MEDIA
V VIDEOS
Another tortnlght, another pile oi videos to siltthrough - lust another day's work for ole square eyes.
Illl! alum
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I THE DELIHDUEHTS (12) (Chris Thomson, Australia, 1989) Kylie Minogue. Charlie Schlatter, Angela Punch McCregor. 90 mins. Well they didn’t take iongto get this one out on the shelves. lest we forget about Kylie perhaps. The tormer List cover star is determined to break from her Miss Superclean image in In this powerful tale oi young love Down Under. Lola Lovell (Kylie) llouts the conventions of small town life in 1957 Australia and eventually runs all with boylriend Brownie Hansen (Charlie Schiatter). Hiddled with cliche the plot tails to live up to the shock value it was supposed to have, even for tans oi Ms Mlnogue. (Warner Home Video, rental)
I THE DICK TRACY SHOW VDL814,57,58, 57 mins. 0K Chlel, I'll get onto it straight away. With only his trusty band oi cartoon accomplices and a wristwatch radio, Dick takes on the forces oi darkness. With even more hype planned lorthls year’s cartoon-remake- blockbuster-extravaganza than there was tor Batman last year. Parktleld are cashing in early with a trio ol Tracy adventures. Alter he, Hemlock Holmes and Jo Jitsu have cracked the .crlmbos, Dick lives up to his first name and gives some crime-lighting tips for youngsters everywhere. (Patldield Publishing, £9.99)
I LAUGHTEH WITH DES D'CDHHDH (PG) 90 mins. Britain's most versatile entertainer tails otl his chair in a variety oi dltterent ways as hls guests recount anecdotes to him. By at last making this available to the public. Video Collection will help to establish our Des as the cult tigure he deserves to be. (Video Collection. £9.99)
LISTINGS
FRIDAY 29
I The Last House in Bombay (C4) 8—8.55pm. A great postal address and a charming film. it follows a year in the lives ofa family living in a house that backs onto the sea wall separating Bombay fromthe Indian Ocean.
I The Wealth of Nations 90 (Scottish) 10.35—11.35pm. A distinguished group of elder statesmen. in Edinburgh for the Wealth of Nations ‘90 conference. meet to discuss the current crop ofproblems facing the world. ‘Eeh it weren‘t like this in our day were it I lclmut‘." IRDCKHBBCI)11.50—145am.Sly‘sfirst outing as the grunting Italian’American folk hero/boxer who fights his way to the top ofthe heap. This is the best ofthe four subsequent rounds.
SATURDAY 30
I Australian Rules Football (C4) 9.25am—l().3()am. Yes. its spot the rule. After watching this short display of bizarre Australian male bonding rituals. write down what you think might be an applicable law ofthe game and send it to Sir Les Patterson, Roo Bar. Earl‘s Court. I Grandstand (BBCI) 12.3(l—5pm. Featuring the first Saturday ofthe Wimbledon fortnight which is traditionally rained off. I mean. often provides some intriguing ties.
I Tour De France 1990 (C4) 6.3(l—7pm. Billed as ‘the world‘s most exhaustive test of nerve, muscle and stamina.‘ and who are we to disagree. Ofcourse this does not also make it compulsive viewing. though in last year's final stage Greg LeMond beat France‘s Laurent Fignon by a mere eight seconds. In an exhaustive test of nerve. muscle and stamina. (‘ltannel 4‘s cameras and Phil Ligget will be providing daily updates on the Great Bike Race.
I It's Beadle (Scottish) 7—7.3(lpm. ()nly
providing the Fatwa on his life has not yet been implemented.
I Theatre Night: Bingo (BBC2) 8.45—10.50pm. David Suchet stars as a disillusioned William Shakespeare in Edward Bond‘s examination of old Bill‘s latter days, first performed at the Royal Court in 1974.
I The Lite and Death olVincent Van Gogh (C4) 10—11.50pm. A century ago, 29July to be exact. Van Gogh snuffed it, 37 years old and a pauper. Paul Cox‘s film pays tribute to the great Dutchman using Vincent's letters to his brother Theo, read by John Hurt.
I Billythe Flsh(C4)11.50-11.55pm.The famous half-man half fish from Viz makes his TV debut, accompanied by his eclectic set of team mates: 64 year-old blind striker Rex Findlay, the fleetfoot Redskin Brown Fox. manager Tommy Brown and possibly Mick Hucknall out of Simply Red. The series continues nightly until Wednesday. What next? Roger Mellie as a link man?
I The Saturday Drive-in: The Pride olthe Yankees(Scottish) 12.55—3.55am. Baseball star Gary Cooper is struck down at the height of his playing career — he signs for the Yankees.
SUNDAY 1
I Folies Bergere (C4) 2—3.30pm. The cast of ‘A 110, ‘A 110 in a musical. Just kidding, it is of course the incomparable Maurice Chevalier in a sophisticated musical comedy.
I Timewatch Special: A Homecoming (BBCZ) 7. 15—8.05pm. Count Adolf Heinrich von Arnim is one of a million West Germans whose property was snatched by the Communist East German govenment in 1945. Timewatch cameras were on hand to record what happened when the Count returned to his ancestral seat — where the interim guests have been
I In a Brilliant Light: Van Gogh lnArles (C4) 8—9.05pm. The 15 months he spent in Arles represented the climax of Van Gogh‘s career. This programme , which focuses on the work he completed there, hopes to dispel many of the myths surrounding this incredibly productive period ofthe artist’s life.
I The Lady From Yesterday (Scottish) 8.10—10pm. A beautiful Vietnamese woman arrives in Texas seeking out her old flaml/z wh turns out to be unhappily married Wayne Rogers.
I Almost You (C4) 10.05—11.55pm. Adam Brooks‘ first feature recounts a tale of yuppy love in New York. Shown as part of the Made in the USA series. I Heart ol the Matter: Where no Birds Sing (BBCl) 10.30—11.05pm. Hunters and conservationists are massing to do battle on the plains of northern Italy, where not only domestic but migratory birds are regularly gunned down. Joan Bakewell sets out to investigate the storm that is brewing between defenders of the birds and the powerful Italian hunting lobby. I Movledrome: The Honeymoon Killers (BBCZ) 10.25pm—12.25am. Leonard Kastle's classic cult movie from 1969 receives its first showing on British TV. An overweight nurse becomes enamoured of suave but sleazy Ray Fernandez and together they set out to swindle lonely spinsters out of their savings, eventually turning to murder to achieve their ends. I Frank Sinatra: the Voice 11.55pm—12.50am. Louis Armstrong, Quincy Jones, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis J nr shoot the breeze about old Ole Blue-Eyes' voice. Interestingly Frank claimed to be Sammy‘s brother in a recent tribute tothe late terpsichorist, presumably he meant it metaphorically.
MONDAY 2
I Off the Page (Scottish) 1.50-2.20pm. Allan Massie, winner of the Saltire Society Scottish Book of the Year award, talks to Jenny Brown about A Question of Loyalties.
I Countdown 1000 (C4) 4.10—5pm. Hard to believe isn‘t it? The thousandth edition has been achieved by Richard Whiteley, Carol Verderman and Giles Brandreth.
Miranda i-rance tunes in to the lates radio offerings.
Radio Scotland: Producer Edie Stark ended up making an unplanned ‘mini-drama‘ when she went to the Venice Biennale to cover the installation and unveiling of works by Scottish sculptors David Mach. Arthur Watson and Kate Whiteford. Watson‘s sculpture. made from 27 fishermen‘s smocks. did more than raise eyebrows at Customs. where intrepid officers refused to let it budge. As the countdown to the Grand Opening began, and the sculpture still did not arrive, Edie found herself knee-deep in red tape and deleted expletives. David Mach's ‘giant Bonsai trees‘ caused not a whiff of concern at Customs. even though they were made from ltlmm plate steel fabricated in an Aberdeen shipyard. Appropriately dubbed ‘Japanese Bonsai trees: Made in Scotland from girders‘. they did provide the programme with its
title Girders Down the Grand Canal (Mon 2 Jul 1.30pm). Listen out too for the repeats of Edie Stark‘s very popular series Family Fortunes. In the first of seven programmes she talks to father and daughter team Gordon and Audrey Baxter. You know, the people who make soup (Tue 3Jul 7pm)
Hadlo Four: Fans of Radio Four‘s brilliant satirical show Weekendlng need not despair when the series ends on 29 June. Little Blighty on the Downs takes over the Friday night slot on 6 Jul and isevery bit as funny. For those who didn‘t hearthe last series, Mrs Roberts is Little Blighty's very own Iron Lady, a village despot whose tyranny knows no bounds. And her position as Leader of the Parish Council really is ‘unassailable‘. Small-scale rebellions are crushed under foot and, needless to say, the other members ofthe Council are little more than gibbering, sycophantic ‘yes‘-mcn who would never dare to cross her anyway (Fri 6 Jul 11pm.
repeat Sat 5.25pm).
Hadlo Three: Radio Three’s drama output is small but mighty. And 6July's Friday Play-The Ascent of F6 (7.30pm), with a script by W.H. Auden and Christopher Isherwood and music by Benjamin Britten, certainly promises great things. The play was originally written for the experimental Group Theatre in the Thirties and was the most successful of a number of Auden/Isherwood/Britten collaborations. Described by its authors as a ‘tragedy in verse and prose‘. The Ascent of F6 traces an expedition‘s attempt to scale a haunted mountain in British Sudoland, known by the map reference F6. This production is unusual in that the text and score are being used uncut for the first time simce 1936.
Radio One Yet another candidate for the ‘biggest concert ever‘ accolade, Knebworth 90’s ten hours of live music are expected to raise millions of pounds for
“The List 29 June— 12 July 1990