MEDIA '1 SATURDAY 2
I The Student Prince (Channel 4) 1—3pm. Mario Lanza lurks behind the backdrop and does the singing in this fairytale about a prince studying at Heidelberg. who falls in love with an innkeeper‘s daughter. and wants to renounce his royal title. Andrew Neil would not be impressed.
I Rhythms Oi The World: Viva Zimbabwe! (BBC2) 7.40—8.35pm. A music special featuring the first major British TV interview with Thomas Mapfumo. who spotlights some of Zimbabwe‘s leading musicians and talks about his country‘s musical development.
I Armed And Dangerous ( BBC 1)
ITwln Peaks (BBC2) 9-9.50pm. Mysterious Facts From Twin Peaks #2: The Christian name of the actor who plays Bobby is Dana.
I Spender; Well Well Well (BBCl) 9.30—10.25pm. The bedraggled Geordie has to rescue his sidekick from a murder rap. in the last episode of [an La Frenais and Jimmy Nail‘s gritty, offbeat drama.
I Omnibus: Sidney Lumet(BBC1) 10.55—11.45pm. A profile of one ofthe USA‘s top directors. refreshingly free of . ego, who insists that all his films are collaborative efforts.
and wealthy entrepreneur confesses to an obsession with danger. both in his personal and business life.
I Cutting Edge: A Special Hospital (Channel 4) 9—llipm. A hopefully more sensitive treatment of the problems of mental illness. in Channel 4'sincisive documentary series.
I The Manageress (Channel 4) 10—1 lpm. Cherie Lunghi's boys are back on form. torn between loyalty to trainer Eddie and their inspirational manager. with the new skipper caught in the middle.
I Sport In Question (Scottish) 10.55—11.55pm. More studio-based discussion on topical sporting issues. hosted by Archie MacPherson.
A‘ g. a
I Pin-Up Girl (Channel 4) 2—3.35pm. Every Air Force pilot's favourite fuselage decoration Betty Grable is said girl. playing a secretary with a yearning to be an entertainer (and who can blame her?) She falls for war hero John Harvey. and happy endings are an inevitability. I Excess (BBCl ) 7.35—8pm. Richard Jobson speaks to playwright Donna Franceschild about her play ‘And The Cow Jumped Over The Moon‘, which tackles the subject ofbreast cancer. I inspector Morse: Fat Chance (Scottish) 8-10.0(ipm. More clues and frustrations for John Thaw as the Oxford acsthcte. Tonight he finds romance in an unlikely setting. as he investigates the death ofa woman deacon. I Short And Curlles: Treacie (Channel 4) 9.15-9.30pm. Another in the series of short playlets.Treac1e concerns a dispute between three generations of a family squabbling over the rights to a popular song written by the old grandfather, a former comedian. I Nlce Work (BBC2) 9.25-10.20pm. The final episode of the David Lodge adaptation sees Robyn back at university musing on the real-life applications ofthe Victorian novel. I The Golden Girls (Channel 4) 10—10.30pm. Classic reruns from the first series. featuring some of the dirtiest innuendocs ever used in a popular sitcom‘a Tonight Blanche announces her impending wedding to a distinctly strange suitor. ITheVerdlct(BBC1)10.10pm-12.15am. Sidney Lumet is back to his favourite courtroom setting for this 1982 drama. Paul Newman is a down-on-his-luck lawyer who comes up against Boston‘s most successful and ruthless attorney. in a medical malpractice suit. I Vic Heeves' Big Night Out (Channel 4) 10.30—11pm. Return of the white-suited weirdo with the usual assembly of surreal novelty acts and the defiantly unsexy Les. See feature. I Original Sin (Scottish) 10.55pm—12.40am. Sharon and John Richards are devastated when their only child is kidnapped. Their only solution to the problem is to turn to John‘s father Louis Mancini (Charlton Heston). a Mafia boss whom John had always claimed was dead. An interesting thriller about moral dilemmas.
I City Lights (BBC2) 8—8.3Upm. A repeat showing for the last series, starring Gerard Kelly as the frustrated novelist not giving up the day job in abank.
I The Orchid House (Channel 4) 8.30-9.35pm. The second part ofthe costume drama brings us to 1938, and Stella returns to Dominica to find her problems haven‘t changed. Daddy's still an opium addict, and handsome cousin Andrew‘s dying of consumption. Families eh?
I lied Dwarf (BBC2) 9—9.30pm. More interstellar comedy from Chris Barrie, Craig Charles and Robert Llewellyn as the android Kryten. encountering problems with a rogue ‘justice field‘.
I True Stories: Gracewell (Channel 4) 10.30pm—midnight. Gracewell is the only clinic in Europe devoted to the treatment of men who sexually abuse children. This film features harrowing scenes as offenders come to terms with their crimes and talk frankly about their paedophiliac inclinations.
I NB (Scottish) 10.45—11.15pm. Bryan Burnett, Allan Campbell and Janice Forsyth go out and about, keeping you up to date on the Scottish arts and entertainment scene.
FRIDAY '
I Cheers (Channel 4) 9—9.30pm. Barman Woody suffers an attack of guilt after agreeing to advertise a vegetable drink that tastes as awful as vegetable drinks usually do.
I Arena: Caroline 199: A Plrete’sTala (BBC2) 9.30-10.30pm. Caroline was the pirate station that caused the wholesale restructuring of British radio. Arena’sfilm asks how founder Ronan O‘Rahilly managed this solely by playing old Deep Purple album tracks.
I Roseanne (Channel 4) 10—10.30pm. ‘Like A Virgin’ is the title ofthisweek’s episode. as Roseanne decides to give Becky the talk about boys, so tune in if you‘re still waiting for your mother to do the same.
I SerplCO(BBC1)10.20pm—12.25am. More Sidney Lumet. and more Al Pacino, the latter playing an unconventional plain-clothes cop, whose idealism and refusal to play along with his colleagues corrupt ways make him an outcast. A disturbing and powerful thriller.
I Whose Line is it Anyway (Channel 4) 10.30—11pm. Improvised games presented by Clive Anderson, with guests Mike McShane, Paul Merton, Jim Sweeney and Steve Steen.
IThe Word (Channel 4) 1 1pm—midnight. More music~related mindlessness with Amanda De Cadenet, Michelle Collins and Terry Christian.
I Lady oi The Tropics (Scottish) 3.10—5.05am. Robert Taylor and Hedy Lamarr star in a heady drama/romance set in Saigon. An American playboy marries a half-caste girl, but a former admirer prevents her from obtaining a passport.
THURSDAY 28 '
8.35—10pm. The dreaded adjectives ‘wacky‘ and ‘zany' are called into play to describe this 1986 comedy starring John Candy. An ex-cop and an inept lawyer join forces as security guards. but find it difficult differentiating between cops and crooks. Expect lots of car chases and obvious gags.
I The Godlather Family: A Look Inside (BBCZ) 8.35—9.15pm. Adocumentary analysis of what director Francis Ford Coppola describes as ‘the biggest home movie in history‘. The film also includes interviews with the films‘ stars Al Pacino. James Caan and Robert De Niro.
I The Godlather. Part ll (BBCZ)
IOpm—l . 15am. The second part of the saga finds Al Pacino as Michael Corleone attempting to legitimise the family‘s business interests, and also features substantial flashbacks to Sicily to show his father Vito's initial motivations to become a Mafioso. This sequel has been called two separate films within one. although it has also been acclaimed as vastly superior to the original.
I 4-Play: In The Border Country (Channel 4) 10—1 1 . 10pm. Another in the innovative series of video dramatisations, this concerns a family feud in Ulster. Once the first blood is spilt between the Atheys and the Maguires, the violence becomes unstoppable.
I The Pawnbroker(BBC1) l 1.10pm—1am. Another in the Sidney Lumet season. this stars Rod Steiger as a Jewish pawnbroker forced to fight his concentration camp memories. and come to terms with the realities of living in Harlem. An awkward. ifchallenging drama.
I Twin Peaks (BBC2) 1.15-2.05am. Repeat of Tuesday’s episode.
SUNDAY 3
I Viv on Sunday (Scottish) 3—3.30pm. Chat from Viv Lumsden and her guests, with filmed reports from around the country. I Butterflies (BBCl ) 8.35-9.05pm. More badly-dated Carla Lane comedy wth Wendy Craig. Geoffrey Palmer. Nicholas Lyndhurst and the gang.
I Screen Two: The Laughter or God (BBC2) 9.05—10.20pm. Another in the repeated TV film series, starring Peter Firth and Amanda Donohoe.
I Nightshllt (Channel 4) 9.45. l 1 .45pm. An excellent black comedy starring Henry ‘Fonz’ Winkler as a Wall Street wizard escaping the pressures of high finance by taking a job in a mortuary. Things get complicated when Michael Keaton blunders in and suggests turning the place into a sanctuary for harassed prostitutes. Charmineg tasteless. with plenty ofsharp one-liners.
I The South Bank Show (Scottish) lO.3()pm—12.()5am. Man 0‘ the Dales Melvyn Bragg introduces a profile ofthe ballet supremo Rudolf Nureyev.
MONDAY 4
I Horizon: Playing At Noah (BBC2) 8.10-9pm. A documentary film lookingat the lifestyle ofan ecologist rejoicing in the name of Ulysses S. Seal.
I Shrinks (Scottish) 9—lltpm. More mind-expanding situations at the psychiatric clinic. In this episode a young
I Connecting Rooms (Scottish) 12.45--2.45am. A stagey film adaptation of a play set in a boarding house. wherethe guests have more than a few secretsto conceal. With Bette Davis and Michael Redgrave.
TUESDAY 5
I Twin Peaks ( BBCZ) 9-9.5(lpm. We know whodunnit. so Agent Cooper and the sheriff settle down to the important business of demolishing doughnuts. and telling Audrey to stop smouldering all the time. it's embarrassing.
I Stations ( BBCl ) 931)- lllpm. An adaptation of a stage play begins BBC Scotland's series of one-person dramas. Andrew Keir plays an old soldier taking sanctuary in a deserted chapel. and making a compelling confession about his war experiences. See preview.
I The House By The Dvina(BBC1) l(l—1(l.4()pm. A documentary concerning Eugenie Fraser‘s memories ofher childhood spent in Archangel in the USSR.
WEDNESDAY 6
I OEO: The Power 01 SoundtBBCl) 9.30-lllpm. An investigation into the properties of ultrasound. demonstrating how it can shatter glass.
I The Golden Girls (Channel 4) l(l—1().3lipm. First series repeats. still crammed full of juicy one-liners from the four geriatrics.
I We Heeves' Big Night Out (Channel 4) [(1.30-11pm. More mirthful moments from the Man With The Stick. and assorted performing comestibles. See feature.
THURSDAY 7
I Ice Skating: British ice Speed Championships (Channel 4) 2.30—3.3(lpm. Action from Richmond lce Rink where double Olympic gold medallist Wilf O'Reiily faces a showdown with the wonderfully-named reigning British champion Stuart llorsepool.
I City Lights (BBCZ) 8—8.3(ipm. Repeated laboured jokes from Gerard Kelly as the bank clerk w ho‘d rather be creating great literature.
I The Orchid House (Channel 4) 8.30—9.45pm. Steamy goings-on in Dominica as the plot takes another twist in the third part ofthe sumptuous drama starring Diana Quick. Kate Buffery and Frances Barber.
I Red Dwarf (BBC2) 9-9.3(lpm. The spaceship and its motley crew hurtle through outer space on another expedition in search of punchy jokes and imaginative storylines. Sometimes they find them. sometimes they don't.
I 40 Minutes: A Moosehead For Mama (BBC2)9.3(l—l(i. llipm. An in-depth investigation into the arcane mysteriesof cheerlcading. You know the sort ofthing: waving the pompoms. learning the chants — it’s a complicated procedure.
I NC (Scottish) l().5S-1 1.25pm. Artsand entertainments info from around Scotland provided by our wacky trio ofpresenters.
70 The List 22 February — 7 March 1991