LISTINGS TELEVISION
the collapse of communism, the end of utopian thinking. the domination of market forces and the chances of Gazza being fully fit for the European Championship.
I Spender (BBCl) 9.30—10.25pm. Jimmy Nail looks more and more lugubrious as the Geordie detective on the trail of missing footballer Kenny Cooper. who has done a runner from atop ltalianclub. with a £1 million instalment of the transfer fee due to be paid.
I Quantum Leap (BBCZ) 9—9.50pm. Scott Bakula as the time-trapped scientist Sam Beckett finds himself incamated as a high-school quarterback entrusted with preventing his football partner from ruining his career by throwing a match.
I 40 Minutes: Suburbs In The Sky ( BBCZ) 9.50-10.30pm. Another chance to see Chris Petit‘s informal profile of the air stewardess. looking at the truth behind the glamorous image, the misery behind the miniatures.
WEDNESDAY 5
I Rapldo (BBC2) 7.30—8pm. Antoine De Caunes offers his tips for ‘92 including Daisy Chainsaw and acid jazz outfit The Brand New Heavies.
I Van Der Valk (Scottish) 8—10pm. Barry Foster returns as the Dutch ‘tec. investigating a shooting outside a restaurant.
I Travelog (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. Lady Valerie Solti explores the cultural wealth of Bologna, going beyond the spaghetti sauce to show a city of colonnades, beautiful churches and Europe‘s oldest university.
I Acceptable Risks (BBC2) 9- 10.30pm. Brian Dennehy and Christine Ebersole star in a gritty TV movie about a chemical plant flirting with disaster when commercial pressures lead to a redefinition of what exactly constitutes an ‘acceptable risk‘.
I Churchill: Never Despair (BBCI) 9.30—10.30pm. The TV biography concludes with Churchill triumphant on VE Day but defeated in the General Election. He returned to power in 1951 but ill-health forced his retirement in 1955. He died ten years later aged 90. I Golden Girls (Channel 4) 10-10.30pm. Dorothy gets a call from an old friend who stood her up for her senior prom. Dorothy plots revenge.
I The 291 Club (Channel 4)
l 1.30pm—12.30am. More courageous contestants brave the Hackney Empire crowd. Introduced by DJ Elayne and Miles Crawford. Off, off, off.
THURSDAY 6
I The Munro Show (Scottish) 6.30—7pm. Muriel Gray clambers up Slioch this week, enjoying the view across Loch Maree.
I Elizabeth B(BBC1)8—9.50pm. A unique (well probably not actually, as the Palace usually insists on Royal programmes being completely devoid of any balls whatsoever) television portrait of the Queen tocommemorate her 40 years on the throne. ‘Unprecedented access‘ has been granted, although it is unlikely that this will include Prince Philip telling his favourite mother-in-law jokes.
I We Reeves' Big nght Out (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. Repeated surrealism from Vic and Bob. The man with the stick is back from holiday, but Les is feeling very
poorly. I A Bit Of Fry And Laurie (BBCZ) 9-9.30pm. Steve and Hugh in more self-indulgent wordy comedy sketches that are too bloody clever-clever by half. further education has got a lot to answer or. I Taggart: Double Exposure (Scottish) 9—10pm. The second part of the three-part story. Taggart and J ardine are keen to arrest Danny Lal, but are not the only ones out to nail him.
I Brides 01 Christ (Channcl4) 10—11.05pm. Australian drama set in a Sydney convent during the 1960s. Everone wants to lay the convent‘s first lay teacher Ian MacGregor (Philip Ouast) but his left-wing views cause strife with the authorities.
I NB (Scottish) 10.45—1 l . 15pm. Entertainment events reviewed and previewed by Janice Forsyth. Bryan Burnett and Allan Campbell.
I Just For Laughs (Channel 4) 11.05—11.40pm. Clive Anderson hosts highlights from the 1991 Montreal Comedy Festival. The third programme features Roseanne Barr. Milton Berle, Bill Hicks, Larry Miller. Bobcat and Richard Belzer plundering esoteric topics. I Late Night Love: Call 01 The Wild
(Channel 4) 12.05-1.25am. Alaska Man magazine features lonely Alaskan men looking for the chance to find romance in a state where 82 per cent ofthe population is male. See preview.
FRIDAY 7
I 100% (BBCZ) 7. 15—8pm. The new-look ‘youth‘ show investigates the problem of the controversial and mysterious disease ME, as well as reporting on a disease of another sort; teenage stand-up comedians.
I Grace And Favour (BBCl ) 8-8.3llpm. The ex-staff of Grace Brothers department store continue to contrive feeble pussy jokes while running their country hotel.
I Victoria Wood As Seen On TV (BBCZ) 9—9.3me. The repeated comedy series continues. with guests includingJulie Walters and Patricia Routledge.
I Cheers (Channel 4) 9—9.3(lpm. Rebecca asks a naturally reluctant Sam to visit a fertility clinic to find out why she isn‘t pregnant yet.
I Arena: Oliver Stone (BBCZ ) 9.3(i—1().30pm. An in-depth report on America's controversial film-maker to coincide with the UK opening ofStone‘s JFK. Stone looks back on his life and work, his (voluntary) service in Vietnam and his early films. as well as talking about his version of the Kennedy story.
I Dream On (Channel 4) til-10.35pm. Martin refuses to listen to reason when he gets back with an old flame. ()nly his ex-wife‘s perfect new husband can save the day.
I Whose Line Is It Anyway? (Channel 4) 10.35-11.05pm. Clive Anderson hosts more scraping-the-barrel improvisation.
I Rock The Box: Abba The Movie (Channel 4) 12.05am—l .50am. Something ofa kitsch classic on the late-night cinema circuit. this might lose some ofthe magic on the small screen. Abba hit Australia with the songs. the sequins and Abbamania. while a hapless DJ tries to get that exclusive interview. Directed in 1977 by Lasse Halstrom who went on to make the distinctly less tacky My Life/45A Dog.
SATURDAY 8
I Right To Reply (Channel 4) 6.30—7pm. Sheena McDonald hosts another collection of complaints from the Video Box, and studio discussions.
I Fine Cut: Innocents Abroad (BBCZ) 7.50—9. 15pm. A film from Les Blank, the renowned chronicler ofsmall-town Americana. He follows a Mid-West family on their first visit to Europe, attemptingto do nine cities in two weeks, and witnessing the changes sweeping through Eastern Europe.
I Inspector Morse (Scottish) 8—10pm. John Thaw as the Oxford aesthete detective. supping real ale. whistling opera arias and hanging up the odd villain in his spare time.
I TV Heaven (Channel 4) 8—1 1pm. Frank Muir introduces the first of a regular Saturday night selection of classic TV shows from the archives. interspersed with contemporary ads and newsreels. The first year is 1967. and programmes selected include Elsie Tanner‘s wedding in Coronation Street, A! Last The l 948 Show. a Monty Python forerunner. and a classic Frost interview with conman Emil Savundra. See feature.
SUNDAY 9
I The Darling Buds 01 May (Scottish) 7.45-8.45pm. Larkin about with Pam Ferris. David Jason and Catherine Zeta Jones in the popular H.E. Bates adaptation.
I Love]oy(BBC1) 8.15—9.10pm. Ian McShane stars as the Antiques Roadshow style sleuth on the trail of dodgy villains. and trying to make a profit at the same time.
I Maigret (Scottish) 9—10.45pm. Michael Gambon plays Simenon’s classic detective in a brand new series. The atmosphere of 50s Paris has been lovingly recreated by filming in Budapest, which also saved several hundred thousand pounds. Those Granada people don‘t miss a trick.
I Screen Two: The Lost Language DlCranes (BBC2) 10.05—11.35pm. Brian Cox stars as a middle-aged man forced to come to terms with his own homosexuality when his son (Angus McFadyen) confesses he is gay. See preview.
MDNDAY1D
I Don Diovanni(BBC2)7.10—9pm. Mozart‘s most successful opera is given a special production to mark the Queen’s40 years on the throne. Live from the Royal Opera House
I El CID (Scottish) 9-10pm. John Bird appears as the Costa Brava investigator, aided by his daughter (Amanda Redman).
TUESDAY 11
I Class Action (Channel 4) 8—8.30pm. The third edition of the hard-hitting documentary series looking at the problems besetting Britain‘s education
system.
I Spender (BBCl ) 9.30-10.25pm. Jimmy Nail stars as the less-than-polished plain-clothes copper fighting crime on Tyneside.
I40 Minutes (BBCZ) 9.50—10.3me. A film looking at the monomaniac quest of one man to discover a plane that he believed crash-landed in the jungle in the Second World War.
I Single ears, Single Women (Channel 4) 10-1 1.45pm. A mysterious ‘investigative‘ TV movie from 1984. with much promise concealed in that title.
WEDNESDAY 12
I The Brit Awards (BBCl ) 7-8pm. Assorted naffoids queue up to collect their prizes for making record companies the most amount of money in '91 . Carter USM enlivened proceedings last year. but their spot of mayhem seems unlikely to be repeated.
I The Reconstructed Heart (Channel 4) 9—10pm. Robert Llewellyn presents aTV version of the satirical lecture he brought to the Edinburgh Fringe last year. offering a spoof academic analysis of New Man's attempts to embrace feminism. One joke overstretehed was our Fringe reviewer's verdict. How will the TV version shape
u ?
I The Secret Cabaret ( Channel 4)
10.30—1 1pm. Simon Drake presents another collection of grisly stunts. gothic illusions and a fascinating expose of con-men‘s tricks.
I The Fourth Protocol (Scottish) 10.45pm—1.()5am. Michael Caine stars in a confusing adaptation ofthe Frederick Forsythe novel. He plays a middle-aged spycatcher from the Le Carre school in a nicely low-key performance, but there‘s little tension or credibility in the creaking Cold War plot.
I The 291 Club (Channel 4) 11.30pm—12.3()am. Hackney Empire plays host to more wannabes trying to bring a little bit of Harlem to East London. Introduced by DJ Elayne and Miles Crawford.
' THURSDAY 13
I The Munro Show (Scottish) 6.30—7pm. Muriel Gray continues to conquer Scotland‘s mountains and make niggly little comments along the way.
I Taggan: Double Exposure (Scottish) 9—10pm. The final part ofthe three-episode story with Taggart investigating a supposed suicide.
I The Germans (Channel 4) 9—10pm. The third in the four-part series looking at the largest country in the EC and its people. I Fire In The Blood (BBC?) 9.30—l().20pm. BBC2 looks at the Spanish, in a six-part series introduced by Ian Gibson, covering the culture, religion, history, attitudes and aspirations of a vibrant nation. Tonight‘s edition looks at how the lives of Spanish women have changed in the last decade. I Brides 01 Christ (Channel 4)
10—] 1.05pm. Irish actress Brenda Fricker stars as the disciplinarian nun in the Australia drama series set in a Sydney convent.
I NB (Scottish) 10.45—1 1.15pm. Entertainment events reviewed and previewed by J anice Forsyth, Bryan Burnett and Allan Campbell.
I Just For Laughs (Channel 4) 11.05—11.40pm. Clive Anderson hosts highlights from the 1991 Montreal Comedy Festival.
The List 31 January - 13 February 1992 51