TV & RADIO
3 country. Peak Practice witnessed a
5 maintain f community's i Bramwell, a female Victorian medic i fought against poverty, prejudice
ridden East End. And where better than the corridors and classrooms
preview
PREVIEW Hope And Glory
BBCl, starts Wed 23 Jun, 9.30pm. Lucy Gannon has a thing about heroes. She has spent much of her TV writing career creating them out of ordinary people. In Soldier Soldier, her characters had to rise above the conflicts of civilian and service life in order to serve their
series of flawed heroes striving to and improve their health. And in
and ill-health in London's disease-
of the nation's schools to find more heroics.
’Wherever you find heroes, you also find villains,’ insists Gannon as she discusses her new four part drama Hope And Glory. 'As I thought about schools and young people, I became excited not just by the vision and commitment of the good teacher, but by the
. laziness, lack of talent and dishonesty of the bad 5 teacher. And then I thought about the children, and I realised that here was another battlefield — another 3 hostile environment, another group of disparate, lively ; and complicated people with stories to tell.’
The story of episode one has Ian George (Lenny Henry) the head teacher at a successful comprehensive reporting on a failed, run-down and vandalised
establishment. His task is to recommend closure but
instead he meets teacher Debbie Bryan (Amanda Redman) who pleads with him to take over as head and turn its fortunes around. Resistance to the plan comes from current deputy Phil lakes, played by Scottish actor Clive Russell.
‘Phil has been teaching for a few years longer than Ian George and views his success with a jaundiced eye,’
Class act: Hope And Glory
notes Russell, who has been seen in the recent TV production of Great Expectations and will soon be returning to Dickens for Alan Bleasdale's version of Oliver Twist. 'A good, if old-fashioned teacher, he's cynical about new methods, highly suspicious about government dictats, and has a healthy dislike of teaching jargon.’
All of which ensures a high level of tension between the three central characters with Debbie Bryan caught in the middle of two men she respects and likes. 'Like Ian, Debbie gets off on vocational devotion,’ believes Redman. ‘She's turned on by his bon vivant approach and the fact that he’s positive. Phil despises Ian, because he’s everything that he's not.’
Hope And Glory is a league up from Grange Hill and it's on a different planet from the truly horrid Chalk. The series continues Lucy Gannon's success at writing strong characters with real dilemmas, dreams and disasters. Pass marks, once again. (Brian Donaldson)
possession Mrs Silverman’s passport, keys and social security card, as well as tapes of her conversations, notes on her daily movements and the deeds to
forged signature.
is no body or even forensic evidence to
conviction anyway.
As presented in lane Treays' documentary, the Kimes’ case is showbiz in extremis. A friend describes
emotional, well rehearsed speech direct to camera; and their flamboyant lawyer Mel Sachs does conjuring tricks to convince juries all is not as it first
REVIEW
Public Enemy: Mother And Son
Scottish, Tue 8 Jun ****
The American judicial system — it's the new rock ’n' roll. Or at least the new
Hollywood, as real-life courtroom dramas increasingly outdo their
104 THE UST 10—24 Jun 1999
True Kimes: Public Enemy
fictional counterparts in the entertainment stakes. We’ve had 0.1., we’ve had the Menendez brothers. Now comes the astonishing story of Sante Kimes and her son Kenny.
This case revolves around the disappearance of wealthy widow lrene Silverman, from whom Kenny was renting a plush apartment. When arrested, Sante and Kenny had in their
appears.
In a way, the documentary is like those broadsheet photographs, taken from a suitable distance, of paparazzi packs hounding the stars. It has its cake and eats it, shaking its head at how the US justice system creates preconceptions by filtering evidence through the media — but it is equally fascinated with the over-the—top story and its players. (Alan Morrison)
Box Pops
Celebrity sofa surfing. This issue:
Aleks Krotoski from Bits
What is your favourite show? The
‘ Simpsons. Duh.
What do you eat/drink while watching TV? Tortilla chips and salsa
i with beer. When did you last shout at the telly?
When Gail Porter was talking shite about Starsky & Hutch. Because she
i was talking shite.
When did you last cover your eyes at the box? When the silicone breast
implants were pumped up on Equinox
two weeks ago. You can’t keep your
eyes open when you’re spewmg
chunks
' What is your first TV memory?
Turning the TV off during Sesame
Street because I thought that the giant
cartoon bee flying at the screen would get through and attack me.
Which TV personality makes you
want to be physically sick? Posh
- Spice. It’s difficult to pinpomt a single loathsome characteristic.
Who was the first telly person you had a crush on? Ricky Schroeder.
Favourite advert? The Vegetarian
Society ad at the (EFT. I never knew vegetables could be that erotic. Greatest TV moment of all time? In college, smashing a derelict set With the Cube of Steel.
Favourite soap opera? None, they’re all brain cheese.
Greatest cartoon character of all
time? Akira — it’s good versus evil,
man.
, Who is your favourite sports commentator? Mike Ditka (Chicago
.. Bears) because of the way he says
’Beers for da Bears.’
And weather forecaster? Heather the
Weather because she’s the most intelligent woman on earth.
her $10 million townhouse bearing her i What is Y“ fawmite TV theme
Complicating E tune? Cheers.
matters, however, is the fact that there
Is there enough swearing on TV and
who should be encouraged to curse
fully implicate them, although the f more? Nope. NigGIWilson Buck'and
prosecutors are pressing for a murder ;
(Vids).
Who would you like to see on MTV's Celebrity Deathmatch? Celine Dion versus a blender.
I Bits, Channel 4, Fri, 4Later. how Sante dressed and looked like i Elizabeth Taylor; Kenny reads an é
STAR RATINGS
*1: “it Unmissable
t 'k t * Very 00d
1i: i * Wort a shot
i * Below average
* You’ve been warned