LISTINGS TELEVISION
TELEVISION t mam-
A selection of television highlights, listed by day, in chronological order. Television listings compiled by Eddie Gibb.
FRIDAY 9
I Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (BBCZ) 6—6.25pm. Superrriarionation returns to the screens with a farrrous theme tune. some excellent model aircraft and plenty of wooden acting. Today's episode uses the old ‘spiked coffee' plot device but that's really not important. is it'.’ I Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) (BBC?) 625-7. l5pm. This classic piece of 70s television which actually started in the (ills —just — returns for another run to rrrark its 25th anniversary. You know the score dead detective returns from the grave in preposterous white suit to help his partner out on tough assignments This is the episode where you actually see Hopkirk decease. I The 0 Zone (BBczr 7.15 7.30pm. Ageing teeny- hoppers with jobs can he sure ofcatclring tip on that latest Take That trivia now this pop show moves to a peak evening slot. Tonight's show features Kylie on her image change and I):ream's Peter Cunnah checking out the bright lights of Blackpool. I Big Break (BB(‘I r 8.30 ‘)pm. It's hack — the best ITV show on the BBC. w itlt John \I'irgo setting up the halls and Jim Davidson trying to rack tip comedy points. It's a quiz. show with snooker; perfect. mindless entertainment. I Just for Laughs (Channel Jr 1030—] 1.35pm. Chris livans fills shoes previously occupied by Ben Iilton. (‘live Anderson and Paul Merton. all past presenters of highlights from the Montreal Comedy l‘estival. The first of three hour- long compilations includes turns by limo Philips and Nick Revell. I Bright Lights, Big City (Scottish) l().40pm—l3.25am. Not very good adaptation ofJay Mclrrerny seminal end- of-the-Slls morality tale abotrt cocaine and empty lives. Michael J. I-‘os just doesn’t make a very convincing party animal. unfortunately. I The Fog (BBC l) llpm- l2..‘s0am. John Carpenter's chiller about a Californian town haunted by the drowned crew of a stricken ship is the first in a new series of films from 'l)octor Tcrror's \"ault of Horrors'. This l‘)7‘) classic stars Hal Holbrook and mother and daughter team Janet Leigh and Jamie Lee Curtis. I Loose Talk (BBCB) ll.I5—l 1.45pm. Another show using the comedians-plus- news fortrrat. hosted by accomplished stand-up Kevin I)ay. asks guests to react to a topical question posed by the studio audience. The very Iinglish Jeremy Hardy will be a regular contender. with the others likely to be drawn from the trsttal comedy suspects. The show is recorded the day before transmission so should be topical. I The Larry Sanders Show (BBCJ) ll.-lSpm—l2.l0am. (Jarry Shandling adopts his alter-ego again for a new series of this part chat-show. part stand-up routine. part sit-corn. Comedy superstar Billy Crystal is the guest in the first episode in which neurotic television presenter Larry‘s wife makes an appearance on his talk show. Clever stuff which mucks around with television forms. if not always uproariously funny.
SATURDAY 10
I Becky Sharp (B BC‘Z) 3-4.20prn. t-‘irsr ever television showing for this 1935 adaptation of Thackeray‘s l’um’rv I-iu‘r. which begins this season of rarely
I SHORT STORIES: HARD MEN, Channel 4, Wednesday 14 September, 8.30-9pm. Is there a connection between the loss of Coatbridge’s once-great steel industry and the determination of some of the town’s young men to turn their bodies into iron-hard bundles of muscle? Short Stories reckons so alter visiting the Body Works Gym to meet 26-year-old Brendan Collum as he slips on a G- string and oils up his muscles in an attempt to win the Mr Strathclyde title. ‘lt I can lose my aggression in the gym I don’t need to tight and get into trouble,’ he
says.
tale of a boy who is left with shears for I hands after an uncompleted esperiment by . his creator Vincent Price. .lolmny l)epp.
an actor who leads the field amongst his brat-pack contemporaries. is escellent as
screened or newly restored films under the title 'l.ost arid l-"ound‘. Continues later today with A Star is Born (9- ll.50pm) which includes reinstated footage and The Ghost Ship ( 12.35 l.-lll;lllll. a horror movie by \'al l.cwton who was responsible for Jlls classics / Hit/Act! ll'rI/r u Ann/w and (it! People.
I The Moral Maze (BB(‘2)
11.40pm -- l 3.25am. This radio-to-telly conversion is intended to rattle a few cages by ‘saying the unsayahle‘. A panel of guests adopt outrageous positions on morality topics in the name of controversial television. while Michael Buerk holds the towels.
I Equinox (Channel 4) 7 mSpm. Titled ‘The Cyborg CometHK this filrrr from the accessible science and technology series looks at the rrran/machine interface and its impact on contemporary culture.
I Pat and Margaret ( BBCI)
8.40 -l0.05pm. Screen ()ne film starring Julie Walters as a l.ancashir'e-born American soap star who has forgotten her roots and Victoria Wood as her dowdy stay-at-lrome sister. When a This /.v limr Life-style television show reunites them live on air. the past catches up on them.
I Kiss Me Deadly (llllCZ) 12.10 Barn. 5 Ales Cos reckons this is‘ the ultimate ‘Moviedrome' filrir. with Ralph Meeker as Mickey Spillane's private eye Mike Hannrter. The film's violence was controversial at the time of release and remains censored for British broadcast.
MONDAY 12
I Quarrels (Channel 4) S---‘)pm. A new series presented by llarrreed Haroon attempts to help the parties on either side . of disputes understand the others position. In the first programme. prostittrtes who work the streets in a predominantly Muslim area of Leicester are brought together with the residents for a face-to- facc confrontation. The second progratltttte, which is shown at the same time torrrorrow. hears from a group of i Hindus in a village north of London who i have been acctrsed of disturbing a rural itlvll.
‘.
I The Bureau (Channel 4) ‘) ltlpm. The
second programme lll the absorbing series about the FBI looks at the agency's role in I fighting political subversion. including past infiltration of the Cornrrnrnist Party of »
‘ America. What were the civil rights 5 implications and does the l-‘Bl still operate that way .’ I Flatliners (Scottish) 9- I I.-l(lpm (includes .‘v’t'wv a! liar). Iisciting movie
I Edward Scissorhands (Channel .1) I)» l lprrr. Network TV premiere for Tim Burton‘s weird and sortietimes sad fairy-
I Taken for Granted (BBCZ) 7.20—8pm.
starring Kiefer Sutherland and a bunch of ambitious medical student pals who explore the after-life by killing and reviving each other under laboratory conditions. Don‘t mess with nature is the underlying message.
I The Russia House (BBCI)
9.30-l l.30pm. Sean Connery is the improbany named publisher Barley Blair who gets sucked into a CIA investiagtion of Soviet military espionage. Michelle l’feil'fer also stars in this entertaining Tom Stoppard adaptation of a John Le Carre thriller.
I OJ Mania; The Media Trial of OJ Simpson (BBCZ) lI.lS—<l 1.55pm. A Late Show special looking at the media hoopla surrounding the trial of the year. possibly decade. Around 90 million American viewers are reckoned to have watched live coverage of ()J‘s attempts to outdrive the Californian state police. Now they‘ll have the chance to watch prosecutors attempt to make a murder charge stick. Why has this trial captured the imagination of televsion- land'.’ ‘It‘s a combination ofeverything that interests. even obsesses. the American people.‘ says the New lbrker‘s Jeffrey Toobin. ‘You have money. sex. race. violence, Hollywood. celebrity. sport -- the only witness to this crime is a dog.‘
I Halfway to Paradise (Channel 4) l.l5-—2. ISam. Reruns of the halfway decent and occasionally brilliant Stuart Cosgrove production which offers a post- rrrodern tnatch) take on the Scottish arts scene. Tonight look otrt for street rockabilly from Wray Gun and the Rockets and glossy soul from The Chimes.
The plight of five indebted students is considered in this Education Special. including one who may be prevented from graduating until he has paid back £200 to his university‘s hardship fund and another who turned to prostitution.
f 45, $3152)!”
I Dut(Channel 4) 9- I0pm. Last in the gay magazine series finishes with the Big Question; what does it rrrean to be a gay man or woman in Britain. I The Late Show (B BCZ) 1 ll.l5— l 1.55pm. Live from the Mercury , Music Awards at the Savoy Hotel. London where a cheque for £25,000 will be dished out for the year's best album. Blur's
Park/r]? is regarded as a racing certainty.
but also on the shortlist are Therapy‘."s 'I'I'urr/ilcerrlir. TIT/(l Il'bm/ from Paul Weller and The l’iu/m Concerto by Michael
Nyman. An eclectic selection which has
garned this award's prestige in the industry and surprising credibility among l
the record buyers.
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