Soapbox
The body count in Brookie begins to resemble a bad day on Homicide as Gladys becomes the latest resident to bite the dust.
It has been going on for some time now, but the pain has suddenly become unbearable. Something has to be done to put an end to it all; Brookside vrewers have suffered enough. '
The furore over the cancer storyline in Brook/e has topped even that of the incestuous romance, and it is beginning to seem as if there are diminishing returns The medical criticisms are hard to assess — doctors have argued that the agony of Gladys Charlton is by far a worst—case scenario, and that the programme deliberately chose not to show the support available to terminally ill patients in order to heighten the drama and give the actors free scenery-chewing range.
It is a serious charge - Brookside prides itself on portraying more truth than other soaps -< and the programme makers should have been Surer of their ground. It is not good enough to duck responsibility for sparking real fears by saying, ’Well, at least we got people talking about it’.
But the dramatic truth of the story was Surprisingly effective, helped by l strong performances by LOUIS Emerick ' (Mick) and the gloriously-named Beverly Hills (Elaine). After the nastiness of the death scene itself, there were several convrncing, gwet scenes where the pair tried to convince themselves they'd done the right thing by 'helping' Gladys die using her own pillow The very static conversation between Mick and heme mate Sinbad in the garden was particularly movrng and well written
Sinbad could empathise, havrng prevrously helped to bury the body under the patio, the first really sensational plot in the series. In fact, many residents could have, since the Close seems to attract people who end up more or less inadvertently committing murder to a now credibility-straining extent
All the other soaps seemed
lightweight by comparison, even Dot's hostage ordeal in EastEnders finished well, as the Sguare's most rnrserable character decided to OJTJOY life more
after her scrape wrth death Why not, . while she still can (Andrea Mullaney)
Pain killer: Brookie's mercy killing
tv
highlights
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Channel 4, Thu 10 Jul, 10pm.
Love it or loathe it, the top-rating improvisation show that’s entire/y made up on the spot returns for a ninth series. Clive Anderson is back in the driving seat, with familiar clever- clogs Ryan Stiles, Colin Mochrie, Gregg Proops, Josie Lawrence and Steve Frost and a few new faces too.
Take That Your Majesty BBC2, Fri 11 Jul, 8.15pm.
Last in the United Kingdom! series taking a look at the state of the nation, mainly from the perpective of its underdogs and agitators. Last up is Welsh Language Society actiVist, lwan. Not being a great fan of the British monarchy, lwan staged a demonstration during the Queen's recent Visit to Aberystwyth, and got himself nicked for breach of the peace. The programme follows his trial, and the aftermath, which will be celebrated no matter what the result, With a rousing gig of Welsh language pop.
Frasier Channel 4, Fri ll Jul, 10pm.
Frasier returns to the building for a fourth series of the show that began life as a character who propped up the bar with the rest of ’em in Cheers. Now the erudite psychiatrist has a show to himself, a far bigger apartment and a dysfunctional family who provrde endless storylrnes. The series kicks off with 'The Two Mrs Cranes’, which sees Daphne passmg off Niles as her hubby in order to escape the clutches of an ex-fiance who still has the hots for her.
lnvasuon Of The Big- Haired Lesbians
Channel 4, Sat 12 Jul, 11.25pm. Title of the fortnight goes to this tantalising feature from Channel 4’s Queer Street zone. Proving once and for all that girls Just wanna have fun, fun and more fun, the programme trails 20,000 lesbians as they head for the Dinah Shore Golf ClaSSic, Palm
| Springs, apparently the world's biggest
lesbian event. How much golf actually gets played is debatable, but one thing you can be assured of, somebody will always manage to squeeze in a few holes before breakfast.
The Deep Channel 4, Sun 13 Jul, 8pm.
New series of one-hour films exploring what lies at the bottom of the deep, blue sea. Cloaked in mystery srnce the beginning of time, the deep oceans have always confounded man. This series attempts to unravel the mysteries and illuminate the beauty and splendour of the planet's final frontier. The first programme dives into the history of deep subrnergence technology and the men who risked their lives to develop it during the Cold War.
‘t‘i‘
The Works: The Man Who Saw The Future BBC2, Sun 13 Jul, 8.55pm.
The world's bestselling science fiction author, Arthur C. Clarke, gives a rare interview from his Sri Lanka home this week in the arts programme. Now 80- years-old and suffering from the debilitating post-polio syndrome, Clarke is still one of the most respected visionaries of our time. Listened to by sCientists from the UN, the US Congress and NASA, he’s best known to the rest of us as the man who created 2007 A Space Odyssey.
Perverted Justice Channel 4, Mon 14 Jul, 10.55pm.
Hard-hitting documentary about the high numbers of women awaiting trial on America’s Death Row who are either lesbians, or have had accusations of lesbianism used against them at their trial Commentators see this as a further blow for the US ,iustice system which has prevrously come under attack for the disproportionately high numbers of black people who face exeCution on Death Row.
Highlanders Too Channel 4, Sat 19 Jul, llSam.
OK, we know it's late, but this could be worth standing up the pub/your hot date/your duvet for Scheduled as part of Channel 4's Queer Street, Highlanders Too takes a candid look at what it's like to be gay when the nearest gay bar is 250 miles away and you live in a town where everyone knows your busmess. Drawn from interViews With gay men of all ages, it tells a tale of double lives, isolation and religious opression.
radio
highlights
Talking Comedy - Ardal O'Hanlon Radio 2, Sat 12 Jul, 1pm.
Ardal O’ Hanlon the stand-up and comedy actor best known for his glib portrayal of Father Dougal in TV‘s Father Ted, talks about what it’s like to tell iokes for a Iiying, and treats us to snippets from some of his favourite
:3;ng
Palm Springs eternal: Invasion Of The Big-H
f | l l l i
#1.
aired Lesbians
fellow comics including Harry Hill, Eddie lzzard and Jackie Mason
Electronica Radio Scotland, Sun l3 Jul, 7pm.
Scotland's national radio station sticks its toe in the pulsating waters of club culture with its first ever show devoted to dance music from house to techno, jungle and beyond
The Late Book
, Radio 4, Mon l4 Jul, l2.30am.
The Late Book opens the first chapter of Paul Beatty’s first novel, lit/hire Bey Shuffle. Read by Ray Shell over ten episodes, it tells the story of Gunnai' Kaufman, a black middle-class LA teenager who gets drawn from his cotIOn-wc‘iol eXistence at a white
majority school into the city's brutal i gangsta culture and a battle drawn
along strict racia: lines.
Superclubs
Radio l, Sun 20 Jul, 7pm.
Critcised for selling out by some but copied by many others, Cream and the
Ministry Of Sound are not jUSl clubs but big business In the opening
3 programme in this new five-part series,
Mi‘xrnag editor Dom Philips looks at how the superclub phenon'ienon has
Q spread to tours, bars, records,
7 Glasgow!
merchandising, foreign offices, magazines and even politics.
Ready Steady
Radio 4, Tue 22 Jul, 10am.
Televrsion chef Ainsley Harriott takes a tour around the eateries of Glasgow, discovers a new wave of enthu5iasm for traditional Scottish goodies (deep- fried Mars Bars don't come into it), and pays a Visit to Porrelli’s ice-cream factory to sample the delicacies that have tickled Glasgcwv's tastebuds since the 20s
Comic Kids
Radio 2, Tue 22 Jul, 9.30pm.
Tony Robinson celebrates 60 years of The Dandy wrth this flick though a century of corizics, from the first comic character Ally Sloper, to the futuristic 2000 AD, which celebrates its 20th I birthday this yea." (Ellie Carri
ll 24 Jul 1997 THE LISTS?