TELEVISION LISTINGS
I Berlusconi - Mussolini or the Media? (BBCZ) ll. 15-] 1.55pm. The title ofthis programme is what is known to us humble hacks as something of a leading question. Yet not one that is without good cause. Journalists. TV executives. academics and politicians give their views on how and why Berlusconi swept to power as the head of a right-wing coalition and what consequences his media interests will have on democracy.
TUESDAY 27
I From Walpole’s Bottom to Major’s Underpants (BBCZ) 7.30-8.20pm. Proving that old politicians don‘t die they just get cushyjobs in the media. Kenneth Baker introduces this look at political cartoons. their creators and the love/hate relationship they have with their targets. Steve Bell gets my vote for his often cruel but invariably accurate satire.
I Spirits, Ghosts and Demons (Channel 4) 8—8.30pm. As part of Channel 4's week-long look at issues affecting children comes this three-part documentary about young people‘s life in rural China. Granted unprecedented access by the Chinese authorities. Phil Agland documents a way of life that has in many ways remained unchanged for hundreds of years.
I The Fast Show (BBC?) lO~-l().3()pm. Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson. creators of the Harry [infield monstrosities Stavros and Loadsamoney. get their own show on which to parade some tnore oddball characters. including the Fat Sweaty Coppers. and American professor l)enzil Dexter. who does amazing tricks with toilet rolls. .A must for Blue Peter fans.
I Network First: Inside Castro’s Cuba (Scottish) l().~l()—l 1.40pm. Making a tittier appearance - given the current shenanigans — is this examination of the changes occuring in the once-idyllic socialist paradise since the collapse of the Soviet Union and increased oppression by Uncle Sam. ()r. if your politics lend to the other end of the spectrum. how the bearded pinko has found himself in hot water since his paymasters in Moscow have cut the purse strings.
I Drugs War: Camarena (BBC I i ll.45pm—l.15am. First instalment of a three-part drama/thriller telling the story of US Drug Enforcement Agent Kiki Camarena who was sent undercover in Mexico to infiltrate the drugs trade. He was found. tortured and murdered by Latin American drug dealers. in Guadalajara. Mexico. ()perating without guns or diplomatic passports. the I)F.A operatives are fighting a war they can't win. which makes for lots of widows on both sides of the battle and good T\’ on the other side of the Atlantic. Sad but true.
WEDNESDAY 28 .
I The Big Trip (BBCZ) (r45 -7.25pm. The Beeb's answer to Lonely Planet i'ollows seven inexperienced travellers as opposed
| tojust two. and promises to show the
l warts-and-all side of off-the-beaten~track wandering. Look forward to mnggings. missing luggage and unspeakable complaints of the bowels.
I Every Which Way But Loose (BBC 1) 7—8.45pm. Brawling. chasing women and boozing appear to be all that man and monkey desire in this rather poor offering starring Clint Eastwood. The best laughs come from the hapless Hell's Angels whose attempts at bad~assed meanness
never quite come off.
I The Lonely Planet (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. The first in a series ofsix
programmes which follows two young
and intrepid travellers around the globe using the guide books of the satne name. First stop is Morocco for a camel ride.
mountain trek and ritual sheep slaughter. t Could well boost the sale of package holidays.
I Bardot Tribute (BBC l ) ().3()--l()pm. ()l' Brigitte Bardot's 60”] birthday comes a
tribute to the French screen siren who aroused much interest. although little of it I seemed to be for her acting. Bardot is now 5 busy campaigning for animal rights and
i being reclusive in St Tropez so there's no 3 contemporary interview with the woman
herself. Fortunately for the filmmakers and us. her friends are quite happy to blether away about her.
; I Joe Kidd (Scottish) llpiii—12.35atii.
Back in the saddle where he belongs. Clint joins a posse of hired desperadoes who are in hot pursuit of some Mexican- American revolutionaries. The inevitable bloodbath follows. but then you don't watch a Western for startling insight into diplomatic reasoning. do you'.’
I The New Scots: Greeks (Scottish) 7--7..‘~()pni. A new series which looks at the lives ofethnic minorities liv ing in Scotland. This programme looks at Georgia and Fivos Scholarius \\ ho came to Glasgow. as did the founder of the Greek community in Scotland. Reo
Stakis. Their children became successful
in academic and business life. bttt still paramount to the family is the Orthodox
i Church. which provides a focal poittt for
the whole Greek community. I The Edge: One Hundred Years of Scottish Mountaineering (B BCZ)
3~S.,‘sl)pm. A celebration of W.H.(Bill)
Murray and his classic winter ascent of Tower Ridge. Ben Nevis v— the longest route on Britain's highest mountain and one which many climbers underestimate.
Modern-day climbers (iraham Moss.
Alastair Cain and Mark Diggins take the
roles of Murray and his colleagues Bell
and [.aidlaw in attempting the route.
I Blind Nate (BBCZ) ‘) - 10.30pm. Feature
‘ film based on the true story of one man's fight to bring the Kn Klux Klan to JUSIJCC. Attorney Morris l)ees comes across a
THURSDAY 29 3
frightening and wealthy network of whi'e supremacists who are aiming for the White House. Poking his nose where it's not wanted stirs up the WASPs‘ nest and precipitates the blind hate of the title.
I Drop The Dead Donkey (Channel 4) l()—l().35pm. The much-loved series detailing the foibles of the Globelink News team returns with more laughs. The programme is edited and changed right up until a few hours before transmission. which allows the makers to keep the show abreast ofcurrent affairs. and it's usually more entertaining than the news itself.
Lg
I The Wild One (Channel 4) l0.35pm—midnight. Although it looks
dated now. when this cante otlt ill America
in the 50s. many cinemas refused to show
it. scared that the kids would start wearing
leather. ripping tip the seats. spilling their
popcorn deliberately and indulging in
other forms of anti-social behaviour. They didn't. but the ensuing moral outrage consolidated Btando‘s career.
FRIDAY 30
I Sounds of the Seventies (BBCZ)
‘ 7.30—8pm. An investigation of the sub-
; species that was labelled ‘progressive'.
Watch otit for Free. l)eep Purple
. (progressive‘.’). Ian Anderson ofJethro
Tull's codpiece. Captain Beelheart. The
5 Sensational Alex Harvey Band and [)r
Feelgood. Get your milk and alcohol
ready.
I The Longest Walk: Ways of Endurance
(BBCl) ‘).3()--l()pm. nyona Campbell has
‘ been traversing Spain for 70 days as part of her globetrotting escapade when she
. meets up with Janet Street-Porter. ‘l atn
_ very naive about peopch Campbell
; declares. 'You‘ve been an absolute cow.‘
retorts Street-Porter. Sound like fun'.’ You
also get to see Campbell draining two
‘ litres of pus a day from her feet with a
hypodermic.
l I Dillinger (Scottish) l().3()pm—l2.15am.
Public lineniy No l is on the run. which
sounds like the start to a rap if you ask me. Anyway the movie is a countdown to the hail of bullets finale. Good must triumph over evil and so on.
I Dr Terror’s Vault ot Honor: Taste The Blood ol Dracula (BBCt) llpm— l 2.35am. Made in 1969 when no health-conscious vampire would have to worry about having his victim‘s blood screened. Just for a change. Christopher Lee plays the dentist‘s wet dream. and look out for Clegg from The Last oft/re Summer Wine playing a straight role.
SATURDAY 1
I Au Revoir Les Enianls (Channel 4) lO.30pm-l2.40am. Louis Malle's semi- autobiographical film is set in occupied France and looks at the friendship between Gaspard Manesse and Raphael Fetjo. a Jew. Fetjo is rounded up by the Gestapo and Manesse's world comes apart at the seams. Malle vividly captures both the pain and pleasure ofchildhood.
SUNDAY 2
I Wet Wet Wet (Scottish) ll.45pm-l2.45am. At last they’ve been knocked off the Number One spot after what seemed like an eternity. but for those whojust can't get enough of Marti Pellow's toothsome grin here’s another fix.
MONDAY 3
I The Nick (Channel 4) 9—l0pm. First of a three-part fly-on-the-wall series inside Gipton Police Station. Never mind The Bill. here’s the real boys in blue.
I Young Guns ll (Scottish) 9—1 1.35pm including News at Ten. Brat pack movie goes West. again. Mind you. it's on a school night so the hordes of hormonal teenagers that the movie is aimed at may well be tucked tip long before the said hormones have a chance to start raging. I People Across The Lake (Scottish) 2.30—4.20am. Set those video recorders for this trashy horror flick which finds a family‘s lakeside holiday home inhabited by a growing number of corpses. Gives new meaning to the holiday from Hell.
TUESDAY 4
I Wasted Windfall (Channel 4) 9—lOpm. When the huge deposits of oil which were languishing under the North Sea were found. prosperity was forecast for all. Several years later the rich continue to get richer bttt the poor sink further into poverty. This programme looks at what happened to the revenue generated and asks what went wrong.
I Sell Catering (Channel 4) l()—l 1.50pm. The first of four drama/comedies produced by Alan Bleasdale. Tonight's programme features Jane Horrocks. Jolm Gordon Sinclair and others shipwrecked on a desert island with nothing but their fantasies.
I The New Scots: The Jamaicans (Scottish) 7-7.30pm. Second in the series examining the lives of ethnic minorities living and working in Scotland.
I The Magnificent Seven (Scottish) 10.30—12.5(lam. John Sturges‘s acclaimed Western rides again. Will Yul Brynner‘s hired guns save the village from the pillaging of Eli Wallach‘s banditos‘.’ Of course they will. but it‘s the getting there that counts. This is the film which spawned countless Spaghetti Westerns.
THURSDAY 6
I Bakersfield PD (Channel 4)
10.30—l l.05pm. A black cop from Washington DC is transferred to Bakersfield Pl). a Californian backwater. His hippy partner can't believe he's not into Motown. Much hilarity ensues. apparently.
72 The List 23 September () ()ctober 1994