DCC'll/IENTARr CRUEL WORLD Channel 5. Mon 9 Jul. 8.30pm .00
Eating (logs is not nice. The idea becomes still more abhorrent when
you realise that, If] Korean meat markets. the animals are killed
right next to each other because the quality of the meat is improved if the (lorj is in a state of extreii'ie fear when slaughtered.
Both processes are forbidden by South Korean law but both. as this documentary shows. are endemic. The filmmakers answer to this is to take one dog away from the market. call it (you'll like this) 'Hope' and take it back to good ole Blighty. where no animals are ever killed in unpleasant conditions and no one ever eats pigs; beasts which may not be cuddly, but are certainly intelligent.
It is this rather smug hypocrisy that makes the first part. ‘A Dog Called Hope'. grate so much. Hope goes on to be a canine ambassador, which in itself is a good thing. But anyone who blindly asserts the superiority of their own culture is treading on dangerous ground. (James Smart)
SITCOM
THE OFFICE 8802. Mon 9 Jul, 9.30pm 0000
Until now. Ricky Gervais has come across as a mildly irritating little twerp. His appearances
104 THE LIST 5—19 Jul 20C“
Absolutely barking
Oil the now rISIDIe 7 7 O'Clock Show and his own chat show have failed to register almost anything at all. Now though, he has struck gold with this fly-on-the- wall look at the absurdities. tensrons and plain madness Of life in the modern office. In this case. a paper merchants in Slough.
Rumours of fresh redundanCIes are flying round like shredded manuscripts in a particularly frisky storm. To assuage the staff's fears. manager David Brent (Cervais) plays tricks. lies blatantly and generally mucks around with inappropriate verve. Merging the pseudo- dOCumentary form of Peep/e Like Us and throwmg in characters who are monstrous amalgams of Partridges. Fawltys. Perrins and Beans. The Office is a not.
This also stars Martin Freeman (one of the human minefields from Men Only) as the bored and fidgety Tim. Mackenzie Crook (one of the 11 O'Clockers in the Ali G period) as Brent's pompous right-hand man Gareth. and Lucy The Archers Davis as the put-upon, fragile receptionist Dawn. File under must-see. (Brian Donaldson)
DRAMA
TABLE 12 BBCZ, Thu 12 & Fri 13 Jul, 9.50pm 000
Remember last year's Black Cab. a series of shOrt films which took us
Gervale strike: gold
COMEDY BRASS EYE
Channel 4, Thu 5 Jul. 10.30pm
Chris Morris IS god almighty. No doubt his family of strict JeSuits would balk at the claims that have been made for him. but there really is no one in comedy who has made such radical art for the bOx in these sour times. HaVirig amused the masses and scared the media with spot-on spoof radio and teleVision news dramas such as The Day Today. Morris' pranks have left no B-list celebrity Or A-hole politicians unburned (Michael Heseltine's death announcement may well be the pinnacle of his poking). It can't be an exaggeration to suggest that he has been reprimanded by his
various employers more often than Chris Evans has thrown sickies.
In 1996. Morris returned from relative obscurity with the sensational Brass Eye. a series of proto- documentaries which looked very closely indeed. at the miserable state of Britain today (sex. drugs and animals were among the crucial subjects torn apart by his eschewed visions).
Each one had a 'viewers may find some scenes disturbing' warning before it. But none of us took a blind bit of notice as we got ourselves ready to laugh in order to offset the outrage. Somewhat ironically. light entertainments version of Morris. Noel Edmonds. took extreme offence at being made to look very foolish in a debate on drugs. Morris responded with an episode which had the silly-bearded one going on a mass killing
spree.
God has hle say
And here. the bold Channel 4 are repeating the series for the first time. preceded by a Brass Eye Special which will surely be one of the TV events of the year. Just leave your good taste glands in another room.
(Brian Donaldson)
into the lives of taxi drivers and onto their back seats to snap a brief fictional tale? Well, if you enjoyed those. then chances are you'll be happy to see the creators returning to the formula. but this time moving off the streets and into a swanky north London restaurant.
Ten ten-minute films are coming up over the next few weeks. and the first — 'Settling Up' — has Daniela Nardini playing a journalist trying to get some sense out of a rock star played by Paul Nicholls aka loopy Joe from EastEnders. Their stOry moves on to two further meetings at table twelve which illuminate their altering relationship and as such is a pleasant enough distraction.
But there is an obvious enough ingredient missing in such a genre: substance. Some of the
tales will satisfy (the opera lovers' culture clash and the Geordie bulimic trying to fool her mum) but most leave you feeling just a little short-changed. (Brian Donaldson)
FILM
LOST HIGHWAY Channel 4, Fri 13 Jul, 12.30am 00000
Bill Pullman's sax player Fred Madison answers his Los Angeles home intercom and a
disembodied voice says.
“Dick Laurent is dead'. Thus begins Madison's descent into murder and madness. Of course. this being a David Lynch film noir, nothing's that straight forward. Around the halfway mark our hero's story takes a wild detour; logic goes right out the window. replaced by bewildering nightmare.
Originated by Lynch and novelist Barry Gifford from a single phrase that became the film's title. Lost Highway alternates between wry humour and electrifying terror. It's a delirious experience boosted by magnetic performances from Pullman, Patricia Arquette. Robert Loggia and Balthazar Getty and a mesmerising soundtrack featuring the fake cocktail lounge jazz of Barry Adamson and the buzzsaw thrash metal of Rammstein.
Loglc out of the wlndow
And. in one of the weirdest scenes ever committed to celluloid. Robert Blake — the actor currently under
suspicion for murdering his wife — makes a
chilling appearance as
the Mystery Man. We
await Lynch's next LA trip, Mu/hol/and Drive.
with baited breath.
(Miles Fielder)
ALSO on Madonna nght (BBC
Choice, Sat 7 Jul. 9pm) Celebrating the Queen of Pop with an incisive documentary and re- showing of in Bed With Madonna. Reputatlona (BBC1. Tue 10 Jul. 9pm) Richard Burton is the subject of the first in a new series of probing
profiles.
Royals And Riots (Channel 4, Tue 10 Jul. 9pm) Recalling the glory days when Di was choosing a dress while Toxteth and Brixton burned.
This la Stanley Baxter
(BBC1. Thu 12 Jul.
10.35pm) Quaint Scots comic relic or pioneer of subversive
entertainment? You
decide.
Home And Away (Channel 5. Mon 16 Jul. 5.30pm) Summer Bay relocates from ITV for its grand return.