LISTINGS TELEVISION
TELEVISION m
A selection of television highlights,
listed by day, in chronological order.
Eelevision listings compiled by Eddie ibb.
FRIDAY 3
I Moviewatch (Channel 4) 6.30—7pm. New series of the accessible tnovie review series with a new co-presenter to replace N.B.'s Sally Gray in the shape of former Moviewatch reviewer Caroline Tudor.
I Hot The Nine G’CIock News (BBC?) 9—9.30pm. Before alternative comedy came this satirical sketch programme which first introduced us to Rowan Atkinson's elastic tnug.
I Have I Got News For You (BBCZ) IO—lO.30pm. Angus. Ian and Paul try to outsmug each other on the topical. sardonic quiz show which has yet to come close to its sell-by date.
I An Officer And A Gentleman (BBC 1) lO.20pm-l2.20am. Surprisingly bearable performances frotn Richard Gere and Debra Winger as a navy recruit and the girl he romances during his training. Notable also for consummate yuppy love song ‘Up Where We Belong‘ on the soundtrack.
I Crapston Villas (Channel 4)
l I. 15—] 1.30pm. Essential soap viewing for those who like a satirical edge to their animated dramas.
I Passengers (Channel 4)
l 1.30pm—12.20am. Normally crap yoof show. but there‘s a video diary of a Glaswegian drag artist Shabazz on tonight.
I The Big Sleep (Channel 4) I2.20—2.25am. Bogart and Bacall — what a pairing. If you haven't seen the reissue in the cinema. tune in tonight for some classic noii:
I Detour To Tenor (Scottish)
l2.30—2. 10am. Oh no. there's—a- madman- on-the-bus thriller. of interest because of the presence of one OJ. Simpson in the cast.
SATURDAY 4
I Pride And Preludice: From Page To Screen (BBCZ) 4.05—4.35pm. Pride And Prejudice devotees try to fill the hole in their Sunday night viewing created by the ending of the riveting drama series with this look at how the world-famous novel was adapted for the small screen.
I life’s A lottery (BBC2) 6.55—7.05pm. New series of short programmes to be screened throughout the week looking into various aspects of the National Lottery as it celebrates its first year of operation.
I The People’s Parliament (Channel 4) 7—8pm. The final sitting of The People's Parliament turns its attention to its constitutional model. the British Parliament. Lesley Riddoch asks. is the Commonsjust a talking shop? Nicely tied in to coincide with Guy Fawkes’ anniversary.
I Dido And Aeneas (BBC2) 8.05-9pm. Film version of Henry Purcell’s epic opera to mark the tercentenary of his death. starring diva Maria Ewing.
I Performance: After Miss Julie (BBCZ) 9-10.20pm. Strindberg's play about an upper-class young woman who aims to seduce her Labour MP father‘s chauffeur. Starting Geraldine Cracker Somerville and Phil ‘Parklife!’ Daniels.
I 91/2 Weeks (Scottish) IOpm—lZ. lOatn. Erotic thriller which caused a stir when it was first released. Will it still have the some impact ten years on? Starring Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger.
4‘ d."
The fashionable term for this kind of studio anarchy is ‘zoo TV', but an adult
Cracker/ack might be nearer the mark. The latest contributuion to the genre is a raucous talent show filmed in Glasgow called Don’t Give Up Your Day Job. Wannabe entertainers watch in dismay as videos of their party pieces are dismembered by a celebrity panel and blood-hungry audience. The presenters are comedian Paul Brophy and Denise Waterman, who may prefer not to be reminded of her own contribution to popular entertainment; she sang with loincloth-clad popsters Tightfit of ‘lion Sleeps Tonight’ fame. Altogether now:
‘eeee-oooh-eeee-oooh-ee-oh-ee. . .'
Don’t Give Up Your Day Job starts on Fri 3 Nov at 11.15pm on 8802.
I later With Jools Holland (BBCZ) 10.50—l l.55pln. Black Grape make their
, live television debut. playing alongside ' Suggs. D‘Angelo and Gregory lsaacs in a
new series of the live music show. presented in typically hesitant style by Jools Holland.
I Tribe Time (Channel 4)
ll.2()pm-4. 15am. This week's evening of programmes relating to youth subcultures is subtitled R/rvt/nn thieves and looks at various black tribes such as the Gospel Girls ( 1 1.20pm).
SUNDAY 5 ' i
; circle.
I Equinox: Kaboom! (Channel 4) 7 «8pm. A blast ofa programme. investigating the world of gunpowder. explosions. fireworks. demolition and other things that go kabootn! in the night.
I The Final Cut (BBC! ) ‘)-J).5()pm. Ian Richardson returns as dastardly PM Francis Urquhart in the follow-up to House (blinds and To Play T/lt’ King. First of a four-part series which is. apparently. a real favourite at Whitehall. I Cinema Europe - The Other Hollywood (BBCZ) 9-<l()pm. The last in the series about early European cinema examines the changes brought about at the end of the silent era. as the Talkies fired the public imagination.
I In Search Of Happiness (BBC I ) l().05—lt).45pm. Angus Deayton goes looking for nirvana and en route meets a woman who conducts Tantric sex workshops and a man who loves his couch potato existence.
I The BAFTA Scotland Awards (Scottish) 10.45pm—12. 15am. Well. the nominees up for awards are really up against some stiff competition what with the deluge of films and drama series made in Scotland (not). Bobby Carlyle for everything. we say.
I Running On Empty (BBCZ) l0.45pm—12.4()am. The film for which River Phoenix won his Best Supporting Actor Oscar. although it‘s certainly not his best performance. An everyday tale of an American dissident fatnilv on the run from the FBI. '
MONDAY 6
I love In The Afternoon (Channel 4) 5—6pm. The godlike Antoine De Cannes (completely wasted on Eurotrus/t) walks among us again. along with Carolyn Marshall and Maria McErIane. The trio investigate all tnanner of romance
featuring items such as Lovestyles of the Rich and Famous. Swoontastic! I Get It On (Scottish) 7—7.3()pm. Carol
3 Smillie. Jolm Amabile and Alison
i Gourlay present the rather makeshift Scottish style and fashion show.
I Horizon (BBCZ) 8—8.50pm. In a
programme entitled ‘The Human Laboratory”. Horizon investigates abusing
in the testing ofcontraceptive implant ; Norplant on women in the Third World. i I Desperately Seeking Something
(Channel 4) 8—8.3(lpm. Pete McCarthy's
1 investigation into alternative religions and
ancient cult beliefs finally visits a stone
I Cracker (Scottish) 9- IOpm. A new
two-patter Best Bovs begins tonight. Can
3 you afford to be anywhere but in front of the TV? I Trial And Error (Channel 4) 9—l()pm.
Channel 4‘s Rough Justice series looks at
E a murder case from I984 in which a petty
criminal was imprisoned on shaky evidence provided by an associate.
I Kicking And Screaming (BBCZ) 9.45>-I().30pm. Series looking at the history of football and the lives of its stars on and off the pitch. This episode
concentrates on the excesses of the 60s
when football became showbusiness.
I Scottish Women (Scottish)
l0.3()—l |.3()pm. Jetmy Eclairjoins a studio full of women ready to debate the lot of female comedians. Do they have to
have more of a nerve than the men to
pursue their chosen profession”?
I Ex-S (BBCI) lO.4()—ll.lOpm. A film entitled St‘UHfS/l Opera: Missing The Bent which looks at Scottish Opera‘s flnancially-induced proposal to go part time. among a catalogue of other problems.
I Face To Face: Germaine Greer (BBCZ) I I.lS—-l 1.55pm. Riot grrratmy Germaine talks as frankly as ever to Jeremy lsaacs about her life and career.
TUESDAY 7
I The Booker Prize (BBCZ) 8.10—9pm. Coverage of this year's presentation with comment on the candidates from Howard Jacobson. Michelle Roberts and Bill Buford. Who will be Ja'nes Kelman's successor?
I Without Walls: My Generation (Channel 4) 9.30—10pm. The programme which singlehandedly elevated The Animals to revered status in my record collection turns its attentions to The Small Faces. that most impressive of Britpop namedrops. Sadly Steve Marriott died a
few years ago and Ronald ‘Leafy‘ Lane suffers from MS. but of course their music lives on . . . in the current Blur and Paul Weller catalogues actually.
I Nice Work: Death Of A Bank Manager (BBCZ) 9.30—10. 10pm. A history of that most famous of sitcom stereotypes. the bank manager. which charts the former role as pillar of the community through to today‘s less visible presence.
I The Ballad DI The Sad Cafe (Channel 4) lO—l l .55pm. Simon Callow directs a Merchant Ivory producuon of the Carson McCullers novel of society in a southent American mill town. Starring Vanessa Redgrave. Keith Carradine and Rod Steiger.
I Network First (Scottish)
ll.lSpm—12. 15am. A series looking at the influential American dynasty the Gettys. starting with a profile of]. Paul Getty and his legacy. Will they also be highlighting young Balthazar Getty. star of Lord Of The Flies? Perhaps not.
I The Camera At War (BBCZ)
Il.IS—l 1.55pm. A look at the impact famous photographs taken during the Vietnatn War had on the public's changing perception of the conflict.
WEDNESDAY '8
I Delia Smith’s Winter Collection
(BBC 1) 8—8.30pm. This programme looks at ‘Proper Puddings And Sunday Lunch'. Anyone for aflers with lashings and lashings of custard?
I Modern Times (BBC I ) 9—9.5(lptli. A revealing look at ’lim‘ Wives in which the silent partners speak out. many for the first time. about the toll their MP husbands' occupation has on the family life the Conservative Party seetn so concerned about preserving.
I The South Bank Show (Scottish) (i—IOpm. Behind-the-scenes at Coronation Street in a programme which celebrates the soap's 35th birthday. Interviewees include Jean Alexander and Liz Dawn plus Street fans like Mike Newell and Lin Savage.
I People’s Century (BBCI) lO-lo.55pm. Featuring I933. the year that Hitler introduced his odious ethnic cleansing policy to Germany. Using archive footage and personal testimony. this programme documents the distressing spread of National Socialism.
I The French Lieutenant’s Woman (BBCI) l().55pm— l2.55am. A bit precious at times and Jeremy Irons is in it. but don't let that put you off this handsomely photographed film which follows a dual storyline. tracing a forbidden relationship from Victorian England which is being made into a film and the concurrent relationship between the actor and actress playing the protagonists.
I The Shooting Gallery (Channel 4)
l2. l5am—4. l()am. Another through-the- night bout of short films going under the theme Love Hurts. Try the Oscar nominated The lady In Waiting starring Virginia Mc Kenna. and The Ant Who loved A Girl about a love which dare not speak its name (because it can‘t speak in the first place).
THURSDAY 9..
I Short Stories: Faulty Tours (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. A Blackpool tour operator tries to promote the appeal of the tacky seaside resort a little further afield — in Moscow. But when the first party of Muscovites appear to gobble their ice creams then throw them up on the rollercoaster. things do not run smoothly.
I The last American Freakshow (BBC2) 9—9.45pm. Potentially fascinating dtx:umentary about the last tour undertaken by Ward Hall and his entourage of bizarre acts who have been forced out of business. probably because the American public now have the likes of OJ Simpson to satisfy their voyeuristic impulses.
The List 3- l6 Nov I995 89