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‘The editor’s idea is that all we have the night before is two items and a running order, which sounds like a bit of a nightmare for me, but that’s the plan. And it’s likely that we’re going to cheese a lot of people off it they’re used to the more esoteric sort of discussions.’
One innovation likely to get the huddled biddles oi elalrgowrle seething over their porridge is the phone-in element to Mair’s show, which offers the public a chance to call up with any comment. ‘That’s a pretty enormous change for liadio Scotland,’ he says. ‘li we have a phone-in at all, it’s a rare occasion " I . w. and the subject is set by the Eddie says ‘ring my bell’. programme. This time it the public
Smashie and llicey’s impressions oi wants to Phone in about anything they
nadlo Scotland aren’t on public like. they can. It’s a risky business-
record, but they’d probably be along We’ve all heard pretty draalllu' Phane'
the lines of ‘snoozetabulous’ or ins and ours till" he tlteallllll Class War is not an organisation that worst case of emetic ankle-biters in
‘yawntastic’. With this image in mind, OceaSlehallV the because that's what has appealed to me overmuch in the recent memory).
eec Scotland’s Head of iiadio James llve radio lS Ilka: but hopefully it Will past (too many woolly balaclavas and Goggle Eyes (BBC2) thus came as
Boyle has embarked on a three-stage he a hlt more Sparky than that; and parkas for my liking), but come 4.30 something of a revelation. 13-year-old
campaign to liven up the slumbering ehcelllage People to llStell t0 hallle last Saturday afternoon I was Honeysuckle Weeks (yes I know. but
station’s profile, with schedule seetlahtl Who don’t normally: scrabbling around for their 24-hour the poor girl can‘t help her name) is
changes designed to pull in a younger Fl" "all: lt rellletlellts a meVe away credit card membership number. The nothing short of outstanding as grumpy
listenership. item the rellahle ahehhllllall teles he Grand liationai farce (BBC 1) was the schoolgirl Kitty Killin, coming to terms leading the way is a new daily 90- has lllletl tel' lhtlSt 0t hlS caleel’. and best advert for popular revolution we with admirably poor grace with the
minute news and views show eltel's a new challenge. ‘It is much were going to get this century. its sheer arrival of her mother‘s new boyfriend.
presented by Eddie Mair. As Mair says, less sellhusi allll lt Wlll demand mete awesome awfulness measurable by the In the wrong hands the subject matter it’s a deliberate attempt to lighten up item lhei llllt her ltis net the met Step fact that even Des Lynam, a man who could have resulted in a drab. worthy
the Radio Scotland morning schedule, on the load to the game-shows. I you just know would be cracking piece of mawkish social comment on and persuade listeners to stay with Whllltlh’t do that, although I suppose urbane one-liners on the seventh level the traumas of single parenthood. the station. Wheh l get seeketl alter my "let week! of Dante‘s inferno, was looking very Instead it‘s a relentlessly funny and ‘We aim to be a bit more l might have to leeehSldel-’ pissed off indeed. accurately observed production, with unpredictable, more spontaneous than “the Mall lllle bet]th 0" Radio Anyone with a passing familiarity excellent performances from Lesley existing programmes,’ he explains. seetlahd 0" 19 Alll'll at 8303m- with the way racing is organised in this country will not have been too _ surprised at the sheer bloody ineptitude ‘Here was 3 WV” portrayal 0T 3 that caused two false starts, nor at the world where you ‘ean’t believe patrician arrogance with which the you can get so much shite out Jockey Club dealt with the ensuin , , confusion. Much the same thing g of one dog’ and you ve 9‘“
That great forum of Scottish debate, x " happens with increasing frequency your Whale in "out 0' you the Daily Record letters page, recently throughout the season, from Ludlow to ‘unless you QEt an pillt’. ’ featured a suggestion from a reader a. Sedgelield and most points in-between, that ‘all these Gaelic programmes’ 3" e ' where the ‘sport' is still overseen by should be transterred onto a station oi ' g , the sort of inbred younger sons of Mam/me as- the harassed mum and their own, so that the rest oi us didn’t minor aristocracy oblivious to the fact Victoria Shalet as the no-nonscnsc little have to suffer all those ‘heechle- that their gentlemen's diversion is Sister, Ms weeks (I couldn‘t bear to call wheechie’ noises. subsidised by the two quid each-way her Honeysuckle) is the real star
It was an extreme comment but punter in the backstreet Coral‘s or though, achieving just the right blend reflective of an attitude that could Ladbroke‘s. at maievnienee and vulnerability as she become more prevalent as the This time, their bumbling idiocy was pintS the anwnt‘an ()f the dreaded Government-backed Gaelic Television witnessed by 300 million people and ‘gogglc eyes‘. as comforting to know committee provides funding for a £75 million was a'. stake. which is that the next generation already has a proliferation oi programmes in a perhaps good news in the long term as better range than Emma Thompson, language still spoken by only around market forces dictate that never again The Snapper (BBCZ), the last of a 70,!!!) people. will such sums be entrusted to the mixed bag of Screen Tim flImS. also
That said, Gaelic output isn’t exactly whim of a superannuated codger in a Chose to treat a ‘social problem' encroaching at an alarming rate. Most Ly , I r , , bowler hat who can‘t even be bothered (teenage pregnancy) in a broadly comic oi the programmes go out at oft-peak Charlie and chums. to tlnfurl his little flag properly. That way‘ and again was all the more times, and at present adult output on , , , said. the Grand National, one of the at't‘eettng and enlightening for it. all channels combined is only around Challes 5 “While” 5 5m" leatullng world‘s greatest sporting spectacles was Stephen Frears adapted Roddy Doyle‘s three hours per week. the “in” himself! bl" 3" undersm'ed turned into a national embarrassment. novel for the small screen with fewer
‘I wouldn’t say that was excessive,’ high'lgm is a llflFen'mlnule drama and Des Lynam was still looking compromises and less slick sentiment says John Smith oi BBC Scotland’s sealladh lure Vls'onl' Douglas exceedingly miffed the following day. than Alan Parker‘s Crmrmimtems Gaelic department: ‘amlough it Will "askiimon s evocative” Shut Denna Maybe he‘d buCde [35m NCSS- movie with invaluable help from a have to Increase. ms landing. added niece '5 58‘ 0" 5"” “WW "'8 “mine in TV children with new brilliant can on to the three stations commitment. 0'18“! but has a bleak "mm" m 'i exceptions. best never seen and Meaney as the big-hearted eejit of 3 Should plume 300 hours annually. thai comes amass in any 'angf'age' CCFlalnl)’ not heardt as they lm'arlably father. The Snapper also featured the That roughly is six hours a week.’ we were keen that it’sm’u'dn t get have horrendously polite stage-school mos-t realistic portrayal of scheme life
to mam the "m 836 mom“:th E0“ in the sc'wdules’ says smm" aCCChlSt and annoylngl)’ gleaming since Rita. Sue And 80!) T00. Here was using the Government funding, Smith and this speClal evening seemed 3" dentistry. Sitcoms are the worst a vivid portrayal of a world where you has scheduled an evening of Gaelic ideal place to screen lt' "om Lappinl offenders as the objectionable brats ~ean‘t believe you can get so much pmgmmmes 0" Baez scutland' "05‘ queue UP [0 mi’Ulh [hell ClCVCl'ClCWT shite out of one dog.’ and you've got oi the attention will be on The Legend An Evening Of Gaelic is on 8302 on lines with outrageous hamminess (the your whole life in front ol‘you ‘unlcss 0t lochnaoar. all adaptatlafl 0t Pflflce Saturday April 10 beginning at 7.15pm. BBC‘s 2P0flll4 Children having the you get an iffy pint‘. (Tom Lappin)
The List 9—22 April l993 51