REMOTECONTROI.
Brian Donaldson finds some warm surprises, crushing disappointments and old familiars within the schedules
At, tiarjii; as Rod Hull's death .‘.’«'lfs llallintj ott hi5; root while attempting to fix the TV aerralr. it's not a patch on seeing his son flailinr; around to tn, anrl
Frankenstein Helen McCrory. Neal Pearson and Lindsay Duncan collaborate in a modern adaptation of the Mary Shelley classic, in which a scientist takes her stem cell research too personally. STV, Wed 24 Oct, 9pm.
Russell Brand’s Ponderland Old jungle hair gets a chance to spout off about the world around him. Over six nights. no less. Channel 4, Mon 22-Sat 27 Oct. various post-watershed times. Fanny Hill Andrew Davies' adaptation of Cleland's infamous 18th century novel stars Alison Steadman and Samantha Bond while newcomer Rebecca Night gets her bodice in a twist for the lead role. BBC4, Mon 22 Oct. 9pm.
Hannah Montana Terrifying- sounding kids drama about a normal US teenager who lives a double life as a pop superstar. Miley Cyrus is in the key role and guess who plays her dad? Yup, her real one. Billy Ray Cyrus. Five, Sun 21 Oct, 10am.
Mlchael Jackson: What Really Happened Jacques Peretti goes on the trail of Mr Wacko to discover what he got up to after his acquittal for child molestation and to try and piece together the truth behind the allegations. Channel 4, Wed 24 Oct, 10pm.
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sluriing of the: man who it"rratwirerl to run for thr; White House is. not, at; some of hit; disruples ‘.‘.’ll[ alarm, tr; hr; comedy 's; Second Coming. he undouhtedt, shines in this; halt-hour tirade against ra(:e hatred. Intersptrivml wlth his trademark firebrand stand up routine recorded lll Edinburgh's; (laws. he confronts a BN.p activist (\titsidr: lhi'ox. meets Polish woilxrain ti'ttlintj Hans, WITH potatoes; in a farm near Perth and tackles Eil(?l(‘:()l:,'l)l(1£l| bigots on S’U'ttltr lvlt‘Clue's radio show. Naturally. ht,- has; his; own VIIC sentiments; to get (l‘Jrl' an ()(‘tlilfSlOlt but on this showing; at least. thr- (tort:- of Stanhojit- (I()lliéilll53 a ‘.‘.£l'lll Spirit ‘.‘.’|lll a previousl‘, hidden humanity oozing from (BX/(30; ltOXlOllES [)(ll(?.
Meanwhile. C43; current explrision of one off comedy shows includes Blowout (Channel 4, Sat 27 Or‘t.
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some of Scotland's orcuit comics in an inevrtablt patchy sketch St‘C'J.’ format. Susan Calman. Greg MCr-lugl‘ and Will Andrews 'Dettei Kno t; local stand-up fans as the hapless GeOrdie hypermeb. Tom Carter are all in here as get ’tOrrIDl‘, admirably performed inaterla amt; sexuaf water sports. men :ozw‘g badly mth domestic Chores and the kind of puffed-up yet ineffectual doctor that '.-.'e"~.e seen. man". tames before from Aussie romp Let the 8000 Run Free to Garth Marenghi‘s Dame/ace. If ever there was an aptly- titled Show. this is
COMFDV THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD BACKWARDS BBC4, Tue 30 Oct, 10pm oo
Of all the survivors of The Mary Whitehouse Experience. Robert Newman has arguably been the one to escape with the largest amount of public goodwill behind him. Punt and Dennis have eased themselves into genteel satirical fodder while Baddiel has been unable to convince us whether he is better suited on a lads’ beer-soaked sofa or as a panellist judging heavyweight novels. Newman, though, has bucked most trends thrown his way to do his own thing in stand-up and in book form, which has been consistently credible and rarely dipped below some measure of quality.
So it's deeply disappointing that his first major solo TV work should be as lame as The History of the World Backwards as he analyses the universe as though we are starting now and going back the way. Nelson Mandela enters prison as an avuncular Spice Girls fan and comes out a rabid revolutionary and scientists Watson and Crick have less of a clue about DNA as the day of its discovery regresses. And so on. But not especially amusingly. Such a chronology-tampering formula has been wielded successfully by Armando lannucci in Time Trumpet, but on his side was his own peerless writing and a galaxy of contemporary comics available to keep the momentum going. Here, we are relying largely on Newman alone and he ends up being bogged down into too many sketches that fail to go anywhere and stretch far too long. A crying shame. (Brian Donaldson)
And so It‘s mt“: a sad heart We? we come to the ‘ica'e 3‘ The Sopranos
4. 8.x ooooo "M A.) Snap nOie’? ls Page 32% a plotting aria, c the Carmeza keep a tree fa_,e moral can“? Wt: Ton, be the last mobster standing? And of ccurse. ii TV ever be the same again? We . .2" course “‘0’.