A
TELEVISION LISTINGS
MONDAY 28
I Scottish Passport (Scottish) 7—7.30pm. Bryan Burnett and Katie Wood head for Tunisia and Shetland. sampling sun and. er. fish.
I The Memoirs or Sherlock Holmes (Scottish) 9—lOpm. When a man is murdered in New York. a young couple attempt to enlist the help of our Sherlock. but a secret ltalian society has other ideas. I The French Connection: A French Affair (Channel 4) 9—10pm. Channel 4‘s French season opens with a documentary about British couples who attempt to realise their dreams of living in the French countryside. and find things tougher than anticipated.
I Permanent Record (BBCZ) 9—10.30pm. Keanu Reeves and Alan Boyce star in a traumatic high-school tale of a musically- gifted teen who finds the pressure too much to cope with. The musical score is provided by Joe Strummer.
I iiorthern Exposure (Channel 4) lO—lO.55pm. Weirdness continues as The Flying Man returns to woo Marilyn. and Ed finds a ring that belonged to Federico Fellini.
I James l(elman — No Such Thing As Bad language (BBC2) ll.lS—l l.55pm. A rare interview with the Glasgow writer to mark the publication of his new novel. See feature.
TUESDAY 29
I Assignment: Naked Washington (BBC2) 7.45—8.30pm. Marlin Fitzwater. who was George Bush‘s press secretary. looks at the deteriorating relationship between the White House and the press. since the heady days of JFK.
I Peak Practice (Scottish) 9—l()pm. Kevin Whately stars as the rural GP. tackling more eccentric cases with the help of Amanda Burton. who is on the receiving end of a worried father‘s anger. I Without Walls: The Great Bore (Channel 4) 9.30—l0pm. Roger Lloyd- Pack dresses up as lsambard Kingdom Brunel and pokes around the Channel Tunnel. asking if the nation still supports engineering visionaries.
I EXS: The Great Highland Famine (BBCl) 10.20— 1 0.50pm. History professor Tom Devine looks back at the Scottish potato famine of the mid 19th century. talking to islanders about the stories that have been handed down through the generations.
. ‘b I The French Connection: Betty Blue (Channel 4) lOpni—l.25am. More Gallic shrugging in the director‘s cut version of Jean-Jacques Beineix‘s frankly overrated tale of the headstrong Betty (Beatrice Dalle). whose temperamental Frenchiness is a pain in the neck for everybody who encounters her. particularly grubby boyfriend Jean-Hughes Anglade.
WEDNESDAY 30
I The Rock ’I’ Roll Years: The 803 (BBCl) 7—7.30pm. it‘s I985, Gorbachev becomes the new Soviet leader. there are riots in Handsworth. and Madonna is a ‘Material Girl'. it seems like only
yesterday.
I Elizabeth The last (BBCZ) 8.10—9pm. Jeremy Paxman presents a platform for republicans arguing for the abolition of the monarchy. A short filrii criticising the institution is followed by Nick Revell’s irreverent look at class and monarchy. before royalists are allowed a say in a question and answer session.
I Food File (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. A new series of the consumerist food show starts with a report on how the French are fighting back against the tide of multinational junk food.
I Screen Two: 0 Mary This london (BBC!) 9-l0.30pm. A powerful drama written by Shane Connaughton. who received an Oscar nomination for his My Left Fm)! scn'pt. Three young lrish friends find themselves iii London in search of fun. freedom and an abortion clinic. but find things aren‘t so simple so far from
Dublin.
THURSDAY 31
I Murder Most Rorrid (BBCZ) 9—9.30pm. Dawn French plays food and travel writer
i Verity Hodge who attempts to turn a ] sleepy French village into the stuff of : best—selling books.
I Sleeping With The Enemy (Scottish)
9—l0pm. 10.40—1 l.30pm. Julia Roberts
and Patrick Bergin star in the exploitative. and somewhat ludicrous thriller that proved surprisingly popular at the box office. She plays an abused wife who fakes her own death to escape her husband. Having changed identity. she returns to her hometown. somewhat rasth as her nasty hubby has been waiting for
her. . . I Grushko (BBC 1) 9.30—10.3()pm.
Yevgeni Grushko (Brian Cox) is making progress in his investigation of the Mafia- style murder of a TV jounialist. discovering a KGB involvement..
I The French Connection: Cyrano oe Bergerac (Channel 4) lOpm—12.35am. Gerard Depardieu is the proud proboscis wielder in Jean-Paul Rappeneau’s splendid version of the classic story of the go-between turned lover.
FRIDAY 1
I ET (BBCl) 6.50—8.40pm. Steven Spielberg's record-busting tale of the cuddly alien is a shamelessly manipulative slice of fantasy schmaltz. but addictive all the same.
I The French Connection: Le Menu (Channel 4) 7—8pm. An award-winning film paying tribute to French gastronomy. The cameras go behind the scenes at a top Paris restaurant and follow the activities of a truffle hunter and a master cheese- maker.
I ounroamin’ (BBCZ) 9—9.30pm. The second part of the Scottish homes with a difference series moves out to the countryside. checking out a clan chieftain‘s castle and a New Age traveller‘s makeshift tent.
I Seeker Reaper (BBC2) 9.30-10.10pm. A new film produced by Douglas McKinnon and directed by Paul Murton celebrating the life and work of Kintyre poet George Campbell Hay (played by Peter Mullen).
I Roseanne (Channel 4) l0—l0.30pm. Becky returns (played by new actress Sarah Chalke) with husband Mark to ask her mum for some marital advice. Is the girl mad?
I The last Emperor (Scottish) lO.20pm—l.20am. Bernardo Bertolucci's lushly-shot account of the life of Pu Yi. China‘s last imperial ruler. collected nine Oscars. Crowned at the age of three. Pu Yi has his every whim catered for until the revolution. and his eventual re-education as a humble citizen of communist China. I Penn Anti Teller: Don’t Try This At Home (Channel 4) 10.30—11.30pm. A one- hour special with the gruesome American illusionist duo. performing the usual stunts with bear-traps and six-ton trucks. I Eat A Bowl Di Tea (Channel 4) ll.30pm—l.25ani. Wayne Wang directs a charming social comedy set in the 1940s New York Chinese community. Russell Wong plays a loyal son who returns from a visit to China with a new wife. but overwork soon causes marital strife.
SATURDAY 2
I Radio DayS(BBC2) 7.45—9.10pm. Woody Allen’s funny and sentimental tribute to the golden days of radio has a distinctly Neil Simonesque personal approach. Mia Farrow and Julie Kavner star.
I Tremors (BBCl ) 9-l().3()pm. Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward star in a bizarre. semi-comic drama set in a small desert town where nothing ever happens. That is until a batch of huge subterranean worms start kicking up trouble.
I NYPD Blue (Channel 4) 9—lOpm. More sleazy cop action from the downtown cop precinct. Kelly. Sipowicz and Martinez investigate the mysterious death of Tommy Linardi.
I Stir Crazy (Scottish) lOpm—midnight. Sidney Poitier directed this uneven comedy featuring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder as a couple of writers who end up framed for a bank robbery and facing I25 year stretches. Heavy on visual gags. light on subtlety.
I Chinatown (BBCZ) ll.20pm-l.25am. Roman Polanski‘s classic 1974 detective story stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway in a homage to 40sjilm imir. The disappointing sequel. The Two Jokes is shown tomorrow.
SUNDAY 3
I Mother’s Ruin (Scottish) 6.30—7pni. A new. ifdistinctly old-fashioned sitcom starring the wonderful Roy Barraclough with Dora Bryan. He plays the long- suffering son of a dragon-tongued mother. I no Riro: Guilty By Suspicion (Channel 4) 9.15—1 1.10pm. The TV premiere of lrvin Winkler's depiction of 50s Hollywood and the effects of the McCarthy witchhunt on the creative community. De Niro plays a blacklisted film director.
I The Trouble With The 70s (Scottish) 9.25-10.25pm. Michael Aspel (who's got troubles of his own) looks at the lost decade with a selection of celebs. remembering the taste violations and political upheavals of the currently modish era.
I Sunday Night Clive (BBC 1)
9.55— l0.40pm. Clive James offers another dose of lumbering wit and plenty of opportunities to laugh at the foibles of foreigners.
I The South Bank Show (Scottish) 10.40—1 1.40pm. A profile of sculptor Elizabeth Frink.
MONDAY 4
I The Ren And Stimpy Show (BBCZ) 6.25—6.50pm. More adventures of the cool cat and crazy chihuahua in the cult American animation series.
I Scottish Passport (Scottish) 7—7.30pm. Katie Wood and Bryan Burnett host the
travel guide for Scottish holiday-makers. with tips on destinations at home and abroad.
I Portrait Dr Bust (BBCZ) 8—8.50pm. Alan Bennett takes a stroll around Leeds City Art Gallery watching the people as much as the paintings. See preview.
I Only When I laugh (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. Hospital comedy from the vaults. with James Bolam as the miserable malingerer Figgis.
I Champions: Fit To Ride (Channel 4) 9—l0pm. A new documentary series. bringing the Cutting [Edge approach to sport. The first programme follows three of the country's topjockeys as they prepare for last year's aborted Grand National. See preview.
I The Memoirs Of Sherlock Holmes (Scottish) 9—10pm. Jeremy Brett chuffs away at his pipe and puts a spoke in the fiendish plans of the sundry perps ol' Edwardian England.
I Smashie And ilicey — The End or An Era (BBC1)‘).15—9.55pm. Harry linfieltl and Paul Whitehouse reprise their agreeably nasty satire of sad old radio DJs in a special. looking back at their poptabulous. cliat-tastic careers. You ain't seen nothin' yet.
I Northern Exposure (Channel 4)
l()—l 1pm. Cicely. Alaska ("ays host to more quirky adventures in check-shirt country.
I Blade Runner (Scottish) l().20pm—12.35am. Not the director's cut. but the original version of Ridley Scott‘s ground-breaking sci-ii thriller starring Harrison Ford. Blade Runner bores have made it distinctly unchic to like the film now. btit if viewed as a precursor to the smoother likes of Your! Rem/l arid 'l't'rntiilumr ll it's enjoyable enough.
TUESDAY 5
I Bye Bye Baby (Channel 4) l()pin—midnight. Nothing to do with the Rollers. this is Jack Rosenthal's autobiographical account of his two years National Service spent on a base iii Northern Germany.
I EXS: Pinkerton — The Eye That Never Sleeps (BBC 1) lt).2()——lo.soptn. The fascinating and amusing story of Glasgow-born Allan Pinkerton is told in a .drani-docutnentary. Peter Capaltli plays the man who flees Scotland after being linked with an illegal Chartist movement. Arriving in the USA lie establishes a detective agency feared by many an American outlaw.
I The War Against The Maria (Scottish) 1 l.4()pm—l2.4()am. The first part of the inside story of how American law enforcers tackled Mafia power bases in the 80s. Material includes police files. secret tape recordings. and interviews with prominent Mafiosi.
WEDNESDAY 6
I Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (Scottish) 8—9.55pm. Rumours abound of how a scurrilous animator cut in semi- pornographic scenes (spottable only in freeze-frame) into this otherwise clean family tale of trouble in Toon town. The mix of animation and live action was a technical breakthrough at the time.
I Flying Blind (Channel 4) lilo—12.401111). Corey Parker stars in the ilakey sitcom about a straight kid who gets involved with a bohemian set.
THURSDAY 7
I Grushko (BBC 1) ‘).3()—l().35pm. Dour Dundonian Brian Cox stars as the eponymous St Petersburg 'tec.
I Alice Doesn’t live Here Any More (Channel 4) l()pm—-12.()Sam. A short Kris Kristofferson season opens with Martin Scorsese‘s witty road movie. with Ellen Burstyn excellent as the widow attempting to rebuild her singing career. I Bagdad Care (Scottish) 1030—! lpm. US comedy from the diner in the desert.
54 The List 25 March-7 April 1994