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TELEVISION REVIEW
V RADIO
I Boom 101 Writer/comedian/star of Carling Black Label ads Stephen Frost chats with Nick Hancock about his least favourite things, among which are a record by Terry Scott. Radio 5, Fri 25, 2.30pm.
I A Good Bead Two comedians, Paul Merton and Griff Rhys-J ones do what comedians love doing best — get all serious and intellectual. Here they talk to Edward Blishen about their favourite books.
Radio 4, Fri 25, 3.30pm.
I Waiter CR Taylor, a man burdened with over-exposure during the Edinburgh Festival, has one of his plays adapted for radio in this acclaimed production. Peter Kelly takes the title role as a Glaswegian Jewish entertainer.
Radio 3, Sun 27, 9.45pm.
I The Queen and I Exceedingly snappy transfer to radio for Sue Townsend’s new novel which sees
the royal family kicked out of Buck House and living on a council estate. Radio 4, Mon 28, 8.43am.
I The Achievers: Peter Howson An intimate and revealing interview with the ‘New Glasgow Boy’ who is rapidly becoming one of the hottest properties in the art world.
Radio Scotland, Tue 29, 1.30pm and 7.02pm.
I Night Waves Something of a coup for Radio 3, as Humphrey Carpenter's guest is Martin Scorsese, who discusses the influence of the great British filmmaker Michael Powell.
Radio 3, Tue 29, 10.45pm.
I Radio 1 ’8 Birthday All-day celebrations for the 25th anniversary of the launch of Britain‘s premier pop station. Among the highlights are reflections on a decade of Steve Wright, 3 birthday party on the roof of Broadcasting House, and Simon Bates on a train travelling from Edinburgh to London. Highlights?? Radio 1, Wed 30, all day.
I Cult Heroes: Malcolm x Watch the celebrities come rushing to the microphone when they are given the chance to praise Mr X. Magenta de Vine finds enthusiastic supporters in the form of Maya Angelou, Chuck D and Flavor Flav (the latter two from Public Enemy, perhaps the most prominent upholders of X’s tradition of Black Power).
Radio 5, Thurs 1, 9.30pm.
‘It’s not elitist-whatever that stupid word means,’ claims Waldemar Januszczak ol the new season at Without Walls, clearly determined to light his comer. Januszczak was the man who rultled more than a law leathers in the capital earlier this year by describing the Edinburgh Festival as a parochial little event, taken over by Scottish nationalists. To prove his point, the head oi Channel 4 arts programmes was notable tor his absence.
When he is not deridlng Edinburgh, though, Januszczak is handling the “logistical nightmare’ oi programming Without Walls, and, pained though we may be to admit it, doing so with a degree ol style. The arts strand makes use of that peculiarly successful remnant oi late-Bus Thatcherlsm, the independent production company, to provide the most eclectic mix of programmes in any time-slot on TV. The up-comlng series includes programmes on Brigitte Bardot made by Rapido TV, more ‘Obituary Shows' by Scotland’s Big Star in a Wee Picture and an allectlonate portrait oi the VW Beetle by Domino Films.
‘1 try very much to align more ambitious arts projects with popular culture,’ explains Januszczak. ’And, to me, that’s the future, lull stop. So in this series we’ve got E-Type Jags as well as a new play by Pinter, and we’ve gotJimmy Savlle as well as Michelangelo. In dlilerent ways, all those things have a very important part to play in people’s cultural interests and Without Walls, as the title suggests, is not bound to look at one or
Wall-to-wall carping
Joseph Locke appears in Without Walls’ And God Created Tenors
the other to the exclusion of everything else. it’s very keen on spreading the net wide.’
But surely wide net-spreading can result in sell-indulgent television. ‘Sell-lndulgent is one at those dreadful phrases that essentially usually means that somebody has been very ambitious and that somebody else didn’t quite understand why,’ says the admirably terse Januszczalr. ‘And I’m usually on the side at the person who is ambitious. Nothing worthwhile was ever achieved by somebody who was an aesthetic coward.’ (Philip Parr)
And God Created Tenors and The Tattooed Jungle, the first two shows in the Without Walls season are on Channel 4 at 9pm on Tuesday 6 October.
I Bugsy (18) Warren and Annette looking just as cute as could be in the film that swept the board for Oscar nominations and then proved to be one big damp squib in the awards ceremony itself. It‘s still a very polished movie , with Beatty particularly impressive. It‘s just not seminal. (Columbia Tristar)
I Coupe de Ville (15) Trans-American road movie featuring three guys and a car to kill for. The depth of characterisation and hilarious dialogue make this something of a film to kill for also. (Columbia Tristar)
I Men at Respect (18) No general release in Scotland due to a panning from the critics when shown in London, this up-date of the Macbeth story to contemporary gangster-land stars Barton Fink himself, John Turturro. (Columbia Tristar)
I
I Ricochet (18) Taking all the ‘best bits’ from every successful thriller of the past three years and shamelessly hashing them all together, the result, as one might expect, is entertaining but annoyingly bitty. Less predictable is the stratosphere-high level of violence , especially when our hero, Denzil Washington, is being tortured by the bad guys. (First Independent)
I The Doctor (15) William Hurt stars in this suprsisingly good film about a cynical doctor who contracts cancer and only then realises that ‘oompassion is his most important tool’ (quite). Luckily, a streak of black humour and Hurt's performance save the movie from becoming as
.I
sentimental as its press release. (Touchstone)
I Baby Snatcher (PG) (Odyssey)
Sell-Through
I Navy Seals ( 15) Oh dear, oh dear. In the middle of his post-Wall Street malaise, Charlie Sheen made this load of utter nonsense about the American equivalent of the 588, who seem to have impermeable- to-bullets upper bodies
and plenty of success with
the ladies (on this
: occasion. Joanne
Whalley-Kilmer). A genuinely dire film. almost worth buying because of its awfulness. (Vision Video£10.99)
I Laurel and Hardy-Busy
j Bodies/Midnight Patrol/The
Chimp (U) This is much more like it. The true kings of comedy (leagues
3 aheadofChaplinand
Keaton) in three oftheir short films. (Vision Video . £10.99) = INotWithoutMyDaughter
(15) Sally Field in what is probably the most blatant
‘ piece of American
imperialist tub-thumping since the invasion of Grenada. Sally falls for an
3 Iranian in the good 01‘ US of A, who tempts her back :
to his fatherland only to lock her up (the cad) and demand conversion to Islam (and that means veils, Sally). Naturally she tries to escape but, all together, not without her daughter. Alfred Molina is the roguish husband and he really should know better. (Warner£10.99) I Alice Doesn't Live Here
Anymore (15) Ellen
Burstyn and a cute, twelve-year-old kid on top form in Scorsese’s early ‘road movie/woman‘s
: weepie’ (Time Out).
Burstyn deservedly won
an Oscar for her portrayal of the feisty single mother. (Tartan £15.99)
I McCabe and Mrs hliller
of the seminal alternative comedy show. (BBC £16.99)
I The Complete Young Ones-Series2(15) (BBC £16.99)
I The Complete Black Adder- Seriesl (15) All
six episodes of the first
series ofthe. . .err. seminal alternative comedy show. (BBC £16.99)
I The Complete Black Adder-Series 2 (15)Thc one featuring Miranda Richardson as Queenie. (BBC £16.99)
I The Complete Black Adder- Series 3 (15)Thc
one featuring Hugh
Lawrie as Georgie. (BBC £16.99)
I The Complete Black Adder Goes Forth ( 15) The
' one with the poignant
(15) Entertaining Western
starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. (Tartan £15.99)
I Flnian’s Rainbow (U) Early Coppola musical
. featuring Fred Astaire,
3 Tommy Steele and Petula Clark in an Irish setting.
' Yes. it is as awful as it
sounds. (Tartan £15.99) I THX 1138 (15) (Tartan £15.99)
I Inside Daisy Clover(15) This not especially exciting musical from 1965 is interesting for three reasons. Number one is that it features an impossibly young Robert Redford. Number two is that the songs are by Andre Previn. And number three is that it stars Natalie Wood, which is enough for me to go out and buy it. (Tartan £15.99)
I The Complete Young Ones-Series 1 (15) Allsix episodes of the first series
ending. (BBC£16.99)
I The Complete Yes Prime Minister—Seriesl (PG) All eight episodes ofthe first series of the seminal political staire show. (BBC£16.99)
I The Complete Yes Prime Minister-Series 2 (PG) (BBC £16.99)
I The Complete Match ol the Day Notice that there is no certificate which is shameful as this compilation features highlights of the seminal football show from the 605 and 705. Surely all children shuld be safeguarded from Charlie George‘s side-burns. (BBC£19.99)
I 202 Best Tries (BBC £14.99)
I Joan Sutherland Box Set 1: The Merry Widow. Lucia dl Lammennoor and La Fille de Regiment. (Vision Video)
I Joan Sutherland Box Set 2: Ole Fledennaus. ll Trovatore and Les Huguenots. (Vision Video) I Hold the Dream (15)(Odyssey £19.99)
: I Ruby and Oswald (PG) No bandwagon jumping
here. Not. In the wake of JFK and Ruby comes another straight (well, as straight as anything touching on this event can be) biopic of the two
, assassins. (Odyssey
£10.99)
IBasllzThe Greatldouse i Detective(U)(Buena
i Vista13.99)
I White Fang (U) (Buena Vista £10.99)
I Shipwrecked (U) (Buena Vista 10.99)
I Black Hole (U) (Buena Vista £10.99)
I Odin (15) (Island World 12.99)
IVenus Wars (15) (Island World 12.99)
84 The List 25 September - 8 October 1992