TELEVISION LISTINGS
Anti-poll tax crusader Brenda (Fiona McPherson) is dismayed to discover her husband has set up in business as a bailiff. I Oil The Page (Scottish) 10.45-1 l . 10pm. Jenny Brown speaks to Alastair Reid about his childhood in Galloway and his writing that has been inspired by histime in Spain. New York and the Dominican Republic.
I Siskel And Ebert (BBCZ)
11.15—1 1 .35pm. The sparring Chicago film critics size up Batman Returns. Hoasesitter and Nicolas Roeg's latest Cold Heaven.
I Talking Liberties: Paul Ricoeur(Channel 4) 12.30—1 . 15am. Sounds like a nasty cheap liqueur beloved of French lorry drivers doesn‘t he. but apparently he's one of the most adventurous and wide-ranging thinkers of this century. up there with the likes of Sartre and Terry Venables. Here he discusses human rights. moral philosophy and the interpretation oftexts. Get that coffee percolator on the go.
I Dracula Has Risen From The Grave (Scottish) 12.()5—l.45am. You bet he has. and he's not a happy vampire. Christopher Lee and Rupert Davies star.
TUESDAY 21
I Cocoon (Scottish) 8.30— 10pm. Oh no. aliens from another galaxy leave pods in the pool of a Florida retirement home. The old codgers are rejuvenated but all is far from hunky-dory. Don Amechc plays the chiefwrinkly.
I Colin's Sandwich (BBCZ) 8.3(l—9pm. A welcome repeat for an overlooked sitcom. Mel Smith plays Colin Watkins. tonight invited to write a television thriller. but having problems with the jargon.
I Rear Window: Images or Atlantis (Channel 4) 9—9.45pm. A profile of 82-year-old American photographer Milton Rogovin. discussing his work. while some of his subjects talk about their experience of being photographed.
I Sweet Liberty (BBCl)9.3()-—l 1.15pm. Michelle Pfeiffer. pre-Catwoman. appears in this zippy comedy with Alan Alda. Michael Caine and Bob Hoskins. She plays the actress who is to star in an adaptation of a historical work written by shy academic Alda. Caine plays the pushy leading man. and lloskins is the cynical screenwriter.
I The Night or The Iguana (Channel 4) lupin—12.10am. John Huston skilfully transfers Tennessee Williams's stage play to the screen. casting Richard Burton as an unfrocked priest turnetl tour guide in Mexico. and eventually finding redemption in the beachside hotel run by nymphomaniac Ava Gardner. And who wouldn't?
WEDNESDAY 22
I Green Pages (Scottish) 6.3(l—7pm. The first in an eight-part series devoted to opportunities for improving the environment. locally and globally. Presented by Pat O‘Mahoney. Shauna Hawthorne. Stephen Fulton and Gary Rimmer.
I OutiChannel 4) 9—«lllpm. The lesbian and gay magazine show reports on the
problems of being gay and Jewish in the excruciatingly-titled 0y Gay. featuring excerpts from Tony Kushner‘s playAngels In America and drag artiste Dave Lynn‘s rendition of ‘My Yiddisher Momma‘.
I Screenplay: Bitter Harvest ( BBCB) 9—1I).2()pm. A tense thriller set inthe Dominican Republic. starring Josette Simon as an aid worker who is made to feel less than welcome. When she goes missing her parents. played by Sue Johnston and Rudolph Walker fly over to investigate.
I CIA: Executive Action (BBCl) 9.3(l—l().25pm. The fifth programme in the series follows the Agency's attempts to assassinate Castro and their more successful capture of Che Guevara. IAbsolutely (Channel 4) lil.3(l—l 1.05pm. A selection of highlights from the third series with all your old favourites. Written and performed by Morwenna Banks. Jack Docherty. Moray Hunter. Gordon Kennedy. Peter Baikie and John Sparkes. I Moio Working (Channel 4)
l l.(l5—l 1.30pm. Little Richard features in some classic archive footage. performing classics like ‘Lucille'. ‘Tutti Frutti’. ‘Good Golly Miss Molly" and ‘Long Tall Sally".
THURSDAY 23
I On The Line (BBCZ) 8—8.3(lpm. John Fashanu introduces an Olympics special two days before the opening ceremony in Barcelona. profiling Andy Norman. the promotions officer who has become the key link between athletes and the marketing people. I The Comedians (Scottish) More ancient gags from some of the worst-dressed comics on the northern club circuit. I The Travel Show (BBCZ) 9—9.3t)pm. Penny Junor and intrepid traveller Matthew Collins present the consumers' holiday show. which includes a report from Norman Wisdom on his adopted home the Isle Of Man. You knowthe place: homosexuality is illegal. they still flog people and the roads are littered with dead motorcyclists. I 999 (BBCl ) 9.3(I—1(l.25pm. More true-life tales of derring-do from the emergency services. including the story of a young couple from Ayr who were trapped by a rising tide in a torrential storm. but were saved. thanks to their CB radio. I Talking Heads-A Chip In The Sugar (BBCZ) 9.30-10. lllpm. Alan Bennett performs his own monologue about a middle-aged man who lives with his mother. She has upset his orderly life by taking up with old flame Mr Turnbull. I Franco: Behind The Myth (BBCI )- 10.20—1 1.20pm. A look behind the veilof secrecy and collective amnesia that has obscured the fact that. until 1975. Spain was ruled by a fascist dictator. His daughter Carmen gives an exclusive interview about her father. who would sign death warrants over after-dinner coffee.
I Men Talk: The Casanova Complex (Channel 4) l().2(l— 10.50pm. A new series examining what it means to be a man in today's society. Richard Jobson hosts a discussion on seduction techniques and chat-up lines. See feature.
FRIDAY 24
I Cheers (Channel 4) 9—9.30pm. Diane has a fit of paranoia when Sam thinks her best friend has fallen for him.
I Virtual Murder (BBCI ) 9.30-10.20pm. The start of an original and playful new whodunnit series starring Nicholas Clay and Kim Thomson as a brilliant psychologist and his reckless sidekick who pit their wits against ruthless criminal elements. The series is packed with cameo appearances from the likes of J on
Pertwee. Hywel Bennett,Tony Robinson.
Helen Lederer. Bernard Bresslaw. Julian Clary and many more.
I Roseanne (Channel 4) 10—10.30pm. Roseanne feels left out when feisty daughter Darlene seeks advice from Dan about her new boyfriend.
I Little Big Man(BBC1) 10.20pm—12.35am. Dustin Hoffman stars as the 121-year-old (a big hand for those make-up artists) Jack Crabb. lying in a hospital bed and recalling the time when he was Little Big Man at Little Big Horn (please, it was abattle).
I Deadly Nights: Nightfall (Channel4) 11.30pm-12.55am. A stylishfilm noir starring Aldo Ray. pursued by the police for a bank robbery and murder he didn‘t commit. Unfortunately the real criminals are also after him for the loot. Confused? Look out for Anne Bancroft. She knows more than she’s letting on.
SATURDAY 25
I Olympic Grandstand (BBC1)5.15—9pm. Live from the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona. as the hair-gel capital ofthe world plays host to the Games. From here on in expect your schedules to be regularly interrupted as we rush offto the heats of the women‘s shot-put. This time. we‘re in Europe as well so all the main events fall into prime-time. This could be the opportunity to explore all the wonderful programmes they have on the ‘minority’ channels.
I The World This Week (Channel 4) 7—8pm. Sheena McDonald returns with a new series of the international affairs programme. There‘s a new format this time around. incorporating reports and comment from individuals around the world from contrasting perspectives.
I GBI'l (Channel 4) 9Ll().40pm. The Bleasdale saga continues with Michael Murray approaching his nemesis at the hands ofJim Nelson.
I Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (BBC 1) 10. 10-1 1 .50pm. The third instalment of the apocalyptic biker saga. Tina Turner crops up to give Mel Gibson a spot of grief as the queen of a cut-throat city.where Mel is forced into a gladiatorial-style battle to the death. Inferior sequel syndrome is much apparent.
SUNDAY 26
I The Cosby Show (Channel 4) 6.30—7pm. More comic capers from those lovable Huxtables, whose family gets more extended with every episode.
I Strathtrlalr(BBC1) 7.45—8.35pm. The rural ‘feelgood’ series set in 505 Perthshire continues to pit the Ritchies against their neighbours and often their livestock as well.
I Rhythms or The World: New Orleans Revisited (BBCZ) 9.20-10.20pm. The last programme in the series looks at jazz and the blues, exploring the lives of Louis Armstrong and Jelly Roll Morton through
the work of jazzman Freddy Hubbard arid comic strip artist Roger Crumb.
I Comfort And Joy (Channel 4)
10—1 1.55pm. The baddies don’t really come much tougher than a ‘99 flake in Bill Forsyth‘s lightweight comedy thriller, starring Bill Paterson as a lovelorn DJ who becomes involved in an ice-cream feud. IAnrrle Hall(BBC2)11.25pm—12.55am. Woody Allen‘s overrated comedy is'an angst-ridden tale of a neuroticJewish comedian (guess who?) and his love for a beautiful, if dippy WASP (Diane Keaton). Plenty of sharp one-liners but Allen‘s whining and Keaton‘s vacuousness become wearing long before the end.
I Cinemal CInemal: Cleo From 5 Till 7 (Channel 4) 12.25—2.0Sam. Cleo isa successful pop singer, who. depressed by an imminent medical report, quits her secluded life for the Parisian streets. Agnes Varda's airy lightweight film is oppressively playful and overlong, but has its moments.
MONDAY 27
I Silent Scream (Channel 4) 10—1 1 .45pm. David Hayman‘s gritty prison drama casts Iain Glen as Larry Winters, one of the first inmates of the experimental Barlinnie Special Unit. The film adopts a surreal and subjective approach tracing Winters' life through flashbacks.
I on The Page (Scottish) 11.40pm-12.10am. More bookish questions and answers with Jenny Brown interviewing Rumer Godden.
TUESDAY 28
I My Dead Dad (Channel 4) 8-8.30pm. The first episode of John McKay’s sparky supernatural comedy series. Eck (Forbes Masson) is up for an interview at the BBC. The last thing he needs is his fourteen-years-deceased dad (Roy Hanlon) cropping up in the Gents.
I Surrender (Scottish) 9—10pm, 10.40—11.30pm. Michael Caine stars as a pulp novelist generally pissed off with his lot. falling in love with broody commercial artist Sally Field. Sounds tosh doesn’t it, but the script is actually substantially more sharp and twisted than you’d expect from ‘romantic comedy‘.
WEDNESDAY 29
I Screenplay: Man To Man (BBCZ) 9—10pm. Tilda Swinton re-creates her stage role in a TV adaptation ofthe Manfred Karge play. She plays Ella Gericke, a woman who takes on the identity of her dead husband Max in order to survive in Hitler‘s Germany. In the course of the play she performs an extraodinary range of roles.
I Lucky Chances (Scottish) 9—10pm. 10.40-1 1.30pm. Just what we need: a Jackie Collins mini-series. Continued on Thursday. Get that central scheduler installed now, so we can write our complaining letters to somebody.
I Out (Channel 4) 9—10pm. A repeat of last year’s film on Tuttenhaus, the radical left gay squat in Berlin, with an update on subsequent events.
I NB (Scottish) 11.30pm—midnight. Out and about rounding up the usual suspects on the Glasg. . . sorry, Scottish artsscene.
THURSDAY 30
I The Travel Show (BBCZ) 94.30pm. More holiday advice at home and abroad with the team — Paddy Haycocks. Matthew Collins, Penny J unor and Carol Smillie.
I Early Travellers In North America (BBCZ) 10.10—10.30pm. The series that looks at the USA in frontier times through the writings of contemporary traveller, continues with a programme devoted to accommodation for the wayfarer.
I Men Talk (Channel 4) 10.20-10.50pm. Richard J obson introduces more candid chat from the panel of ill-assorted blokes.
58 The List 17— 3(lJuly 1992