TELEVISION LISTINGS
Sandi Toksvig and Mike McShane. Will they get together? What do you think?
I llarry Eniield's Television Programme (BBCz) 9—9.30pm. Harry once more dusts down his cast of characters, including the Victorian Rude Gardeners, the Thirty-Persons and Leslie Norris the Iackadaisical barman. Tonight Cilia tries to fix the Scousers up with a blind date.
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I True Stories: The Angel OlBengal (Channel4) 10—1 1 . 15pm. Former international model Rytasha became disillusioned with her glamorous lifestyle and searched for fulfilment in mystical religion. Now she uses her contacts in the glittering Palm Beach fashion world to finance her Bangladeshi charity. Food Relief.
IThe Full Wax (BBCI) 10. 15—1o.45pm. Ruby interviews Rupert Everett and Juliet Stevenson and also satirises a London entertainment what‘s on show, which might be slightly lost on those of us who don’t inhabit the metropolis.
I ND Bands (Scottish) 10.45—1 1 . 15pm. Songs from the best of Scots talent filmed on location. Acts featured are Lloyd Cole (who isn’t Scottish but what the hell). Botany 5, Gun, Colour Wheel, Carol Laula, Sugar Bullet and Michael Marra.
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(Channel 4) 11.20—11.55pm. Dave and his new band rock through the backdrops to their new album. from the North of
' I Dave Stewart And The Spiritual Cowboys ! England to LA.
I Short Stories: Flapping (Channel 4) 8.30-9pm. A glimpse into the world of unauthorised horse-racing in the Brecon Beacons. where there is a deadly rivalry between the local farmers and the townies from the valleys. On the ‘flapping‘ tracks there are very few rules and plenty of illegal gambling.
I Arena: An Argentinian Joumey(BBC2) 9—10pm. Jana Bokova‘s film is spread over three evenings, exploring the diverse musical heritage of a huge and relatively unknown Argentina: the world ofthe gaucho and the pampas.
I Cheers (Channel 4) 9—9.3opm. Frasier and Lilith are coerced into renewing their wedding vows. while Sam anticipates the
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final settlement of Norm‘s bar tab.
I Comic Beliei1992: Behind The Nose (BBC1)9.2o—1 1.20pm. The comedy charity takes a break from asking you for money this year. to look at where the funds go and how they are used, from Scotland to the Sudan. In amongst the films and reports are some golden moments of classic comedy.
I Bertrand Tavemier Season: These Foolish Things (BBC2) 10—1 1 .45pm. The film that marked Dirk Bogarde‘s return to film acting after thirteen years‘ absence. He plays the ailing father becoming reconciled to his daughter (Jane Birkin). but in the process excluding his wife Odette Laure. It‘s a poignant and intimate tale of family ties that occasionally lapses into sentimentality.
I Roseanne (Channel 4) 1o—10.3opm. The first of a two-part special sees Roseanne and Dan summoned to Las Vegas to be witnesses at the surprise wedding ofthcir obnoxious friend Arnie (played by Roseanne‘s real-life husband Tom Arnold).
I Desperately Seeking Roger (Channel 4) 11pm—12 midnight. The one-gag-and- we‘ve-heard-it man Julian Clary heads off to New York in search of romance and Roger Whittaker. Instead he finds Eartha Kitt, Quentin Crisp. Brooke Shields and others.
SATURDAY 18
I Charming Worms (Channel 4) 6-6.3opm. I kid you not. After Kabaddi and Sumo. Channel 4 has discovered worm-charming, filming the International Festival at Blackawton. Contestants are given their own plot ofearth and have fifteen minutes to lure as many little wrigglers to the surface as possible. The record currently stands at 149.
I The Burbs(BBC1)6.55—8.35pm.Tom Hanks stars in this uneven satire on suburban paranoia from directorJoe Dante who was responsible for the Gremlins movies.
I Right To Reply (Channel 4) 6.30—7pm. Sheena McDonald hosts another collection of complaints from the Video Box. and studio discussions.
I TV Heaven: 19508 (Channel 4) 8pm—midnight. Shows from back before your mother was born. We open up with Oh Boy! featuring lots of clean-cut British pop stars, then, oh no it‘s The Bob Monkhouse Show with the Sultan of Smarm himself. The equally horrific Hughie Green introduces Double Your Money. before the evening draws toa close with The Adventures Of Robin Hood and the Mountie at Scotland Yard series Di01999.
I The Bertrand Tavernler Season: The Undeclared War (BBCz) 9.05pm—1 .osam. An arduous four hours ofgrim
if. documentary viewing focusing on the t". French Vietnam .the Algerian warof
1954—1962 which caused over a million deaths and brought France to the brink of
. a military takeover.
SUNDAY 19 _
I Sootspori (Scottish) 5-6pm. Jim White
" introduces soccer highlights from the
Premier League plus snippets ofaction
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I Forever Green (Scottish) 7.45—8.45pm. John Alderton and Pauline Collins as the twee Boults continue to do their bit for the planet in the sickly environmental comedy drama.
I The House or Bernarda Alba (Channel 4) 8—1o.35pm. Glenda Jackson and Joan Plowright star in a version ofLorca‘s classic play set in an all-female household in pre-war Spain. The bitter domestic infighting is such that. when a suitor proposes to the eldest daughter Angustias, repressed passion erupts into sexual jealousy and hysteria.
I Rita. Sue And Bob Too (Channel4) 10.35pm—12.2oam. Underrated at the
time but with repeated viewings this has to be one of the finest British social realist films ever made, in a crude. drab, depressing but hilarious sort of way. Siobhan Finncran and Michelle Holmes stomp through a run-down Bradford housing estate in their stilettos. escaping occasionally to babysit for the vulgarly affluent Bob (George Costigan). He takes them home via the hills and the catchprase 'Fancy a joomp?‘ is born. Director Alan Clarke maintains a nagging undercurrent of misery beneath the comedy. A modern classic.
MONDAY 20
I The Freddie Mercury Tribute ForAIDS Awareness (BBCz) 5—9pm. A live broadcast (simultaneously with Radio One) of the tribute concert. featuring David Bowie. Elton John. George Michael. Annie Lennox, U2. Seal. Robert Plant, Extreme. Metallica and SpinalTap. I Thunderhall (Scottish) 8—1o.45pm. It‘sa holiday or something so the [TV network shoves on the Bond films you‘ve seen countless times before. Sean Connery gets embroiled in some underwater frolics with sharks and SPEC'I‘RE agents.
TUESDAY 21
I Medics (Scottish) 9—10pm. More traumas. both medical and personal. for the staff of Henry Park hospital. IThaclter(BBC1 ) 9.30—1 1pm. The hammy old luvvie Leslie Phillips plays George Thacker. a crusty ex-colonial type finding more than he bargained for in the supposedly sleepy village of Fladcote. A one-off comedy thriller whodunnit type of thingy.
I Jesus or Montreal (Channel 4)
topm—12. 15am. Denys Arcand's acclaimed and visually exceptional film stars Lothaire Bluteau as an actor commissioned by the Church to revive a version ofthe Passion Play. His interpretation is a little too controversial for his employers and his own refusal to compromise serves as a loose parallel to the Gospel of St Mark. Arcand packs in plenty of sideswipes at modern society and religious hypocrisy. but doesn‘t allow the issues to get in the way of a lucid and literate tale.
WEDNESDAY 22 '
I The Buried Mirror (BBCz) 8—8.3opm. Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes presents the first in a five-part series on the influence of Spain on the identity and culture of Latin America. See preview.
I ENG (Channel4) 1 1pm—midnight. The return of the Channel 1onews-gathering team in the critically-acclaimed ‘issues and characters‘ drama series. described as ‘a TV News Hill Street Blues
I Death Wish ll (Scottish) 1o.3o—12.2opm. Michael Winner's execrable series of vigilante movies continued with this 1981 shocker. Bronson sets out to avenge the rape and murder of his daughter (only severely traumatised in the first film. you‘ll remember) and this time takes distinct satisfaction in blowing away the miscreants.
THURSDAY 23
I The Crystal Maze (Channel 4) 6—7pm. Richard O‘Brien returns with a new series ofthe tricky game~show. It‘s a kind of Krypton Factor with laughs and crap prizes. and most of the entertainment is derived from the shameless way O‘Brien ridicules the appalling yuppie contestants. I LA Law (Scottish) 9—10pm. More from the Californian lawyers who are usually so busy sorting out their own lives that they have little time for clients.
I True Stories: The Cassel (Channel 4) 1o—11.3opm. A report on the highly respected psychiatric hospital in South London, which uses therapy rather than drugs to help patients face up to their traumas.
60 The List 10- 23 April 1992