LISTINGS TELEVISION
TELEVISION
LISTINGS
A selection of television highlights, listed by day, in chronological order. Television listings compiled by Jonathan Trew.
FRIDAY 26
I The Big Country (BBC l) 7—7.3()pm. Dougie Vipond and Jenni Falconer round off the outdoor activities programme by hosting a ceilidh in Wedderburn Castle. trying their hartds at bee-keeping and regaling their viewers with three hot tips on how to get dirty.
I The Essential Olympics (BBC I ) 7—8.3()pm. Desmond Lynam introduces the action from the first day of the ()lympics as the summer sport onslaught continues unchecked.
I War Walks: Agincourt (BBC 2) 8—8.30pm. First in a six-part series in which military historian Professor Richard Holmes guides viewers through six centuries of warfare from the brutal squalor of Agincourt through to the barbarism of the 20th century.
I Friends: The One With The Baby On The Bus (Channel 4) 9.30— l()pm. The cttlt sitcom by and for twentysomethings continues apace with some top babysitting cotttedy.
I Chicago Hope (BBC l)<).3() It). (Spin. More hospital drama when a man is wheeled in with a 20in steel rod sticking through his head apparently without causing him too much distress. Ben Ii. King. soul singer and legend. also makes all appearance.
I Takeover TV (Channel 4)
ll.()S—l l.35pm. Adam Buxton introduces a liar/nun spoof. advice on how to create the perfect woman and the adventures of a wanton ntrn in another episode of public access nonsense. Lest we forget. Norman Sphincter. the ventral impressionist. takes on the guise of Prince Charles.
I The White Room (Channel 4) ll.35pm— l 2.35am. Public hero Mark Radcliffe introduces his adoring audience to more top showbiz celebs and cutting edge band bods in the best mnsic programme ever. This week sees Take That man Robbie Williams airing his first solo single called ‘l-‘reedom' and Mark Morrison and Neneh Cherry will be swinging their beats and baring their souls.
I Portrait Of A llitrnan (Scottish) I2.35—2.05am. Jack Palance. Richard Roundtree and Rod Steiger star in this testosterone~pumped thriller about a hitman who is hired to kill an old friend to whom he owes his life. He decides to cancel the contract and instead trace the man who hired him. Events take a strange. not to mention unlikely turn. when they both fall in love with the same
I Bright hopes for Britain’s first ever dog-sled championship at Glen lsla, Angus
turned to, er, mush when an overnight thaw washed the proposed lorestry track course away in a river of mud and ice. Disappointed, the contestants - many of whom had travelled up from England - consoled themselves with a ceilidh, while outside the under-exercised dogs howled at the moon. Among the non-event competitors lilmed (or this engaging documentary Running Wild from the Edinburgh Film Workshop is Ian (pictured above), an Edinburgh taxi driver who tell in love with dog- sledding at school when he first saw a model oi an esltimo and huskie team. Ever since he has dreamed of the open trail covered in crisp, bard snow, but what does he
get instead? Mushing on slush, that’s what.
Short Stories: Running Wild is on Wed 7 Aug on Channel 4.
SATURDAY 27
I 4 Goes To Clyndebourne: Lulu (Channel 4) ().25—|().()5pm. Berg's opera of sexual intrigue and moral corruption is performed for the first time at Glyndebourne.
I Oue South (BBC l)7.()5—7.5()pm. The uptight Canadian Mountie with a heart the size of ()ntario continues to explore the comedy inherent in the culture clash between America and Canada in this new series.
I Dancing In The Streets (BBC 2) ‘)—l()pm. The definitive televisual story of popular music reaches the early 70s and finds Bowie camping it up. Lou Reed being a grouchy young bastard and Iggy Pop displaying his whanger whenever it's trot needed.
I Takin’ Over The Asylum (BBC 2)
l()- 10.50pm. The award-winning hospital drama continues its rerun. Funny btrt sensitive and highly recommended.
I Point Break (Channel 4) l().5()pm—l2.20am. Keanu Reeves goes surfing and sky-diving while apprehending baddies along the way. He plays bass too. you know.
I The X Files (BBC 2) l().5()—l l.35pm. Mulder and Scully investigate a serial killer who has been on a murder spree for over a hundred years seemingly fuelled on a steady diet of human livers. Presumably he decided not to opt for the nice bottle of Chianti and the fava beans.
Male bonding: Keanu and Patrick get It together in Point Break, Channel 4, Sat 27
I Ruthless People (Scottish) l().50pm—l2.40am. Danny De Vito. Bette Midler and Judge Rheinhold all do their damnedest to be more nasty and scheming than their peers in this tale of a kidnap gone horribly wrong. great for laughing at other people's misfortunes.
I listen To The Future (BBC 2)
l l.35pm—l2.30am. The first generation of Thatcher‘s Britain is now courting of age and. unlike the mods and rockers of the ()0s. the punks of the 70s and the new romantics of the 80s. they‘re a diverse bunch — about as far from the stereotype of listless. selfish losers as is imaginable. This filrn documents the lives and aspirations of Thatcher‘s children.
SUNDAY 28
I Charles Bennie Mackintosh - A Modern Man (BBC 2) 7.30—8. l5pm. A timely reassessment for one of Glasgow‘s greatest sorts.
I The Mating Game (BBC 2)
8. I 5—9.30pm. The divorce rate is currently at 4| per cent and people are still flocking to the altar or the registry office like lemmings to a cliff edge. This programme asks four different couples on the verge of matrimony what they expect from marriage and how they suspect their lives will change.
I Popeye (Channel 4) 9—I0.50pm. Robin Williams plays the eponymous spinach- swilling sailor in this Robert Altman movie.
I The South Bank Show (Scottish) ll.l5pm-l2. l5am. Alan Ayckboum reveals his plain man's guide to play- making.
MONDAY 29
I N3. (Scottish) 7-7.30pm. Sally Gray and Angus Coull present the Scottish listings programme.
I The Day That Changed My lite (BBC 2) 7.30—8pm. After single mother Christina Hance entered a Princess Di look-alike cornpelition her life changed beyond all recognition. Suddenly she could charge £5000 a night to appear on TV shows and at charity balls just for the way she looked. But is the glamour and the glitz enough to compensate for living constantly in someones else’s shadow?
I I Camcorder: Wedding (Channel 4) 8—8.30pm. Channel 4 launches another themed night. this one on the thorny subject of marriage. This particular programme concentrates on that hardy perennial of any marriage day: the camcorder. A bit like letting Beadle loose in a church. one suspects. One couple have all their embarrassing situations caught on film by their irritating but well- intentioned Uncle Jimmy.
I Classic Cooper (Scootish) 8-8.30pm. Highlights from the career of the late. great Tommy Cooper and his many crap magic tricks.
I The Real Wedding Show (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. Gaby Roslin presents this one- off special which follows the weddings of three very different couples. Foolishly. one couple allowed the cameras to accompany both partners on their respective stag nights.
I The State Di Marriage (Channel 4) 9—l0.25pm. Charles and Di weren't the only ones to get married irt I981. a further 352.000 other couples took the plunge and tied the knot. This documentary interweaves the views of a cross-section of married couples as they talk about relationships. sex. love. money. kids and how their lives compare to those of the royal couple.
I latino lights: Shadows On The Streets (Channel 4) l0.55pm—midnight. A chilling investigation into the immunity granted to Brazil’s death squads and their attempts to rid the capital of street children.
TUESDAY 30
I Benderqeake (Channel 4) 8-8.30pm. Susan Tully ends her investigation of the dramatic post-war changes in the role of men and women at work by observing the two sexes on a challenging management training course to discover whether or not the two genders do have different ways of working.
I heartbreak Ridge (Scottish) 9pm~l2.05am. Eastwood swaggers easily as the foul-mouthed marine sergeant who puts a lazy bunch of squaddies through their pacesjust in time for them to save Granada from the foul pinko onslaught. Hurrah for democracy! Whoop-de-doo for the US. of A. and sucks boo to the greasy Commies.
I True Stories: Experiments Ol The Cree: (Channel 4) 9-l0pm. ln Almaty. the capital of Kazakhstan. there is a labour camp for adolescent boys where conditions are so appalling that eight died during the filming of this documentary. lrnprisoned for years. often for minor offences. the footage reveals a daily regime of grinding work. stinking food and ferocious punishments. The name of the documentary refers to the boys' practice of swallowing lumps ofjagged metal in the hope of being sent to hospital for a rest. The filmmaker. the camp‘s psychiatrist. has been arrested and sacked. Amnesty is campaigning for the reform of these camps.
I Ovt Di This World (BBC I) 9.30—10.l0pm. Carol Vorderman and Chris Choi offer an insight into more events and experiences which seem to defy conventional explanation. Highligth include a woman and her daughter who claim to have been abducted by aliens and a man who has met his perfect
doppelganger.
WEDNESDAY 31
I Short Stories: W Iehlllty (Channel 4) 8.30—9pm. An examination
of Britain's blue bloods who have turned their backs on the high life and opted for completely different lifestyles from those ‘ of their ancestors — the chosen professions include stripping. pulling pian and being
a skinhead.
I llelldaye Out (BBC l)8.30—9pm.
Kirsty Young details a thousand and one
The List 26 Jul-8 Aug I996 77