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OUR FRIENDS Ill THE NORTH is 3302’s epic new drama which follows three Newcastle likely lads and one likely lass lrom the SIB to the present, set against a backdrop at political corruption and social change. Starring Christopher Shallow Grave Eccleston and marking the return to the small screen by Malcolm "McDowell alter a fifteen- year absence, it promises to be one of the most talked about programmes ol 1995. See TV preview.
GULLIVEB’S TRAVELS. Jonathan Swift's classic social satire written in 1726, has been adapted for the stage by Welsh company Theatr Clywd, with costume design by Ralph Steadman. This version of Fear and Loathing in Lilliput transforms the hero from ocean- going ship's surgeon to surfer of virtual waves on the lntemet. It's a crazy idea. but it migthust work. Gulliver 's Travels is at Edinburgh F extivul Theatre from Tue 23 Jan—Sat 27 Jun.
SHOWGIRLS is not an exploitation film that sleazily cashes in on the current buzz over lap- dancing in the States. lio, no, no. And writer Joe Eszterhas isn’t bashing out the same old cover- up-the-lack-ot-plot-with-Iots-ot-sex lonnula that’s crawled lurther into the gutter from Basic Instinct to Sliver to Jade, is he? Certainly not, In tact, director Paul \lerhoeven knows exactly where this tale oi Las Vegas strippers fits into the history of lilm: ‘During the dance numbers, it appears as though the camera is following the actors as it might do in a cinema vérité documentary,’ he says. Ah well, so no one will mind it the iilm bombs at the box office and it‘s rented on video by shy single men in anoraks. Showgirls goes on general release on Fri 12 Jan.
2 The List 12-25 Jan 1996