TELEVISION LISTINGS
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TELEVISION mam-
A selection of television highlights,
listed by day, in chronological order.
gellgvision listings compiled by Eddie r .
FRIDAY 27
I Movievvatch (Channel 4) 6.30—7pm. Johnny Vaughan and SaIIyGrey review
House's doorstep in this series of in-depth foreign affairs programmes.
I Presumed Innocent (Scottish)
9—I l.20pm. Tense courtroom drama with Harrison Ford as a DA assigned to investigate the murder of a colleague. but ends up as the main suspect.
I Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush (Channel 4) 9—10.05pm. Relentlessly inane gameshow with Chris Evans asking contestants to do Generation Game-style stunts in the hope of winning a holiday abroad.
I The Buddha of Suburbia (BBC2) 9—10pm. Karim kicks off his acting career playing Mowin but he doesn't see eye to
Robert Downey Jr‘s Only You and Barcelona. the new film by Wilt ‘I‘vIetropoIitan‘ Stillman.
I The 0 Zone (BBCZ) 7. I 5—7.30pm. M People feature in this week's instant fix of
pop trivia distilled into a quarter of an
hour.
I Doctor Finlay (Scottish) 9—lopm. David Rintoul returns as the Scottish doctor in a new series of the post-war Scottish rural drama. It‘s I949 and the Tannochbrae practice is learning to cope with the new fangled National Health Service.
I Ellen (Channel 4) 9—9.30pm. Ellen volunteers to help the needy but the needy can do without her help.
I Rising Damp (Channel 4) 9.30—10pin. Rigsby is determined to seduce Ruth with the help of wood from the ‘Iove tree‘.
I Dangerfield (BBC 1) 9.30— 10.20pm. Casiuilrv‘s snooty former consultant Nigel Le Valliant returns as a mere country GP. but with a twist — he does nights as a police surgeon. Dr Paul Dangerfield is
car accident by working non-stop in two
side of this new drama. there are. of course. personal problems. Will he fall into the arms of GP practice partner Joanna. herself a widow. or the glamorous solicitor Kim who is trying hard to arouse the doctor's passion.
I The High lite (BBCZ) 9.30—10pm. Sebastian and Steve (Alan Cumming and Forbes Masson) are gutted to find Fiona Spurtle has been chosen to front Air Scotia's new corporate video. If you find the word ‘spurtle' inherently funny. which I do. this high camp sitcom is for you.
I Roseanne (Channel 4) 10—10.30pm. Dan decides it‘s time D]. learnt the basics of self-defence.
I White Mischief (BBCl) 10.20pm—12.05am. Top-notch cast headed by Greta Scacchi. loss Ackland and Charles Dance in a story based on actual events among the inhabitants Kenya’s poisonous Happy Valley who lived oblivious to the World War II. Hot. dusty a d decadent.
I Figures in a Landscape (Scottish) IO.30pm—l2.30am. Kafkaesque allegory of two prisoners — Robert Shaw and Malcolm McDowell — escaping across a desert from unidentified pursuers in a helicopter.
I Ducltman (BBCZ) 11.45pm—12. 10am. Latest imported American animation featuring a zany orange-haired character. Cult status enhanced by the musical involvement of Frank Zappa. whose son Dweezil does the voices.
I Crace Dulgley (Channel 4) 12.35—2.15am. Katharine Hepburn is an elderly widow and Nick Nolte is the hitman she hires to kill her friends in a bizarre form of euthanasia in this interesting. black comedy. The film was re-edited after complaints about its ‘distasteful‘ subject matter and a happy ending added. In the original version Hepburn walked into the sea and Nolte died trying to save her.
SATURDAY 28
I Correspondent (BBC2) 7.15—8pm. Gavin Esler reports from Washington on poverty and deprivation on the White
eye with the director. ; 9.15—I0.05pm. Another from the series of
'Ghosts‘ films. with Ian Shaw and Paul Rhys as two soldiers who strike up an
3 the master of the acerbic one-liner.
former Sum/av 'limex editor Andrew Neil
i I The Nightmare Years (Channel 4) ‘ II.20pm—I.05am. Repeat showing of this
. _ , . American newsjournalist William Shirer. trying to forget the death of his wrfe in a t
: horrified as he watched the growing Nazi ' threat and struggled to get accurate news
‘ I Eric Clapton - From the Cradle (BBCZ) ‘ lI.50pm—12.50am. Recording of
I Blood and Water (BBC 1)
aquainlance t'vhile travelling home on leave during World War II.
I Paul Merton - The Second Series (Channel 4) 10.05—10.35pm. More from
including winkIe-picking up the Yukon (it says here).
I Is This Your Lite? (Channel 4 )
10.35—1 I.20pm. New series presented by
in a format described as a cross between This Is Your Life and In The l’svt‘lliurrixtis
Chair. Tonigltt. Neil asks javelin thrower Fatima \Vhitbread about the secret of her I success and her rivalry with Tessa l
Sanderson. l
four-part mini-series based on the story of
played by Sam Waterstone. during the rise of the Third Reich in Germany. Shirer was
reports out of Germany.
Clapton's last rehearsal before heading off on a world tour. in which he plays a series of blues standards including ‘Hoocliie Coochie Man' and ‘Born Under a Bad Sign‘.
I Flight of the Rhino (Channel 4) 8—9pm. Documentary about Zimbabwean conservationists attempts to save the black rhino. whose numbers have dwindled to 200 as hunters deliberately try to exterminate the species. thus increasing the value of stock-piled horns. I The Red Queen (BBC2) 8.20—9. 10pm. Baroness Castle. the Labour peer and grand old lady of socialism. talks about her life as one of the first female politicians to hold high office in Westminster‘s men’s club.
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~ I The Man with Two Brains (Channel 4) l 9—1.0.40pm. Steve Martin at his best as a I brain surgeon who falls in love with a
“t
l disembodied brain.
I Rik Mayall Presents (Scottish) 9.45—10.45pm. First in a new series of :omedy dramas starring the former Comic Strip stalwart. In ‘The Big One‘ he plays Lewis. a consummate liar. who thinks tip the ultimate scam by assuming the identity of a recently deceased millionaire. I Reputations (BBCZ) 10—10.50pm. Profile of Coco Chanel whose name as a trademark. a legend and a by-word for classic style continues many years after her death.
I Everyman (BBCl) 10.35—1 1.15pm. Documentary about Petrona Lashley. whose chances of becoming Liverpool‘s first black mayor were dashed after newspapers published stories about her past convictions for prostitution.
I The South Bank Show (Scottish)
1 Ipm-12.15am. Profile of unsung German composer Carl Orff. who was born a hundred years ago.
MONDAY 30
I Horizon (BBCZ) 8—8.50pm. Film about American surgeons’ attempts to separate a pair of Siamese twinsjoined at the pelvis. I Someone to Watch Over Me (Scottish) 9—11.35pm (includes Never a! Ten). Ridley Scott‘s noin'sh thriller with Toni Berenger as a married cop who falls for the glamorous tnurder witness (Mimi Rogers) he is assigned to protect.
I Cutting Edge (Channel 4) 9—10pm. Revenge is sweet. until it lands you with a six-month stretch in prison. That's what happened to one woman who caused nearly £20,000 worth of damage in her partner's flat when she discovered he was having an affair. Cutting Edge looks at how some people are unable to control their desire for revenge.
I Panorama (BBCI ) 930—10. 10pm. ln- depth profile of Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.
I Signs and Wonders (BBCZ) 9.30—10.30pm. Third episode of Michael Eaton's complex thriller about a young girl’s involvement with a religious cult. I IIYPD Blue (Channel 4) 10—I lpm. Second series continues with Internal Affairs investigating the missing pages from M arino’s ledger. while Kelly and Sipowicz have a suspect in a double homicide case.
I Oedipus Rex (Channel 4) “pm—12.55am. Another from the Pasolini season. with the Italian director's reworking of the Sophocles tragic myth. updated with a modern prologue and epilogue.
I Film 95 Special (BBCI) lI—I 1.30pm. After fawning over Tom Cruise recently. Bazza shoots the breeze with director Alan Parker about his new film The Road to ll’lllville.
TUESDAY 31
I Take That! In Concert (Channel 4) 6—7pm. Recorded at Wernbley in front of thousands of screaming fans. including Princess Diana. this concert was staged as a benefit for AIDS charities.
I September Song (Scottish) 8.30—9pm. New series of the sitcom about a
comedian (Michael Williams) and his teacher buddy (Russ Abbot) who find themselves it) a sleepy Norfolk holiday
l0\\’ll.
I Visions of Heaven and Hell (Channel 4) ‘)—I()pm. First in a new three-part series which examines our information technology-filled future. III the first programme several people suggest that computers will improve the quality of our lives. including Microsoft's billionaire chairman Bill Gates. BT‘s head of research and Apple Computers’ advance technology group. Notice these people are selling information technology. Expressing fears that we are ignoring more fundamental problems in society are sci-ft writer William Gibson and future trends commentator Faith Popcorn. I Peak Practice (Scottish) 9—10pm. Kevin Whately as the newly-married Dr Jack Kerruislt returns for a new series of the hugely popular rural medical drama. In the first episode. the doctor finds himself underground. battling to save the lives of a group of pesky kids. I Network First (Scottish) 10.40—11.40pm. Former BBC Indian correspondent Mark Tully switches channels to bring a follow-up report from Bhopal ten years after the chemical works tragedy.
I fill. (Channel 4) 9—10.40pm. Extended pilot for the excellent American drama set in a public hospital in Chicago. See feature.
I The Thief Takers (Scottish) 9—10pm. One-off pilot about the Met's armed robbery squad who fight firepower with firepower. starring Robert Reynolds and Lynda Steadman.
I Rory Bremner’s Christmas Turkey (Channel 4) 10.40—11.40pm. Looking back at a year of sleaze in politics.
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