TELEVISION LISTINGS
TELEVISION
A selection oi television highlights, listed by day, in chronological order. Television listings compiled by Jonathan
Tm. FRIDAY 12
I Clothes Show Scotland (BBC I ) 5.05-5.35pm. The team. headed up by Jeff Banks. travel tip to the SECC to check otlt the state of the nation's thread connoisseurs. See feature.
I The Big Country (BBC I) 7—7.30pm. Dougie Vipond and Jenni Falconer try their hands at caber. hammer and sheaf tossing while Jenni gives the sword dancing a shot. Thereafter it's white water racing at Aberfeldy. Dougie makes a bronze casting of his face and then four Pony Express couriers learn to ride horses cowboy-style. All in a day’s work for BBC l presenters.
I Future Fantastic: The Incredible Shrinking Planet (BBC I ) 7.30—8ptn. At the beginning of the century it took three months to travel to the other side of tlte world. Now it can be done in half a day. If transport speed can accelerate that quickly in one century what will we be capable of in the nest'.’
I The Bill (Scottish) 8—8.3()pm. A dating agency. rumoured to provide underage girls. comes under investigation from Sgt Boyden.
I Friends (Channel 4) 9.30— 1 ()pm. Phoebe shocks everyone when she announces that she has a husband: a Canadian ice dancer. Rachel spends her time trying to ensure that Ross and Julie don‘t have a sex life.
I Oaivn And Jenniier’s Comedy Zone (BBC 2) 9- l()pm. The two comediennes pick a I969 episode of [)ut/Tt- Armv and an equally ancient episode of Mary Tv/t'r Mrml't’ to illustrate their personal comedy favourites.
I Frasier (Channel 4) l()—l().3()pm. Niles and Frasier decide to enter family therapy with a Dr Schacter iii an effort to get on better. Nae chance.
I Takeover TV (Channel 4)
ll.()S-l |.35pm. Public access TV can be a double-edged sword. providing either fresh takes on new subjects or. as in this case. Norman Sphincter and his amazing ventriloquising buttocks. Has to be seen to be believed. one suspects.
I Torchsong Trilogy (Channel 4) ll.35pm— l .45am. Harvey Fierstein‘s screen adaptation of his successful Broadway play in which he reprises his award-winning role of a drag artist whose life is seen through three episodes set in l97l. I973 and I980.
llolly llvnter and Anna Pequlv tlnkle the lvorlee in The Piano, channel 4, SI 14
SATURDAY 13
I The lleroin Wars (Channel 4) 8-9pm. Second in the three-part examination of the smack trade in the Golden Triangle. The trail has moved to Hong Kong and the Triads are selling on the streets with the police seemingly powerless to stop them.
I Ell (Channel 4) 9—9.55pm. Carter informs the wrong parents that their son is dead and Ross is still attracted to Hathaway bttt she'sjust moved in with another. Broken hearts all round.
I Dancing In The Streets (BBC 2)
9— l 0pm. The blues of Chicago is appropriated by a generation of British R & B bands who finally turn it into heavy metal in this episode of what could be the definitive series on the development of popular music. Also contains the gem that the headline ‘Would you let your daughter go with a Rolling Stone'." was written by the Stones' astute manager. Andrew Loog Oldham.
I Paul Merton - The Second Series (Channel 4) 9.55- l0.25pm. The obtUse dolphin-lover dazzles once more with his astral leaps of fancy and general ability to connect two completely disparate subjects.
I Takin’ Over The Asylum (BBC 2)
l()- l().5()pm. A second chance to see the BAFTA winning drama serial written by Donna Franceschild. When a failing salesman takes over the hospital radio at a mental institution he revolutionises the lives of the patients. At times funny but never vindictive or pathetic this programme can inspire as many tears as it does laughs as well as lifting the spirits. I Three Colours White (Channel 4) l0.25pm—|2. IOam. The second in the acclaimed trilogy of films by Krzysztof Kieslowski receiving their British premiere. Karol is a successful Polish hairdresser working in Paris. But when his wife divorces him. he loses her. his money. his business and above all. his dignity. Returning to Warsaw at the time tnost of his countrymen are leaving for the West he manages to rebuild his life. including his wife‘s love. but at a higher price than he expected.
I The X Files (BBC 2) l0.5()—I l.35pm. Mulder and Scully are worried by a faith healer's powers when his congregation start dying.
I Angel Heart (Scottish) (2. I0—2. I 5am. Mickey Rourke. Robert De Niro and Lisa Bonet all put in cracking performances in Alan Parker‘s gruesome Gothic tale set in the Deep South. De Niro's egg-peeling scene is morbidly compelling.
SUNDAY 14
I Sister Wendy’s Story or Painting (BBC I) 5—5.30pm. The fun-filled nun continues her examination of the entire world‘s artistic canon by looking at some of the world‘s most famous paintings. Step forward Leonardo Da Vinci‘s ‘Mona Lisa‘. Botticelli‘s ‘Mars And Venus' and Michaelangelo‘s Sistine Chapel.
I Arena: Stories My Country Told Me (BBC 2) 7.55-l l.25pm. Arena presents one of its most ambitious programmes as four renowned writers and thinkers address the question ‘What Is A Nation'?‘ This three and a half hour epic travels to the heart of old Europe. the soul of the new South Africa. the spiritual soul of modern India and tries to determine the truth about what happened when the Americans went into Vietnam.
I The legend Oi Painted lloclt (Channel 4) 7.30—8pm. Legend has it that the Carrizo Plain. South California. is cursed — every human enterprise will fail until it is occupied by its rightful owners. the Chutnash Indians. Now the oil barons are moving into the desolate landscape.
I The Piano (Channel 4) 9—l l. ISpm. The television premiere of Jane Campion's gothic romance tells the sensual and erotic
lien Stott is craggy OJ Eddie McKenna in the welcome repeat at Oonna Franceschild’s Takin’ Over The Asylum. starting on BBCZ. Sat 13
tale of Ada. a tnute Scottish widow who. with her young daughter. is sent off to an arranged marriage with a settler in the harsh world of New Zealand. Ada's voice. and her life. are in her beloved piano which is abandoned by her new husband but rescued by her neighbour who begins a sensual courtship as she plays the piano. I The Three Tenors At Wemhley (Scottish) l(). lSpnt— l 2. l()am. Jose Carreras. Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti reunite at Wetnbley for a concert of arias and popular songs. Needless to say ‘Nessun Dorma‘ will be getting an airing.
I Olympic Diaries (BBC I)
l0.50—l l.50pm. Seven of Britain's would-be medallists share their thoughts
and the behind-the-scenes drama as they
prepare for the Olympics in Atlanta.
I Stormy Monday (Channel 4) ll.l5pm—l2.55am. Mike Figgis's thriller set in the waterfront clubs of Newcastle stars Melanie Griffith as a part-time waitress whose emotions lead her ittto a violent cross-fire of underworld llllL‘l'L‘sl.
MONDAY 15
I ND (Scottish) 7—7.30pm. Sally Gray and Angus Coull present the Scottish arts and entertainment listings programme.
I It I Were Prime Minister (Channel 4) 8—8.30pm. George Monbiot. Britain's most arrested environmental activist. proposes some radical changes to the laws governing land ownership.
I llotvard's End (Channel 4)
830-) l.l0pm. This adaptation of EM. Forster's novel about the collision of two very different families is still Merchant- lvory's most successful film to date.
I The X Files (BBC 2) 9—9.45pm. Lycanthropes cause Mulder and Scully some spooky problems.
I Panorama: The Orugs Olympics (BBC I) 9.30—l0. l0pm. As the Olympic Games begin Pmmrumu asks if the ultimate dream of winning gold has created a climate where any methods. including using performance enhancing drugs. is endenuc.
I Bad BoyHBBC I) l0.l0—l lptn. lan Pattison's wrong-side-of-the-tracks laddish criminals get up to some mischief involving a hairdressing salon and a golf club.
I The Good, The Bad And The Ugly (Scottish) l().-i()pm—l.55am. Sergio Leone's final spaghetti western has Clint Eastwood in fine form as a cigar chewing gunslinger with as much conscience as a rattlesnake. and Lee Van Cleef demonstrates his snake eyes impersonation in this cynical tale of gold and blood Just set dttring the American civil war.
I The Prosecutor (Channel 4)
l l.l()—l l.4()pm. Alfonso Valdivieso. Colombia's Public Prosecutor. has probably got what most people would consider the worst job in the world. Every day he faces the threat of assassination as he fights corruption. This documentary follows Valdivieso and his army of bodyguards as he leaves no stone unturned in his battle against corruption and bribery.
TUESDAY 16
I Cenderquake (Channel 4) 8-8.3()pm. Actress Susan Tully looks at one of the biggest changes to British life since the war — the shift in paid work from men to women. First. she visits Guildford. which has Britain's highest divorce rate. and spends the day with divorcees who don't want a man at any price. Next she goes to Glasgow to meet a group of men who have had to sited their traditional manly image in order to survive as ‘new men'. I True Stories: Crime Oi The Wolt (Channel 4) 9-l l.25pm. Documentary about a killer sentenced to death row and the prosecuting council who fell in love with him and smuggled him a gun to help him escape. Natasha Vorotsova is now serving seven years in a labour catnp. Sergei Maduev still faces the death sentence.
I Menendez: A Killing In Beverly Hills (Scottish) 9-) LBS. Dramatisation of the world famous Menendez case in which two sons murder their wealthy LA parents.
I law Women: The Governor (BBC I) 9.30- l().20pm. HMP Maidstone is a men‘s category B prison. Stacey Tasker. deputy governor. is responsible for 540 inmates including Reggie Kray and Winston Silcott. Laws governing prison life are changing rapidly causing unrest and Tasker must work hard to win respect in a male dominated environment.
78 The List l2-25 Jul I996