives some long-deserved attention to soak. the music of the French Antilles. as played by Dede Saint Prix. whose first London gig is featured.
ITestimony (C4) 9—] 1.55pm. Tony Palmer‘s multi-award-winning film about the life of Shostakovich launches CJ‘s festival of films and programmes about the Soviet Union (see panel). Ben Kingsley plays the composer. w ho surviv ed Stalin‘s purges by ‘betraying himself‘. and the film was made w itlt Wigan and l.iv erpool standing in for Moscow.
I Yellowthread Street (Scottish) 925—11125. We're 1 long Kong-bound iit this new drama series. w here an extortionist. w ho's had it pretty easy uptill now . tries his hand at bribing the police. I The Film Club (BBC2) 9.4(1—1 i .(lSpnt. A great way to round off a Satttrdayevening — two films by Italian horror grandmaster Mario Brava w ith v ampires and doppelgungt'rs galore.
IAndroid (Scottish) 12.3ll—Zam. Starring Klaus Kinski. w ho must ltav e done it for the money.
SUNDAY 14
I Opera on 4: The Flying Dutchman (C4) 2—4.3llpm. A technical triumph. llkka Backman‘s production of Wagner's opera was staged at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland last year. and drew great acclaim for its staging — in the courtyard of a 5l1(l-year-old castle on an
island in the middle of a lake.
IThe Pilgrim (C4) 4.30-5.2(lpm. One of Charlie Chaplin‘s earliest satirical films. which achieved the distinction ofbeing banned in Pennsylvania.
I Adventurous Eves (C4) 5.30—6.3opm. When the men returned from World War 1. they found a Britain in which women had found much greater freedom and equality. This programme looks at some of the women who pushed back the boundaries in sport. with archive footage and personal reminiscences.
I Rescue (Scottish) (105—63me. A moment of real-life drama for 202 squadron. when a premature baby they are carrying from Orkney to hospital in Aberdeen has heart failure.
I The Natural World (BBCZ) 7. 15—8.t)5pm.
A look at some ofthe wildlife that has taken over ruins in the Irish countryside. I You Rang M‘Lord (BBCI )7.15-8.(l5pm. the new offering from Jimmy Perry and David Croft. the w riting team that brought us countless comedy series. including Duds ' A rmy and 'A/lo 'Allo. Stars Su Pollard as the new maid in a London household in 1927.
I Bergerac ( BBC] ) 8.05—9pm. First in a
series of ten adventures for the Jersey cop.
I American Football (C4) 8.45pm— lartt. The whole evening on C-l is given over to the penultimate games. deciding who will meet in the Superbowl.
I That‘s Lite(BBCI)9.3o—1ii.15pm. In which the regular team is joined by none other than ‘alternative' comedian Simon Fanshawe. who will be reading out all those amusing misprints. ()h. Simon. where's your shame?
I The New Statesman (Scottish) 1().()5—11.1()pm. An hour-long special. which asks ‘Who Shot Alan B'Stard?‘ Me! It was me!
I Screen Two: Old Flames (BBCZ) 10.15-11.4(ipm. A season of feature-length plays begins with Stephen Fry and Simon Callow as two former public school friends. whose meeting sparks off a series of events which brings some well-kept secrets to light.
I Everyman (BBCI) 10.30—11.10pm. The first major interview since his retirement with Sir John Hermon. for nine years ChiefConstable ofthe RUC.
I Survivors: Eagle Story(BBC1) 8.3(l—9pm. That symbol ofthe USA.the Bald Eagle. which has been saved from
extinction in recent years. is followed from
hatching to adulthood and migration. I Horizon (BBCZ) 8. Iii—9pm. The paralysed walking again with the aid of computers. and supposedly senile pensioners being helped the same way? Keyhole surgery. genetics and scanning
are to the fore as Horizon predicts the face
of medicine in the year 2000. I Good Evening Comrades (C4) 9—lfipm.
The first of a series of programmes looking
at how Soviet TV has changed since Gorbachev came to power. and revealing that conservatism is once more on the
march. Another of the Soviet Spring series
(see panel).
I True Stories (BBCZ) 9- 10.30pm. David Byrne's first stab at directing surprised many who believed lte had delusions of
SPARKING DEBATE
prospect of a three-week-long blitz of TV programmes from or about the USSR would seem like media suicide; however, the appointment of Gorbachev and the incredibly accelerated pace of change in Eastern Europe since then has trained all eyes on the Soviet bloc. Channel 4 has responded with a cornucopia of films and programmes in January and February under the banner ‘Sovlet Spnngfl
Ironically, the season commences with a film by an Englishman, Tony Palmer's ‘Testlmony’, the highly-acclaimed 1987 biopic oi
Shostakovlch, and another notable film
in the tirst week is Avtandll Makharadze's Georgian teature
‘Repentance’ (pictured). The subject at
‘Repentance'-a thinly-disguised Stalin figure — is a sign at one of the most remarkable aspects of the 50-odd programmes and lilms in the season; the explicltness with which Soviet film and documentary-makers can treat the
It's not that many years ago that the
present problems of their country and
its Stalinist past, both inside and outside thelrborders.
The effect of the new open-ness on the mass media can be judged from several programmes under the title ‘Good Evening Comrades‘, which will be showing current Soviet TV, some of it recorded from satellites only hours before its British transmission.
Topics aired Include the problems at the ‘Atghantsl‘ who, In a position analogousto America’s Vietnam veterans, feel their sacrifices in Atghanistan were in vain now that the USSR has pulled out, and the splinterlng social groups developing, particularly among the young.
Rather than being blindly optimistic, the series is sullused with the
awareness that the USSR is in a state of
flux which could so easily break down. Not tor nothing dld Gorbachev warn the Russian press, ‘We are all standing knee-deep in petrol and some of you are striking matches.‘ (Alastair Mabbott)
grandeur for even thinking about making a motion picture. it's a thoroughly enjoyable look at small-town America as seen through tabloids like Weekly World News. with Byrne as the quizzical narrator who‘s game for anything the eccentric townspeople can throw at him.
IThe Late Show(BBC2)11.15—11.55pm. The new season. starting tonight. will feature items on Charles Saatchi. designer. and architect Philippe Stark. the classical music establishment and the mythology and cultural resonance of Times Square. Enough to be going on with?
TUESDAY 16
I Taking Liberties: Danger Men atWork (BBCZ) 8—8.30pm. This programme alleges. with a sackload ofevidencc to back it up. that the Sex Discrimination Act. passed in 1975. is being abused by employers nationwide.
I Making News (Scottish) 9—1()pm. A new drama series based in a TV news station. where they deal with matters like Romanian refugees and escaped emus. We could all do with a station like this.
I Joseph Brodsky: A Maddening Space (C4) 9—10pm. A profile of the dissident Soviet poet who was persecuted. spent six years in an Arctic work camp. was exiled in 1972 and now lives in New York City. The first documentary about an exile for which the filmmakers had unrestricted access in the Soviet Union. Part of the Soviet Spring series (see panel).
I A Sense of Guilt ( BBC] )‘).3(l—1(l.3()pm. Former Shoestring Trevor Eve returns as a predatory womaniscr iii a seven-part drama serial written by Andrea Newman. who brought us Bouquet of Barbed Wire. IThe Secret Cabaret (C4) 10.30—1 1pm. For those who missed the first programme last week. a self-consciously stylish magic show starring the illusiortist Simon Drake. who is joined on a regular basis byJamcs Randi. debunker of psychic phenomena. Archaos fans will probably love it.
I The Silent Revolution (BBCl)
10.50—1 1 .4llpm. The first oftw'o documentaries on the changes that have taken place in the world ofagriculture since the 1930s. The second part can be seen on Wed 17 at l l .(lSpm.
WEDNESDAY 17
I Inspector Morse (Scottish) 8—1tipm. More from tltc ever-popular John Thaw. I Timewatch (BBC?) 8. ill—9pm. Support is growing for the theory that the man buried in Rudolph Hess's grave is an imposter. switched by the Nazis in 1941. Could this possibly be true? And what of the verdict ofsuicide. which his family has always rejected?
I Oranges are Not the Only Fruit ( BBCZ) 9.25—1l).2(lpm. The second instalment of the Bccb's adaptation ofJeanette Winterson‘s novel. and 16-year-old Jess falls in love with her new friend Melanie. The repercussions involve the local pastor. and a sermon directed against them in the church.
I DED: My Best Friend's a Computer
(BBC 1 ) 9.3ll-iilpm. The frightening topic ofeotttputer addiction is handled tonight (God. we know all about it here). an obsession that is making human contact impossible with some eltildren. Can we allow this to happen. particularly tothc more susceptible boys. at a crucial stage in their emotional development?
I Repentance (C4) lllpm—13.511;int. Seen as a key symbol ofglasnost.’l‘engis Abuladzc's 198-3 film is a tremendous achievement. taking as its central character a despotic may or w hose resemblance to Stalin is definitely intentional. So hated is he that even after his death. one woman insists on digging hint up continually to deny him rest. Part of the Sorie! Spring season (see panel).
The List 12—25January 199061