TV
DRAMA
Charmed
Char-"rel 5, starts Sat 1 Apr, 8.05pm.
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DRAMA
Deceit BBCl, Son 2 & 9 Apr, 9pm.
Francesca Annis (right) has some secrets and lies to contend with
's a"ott‘e" word for 'nrs’ed or up" s r‘g or, e.er:, ‘or‘ parnt'trliy slow
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108 THE LIST x21;
- ‘ ' Occult viewing guaranteed when these three meet again
benzrtchrng lovelres can farl, especrally when rt comes from Mr lylrdas hrmself, Aaron Spelirng
The televrsrorr god who brought the lrkes of ('r'rarr’re’s‘ Ange/s, Starsky <9 Hutch and, more recently, Beverly Hr/ls 902/0 to our screens, has what rt takes to make Charmed work The adventures 'n r.'.rtc hcraft of the Hallrweli srsters 'grrl power reference probably not rntentronal' krcks off wrth ‘Somethrng Wrcca Thrs Way Corres' rn wh ch the g.rls move 'nto therr late grandrrrother’s San Francrsco home Lo and behold, granny was a wrtch and when the grrrs frrrd a sprrrt board and a dusty book of spells, they realrse therr rnh rrrtance rs more than Just a house Shannen Doherty the actress many condemned as a watch ‘.'.’lren she gathered cr.t;cal acclaarn :n her role as Brenda \i-Jalsh :n 90270 bays Prrre, the eldest of the t"=o Tea'ned actresses Alyssa l‘vlrrarro and Holy Name Combs .n a supernaturai ser:es to rryal Buffy, Charmed rs destrned to be oc rc ult vrexzng. :Catlrerd‘e Bromiey-
why the BBC seenr keer‘. o"- cont nually puttrv‘g her at the "ead of therr brg dra'nas, though a thrrtler such as [)ece/t :s somewhat drffer‘ent from the rkes of eres And Daughters ‘In the past, l've been nervous of tl‘rrliers because I've got too vrvrd an rrrvrgrnat-on,’ she says “They provide a story that takes you on a roilercoaster and gets you up to screa'nrng prtch very gtrrc kly'
The ta'e begzns at a funeral ‘.‘~.‘rth Erlen :Annrs' mournrng the death of her husband As tzme goes by, learn more about the dead man, hrs errrbe/xlenrents, guns, strange frrends, afiarrs and co:lectrort of t'etrshrstrc photographs But none of rt seems to tre together In the one man They act as tools ‘.'.‘l‘rr(l‘. are desrgned to explarn thrs character but thezr approprratron rnrsses the pornt and we are left it‘- the dark, not knowng and, frankly, not interested
The dead 'rran's old army buddre, played by Peter O'B'ren, shows up to make the waters of rntrrgue even rriurker Ann's and O'Brren use then clrerr‘rstry well and though he seems to be there to neip her, hrs character rs sadly shown to bean obvrous drarrratrc constructron
Just another tlrr:l|er' :s what Decert rs, errzrnentry \.'.’atchab|e but too rr‘.terrt on 'nrssrng the rrrark ‘.'./hene\.«'er rt rs offered the chance to r'arse rtself above the ordinary lAl-y llar‘clyr
DOCUMENTARY Red Mist: Angry Britain
Scottish,Wed 29 Mar
Less rnterestrng rn rts examrnatron of what actually makes us angry, thrs docurrrentary was wortlrwlrrle vrewrng purely for the top class footage of people krckrng off Tallrng :nto two camps, we had some precrous ’lrttle people' pushed to breakrng pornt by the pressures of modern lrfe and some frne examples of the more glamorous celebrrty tantrum
Feelrng only scant sympathy for the poor traffrc wardens (Subjected to 30 assaults a week rn London aloner we rnstead cheered the aggressors on as they verbally and physrc‘ally challenged therr parkrng trckets Uo agarr‘st the strff competrtron of the trmeless classrc that was BJOTK'S arrport tantrurn, the ordrnary folk featured really held therr own
Among these, angry farmer Davrd Cannon showed hrmself to be a natronal hero when he vented hrs frustratrons, frrst wrth the local councrl and then wrth the NatWest Bank by prlrng manure on therr offrces wrth hrs muck-spreader C30 on my son rCatherrne Bromleyr
COMEDY Jam Channel 4, Thu 23 Mar
Chrrs Morrrs lrkes to strr rt, Confusron, laughter and outrage have all gone rnto the Moms mrx rn shows such as Brass Eye and The Day Today Hes rntentron here, rt would seem, rs mostly to cor‘fuse and clrsturb
Essentrally an adaptatron of hrs Radro 1 show Blue Jam, the televrsual adventure sees Moms and cohorts rn varrous br/arre sketches, news rtems, spoof documentarres and fake CCTV footage So, we have an old man runnrng naked through a snopprng centre, restrng only when he gets rnto a supermarket free/er And a nervous chap commrts surcrde by rumprng 40 trmes off a one-storey burldrng rather than once from a AO-storey burldrng, Just rn case he changes nrs mrnd halfway through
The Chrrs lvlorrrs notron of 'comedy' makes for oddly compulsrve and blackly funny vrewrng Jam plays on our perceptrons ot' orcrer and, as such, rs both very stuprd and extremely clever ’lvlark Robertson r
TRAVELOGUE Indian Journeys BBCZ, starts Mon 3Apr, 7.10pm.
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energy
Confusion, laughter and outrage from media maverick Chris Morris
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William Dalrymple (right) goes to the heart of India
‘If you are rrdrng prllron wrth a naked holy man, \‘.'lt€‘l(‘ do you put your hands7' Travel wrrter \f/rllram Dalrymple tackles thrs and many other bg guestrons an hrs Journeys around what rs, arguably, the world's most complex natron
So, Just how do you get a handle cn a country of over 900 thrlerr‘ people wrth more natrve languages and relrgrorts than anywhere else on the globe> Dalrymple has three thrngs on hrs srde trme, patrerrce and a sense of humour
In the frrst of three programmes, Dalrymple attempts to get to the bottom of Hrndursm by undertakrng a prlgrrrnage up the Hrnralayas and on to the source of the Rrver Ganges On route, there's a serres of engagrng encounters tutti". holy men, prlgrrms and locals whrch rs, arguably, the tea. heart of the matter
Prograrrrrrres two and three promrse an exploratron of Delh: and a sea ‘~.()\,’(i(l(‘ to Southern Indra «'l\.lrles Freluerv