MEDIA LIST
process itself less harmful to the environment.
I Land of the Eagle (BBC2)7.15—8.05pm. A new series purporting to be the first natural history of North America takes as its starting point the continent 400 years ago. when the first English settlerslanded at Chesapeake Bay. and in each of its eight parts moves progressively westwards. always starting with the arrival of the first Europeans and moving up to date.
I A Strike Out of Time (C4) 8—9.30pm. This programme — a mixture offirst-hand accounts and dramatised reconstructions of actual events - follows the Miners' Strike. which came to a halt five years ago and was the longest national strike since 1926. Actors play Arthur Seargill. [an MacGregor and Peter Walker as the triumvirate at the heart ofthe disputes and meetings in Whitehall. the NUM and the Coal Board have been faithfully reconstructed. Arthur Seargill and [an MacGregor declined to contribute. I Carnal Knowledge (C4) 10—11.50pm. ldealistic Art Garfunkel and womanising Jack Nicholson are college roommates in the mid-Forties. A complicated love tangle ensues. stretched over several decades. leaving Garfunkel jaded. empty and middle-aged. Scripted by Jules Feiffer. one of America's top satirical cartoonists, the film raised hell with its language and sexual frankness in 1971. and the distributors made the most ofit with an ad which read ‘The United States Supreme Court has ruled that Carnal Knowledge is not obscene‘. I Everyman (BBCI) 10.10-1 1pm. A drama built up from improvised conversations. raising points rarely heard on TV about what it means to be black in Britain today. Sparked off by the experiences of an actor. Anthony Lennon. whose parents are white but who now makes a living playing black roles. I Screen Two: Sometime in August (BBCZ) 1().10~11.2()pm. See Preview. I Saigon (Sky Movies) midnight—1.45am. Willem Dafoe returns to Vietnam. in search of the Oscar he nearly won in Platoon. This time. he's a military cop assigned to investigate murders (presumably brutal) of prostitutes in the red light area (presumably sleazy).
MONDAY 26
I The Australian Masters (Eurosport) l—4pm. Three-day coverage from the lluntingdale Golf Club in Melbourne commences here.
I Radio Days (Sky Movies) 6—8pm. Woody Allen’s affectionate look back at the 1940s. made to seem autobiographical by Allen‘s narration. Radio and the dreams post-war Americans measured their lives against are the real stars. buthe lingers on a down-at-heel Jewish family and the progress of Mia Farrow from cigarette girl to radio star.
. I Snub (BBCZ) 6.3(i—7pm. Film ofthe
i wondrous Tackhead. plus Lush live and a report on the 4A[) label sleeve designers, L23 Envelope.
I Survivors: Seagull Story (BBCI) 8.30—9pm. Like the recent film tracingthe life of a salmon, various techniques are employed to follow a seagull from hatching to its African migration.
I Island of Outcasts (C4) 9—10pm. The Greek island of Leros houses over a thousand mental patients- naked or half-clothed — cared for by only two psychiatrists. In 1984. a joint Greek and EEC commission investigated the appalling conditions there. but the Greek government seem loath to help the patients. 25 per cent of whom. it is alleged. are perfectly capable of leading a life off the island. In this documentary. five inmates talk about their lives and hopes.
I The Equalizer (Scottish) 95 10pm. The first of a two-part story entitled ‘Memories of Manon‘. in which Edward Woodward is called in to investigate the fate of a police inspector‘s daughter when she becomes a target for a criminal gang. Part two on Tue 27 at the same time.
I Bobccop (Sky Movies) lOpm-midnight. The most successful attempt ever to marry a comic book feel with state-of-the-art flashy editing. and a stylish. fast-moving and funny SF flick that wipes the floor with ponderous guff like The Terminator and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Apart from one sequence when the camera lingers voyeuristically over a very brutal death. it’s pure escapism all the way.
I Excess (BBCl) 10.10—10.40pm. This week‘s arts magazine programme puts the issue of brewery sponsorship of the arts under the microscope. Why are brewers sponsoring so much if the statistics show a decline in alcohol consumption?
I Tinniswood Country (BBCI) 10.55—11.25pm. Writer Peter Tinniswood (creator of the Brandon family of I Didn 't Know You Cared) goes back to his Merseyside roots. accompanied by two of his fictional creations: Uncle Mort and nephew Carter Brandon.
I Cinemema (C4) llpm—midnight. Four women film-makers from the Third World. all with work scheduled for the Women Call the Shots season. are brought together to discuss what inspires their film-making. the issues of art and politics. marginalisation and sexuality.
I Pacific Destiny (BBCi) 2. 15—3.50pm. A story about the British colonial service in the South Seas. shown as a tribute to the late Gordon Jackson. who died last month. Denholm Elliot and Michael Hordern also star.
I Science Fiction (Scottish) 7.30-8pm. Last year. you'll remember. two scientists claimed to have found a workable method of nuclear fusion. a claim that was greeted
with the greatest scepticism worldwide. What was going on in their laboratory. and at what stage is the race for safe energy"? I Open Space: Taking Drugs Seriously (BBCZ) 8—8.30pm. A look at how drug addiction is being treated in the Merseyside area. which should bean example to us all: an estimated 0. l per cent ofintraveneous drug users are HIV positive. compared to 10 per cent in London and 70 per cent in Edinburgh. even though Merseyside has the highest proportion ofdrug users and treatment in the country. The area‘s policies ofneedle replacement schemes. prescribed clean heroin and abundant condom supplies are demonstrated here.
I Focal Point (BBCI ) 8.3()--9pm. This week. the subject is workers. mainly from heavy industry on the West of Scotland. who get a rough deal from the legal system when claiming compensation after contracting asbestosis.
I Autism - A WOFIG Apart (C4) 9— 10pm. Around 80.000 people in Britain are afflicted with autism. for which there is no proven medical solution. This film highlights the symptoms — repetitive. obsessive behaviour and lack of communication with the outside world ~- and the care such people need.
I Nightingales (C4) iii—10.30pm. Robert Lindsay (in his first sitcom since Citizen Smith). David Threlfall (in his first sitcom) and James Ellis (Z Cars stalwart) are three ineffectual night-time security guards. What the hell goes on in these places at night?
' t. r 1, y]?- . V7.4; . u. I Platoon (Sky Movies) lOpm—midnight. What promised to be the Vietnam movie we had all waited for turned out to be chained to genre conventions that stretched back more than 30 years. meaning that it satisfied the Rambo meatheads as well as the liberals and veterans. Given that. Platoon is asuperb example ofthe form. and sustains its grip throughout. Followed at midnight byJohn Irvin's ‘Nam flick Hamburger Hill. I Rock Steady (C4) 1().3o—11.3(ipm.'1‘he thirtysomething music show continues. with Tanita Tikaram. Johnny Clegg and Savuka and. in the ‘Spotlight‘ section. two legendary guitarists by the names ofChet Atkins and Mark Knopfler improvising together. I Gran Gran Fiesta (C4) 11.30pm—lam. A TV adaptation of last summer’s week-long festival of South American music and dance at London‘s South Bank. Colourful. dynamic. very much a ‘light the blue touch paper and retire' situation. I The Grip of the Strangler(Scottish) 2.15—3.40pm. Fine old Karloffflick. in
which Boris plays a novelist investigating an old murder case — and uncovering some skeletons he should have left well alone.
WEDNESDAY 28
I Scottish Question Time (Scottish) 2.30—3.3(ipm. 3.35—4pm. Live from the House of Commons. the monthly opportunity to put questions to Scottish Secretary Malcolm Rifkind and his Scottish Office ministers.
I Fighting Ministers (C4) 2.30—3.30pm. In Pittsburgh. three Lutheran ministers were
i defrocked by their church and jailed for
speaking out against the dubious morality of a local corporation‘s economic policies. liven when barred from their own pulpits. they locked themselves inside their churches and continued to protest against the local power structure. One was Rev Daniel Solberg. whose brother. Starsky and Hutch actor David Soul. made this film.
I Living with Dying (BBCI ) 3.05-3.35pm. Newsreader Martyn Lewis asks why. when the one certainty ofour livesis death. we spend so little time preparing for it. as if believing we can go on forever. This six-part series aims to ease the anxiety on the subject and provide practical experience to deal with the inevitable and the grief that follows it.
I Scottish Action on Racism (Scottish) 6.30—7pm. The second of Scottish Action's series on race relations asks what it'slike to be black and in prison.
I Antenna (BBCZ) 8. 10—9pm. And inthis month‘s popular science programme: a radical look at the interpretation of riskin everyday life. with particular reference to car seatbelt laws; the future ofscience teaching under the new National Curriculum; and the discovery ofa multitude of bizarre animals which lived around 550 million years ago. and challenge our current idea ofevolution.
I Signals: Painting by Numbers (C4) 9.15—10pm. Do the auction houses have too much control over the art market? Signals suspects they do. and Lord Carrington and Lord Gowrie. the heads of two major auction houses. justifytheir position.
I DED(BBC1)9.30—10pm. We‘ve all heard of the advances in genetic fingerprinting. but when will forensic
’ science be able to solve crimes by the body
odour left at the scene of a crime by the culprit? if we had noses like dogs we could do it. but we don‘t. so a research groupat Warrington University are working on an electronic nose. The major holdup so far is human BO. needless to say.
I Love Letters (C4) 10.05—1 1.45pm. Jamie Lee Curtis finds coming to terms with her mother‘s death harder after discoveringa series of love letters among her belongings documenting a secret affair. Embarking on a disastrous liaison. she projectsthe feelings expressed in the letters on to her
3 own relationship and continues it. against ? all advice. Directed by Amy Jones. and shown as part of the Women Call the Shots
I The Four Seasons (Scottish)
10.35pm— 12.35am. Written by. directed by and starring Alan Alda. this film about three couples who take seasonal holidays together (and find their balance disrupted
when one man dumps his wife in favourof
a younger woman) is none the less fairly satisfying. The static camerawork is more than made up for by the performances elicited from the chiefplayers.
_ THURSDAY 1
I The American Express Mediterranean Open (Eurosport) 1-3pm. Live coverage from Las Brisas in Marbclla. The 72-hole
tournament will be contested over four
days. with a starting field of 132 players
. and prize money amounting to £400,000. f I 9-ll-5 (BBCZ) 7.30—8pm. A new series
setting out to find what forces are affecting
74'—Thc List—23February— a March 1990