PREVIEW OF 2000
Du
Clocking Off (BBC 1, end Jant A Manchester textrle factory rs the settrng for Paul Cracker Abbot's new drama serres. Bungled arson attempts, plastrc surgery and drsappearrng spouses are among the everyday events whrch affect a cast whrch Includes Chrrstopher Eccleston, Lesley Sharp, John Srmm and Sarah Lancashrre Nature Boy <BBC2, Feb) Bryan Elsley, whose telly wrrtrng credrts rnclucle The Crow Road and The Young Person 's GL/Ide To Becom/ng A Rock Star, returns wrth an uncOmpromrsmg contemporary tale starrrng Paul McGann and Les|ey Sharp It follows a srxteen-year-old foster boy as he tracks hrs natural dad
Ali G Show (Channel 4, Mar) The self- styled organ of da yoof breaks out from the confrnes of The 77 O'C/ock Show for hrs own personal assault on everyone and everythrng Mr G keeps rt real all over the globe rn search of world peace and a prece of the world's punanr. Check rt
The Secret Life Of Michael Fry (Channel 4, Apr) More work from the pen of Paul Abbot, who thrs trme puts words into the mouth of Ewen Bremner . The former Spud plays Mlchael Fry, a rumor rn a seaSIde town's planning department who drscovers that his superrors are not as honest as they seem. “hot sex, wrdeSpread corruptron and motrveless greed are therr only goals untrl Fry decrdes to act. Streetlife (BBC 1, Mar/Apr) The very funny John Thomson and the once amusrng Jack Dee team up as DCs Flowers and Sprrng. Workrng
under'coxer for the drugs squad, me» have ':ttle :n common and get on each others nerves But somehow the, get the too done Futurama lChannel 4, Sept Matt Groenrng's follow up to The Srrnps‘orts Ia famriy of yellow cartoon characters yOu may have heard of them- wooed Sky watchers rn '99 and ttrll grab extra terrestrral vretters thrs year A przza delrvery bOy rs whrxzed lOOO years rnto the future and hooks up \.‘.'!tlt a motley crew rncludrng a born- addrcted robot and a one-eyed sass- pot Detective Rebus lSCOttrsh, autuan Ian Rankrn’s cr'rmrnal creatron frnally comes to small screens \Vrth John McCal/u/n Hannah rn the lead role The frrst show rs an adaptatron of Black And Blue whrch fowses on a serral krller rnfluenced by Glasgow murderer Brble John Anna Karenina tChannel 4, tbc‘ Caledonra Invades Poland for the frlmrng of Tolstoy's classrc Russran tale of love, loss and log fllGS Douglas Henshall, Kevrn lvchrdd and Helen Mt Ctory are the recrorents of fate's hand rn the palaces of St Petersburg and the ciruel, cold countrys'rde, Perfect World (BBCZ, tbcl Paul Dennrs Penn/s Kaye returns to small screen actron as Bob Slay, offrce opportunrst and self-obsessed slrckster Swapprng the rll-frttrng blazer for a deSIgner wardrobe, Kaye rngratrates and rnsults hrs way through a lrfe rn marketrng Tinsel Town (BBCZ, tch Young Scots Steven Duffy, Mandy Matthews and Stuart SrnCIaIr Blyth star In a Rarndog/Deep lndrgo produced drama centrrng on the lrves, loves and lersure trme of a group of twentySOmethrng Glaswegrans
t”t:ll"ldl:lll and hophlrlt (deeeused)
Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer can lay claim to many things. They had the nation asking what was on the end of the stick; became Marvin Gaye and Otis Redding string puppets; reinvented Ulrika Jonsson; assaulted Mark Lamarr with a stuffed tiger; and, very nearly, made Saturday evenings worth staying in for with Families At War.
For as long as they have been going, Vic 'n' Bob have been glorified or gored as the new Morecambe and Wise. For their new attack on the nether regions of the telly- watching psyche, they have also looked back into the TV canon to remake a classic
supernatural private eye show.
Randall And Hopkirk (Deceased) arrived on screens in 1969 with an unlikely detecting duo
.‘XH‘F do“ "1 ‘1‘ \\)‘ “A ‘.A\\‘\' ‘t‘. ..\O
\“
102 THE LIST 7—20 Jan 2000
— one was a ghost whose spectral abilities allowed him to solve many a case, leaving his partner to gain all the credit. Reeves plays the late Marty Hopkirk, with Mortimer as the mourning Jeff Randall. Emilia Fox plays the widow Jeannie, who takes a job as Jeff's secretary, thus incurring Marty's jealousy and giving the show an extra degree of tension.
Vic 'n' Bob may have strayed increasingly into the mainstream with each coming year, but surprising new challenges such as this keep their duality dynamic. (Brian Donaldson)
I Randall And Hopkrrk rDeceased/ WI/l be broadcast on BBC],
tndeo games
Console yourself: PlayStation 2
PlayStation \l; t" ger, e"tt "o oat xaoe oeals atarrabre r;.' to t"e sates, tee 'elegat o"- of Sony s 'narket 'eade' to (trscotxzt status rooks set to contrritre -" 2000 Tee reasor‘.‘ T'te ar'vta o" PtayStatro!‘ 2 on .1 Marc"- 7‘ Jana" and Europe an autumn \‘t'rtr‘ 1280‘. engrne and DVD "to; e (apaowrtt, :t's gong to be a serous (Or‘tende' .n t'te "()r'te entertarr‘rnent rrng, offering more dent" of story, character and ("W l‘()'tr“e".t than the orxgrnar console Hgn rght re'eases mil be Tekken Tag Tournament, actron adventure The Bouncer and roie- playrng game Eterna: Rxng
Dreamcast Wrth annost TO0,000 tr'wts sr‘aopeo .rp rn the UK dunng tne ‘rrst two ‘.'.eeks of sale, Sega's 128 l) t console won't be j;le a Ct‘ristrt‘as '99 flasl‘. m the pan Long-term fe deper‘ds, however, ()'t t'te flow o" gtrazrty games throughout 2000, and rt's the dr.v:ng genre that needs tone addressed Cra/y Tan :18 Fen pr‘ornrses near-arcade grralrty racng at 1:00. on. the streets of San Francrsco, t'thrle unee? erftntrsrasts can also (too over the prospect of the Dreamcast verson o‘ Gran Tur/srno, (trrrer‘tly knom‘ as Sega GT Homo/ogatron Special 'Stll‘tfttt‘l" N64 A recent survey of rndtpendent shops rn the UK suggested that vrrttrally everyone wrll be (tJIIrl‘g back on N64 stock n 2000 Those multr-colotrred consoles are a desperate effort to sustarn a flaggrng rr‘a'ket Tne games keep comrng however gore-test Res/dent Evr/ 2 ‘28 Jar‘: and Perfect Dark 'Aprr wl: be org, but a“ eyes are on potental lrfe-saver Poke/non Star/rum lMar:
PC ere the movres, PC adventtrres strayed rnto scary terr'tory .r‘ true .atter nalf of 1999 Expect the range of trtees to VEP'T762171 as vsrde, ‘.'.'rtin PC st.r' scorwr‘g nghest on frrst person acton and real trme strategy trtles The year gets of" to a bang wrtl‘. scr-‘- fest-person snooter Darkatana llate Jan , but save your exotment tor the news that So l.le.er the man behrnd Crvr/rs‘at/on and Alpha Centaurr -s deve oprng a d nosaur me that he says eri be 'a deep, fast-mozrng strategy garr‘e'
GameBoy Colour As tne ll64 nas neg..n to resemble the Trtanrc, GameBoy Coiodr has throw: a Pokemon-shaped ’rfei rte to Nrr‘tendo Artnotrgr .ts demograpnrc s younger than other formats, the 'BOy nas bee.n maturth of rate, and got the Vroeo Stan 'ards Coonc'l rs a trzz Over ,oyrtdrng shooter Grand Theft Auto Adult : tzc-s 2'or 2000 rnc'uoe Res/dent EM 2 Feot and f/leta/ Gear Sol/d Ghost Babel l.«lay