EDIA
TV LISTINGS
FRIDAY 17
I Staying Alive (BBCI ) 7.30 9pm. (ioofy and toothy John Travolta returns asTony. six years after Saturday Night Fever. All copies of the movie should carry a ‘Strictly for Bee Gees fans'. warning. Fave songs include ‘The Woman in You'. ‘Life Goes on‘. ‘Moody Girl‘ and ‘Staying Alive'.
I NB Festival Cinema (Scottish) 10.35—11.05pm. A special programme devoted to Edinburgh‘s Film Festival. BUT. what happened to that witty. erudite knowledgeable John Cole type that Scottish had fronting their Film Festival programmes last year‘.’
I Edinburgh Nights: Ines de Castro ( BBCZ) l 1.20pm—12.5()am. John (‘lifford’s political drama set in 14th century Portugal. which was specially written for the Traverse Theatre. receives itsTV premiere with the same cast taking up where they left off on stage.
SATURDAY 18
I Lord ot the Lions: Adamson otAtrica (Channel 4) 8—9pm. Last year. George Born Free Adamson was killed by poachers in a game reserve in Kenya. just after the completion of this film. It now stands as a testament to his life and work. I Film on Four International: Veronica Cruz (Channel 4) 10—1 1 .55pm. Based on a true story overheard by director Miguel
Pc riera while shooting a documentary in the north-west of Argentina. the film sets out to give a more human angle tothe analysis of the Falklands War. It follows the life of Veronica Cruz from his birth in a remote area of Argentina to his death on board the General Belgrano.
I United: The Full Story(BB(‘l) 11.20pm—12.35am. An update ofSheffield United's turbulent season when BBC cameras were allowed unprecedented accesss to the dressing room. the board room and David Bassett's mastery of Anglo-Saxon.
SUNDAY 19
I Four Men and a Prayer (Channel 4) 2—3.35pm. Richard Greene. George Sanders. David Niven and William I Ienry
star as four brothers who are determined to clear the name oftheir father. recently court-martialled in India. Despite the fact that director Iluston's idea ofthe stiff-upper-lipped Englishman stretches credulity somewhat. the result is consistently entertaining.
I Scotsport Special: The Scottish League Centenary Match (SCottish) 3.05—4.05pm. To mark this auspicious centenary. the League have chosen eleven players. under the managership ofJim McLean. to take on a Scotland XI. understrength.
I Equinox: Selling The Secret (Channel 4) 7—8pm. The Soviet L'nion are ahead ofthe West in in their exploitation ofouter space. This documentary follows a group of open-mouthed scientists as they gawp their way round hitherto secret sites in the L'SSR. amazed at the level ofgovernment spending.
I John Brown's Body ((‘hannel 4 ) 8—9pm. John McGrath‘s ambitious project to capture the history of Scotland's heavy industries and industrial workers. which was staged at Glasgow‘s 'I‘ramway earlier this year. will be shown tonight and on two subsequent Sundays.
I Phantom ot the Opera ( BBC!) 8.35—lll.()5pm. (‘harles Dance is the hideously disfigured Phantom lurking in the Paris sewers. Driven almost in Seine by the voice of wardrobe girl Christine Daee (Teri Polo). he resolves to give her singing lessons and launch her into the world of opera. Gaston Laroux’s classic novel is brought to the TV screen in two parts. completed next Sunday. and boasts Burt Lancaster among the star-studded cast.
I Norbert Smith: A Life (Channel 4) 9—10an Another chance to catch l iarry Enfield as that great bastion ofBritish
comedy. Norbert Smith. was figs 7) Ills
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Ill—11.50pm. Doris Day and Rock Hudson continued their successful string ofscreen romances in this sparkling marital comedy. Hudson. wrongly believing he has only been given a few months tolive. thoughtfully sets out to find a husband for his wife after he kicks the bucket. Directed by Norman Jewison.
I A Walk on the Wild Side ( BBCZ) ll).2(lpm—12.15am. A prowling black cat promises much in the famousopening sequence of this medium-to-stcamv melodrama. Laurence Ilarvey star's asa country boy in search of his erstwhile love. ('apucine. only to fall in with wil' chil' Jane Fonda on the way to New Orleans.
MONDAY 20
I Power in the Pacific (Channel 4)
9- l()pm. Tonight's programme looks at the build-up of US forces in the north-west Pacific area since 1976. Despite claims at the time that their power there would decline. it has instead increased massively.
I Ain’t No Black in the Union Jack ( BBCZ) 9.50— 10.20pm. First in a series ofthree documentaries that will examine the failings of race relations legislation first introduced in 1965. Tonight‘s programme concentrates on reconstructions ofseveral outstanding cases under these laws.
I Up Yer Festival! (838) Ill—11pm. Live satellite broadcasting comes to the Edinburgh Fringe. and if you don't have a box to get it on you can pop round to the Infirmary Street venue — if you‘re in Edinburgh. that is. A mixture ofreports. sketches and guest performances are promised. as well as a variety ofhosts. Indeed. one night they will have the all-singing all-dancing Michael Grade at the helm. . .gasp!
I Street Warriors (Channel 4) 1.20—2.25am. Though it does sound like a documentary on internecine warfare among soap fans. it's actually a peek at the fast and vicious world of street hockey. Apparently. the game has reached a crossroads in its development.
TUESDAY 21
I The Thatcher Audit: A Climate oi Enterprise ((‘hannel 4) 9—1()pm. The very use of the accounting phrase in the title is testament to the effect ofeleven years under Thatch'. In this. the first ofthree hour-long programmes. John Plender of the Financial Times looks at the issue of privatisation and argues that it was a cause. not a consequence. of higher profits and greater productivity.
I The Towering lnterno (BBC 1 ) 9.3(lpm—12. lllam. Disaster movies. remember them'.’ Well. this was one ofthe first and most successful of the genre. Steve McQueen is the man responsible for rescuing the glittering cast list from the flaming l38-storey building.
I Edinburgh Nights (BBCZ) 11.15—11.55pm. (‘live Anderson looks at the comedy on offer. while Kirsty Wark goes down to the Grassmarket Mission and reports on a play being staged by the homeless.
I Boulez and the Twentieth Century (Channel 4) ll.S()pm—12.5()am. Pierre Boulez. composer. conductor and teacher. offers his views on modern music. The six programmes will give a brief initiation into melody. harmony. rhythm. tone. content and form.
I Tanita Tilraram —Ancient HeamChannel 4) I2.5(l- 1.50am. YoungTanita sings her heart out in a quarry. on an island offthe Norwegian coast — best place for her.
WEDNESDAY 22
I lie-Play: A Future in Fish (Channel 4) 9.45— lllpm. Nothing to do with the recently-screened traumas of Billy the amazing fishlike goalkeeper. this is a short play about a boy who hates the idea of being a fishmonger and wants to be a
copper instead. However. his father plans to sabotage his interview with the flatfeet. IAbsoluIelHChannel 4) l(l—l().45pm. Never trust a show with the words ‘zany' or ‘eccentric‘ preceding the word comedy in the publicity blurbs. Strangely. though. Michael Grade is booked to make a guest appearance. as he will at the Fringe shortly too. Is he planning to branch out and give himself a new comedy show‘.’
I Sex Talk: Climax or Anti-Climax (Channel 4) 10.45—11.30pm. Right. stopthe sniggering. If you can't take this seriously I‘ll switch it off now. This is the first of fifteen sessions in which young people get together and make programmes »~ live on the air. I said stop it! "I‘onight.presenter Mark Chase and his guests discuss the mysteries of the orgasm and discuss ways of achieving sexual satisfaction. ‘I Iere‘s an idea sent in from a viewer in Glasgow. mmm. that looks interestingJohn.‘
I Les Mistons 12.35—12.55am. Francois Truffaut‘s first short film (made two years before Les Quuires ('enis ( '(mps) tells of the change from childhood to adolescence.
THURSDAY 23 n
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I The Play on One: Separation ( BBC 1 ) 9.3ll—I().5()pm. Rosanna Arquette and David Suchet star in this television adaptation ofTom Kempinski's play. in which a chronically ill actress from New York meets and eventually falls for a fat. miserable. phobia-ridden writer. See feature.
I NB (Scottish) 10.35— 1 1.05pm. What's going on throughout Scotland and not just at Edinburgh's Festival and Fringe.
I Chicken Ranch (Channel 4) limit—12.30am. Slightly fuller \ersion of the documentary first shown in 1982 that examines the lives of the women whowork at the large brothel 55 miles out of Vegas in the middle ofthe Nevada Desert. With a turnover of $2 million a year. this is no Cheapskate operation and besides the 12 girls and 2 madames. the ranch employsZ cooks. 3 maids and a gardener.
I The Scottish Education Debate (Scottish) 1 1.35pm— 12.35am. This being International Literacy Year. the programme asks what can be done to improve levels of literacy among members
ofthe Scottish Press.
The List 17— 23 August 1990103