TV
Naked Nashville Channel 4, Sat ll Jul, 8pm.
Dale Watson: not a black lesbian Catholic banjo player
Mrndy McCready —1 all bottle-blonde locks and see-through tops — seems hellbent on brrngrng a promrsrng career as a c0untry 'n' western star to a shudderrng halt Drrnk7 Drugs7 KallOd the nerghb0ur’s dog? Nope, she Just can’t be bothered to turn up to press lunches, record her album rn trme for a Grammy nomrnatron or srnrle at her
Soapbox
It’s a case of New Corrie, New Danger as Weatherfield gets political.
Web of intrigue: Spider in Coronation Street
Wrth the natron obsessrng over sport, the resrdents of Coronation Street have werghtrer concerns The strange, two-way polrtrcal race between Sprder Nugent, standrng for the Greens, and Audrey Roberts, standrng for, um, herself, rs hottrng up. Unlrke the real world, c0uncrl electrons rn soapland are more frercely contested than the England-Argentrna match
Frrst EastEnders’ Ian Beale spent months on hrs rll-fated campargn and now the Weatherfreld contenders have succumbed to Barbara Follett-style makeovers rn therr efforts to wrn our hearts and minds.
88 THE “ST 9—23 Jul 1998
fans Mmoy’s story 's rust or‘e tyn ca tale from. Amer'ca's mass country scene, as tote n Naked Nash/ll/e
Stylrshly fumed and someth-ng 0‘ an eye-opener at trmes, the serres s so: rnto tnree weekry parts
The ‘rrst, ‘I Won't Dre For Any Mar“, looks at the CttfrCclIPS for fema e artsts an Nashvrt'e Of those who enter the system, both male and fema e, on y a" estrmated 2% wrrl make a name ‘or themse-ves Certaah unsrmken rules rnake rt dotrbly hard for women, such as radro statrons refusrng to p ay two records by female artrsts ." successo't Black :esbran Catnoac harpo p ayer7 Forget rt
Part two, ’My Heroes Have Always Been Cotnrboys' reveals the sort between the tradrtronai a .a Ta"‘r*‘y Wynette and contemporary art sts Lke Mrndy wno ma 'ttarrt t"a‘_ 'today, cocrntry 'srt't aDOut eayzrtg y()t.." r.'.""e and lrvrng wrtn a dog rn you" truc-c '
Dale Watson belongs f rm'y .r‘ tne tradrtrona! camp ’Strange-y, I'm consrdered as alternatwe,’ draws the gurft’ed, tattooed, ol-sta ned .rnaszcrar‘, who looks rzke a Mr Jarrr‘uscl‘ extra anc: s0unds 'rke Hank Hrll's :nar.drb!e buddy, Boomhauer. 'Country 'n' western rs "0 longer cotrhtry It's pop '
The fznal epsode, 'H ‘Iorliy Hol'yxxooct' tracks a wannabe songwrrter lsylatraca Berg and her dreams of fa'r‘e :r‘ Nashvrlle As RCA C"a r'r‘a't Joe Galar‘te IllC‘OTrSGS, sne may nave to be ‘tough and have a yewbo nt Whrcn rs not the same as be'ng a brtc "‘ '
‘Brran Donaldsonr
Sprder, shoved rnto a surt and tre, looks more lrke Peter Parker than hrs superhero namesake rcome to thrnk of rt, drdrt't Sprclerman lrve wrth hrs aunt, too7r Audrey's campargn photoshoot revealed an unfortrrnate resemblance to Thatcher, so she dug out an ancrent glamour shot whrch looked uncannrly lrke a strll from one of those 60s Brrtfrlms that actress Sue Nrcholls used to be a stalwart of
Audrey’s platform rs surprrsrngly honest: she freely admrts to berng rn rt for the freebres She has no polrcres, although Fred Ellrot and Alec Grlroy the Peter Mandelson and Alrstarr Campbell of Weatherfreld a are desperately concoctrng a polrtrcal phrlosophy for her
The soap’s other attempt to surf the zertgerst rs the rather sweet tale of Roy, who succeeded rn wrnnrng farr ladyboy Hayley rn Amsterdam. Though now Offrcrally a transsexual, Hayley looks exactly the same, havrng been played by a woman all along A real transsexual or transvestrte wOuId be more convrncrng, but presumably too rrsky for producers teeterrng between wantrng dramatrc new stones and av0rdrng alrenatrng therr tradrtronal audrence
Hayley told Roy she'd return home by wrrtrng rn lrpstrck on the arrport wrndow. Hrs usually gormless face lrt wrth touchrng clelrght as he decrphered the back-to-front message, an approprrate rmage for therr topsy-turvy relatronshrp The unlrkely parr looked set for a happy endrng, untrl the bemused rmmrgratron offrcer told Hayley to 'Come over here, srr’ Awwwww. (Andrea lvlullaney)
rv REVIEW Channel hopping
lt's Fr'day' It's past the ‘.'.atersned' rt's ‘gwe another stand-up therr t)\.'.'r‘ ser‘res' trrrte' Follox'ung rn tne ‘ootsteps of Kay, Brand and Hril comes 50 Graham Norton -Channel .1, fr:days Norton's comedy rs cut fron‘. the same camp cloth as Kenneth \r’r/Jlrams and Julran Ciary Wrthrn about 40 seconds of hrs chat show, we got ‘t'rer'e's no sofa, Just three charts and a poof' Luckrly, he put such obt. ous T'rrnperres to one s'cle and concentrated on frrst c'harmrrrg ther‘. ctsarrnrng l‘rs guests l\.'ana Trump, Kathy Burke, Sooty, Sweep and Sue The l‘rghlrght :r‘ a rather dull half hour was that current staple of TV comedy the crank call The first nrgnt had Norton lttaklr‘t} a connectro't to a German sex-.rne 'Greta rnrt dre grossen t.tten’ Other‘t.‘.rse, So Graham Norton s so deepTy drsappornta'rg Yet, st:ll not dreadful enough to make the schedulers thrnk agarn about gryrng any old comedran t".("" ow? ssot
Mrld cltsapporntrrtent was the 'nrtral reactron to the frrst part of lmogen's Face .Scottrsh, Thursdays, Andrea Newman's ratest take on tne rhodern farnrly Anyone born before 1970 should have the rncestuous goings-on of her Bouquet Of Barbed ‘/'//re rndelrbly etched therr rhrnds, whrze anyone who strll recalls Trevor Eve and
Rudr Dawes rh the buff rn A Sense Of
Gur/t \.'.'rll probably be out o‘ therrs
ln Newman’s fatest drama, the toprc rs adultery Samantha Janus and Lra Vt rllrarns are srsters lmoger‘. 'Janusv :s beautrfui, rn possessron of an adorrng husband, krcls and a org house Her concern for her twrns rs dwarfed by her need for a gurckre rh the conservatory wrth her bearded antroue-dealrng louver Amanda
This disarming man: Graham Norton
\r"./:'}:ar‘ts‘r rs plarn and rn possessron of ar‘ :rit'errorrty cornp‘ex that \r‘rould rnake Tot;'otrse-Latrtrec look lrke a s‘.'.'aggerrng peacock rn a park full of rriangy spar'ro\.'.rs However, Amanda has the oppor'tun'ty to get the upper hand on lmo when she learns and colludes rn her srster's affarr Wrth Cayan a krnd of anorexrc Ollre Reed
Some of the camera wrzardry rs totally unnecessary recallrng an age when A-ha pop yrcleos seemed rcwolutronary Strll, there's enough here to keep watchrng, rf ()r‘ly to drscover jllSl hots. brxarre the rnevrtable twrsts wrll get
Reactrons have been varred to Fay Weldon's latest rnedra statements about rape Perhaps she should concentrate on her wrrtrng on the basrs of eprsode one of Big Women
Daniela Nardini talks like a speeding hovercraft tanking it along Largs beach. TV audiences need Big Women like a fish needs a bicycle.
.Channel A, Thursdaysr, she's losrng rt brg trrrte london rn the early 70s and Worncxn's Lrb rs burgeonrng We know thrs because rrxornen are dancrng naked around the lr\.rrrtg-rc)om, lrstenrng to lanrs Jopln and wrtterrng on about ’praxrs’, 'stasrs' and 'male hrppy madness'
At some pornt, practrcaI ac’tron rs regurred so a f'emrnrst publrshrng house :s set up Pretty soon they’re gong to have to dec'rde between therr prrncrples and playrng the rent. Whatever happens, Danrela Nardrnr r.-.rll probably keep talkrng lrke a speedang hovercraft tankrng rt along Largs beach But ,Iust who rs B/g Women for7 ludgrng by the ads between parts two and three a beer, a men's maga/rne and Kerth Allen dressed lrke an angel —7 us not armed at any new breed of femrnrst, TV audrences need thrs lrke a frsh needs a brcycle rBrran Donaldson)