TELEVISION LISTINGS
bank robbery which goes spectacularly wrong.
I World Cup Hellas ( BBCZ) 9.40-10.30pm. Video diary by football fanatic Kevin Allen who followed the Greek national side during their first ever trip to the World Cup finals.
I The Wimbledon Poisoner (BBC l) 9.15—l().3()pm. Concluding part of this drama with Robert Lindsay as the suburban accountant whose bungling attempts to kill his wife have aroused the police's suspicions.
I Frankie and Johnny (BBCZ) lO.3()pm—lZ.25am. First television screening for this romantic comedy starring Al Pacino as a short-order cook who falls for loner waitress Michelle Pfeiffer.
I Caddyshack (Channel 4) lO.40ptn—12.3()am. Infantile boys‘ movie set on a golfcourse with Rodney Dangerfield and Chevy Chase.
I Bagdad Cafe (BBCZ) l2.25—2am. Percy Adlon's excellent off-beat comedy about a German tourist stranded iii the wilds of Arizona who becomes embroiled in the disintegrating family of a motel
I Horizon (BBCZ) S-—t~'.5()pm. The tnyths surrounding the making of fine wine are exploded in ‘Designer Wines' which reveals how Californian and Australian wine-makers have tailored thier products for a tnass market.
I Desmond’s (Channel 4) 8.30—9.30pm. Extended edition for the last ever episode of the barbershop sitcom.
I The Brittas Empire (BBCI ) 8.30—9pm. Last in this series of a sitcom which has survived against all odds. Brittas prepares to bid farewell to staff at the leisure centre before taking his new post as Commissioner for Sport in Brussels. Sounds like a cue for another series.
I Milner (BBC I ) 9— 10.45pm. Feature- length drama with Mel Stnith as Milner. a downmarket solicitor in an upmarket legal firm. which looks down its ttose at the succession of dodgy clients he attracts. l\1ilner'smost lucrative client is an iffy property developer who conveniently loses a building in a fire. Was it arson‘.’
I Woman in Red (Channel 4) l().45pm—l2. 10am. Gene Wilder wrote and starred in this tnale fantasy film with Kelly LeBrock as the woman in red doing a Marilyn routine above an air vent.
I The lpcress File (BBC!)
l2. l()—l.55atn. More from the Michael Caine season with (hisclassic llarry Palmer story about a chronic brain drain among the scientific community.
I All Junglists! A London Somet’ing Dis (Channel 4) l2. lS—-l?..45am. Documentary about jungle. the drum-and- bass club sound which is being hailed as the future of dance music.
I Open Space (B BC2) 7.30—8pnt. Sheila McKechnie. the outgoing director of homeless charity Shelter. looks back through ten years of diaries listing her frequent meetings with senior ministers and civil servants to fight for the homeless cause. The result'.’ A consistent absence of coherent housing policy and instead what McKechnie calls ‘a narrow minded obsession with home ownership‘.
I Police, Camera, Action! (Scottish) 8.30-9pm. More footage frotn the police video cameras as they record motorists with a maverick approach to driving.
I Promised a Miracle ( BBCZ) 9-10.30pm. Rosanna Arquette and Judge Reinhold are the parents of a diabetic boy who they believe has been cured by an evangelical minister in a drama based on a true story.
I Wayne’s World (BBC 1) 930—) 1.05pm. Television premiere of the film born out of a Saturday Night Live comedy sketch with Mike Myers and Dana Carvey as the
L
MONDAY 19
.“titlifim . KER" ’ r. t“) W
s \ ~
‘J.’ " it
I»,
I When your grandfather is one of the greats of British cinema, a few doors may
open, but it’s also a tough act to follow. Brothers Kevin and Andrew Macdonald have made a very personal film which is part biography and part voyage of discovery to
their own filmmaking roots. The Making of An Englishman, a profile of Emeric Pressburger (see feature), is shown on New Year’s Day at 8pm on Channel 4.
teen anti-heroes of cable television. I The last Embrace (BBC2) l 1.20pm—lam. Early Jonathan Demme
movie with Roy Scheider as a government
agent who survives an assassination attempt in which his wife is killed.
I The Italian Job (BBCI) Il.35pm-lam. Michael Caine is the newly-released prison lag who ‘inherits' a brilliant plan fora bullion heist in Italy.
I The Ballad of Nicky Mouse (Channel 4)
'; Midnight—12.30am. Filtn about a black. gay writer locked in a prison cell with a philosophical mouse for company.
WEDNESDAY 21
I Rough Guide to Christmas Shopping (BBCZ) 7—7.4()pm. Magenta De Vine f casts her sunglassed eyes over possible i Christmas present ideas in the shops of London and New York. I Rhodes Around Christmas (B BC: ) 8—8.3()pm. Chipper television chef Gaz. back after a culinary tour of Britain. is on hotne turf with sotne Christmas cooking I tips and ttot a turkey in sight. I Into the West (Channel 4) 8.3()—l().25pm. Magical liltn with Gabriel Byrne as an Irish traveller king who takes Ir his two sorts to live in a Dublin tower block. ; I Frankenstein: The True Story (B BCl ) I().2()—l l.45pm. Titnely repeat of the E BBC dramatisation that sticks as closely as Branagh's version to the Mary Shelley
3 Mason. Jane Seymour. Ralph Richardson 1 and Tort) Baker.
I I Hollywood Kids (Scottish) 9—1()pm.
l Exploitation is a daily hazard for the child : stars of Hollywood. as stars old and new
'I recount.
; I Red River (Scottish) l().3()pm—lam.
: Classic western with John Wayne and
3 Montgomery Clift.
( I Diner (BBC2) ll.lSpm-—l.()5am. The young cast in Barry Levinson's excellent rites-of-passage movie turned out to be a who's who of Hollywood‘s next generation. including Mickey Rourke. Kevin Bacon and Ellen Barkin.
I Gothic (BBCI) ll.45pm—l.l()am. Hugely overblown bttt entertaining Ken Russell film offering a fictionalised account of the drug-induced events which inspired Mary Shelley to write
‘i l-‘nutkt'ttstt'in.
: I The X-Files (BBCZ) 9—9.45pm. An FBI agent is possessed by a dangerous
; criminal. Fox and Scully investigate.
i I Finney (Scottish) 9—l0pm. Finney
l disowns Tom and confronts the dark
90 The List If) December I994—l2 January I995
t book. with an all-star cast including James
_ THURSDAY 22
' secret of his past while McDade. played
by director David Hayman. makes his
I The Morehouse Men (Channel 4) 9-10pm. This documentary. shown as part of Black Christmas. examines the impact of the black-only college in Atlanta which hothouses the brightest young brains. Alumni include Jesse Jackson and Spike Lee. and Morehouse believes it will educate the first black president.
I Crocodile Shoes (BBCt) ‘).3()—l().2()pm. The final episode in this impressive series see Jed (Jimmy Nail) finally releasing a single. As we know. it‘s already a hit.
I True Confessions (BBC2) 11.15pm-lam. Robert De Niro is a priest; Robert Duvall is his cop brother. Both are embroiled in a brutal tnurder of a young girl.
I Dune (Channel 4) ll.40pm—2. 10am. Epic. David Lynch-directed sci-ft movie based on the Frank Herbert novel. with special effects to marvel at.
I Young Frankenstein (BBC 1)
l l.55pm—l .40am. Yet more F rankenstein- related stuff. this time with Mel Brooks’s parody of the whole genre. with Gene Wilder as the brain surgeon grandson of the famous Baron who heads to 'l‘ransylvania.
FRIDAY 23
I Creature Comforts (Channel 4) 6.50—7pm. Nick Park‘s endearing Plasticine animals that led to an electricity ad which led. indirectly. to an Oscar.
I Black Cabs (Channel 4) 8—8.3()pm. Documentary about a cab firm in London's east end with ambitions beyond their rank (groan). Part of the Black Christmas season.
I Rumble in the Jungle (BBCZ) 9—9.45pm. Greatest boxing spectacle of all time when Muhammed Ali met the then world champion George Foreman in I974. recounted in this astonishing documentary. Later on the same channel. Michael Parkinson's sparring interview with Ali is rescreened
(I l.45pm—l2.35am).
I Jo Brand: the Christmas Cakehole (Channel 4) 9.30—10. 15pm. Jolly Jo says ho. ho and eats another Yule log while her chums join her for a bit of a laugh round the fireside.
I Have I Got News For You (BBCZ) l()—l().30pm. Former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie. a man who knows a thing or two about headlines. joins the regulars for sotne news-based giggles.
I Fantasy Football League (BBC2 ) ll.I5—I l.45pm. Television cook Delia Smith and Jimmy Tarbuck join Frank
Skinner and David Baddiel for some footballing chat.
I Beavis a Butthead Christmas Special (Channel 4) I2.35—l.()5am. Air guitars ahoy as the teen heroes find innuendo in every nook and cranny.
I Coppelia (BBCZ) 7—8.05pm. Lyon Opera Ballet‘s version of the story of a young man‘s passion for a mechanical doll is transposed to a modern. urban setting.
I Stars in Their Eyes Winners’ Special (Scottish) 7.20-8pm. It's the tackiest thing on telly and then some. as your host Matthew Kelly invites the winners from the last five series to battle it out. Impersonators will lovingly play Shirley Bassey. Patsy Cline and Marti Pellow. among others.
I Casualty (BBCt ) 8.05—8.55pm. Christmas at Holby General in which a turkey farmer plays a central role.
I Christmas Hell (BBCZ) 8.05—8.25pm. We know it's a hellish time of year. but the Beeb has dug into the archives to confirm the fact.
I Michael Moore’s Christmas TV Hation (BBCZ) 8.55—9.45pm. American documentarist who specialises in asking awkward questions does a Christmas special in which he finds out about the British Government’s claims about job creation. while comedian Steven Wright suggests there‘s nothing new about the
I Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush (Channel 4) 9—10pm. Festive frolics with Chris Evans in the ironically tacky game show. I The Jack Dee Show (Channel 4)
IO—I 1.05pm. Repeat of laughing Jack's Christmas show from two years ago. with guests including Tom Jones.
I name Edna’s Hollywood (Scottish) 10.20-1 l.2()pm. It's at home with Datne Edna for Christmas. with guests including Burt Reynolds. Barry Manilow and Sean Young.
. I Eurotrash Christmas Special (Channel
4) 11.05—1 1.35pm. Find out what Jean Paul and Antoine have in their Christmas stockings in a review of tack frotn the last three series.
I Christmas Midnight Mass (BBC I) 11.45pm—lam. Feeling guilty about not going to church? Salve your conscience with a bit of armchair worship and sing along to the hymns.
CHRISTMAS DAY
I Top of the Pops (BBC I) 2—3pm. Seguing nicely into the Queen's Speech. the annual TOTP review of the year's bits is just about as traditional. Look ottt for DzReam. Doop and. ofcourse. Wet Wet Wet.
I The Great Escapers (BBCZ) 2. to—3ptn. Breaking with tradition by not showing the film. instead we get a documentary about real-life prison catnp break-outs.
I The Alternative Christmas Message (Channel 4) 3—3.15pm. Forget Lizzie on the BBC. get a load ofJesse Jackson‘s evangelising address to the nation.
I The Wrong Trousers (BBC I ) 4.45—5.25pm. Looks like becoming a Christmas tradition (not that we're complaining) with another chance to see Nick Park's marvellous short about Wallace. Gromit and a pair of Techno trousers.