TELEVISION LISTINGS

TELEVISION m

A selection oi television highlights, listed by day. in chronological order. Television Listings compiled by Tom Lappln.

I Europe Express (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. More continental news stories presented by Isabella Stasi in Rome, and a team of reporters across Europe.

I indelible Evidence (BBC2) 94.35pm. The forensic science series introduced by Ludovic Kennedy, investigating a case where a half-eaten apple provided a vital clue at the scene ofan IRA murder (and you thought they just relied on inventing confessions).

I The Tracey Ullman Show (BBC2) 9.35—10pm. Bland showbiz stuff from Trace, with guests Julie Kavner. Dan Castellaneto and Sam McMurray.

I Hughesovslta And The New Russia (BBC2) 10—10.30pm. The final instalment of the three-part series looking at the history of the Soviet Union from the perspective of a small town. Hughesovska. Tonight‘s programmes follows post-war reconstruction through to 80$ perestroika.

I Dream On (Channel 4) 10—10.35pm. The first in a new raunchy American sitcom following the adventures ofa thirtysomething publisher about to be divorced. The gimmick is that his every emotion and thought are depicted by black-and-white clips from 505 American TV series.

I The Best oi the Paul Hogan Show (Channel4) 11.20—11.50pm. Lewd and licentious Aussie humour from Hoags and mates.

I Down Under Compo (Channel4) 11.50pm—1.25am. Nigel Buesst‘s offbeat comedy looks at office life in the Australian GOVernment Compensation Office (hence the title) Jeremy Stanford plays the university-educated recruit Paul Harper, encountering a motley crew of time-servers and womanisers. Sounds like The Lisr's theatre reviewers . . .

I NB Festival Cinema (Scottish)

11.15—1 1 .45pm. The first of two special programmes guiding you through the 45th Edinburgh International Film Festival.

SATURDAY 10

I The Shadow: Police (BBC2) .6.35—7.05pm. Liverpool Sergeant Sarah Mickiewright takes Italian carabinic re Brigadiere Luciano Pascolini on patrol on her Mcrseyside beat. including a visit to the Anfield football ground. I The World This Week (Channel 4) 7-8pm. The best (only?) international affairs programme on TV. Presented by Sheena McDonald and Nicholas Owen. I Private Benlamin(BBC1)8.15—10pm. A haphazard comedy starring Goldie Hawn as a dizzy widow who joins the army.and somehow becomes the most impressive new recruit. She is posted to Europe. where luurve rears its head in the form of gynaecologist (1) Armand Assante. Contrived, but infinitely better than the spin-off sitcom. I Le Soulile Au Coeur (Channel 4) 9L] 1 . 15pm. Louis Malle's 1971 film caused a stir at the time with its depiction of incest, but this is only one aspect to a complex and sensitive study of an adolescent, Benoit Ferreux, and his progress towards adult sexuality. I Sportscene(BBC1)10.15—11.15pm. The football season is back and Dougie Donnelly can return his UB40 to get back to offering bland comments on the League action. with the help of amiable buffoon L Derek Johnstone.

| q

i

FRIDAY 9 ;

IThe Firm (BBC2) 9.45—10.55pm. The latest in the Alan Clarke season wasfirst shown in 1989. It‘s a fascinating depiction ofthe double-life ofa football hooligan. played by Gary Oldman. who has a job. a wife and a daughter away from the mayhem.

I As It Happens (Channel 4) 11.15pm—12.45am. Fly-on-the-wall reportage from Kuwait where Andy Kershaw finds out how the Kuwaitis are trying to get back to normal a year after the Iraqi invasion.

SUNDAY 11

I Speaking Volumes (BBC‘I)

1.05—1 .45pm. PD. James introducesthe book review programme. with guest Sophie Grigson talking about her food writing.

I Great Expectations (Scottish) 7.45——8.45pm. Continuing the Dickens adaptation. Pip learns that Mrs Gargery has died and returns for the funeral.

I Around The World In 80 Days: (BBCI)

7.45-8.35pm. Michael Palin continues his

(repeated) voyage. entering Singapore harbour as part of the crew of a Yugoslav freighter. ‘The cabin could have been a living-room in Edinburgh‘s Morningside.‘ suggests Mike.

I John Sessions’ Tall Tales: Don Juan In Comwali (BBC2) 9—9.25pm. A repeat for Mr Cocky Grin‘s series ofmonologues. featuring a lascivious West Country ‘artist'.

-.

I Ladder 0i Swords (Channel 4) 10—11.55pm. Norman Hull‘s debut feature is a grim affair. starring Martin Shaw asa struggling circus performer. After his alcoholic wife leaves. he begins an affair with widow Juliet Stevenson. while trying to stay one step ahead of the law. A film noir with an original and disturbing edge to it.

I Sex Now (Scottish) 10.35—1 1 .(lSpm. Tonight‘s programme looks at the pressures on modern relationships.

finding men and women‘s desires differing ;

widely.

MONDAY12 I

I Them and Us (BBC! ) 7.30—8pm. Craig Charles continues to campaign and talks to the locals of Bangor in Northern Ireland. who are less than chuffed with the

new marina that is blocking their sea view. I

I Cine Memo (BBC2) 7.45—8.3opm. The newsreel historical programme looks at events during the last years of the war. including amazing footage of a Belgian Resistance fighter attacking a German sniper. and filming at the same time.

I Diiierent Drummer: Manchin—The Final Account (BBC2) 8.3(l—9pm. A profile of the larger-than-Iife State Treasurer of West Virginia. James Manchin. whose approach to politics is an unusual one to say the least.

I Traveliers' Tales: Journey Into ALost Japan (Channel 4) 9—1llpm. Lesley Downer travels through the paddy fields and hidden valleys of rural Japan. meeting poets. farmers and pilgrims enjoying a brief respite from the country‘s industrial progress.

96The List 9— 15 August 1991

I Viva Elvis! (Channel 4) Ill—l l .2()pm. Jonathan Ross meets the guys in the jumpsuits who gather each year to imitate

the king of rock 'n' roll. See preview.

I Edinburgh Nights (BBC2)

11.15—1 1.55pm. Tracey Macleod and Kirsty Wark team up to introduce reports from the world's largest arts festival. The first programme features The Kosh. lleathcote Williams. and fishtank photographer Arthur Tress. See panel.

I Opinions (Channel 4) 8—8.3(ipm. Jan Urban. one of the first people to sign Charter 77 in Prague. talks about his life in Czechoslovakia. and his part in the country's first free elections.

I Outside Time (Channel 4) 8.3(1—9pm. The first in a new series looking at the Celtic myths of Briitain. starting with a dramatisation of the great mediaeval masterpiece I’eduir ('aim‘ Y Mabinogi.

I Love And Hate (BBCl)9.30—11.()5pm. The first in a two-part mini-series starring Kate Nelligan and Kenneth ‘Windom Earle‘ Welsh. He plays a millionaire rancher and politician fighting for the custody of his children and prepared to go to any lengths to achieve his aim. Part two tomorrow.

I Down Under: Mortgage (Channel 4)

TUESDAY 13 j

Iii—11.50pm. A drama documentary about 3

a couple whose dream of a borne oftheir own begins to go badly wrong. The key characters are played by actors. while architects. solicitors and government building services officials play themselves. I Legacy (Scottish) li).4()—l l .4ilpm. The first of a new series investigating the legacy of the world‘s great civilisations. Michael Wood starts off. ironically enough. in Iraq. where civilisation began. but isn’t going too strong at the moment.

WEDNESDAY 14 moth iiig . :9. y: in} '>< hi) i 'fi

I sixthirtysomething (Channel 4) 6.3(l—7pm. The first in an offbeat chat and show presented by Ann Bryson and Maria McErIane. They start off with a preview of Arnie Schwarzenegger's latest. Terminator 2.

I Rough Guide to Careers (BBC2) 6.45-7.25pm. A repeated series ofthe programme which makes finding a job sound like a piece of cake so long as you do what the presenters say. Today they take a look at careers in the beauty profession . with a guest appearance from Jason Donovan.

I Dill (Channel 4) 9—10pm. Two films. following the fortunes ofan East Berlin gay squat under threat, and the lives of South Asian lesbians and gay men.

I Screenplay: The Hour OiThe Lynx (BBC2) SLlil. 10pm. Eleanor Bron. Sylvestra Le Touzel and Simon Donald star in Per Olov Enquist‘s moving drama about a young man committed to a psychiatric hospital for an apparently motiveless murder. There. a university researcher determines to discover the truth about him.

I Edinburgh Nights (BBCI)

11.15—1 1 .55pm. The second programme in the series features a profile of Edinburgh's outgoing (and shortly departing) arts patron Richard Demarco. I Nightingales (Channel 4)

11.05-1 1 .35pm. Second in the repeated black comedy series with the night watchmen indulging in a little Shakespearian acting.

THURSDAY 15

I Rising Damp (Channel 4)8.3()—9pm. Rigsby (Leonard Rossiter) continues to be as odious as ever. In this episode he decides to spill out his emotions to Miss Jones. What a thought . . .

I On The Line (BBC2) 8.3(l—9pm. With the football season only five days old. the sports investigative series looks at the hidden costs of running a football club. and the small clubs facing bankruptcy from week to week.

I The Play On One: And The CowJumped OverThe Moon (BBC1)9.3()—I().45pm. Donna Franceschild‘s funny and moving play is set in a Glasgow hospital ward. Phyllis Logan plays a former nightclub singer coming to terms with breast cancer and the cornerstone ofa group ofwomen whose differences are eroded by their condition. but each of whom has herown fears and dreams.

I The Belly 0i An Architect (Channel 4) liipm—IZ. 15am. Onc ofPeter Greenaway's more accessible (ifstill relentlessly arty) films follows the progress of an American architect. Brian i Dennehy. in Rome to supervise an exhibition celebrating an 18th-century architect Etienne Boulee. In Rome he becomes obsessed with Boulee while tryingto come to terms with hisown i mortality and the failure of his marriage. Sumptuously visual in the usual Greenaway style.

I Capital News(BBCl)

10.45pm—1 1.30am. The Washington Capital is on the trail ofa corrupt senator. but events take a surprising turn. Lloyd Bridges stars as editor Jo Jo Turner in the glossy newspaper drama.

I NB (Scottish) 10.40—1 1.10pm. Up-to-date reports on the state of the arts in Scotland. with a Festival flavour.

I Edinburgh Festival Scottish Books Special (Scottish) 11.1(lpm—l 1.40pm. Sally McNair presents a special report from The Book Festival. with Doris Lessing. Sarah Peretsky. Michael Rosen and Liz Lochhead.