LISTINGS TELEVISION
TELEVISION
A selection or television highlights,
listed by day, in chronological order. Television listings compiled by Tom
tannin.
FRIDAY 8
I There iiovr Foliovrs . . . (BBC2) 7.15-7.45pm. Vivian White looks at the history of the Party Political Broadcast. remembering controversies. the comedies and the celebrities.
I Class Action (Channel 4) 8—8.30pm. The investigative education series covers some of the controversies raging at the beginning of a new academic year.
I Missing (Scottish) 9—iOpm. Alastair Stewart and Fiona Foster ask viewers to help track down some of the thousands of men. women and children who go missing in Britain each year.
I Cheers (Channel 4) 9.30—10pm. The mighty Norm agrees to help out with Cliff’s mail round while his buddy is sick. but ends up in jail.
I Nurses (Channel 4) lO—lO.30pm. Annie's husband begins to spend a lot of time with another man.
I Paul Merton - The Series (Channel 4) 10.30—1 1.05pm. More experiments in surreal banality with the suburban comic genius. In the last series he is cast adrift on the high seas with only Delia Smith for company.
I Billy (Scottish) 11-] 1.30pm. Billy Connolly and Marie Marshall star in the“ cute US domestic sitcom. with a Green Card twist.
I Eurotrasli (Channel 4) 11.05—11.40pm. Antoine De Caunes and Jean Paul Gaultier expose the trash culture of Europe.
I Dr Terror‘s Vault Oi iiorror(BBC1)
l l.lOpm—2. 15am. Two more classic horrors from the archives. featuring The Crucible 0f Terror about a deranged sculptor. and The Beast With Five Fingers about a pianist whose left hand insists on tinkling the ivories after its owner has met a bloody end.
I Made In The USA: Promised Land (Channel 4) ll.35pm—l.30am. Michael Hoffmann's powerful study of youthful disillusionment with the American Dream is set in a small desert town where boredom and restlessness leads to violence. Jason Kedrick. Tracy Pollan. Kiefer Sutherland and Meg Ryan star.
SATURDAY 9 f
I OJ iieaven (BBC2) 8—8.30pm. The wunnerful Tony blackbum is featured in an assortment of outlandish outfits. Whatever the costume though, the ego remains the same.
I Casualty (BBCl) 8—8.50pm. New clinical nurse Ken Hodges is being monitored for ‘patient percentages'. while reception fills with stab victims. mangled children and cantankerous old soldiers.
I iiarry(BBC1) 8.50—9.40pm. Michael Elphick stars as the middle-aged journalist, back on the booze and kicked out by his wife. Meanwhile he‘s trying to find the truth about the shooting of a retired army colonel.
I The Camoulie latvn (Channel 4) 9—10.05pm. A repeat showing for the Mary Wesley adaptation. set during the war and flashing forward to 1984. Paul Eddington and Felicity Kendal play odd couple Richard and Helena. awaiting the visit of their young relations Oliver, Calypso and Polly (Toby Stephens, Jennifer Ehle and Tara Fitzgerald). Worth watching for Jennifer Ehle‘s accent alone. I The Oil Oeviis (BBC2) 9.40—lO.35pm. Kingsley Amis’s tale of middle-aged
Welsh cronies concludes. with the truth emerging about Rhiannon's youthful romance with Peter Thomas.
I iiory Bremner - Who Else? (Channel 4) 10.05-10.50pm. A change of channel for Edinburgh’s top impressionist who begins a new series of sharp. topical comedy, assisted by John Bird and John Fortune. Bremner even dares to send up his new boss Michael Grade.
SUNDAY 10
I Birds or A Feather (BBCi) 8.20—8.50pm. Sharon faces a Greek tragedy when her mother-in-law dies and husband Chris is entitled to 24 hours compassionate leave from prison.
I O Mllllgan (BBC2) 9—9.30pm. Spike Milligan’s Q series ofthe 70s and 80s provides a bizarre mixture of sketches and dreaded ‘zaniness'.
' I Screen One: Money For iiothing
(BBCl) 9.05—lO.40pm. Teenager Gary (Christian Anholt) strikes a bet with his friend that he will be worth a million pounds within a week. in Tim Firth‘s comedy drama. He acquires an old hospital at an auction and. attempting to evade prosecution. escapes to New York with Scottish nurse Lisa (Jayne Ashboume).
I Made In The USA: House Party (Channel 4) lO—ll.55pm. Part of the new wave of movies from black directors. Reginald Hudlin‘s debut is a likeable comedy starring Christopher Reid as a teenager who is determined to go to his friend’s party despite being grounded after trouble at school. Raunchier than it
. sounds.
I The South Bank Show (Scottish) 10.45—1 1.45pm. Melvyn Bragg interviews Margaret Atwood, the Canadian novelist whose last two novels. Car’s Eves and The Handmaid's Tale both made the Booker Prize shortlist. and whose new novel. The Robber Trade. explores the power of a manipulative femme fatale.
MONDAY 11 1 >
I les lives (BBC2) 6.55—7pm. The lab- coated bald stooge of We Reeves Big Night Out stars in a series of ten five- minute silent comedy shorts following Les‘s attempts to get on in the big wide world.
I Bet Back(BBC1)8.30—9pm. Business :
is booming for Martin. selling Doggie- chunks door-to-door. but brother Albert has the bailiffs at his door.
I Cracker (Scottish) 9—10pm. Robbie Coltrane stars as bombastic psychologist Fitz in a new three-part story. Fitz’s
already far-from-settled home-life is
further dismpted when he is called in to help with a Bonnie and Clyde style duo.
I Prostitute (Channel 4) 9—l0pm. The third and final film introduces us to mother of seven Monique who became a prostitute when her lover got into debt. Four years ago she gave up prostitution and swore a vow of chastity.
I I’ll Fly Avray (Channel 4) lO—lO.55pm. The 505 American drama continues. Forrest agrees to meet the black people demanding equal rights.
TUESDAY 12
I Brighton Belles (Scottish) 8.30—9pm. Last in the series of dire Golden Girls copies. axed in mid-run. presumably because viewers found Jean Boht's excruciating accent too painful.
. I The Smell Oi Reeves And Mortimer
(BBC2) 9—9.30pm. Vic and Bob enjoy
3 lively games of ‘grab a chair‘ and ‘pass l the bike’, while Mulligan and O’Hare
: offer more timeless tunes.
I Without Walls: Bad ideas Of The 20th Century - Cennaine Creer On Youthism
‘ (Channel 4) 9—9.30pm. The writer and
controversialist launches an assault on the cult of youth, which she traces back to the 60s. admitting her own culpability to
5 Joanna Lumley. .— ' I
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is. '5 ' , A ~ e " .1. was" .- h i 4;; 1."; V fr: '6 ' V Vi , I I , / i . I Annistead Maupin’s Tales or The City (Channel 4) 10—1 lpm. Michael's parents encounter culture shock when they am've in San Francisco for Halloween. while DeDe is in for a shock when her " pregnancy is confirmed. I The Ferguson Theory (BBCI)
. 10.20-10.50pm. Craig Ferguson struggles I through another mixture ofjaded stand-
5 up. hastily cobbled-together topical gags H and hit-and-miss sketches.
I Omnibus: iiorda Ii (BBC 1)
l0.30—l 1.25pm. Peter Sasdy‘s account of
the life and career of film producer Sir
Alexander Korda concludes with the decline in his fortunes after the war.
I WEDNESDAY 13
I The iionson Mission (BBC2) 6.50-7.20pm. Supercilious slacker Jon Ronson attempts to be sardonic about attitudes to the war in Bosnia, fooling around with refugees at the recent Geneva peace talks.
I From Russia With love (Scottish) 8-10. 15pm. Sean Connery stars in an early Bond opposite Lotte Lenya who plays a shuitably shlinky Russian would- be defector.
I Screenplay: Sate (BBC2) 9.25—10.30pm. Kate Hardie and Aidan Gillen star in Antonia Bird’s powerful drama about the young homeless. with music from Billy Bragg. See preview.
I inside Story: iiector Versus Clinton (BBCi) 9.30—10.20pm. The thought- provoking story of how. in January 1992
at the height of his Democratic candidature campaign, Bill Clinton signed the warrant for the execution of Rickey Rector. a retarded convict. As one commentator put it: ‘He had someone put to death who only had half a brain. You don‘t find them any tougher than that.‘
I The Almost Complete History or The Mntieth Century (Channel 4) 9.45-lOpm. Another quirky revamp of archive material. this time not-entirely- seriously attempting to link the 20s birth control movement with the science of eugenics.
THURSDAY 14
I NC Special (Scottish) 7—7.30pm. A repeat for the programme looking at the history of Glasgow’s Barrowland ballroom, from its dance—hall days in the 50s to its current position as Scotland's top live rock venue. I The Music Came (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. Innuendo prince Tony Slattery ‘ presents the music quiz. with guests Andy Taylor. Alan Sievewright and the frighteningly loud Nichola McAuliffe. I Taggart (Scottish) 9—10pm. Our wrinkly hero has really slipped up this time. The Procurator Fiscal and his assistant are both dead. and the chief witness is nowhere to be found. For a detective who's been in the TV business for nearly twelve-years—old Taggie is still pretty crap at crime-stopping. I lied Owari (BBC2) 9-9.30pm. Docking at a disused space station. our heroes encounter Legion. a mysterious genius with amazing powers. Will he help them. or does he have a purpose of his own? I One Foot in The Grave (BBCl) 9.30—10pm. Richard Wilson plays the codger who has become Britain’s most popular comedy character. I Absolutely Fabulous (BBCl) lO—lO.30pm. A repeat run of the smash- hit comedy starring Jennifer Saunders as the scatty New Age fashion PR Edina. Joanna Lumley as her dipso pal Patsy and Julia Sawalha as swotty daughter Saffron. Tonight Edina gets into the Isolation Tank. I Gun Crazy (Channel 4) 10—] 1.45pm. Drew Barrymore stars in an uneven action thriller as a nubile sixteen-year-old who murders her abusive guardian and marries convict boyfriend James Legros. The couple soon embark on a Bonnie and Clyde style murderous rampage.
FRIDAY 15
I Captain Scarlet And The Mysterons (BBC2) 6—6.25pm. BBC2 dredge up more race memories with a re-run of the Gerry Anderson puppet alien caper. Tonight Big Ben strikes thirteen. Uh-oh.
I The Living Soap (BBC2) 7.15—7.45pm. The first instalment of the fly-on-the-wall documentary looking at the lives of six Manchester students. previewed in our Student supplement last issue so scour
your campus for a surviving copy.
I Oemob (Scottish) 9—10pm. The first
part of a new comedy drama series.
starring Griff Rhys-Jones. Martin Clunes and Amanda Redman. A couple of army ! buddies return to Civvy Street. where the lure of showbiz proves too strong. : I Cheers (Channel 4) 9.30—10pm. An old , bet comes back to haunt Sam. All he has
to do is many Jacqueline Bisset within 24 . hours or lose the bar. I Jagged 5}” (BBCl) 9.30—l l.l5pm. The thriller that launched the ‘who can
you trust?’ genre in Hollywood. Written
by the ubiquitous Joe Esterhas. it stars Jeff Bridges as the husband charged with the brutal murder of his heiress wife. Glenn Close is the lawyer who gets too
personally involved.
I KYT'V (BBC2) iO—lO.30pm. The parody satellite station. presented by the usual suspects. Angus Deayton, Michael Fenton Stevens. Helen Atkinson Wood and Philip Pope. Tonight it‘s the C rimewarch send- up. with tips from the KYTV serial killer on how to unblock a waste disposal unit.
The List 8—21 October 1993 67