tv
highlights
Friday Night Fever Scottish, Fri 6 Feb, 11pm.
A new fly-on-the-wall series followmg young 24-hour-party-people as they get their rocks off, boogie on down, shake their thang and other such expressions. Tonight's episode JOlnS revellers in Glasgow, Cardiff and London as they set out to celebrate the New Year.
It’s A Cult Thing
Channel 4, Fri 6 Feb, 12.40am. New season of chilling films linked by
the notion that getting involved wrth a cult IS never a good idea. The run kicks off wrth a double-bill of The Witches (1966) and Home At Seven (1952). Next week’s sacrifICial offering, horror classic Night Of The Demon (1958) is much better.
Olympic Grandstand BBCl, Sat 7 Feb, 1am.
Live coverage of the opening events at the XVIII Olympic Winter Games The men's downhill skiing gets things off to a slaloming start, but the new snowboarding event is the one all the hepcats Will be sloping off to watch. You’ll be srck of such cold sports by the end of the run, so ENJOY it while you can.
Pleasure Beach
BBCI, Mon 9 Feb, 9.30pm. Fly-on-the-wall shows continue their domination of the telly schedules wrth this lo-fi look at the trials and tribulations of Blackpool during the tourist season. Tonight's episode sees an ice-spectacular melt, a girl wrth vertigo have a go on Europe's biggest rollercoaster and an IRA bomb-threat hit the beach. Sadistic telly at its cruellest.
Fitz
Scottish, Mon 9 Feb, 10.30pm.
New episode from the American remake of Cracker which is actually
qune good despite the fact that Fitz consumes diet root beer and burritos
instead of the customary neat whisky and crisps.
Inside Story: Dazzled BBCl, Tue 10 Feb, 9.30pm.
Supermodels Kate Moss and Sophie Dahl talk candidly about life behind the lens ls the catwalk lifestyle all glamour and glitz7 What about the sex, the drugs and the eating disorders Tune in and find Out
Parkinson
BBCl, Fri 13 Feb, 10.20pm.
The chat-show king offers two hunks of love this week Top Scot pin-up Ewan McGregor has a birrova a chin- wag With Parkie But who cares what the young Ben Kenobi says when you can Just ogle the screen7 On the same episode, former Take That starlet Robbie 'pie-boy' Williams talks about his battle against bun, sorry drug, addiction For more hot Ewan McGregor action, see page twelve
Our Boy
BBCl, Sun 15 Feb, 9pm.
Ray Winstone (AM By Mouth, Face) and Pauline QUirke (Birds Of A Feather, The Sculptress) star in this harrowmg st0ry of a husband and wrfe's struggle to come to terms With the death of their only son when he is killed in a hit-and- run accident Sonia tries to pick up the pieces of her life, but Woody is consumed by a need to unravel the mystery and find his son’s killer
Trouble At The Top BBCZ,Wed l8 Feb, 9.50pm.
If you like to see fat cat capitalists sweating cobs then this could be the show for you Troob/e At The Top is a fly-on-the-gold-plated-walls look at the world of high finance In episode one, foot-in-mouth Jewellery mogul Gerard Ratner is staging a comeback by opening a health club Will he say 'Our rowmg machines are Just cheap crap7' Probably not.
Horizon
BBC2,Thu 19 Feb, 9.30pm.
The Beeb’s flagship science series is back With more tales from the frontline of genius The first episode sees Dr Graeme Mather explaining that after 30 years of frUitless searching, he can make clouds rain Is this a scientifuc breakthrough or Just a damp sutiib7
Ewan McGregor blows his own trumpet in Parkinson. 880, Fri 13 Feb, 10.20pm.
108 THE UST 6—19 Feb 1998
Hippychick with dick: Jenna Elfman and Thomas Gibson in Dharma And Greg
Dharma And Greg Scottish, Fri 6 Feb, 10.40pm.
Even the most devoted Friends fan has to admit that it's been a bit ropey lately. In the States, Chandler, Joey and co are in danger of being swept aside by a new wave of so-called ‘Chick-coms' — comedies fronted by sassy, sexy females. The biggest of these is Dharma And Greg, which has scored a critical and commercial hit and made its leads into stars.
The premise is simple: the old odd-couple routine. Greg (Thomas Gibson) is a stuffy establishment attorney, Dharma (Jenna Elfman) is the goofy daughter of two hippies. Melting into each others' eyes on the San Francisco subway. they fly to Nevada for blueberry pie and marry.
'I love playing Dharma because she doesn‘t suppress her emotions.’ says former ZZ Top dancer Elfman. 'She's not a ditz, she loves life.‘
Elfman's quirky attractiveness is undoubtedly part of the appeal, but America's newest sex symbol thought she was ugly until her senior year at high school: ’l'd gotten my braces off. grown my hair in a different way and gotten breasts. The guys started to look and I was like "That's rightl‘"
How well the show does here depends on plot development. A mismatched couple falling out and getting back together again week on week has limited appeal. Dharma And Greg's Stateside success is evidence perhaps that we are still two nations divided by a common sense of
humour. (Stephen Naysmith)
radio
highlights
Electronica
Radio Scotland, Suns, 6.05pm
This (lance l".US|( show with a policy best described as 'cool and loose, great place to hear Japanese hip hop and white labels from 'oc al and international acts They also have guests as diverse as Howie B and Slam
Live From The Met: The Tales Of Hoffmann
Radio 3, Sat 7 Feb, 6.39am.
Offenbac h's one serious opera comes live from New York's T.‘etropo|itaii Opera House Based ()l‘ German novelist E T A Ho“iiiai"‘-'s ‘aiitastical short stones, the composer did not live to see his rriaste'piec e performed, dying during rehearsals
A Clockwork Orange Radio 4, Sat 7 Feb, 10.30pm.
Still banned from the telly, the cult
1962 novel of Beethoven and ultraviolence receives its radio p'eiiiiere
ill an adaptation frorn Anthony Burgess". own stage play If you need another reason to tune in, This Life star lack Davenport plays the Minister
Eureka Radio 4, Sun 8 Feb, 9.30pm.
Barbra '.‘.yei's guest this week is forensic psychologist David Canter, the real-life model for FM in lirnrriy lvlcCiovern's Cracker Canter talks about his work and inspiration
The Brit Awards Live Radio 1, Mon 9 Feb, 8.40pm. Probably not The hilarious litany of cussing that constituted the rival Brat's, but this is worth turning your dial for as bands like The Verve, All Saints, Row Size and F'ri'ey 'sexy bioke' Ouaye are all up for gongs
Charm Offensive
Radio I, Sur 15 Feb, 9pm.
Public Enerrty's Chuck D continues his Journey to media rnoguldom with this pTOfIIC of Angelo Ellerbee, former ghetto-kid, who runs a highly successful charm school which helps recording artists develop