TELEVISION LISTINGS
TELEVISION mam-
The best oi the rest oithe TV vievrlng overdue holiday period. For movie details see previous page.
FRIDAY 31
I Roseanne (Channel 4) 6—6.30pm. The final episode in the repeat run finds Roseanne looking for a quiet place to concentrate, so that she can begin her writing career.
I Caught In The Act(BBC1)8.30—9pm. Shane Richie introduces the critically reviled home video game-show that has nevertheless managed to attract 12 million viewers.
I Ouizbotvl (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. Will Buckley hosts the sporting quiz with the Daily Mail taking on the Mail On Sunday in a local derby.
I Cheers (Channel 4) 9—9.30pm. Woody is forced to act swiftly when a smooth French photographer tries a Green Card chat-up line on his girlfriend.
I The Good Guys (Scottish) 9L10pm. Nigel Havers and Keith Barron return asthe ill-matched flatmates having family problems.
I Gallipoli (BBCl) 10.20pm—12. 10am. Mel Gibson and Mark Lee star in Peter Weir‘s powerful First World War drama about the ANZAC expedition tothe Dardanelles. The two idealistic young athletes volunteer for service, but are soon awakened to the realities ofwar.
I The Funny Farm (Scottish) 11.10—11.40pm. Stu You Know Who introduces comedy from Jeremy Herrin, Owen O‘Neill, Kevin Kopfstein and Arthur Smith plus ‘music‘ from Wray Gunn and the Rockets.
I Rock The Box: Purple Rain (Channel 4) 12.05—2.10am. The diminutive Minneapolis misfit Prince stars in his first feature film as a struggling rock musician attempting to escape from a stultifying and unhappy home environment. The usual suspects form the supporting cast.
SATURDAY 1
I IIIgItI To lieply (Channel 4) 6.30—7pm. Sheena McDonald hosts another set of viewers’ complaints and ideas, and offel’s them a chance to tackle the programme-makers with their objections. I Fine Cut: Absolutely Positive (BBC2) 7.30—9pm. A new series of feature-length
documentaries offers independent directors the chance to combine their skills with their current passions. The first film is directed by Peter Adair who, having himself tested HIV positive, examines the lives of some of the estimated 1.5 million HIV positive Americans.
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I Sellers' Best (Channel 4) 9—10. 15pm. Launching a season of Peter Sellers' classic British films, this documentary looks at the early career of the comic actor. It is folowed by two offbeat short comedies, The Running, Jumping/ind Standing Still Film and The Case Of The Mukkinese Battlehorn, which are certainly not Sellers’s best, dogged as they are by the unfunny presence of Spike Milligan. I Aspel And Company (Scottish) 10.20—11.05pm. Bland Mike is joined by guests Shirley MacLaine and Diana Ross who performs one of her classic hits.
I Baron Munchhausen (BBC2)
9.50-1 1.40pm. Not Terry Gilliam‘s recent flop, but the original 1943 version conceived as a Nazi prestige film to rival Gone With The Wind. It was acclaimed at the time for its astonishing special effects, witty script and lush photography. Catherine the Great is played by the appropriately-named Brigitte Horney.
SUNDAY 2
I Scottish Lobby (BBC2) 12—12.30pm. The first Westminster-based programme dealing with Scottish issues, presented by parliamentary editor John Foster. I SCOIIiSI't in (Channel 4) 5—5.30pm. The investigative series looks at the mysterious death of Glasgow lawyer Willie McRae. I Whicker s World - Dovm Under (Channel 4) 8—8.30pm. Vintage Whicker starting a six-part series by interviewing outback farmer Len Casley who declared his farm an independent nation, after a dispute with the government. He styled himself Prince Leonard and has his own stamps, currency and airforce. I Signs CI The Times: That Little Bit Dinerent (BBC2) 8.05-8.55pm. The series that seems to have an uncanny appeal for the snobbish chattering classes concludes with a report on people’s public profile. This programme has unveiled a tragic level of pettiness and emptiness in the lives of both its subjects and its avid viewers.
I On The Edge: Improvisation In Music (Channel 4) 8.30-9.30pm. A new series looking at the importance and history of improvised music, starting with a visit to Chicago’s Chinatown where youngsters are being taught how to make their own forms of music. See Music preview.
I Trying Times (BBC2) 8.55—9.25pm. This week’s episode of the offbeat American comedy import stars Spalding Gray and Jessica Harper as a couple uncertain whether to have a child.
I The Cloning Oi Joanna May (Scottish) 9.05—10.35pm. The second and concluding part of the Fay Weldon adaptation sees Joanna coming face to face with her replicas.
I One Foot in The Grave(BBC1) 9.05—9.40pm. A new series of the unaccountably popular sitcom about a misanthropic old git played by Richard Wilson (still to match the genius of his performance in Tutti Fruiti).
I Burning Books (Channel 4) 9.30pm—10pm. The irreverent book review programme returns for a new series. Fiona Pitt-Kethley's The Literary Companion To Sex and Graham Swift‘s Ever After are reviewed, and the seriously irritating Robert Elms discusses travel books.
I Screen Two: The Count Oi Solar(BBC2) 10.10-11.30pm. The extraordinary story of a young deaf mute boy (played by deaf actor Tyron Woolfe) in 18th century France, saved from the horrors of an asylum by the Abbe de l’Epée (David Calder). The Abbe devises a form of sign language and learns that the child isthe abandoned child of an aristocratic family. I The South Bank Show (Scottish) 10.35-11.35pm. Melvyn Bragg presents a profile of the Australian poet Les Murray. Strewth.
MONDAY 3
I The Munsters Today (Scottish) 3.25—3.55pm. New-fangled fun in the new Munstcrs series. Not as good as the originals is what everyone will say.
I Open To Question (BBC2) 7.05—7.40pm. An audience of young people question Northern lreland civil rights activist and former MP Bernadette McAliskey about her past and present activities. John Kelly sees fair play. See preview.
I The Falklands War: Bloody Chaos (Channel 4) 9—10pm. An apt description of the land battle to recapture the islands. A tactically sound British campaign was marred by political pressure from London and internal rivalries within the military. Commander Jeremy Moore described victory as ‘a damned close-run thing‘.
I Bye Bye Columbus (BBC2) 9—9.50pm. Peter Bames’s quirky play stars Daniel Massey as Columbus remembering his travels in the form of a conversation with his argumentative parrot, Polly. Unscrupulous and greedy, Columbus remains convinced that he had reached China rather than Cuba. Eventually he is cheated out of his rewards by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of Spain, two characters even more manipulative and cunning than Chris himself, which was going some.
I thlrtysomethlng (Channel 4) 10—10.55pm. The final series is ploughing new depths of nauseating sickliness. Tonight Michael is beset by professional pressures and his responsibilities towards Gary‘s widow Susannah.
I The Pall Bearer's Revue (BBC2) 10—10.30pm. Jerry Sadowitz continues the hit-or-miss comedy series, although he has ’ yet to explain why he’s taken to spelling his name with a ‘J’. ls it because it‘s more showbiz?
I Sport In Question (Scottish) 10.45—11.45pm. Archie Macpherson presents the sports discussion show, asking whether Hearts can maintain a serious challenge to Rangers in the Premier League. Guests are Hearts manager Joe Jordan, athlete Steve Cram and commentator Gerry McNee.
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I Global image: Amazon Sisters (Channel 4) 10.55pm—12.55am. The feature-length documentary series continues with an examination of the women ofthe Amazon, who are the first to take to the streets, occupy and strike to defend their environment in the face of developers.
TUESDAY 4
I Eilton (Scottish) 6.30-7pm. The religious series that looks at moral and ethical issues, presented by Don Lindsay, Maria MacDonnell and Simon Biagi.
I Gamesmaster (Channel 4) 6.30—7pm. Dominik Diamond presents the lively and original show devoted to computer and arcade games. Tonight Jimmy White hasa go at the snooker game that bears his name, while Matt from Neighbours takes part in a simulation ofa Ramsey Street skateboard race.
I Murder Squad (Scottish) 9— 10pm. ‘Unprecedented access‘ and all that. For the first time Scotland Yard have allowed film cameras to follow their famous Murder Squads in action. The first programme follows the investigation into the murder of Douglas Piper.
I Without Walls: Fin De Siecle (Channel 4) 9thpm. Salman Rushdie, Alain Fienkelkraut (crazy name, crazy guy) and Stuart Hall (the cultural critic rather than the It’s A Knockout presenter presumably) discuss deep things related to
60 The List 31 J anuary- 13 February 1992