... Virgin humour in search of sea, sand and sex Frank Granville Barker on a sensitive teenager's pursuit of passion amid the qenteelness of a fifties English resort BBC-2 East of Ipswich AFTER watching a number of three- and four-part drama series whose length was scarcely justified, it was a pleasure to come to this 75-minute Screen Two film. East Of Ipswich treated in a wry comedy style the ...

... BBC 2 A Small Problem CHRISTOPHER RYAN was the fourth member of The Young Ones and the last for whom the BBC came up with a suitable vehicle for his particular talents. Now, with this innovative series written by Tony Millan and Mike Walling, alternative humour is brought very neatly into the 'sit-com' genre and could well become a cult if the BBC doesn't allow it to slip away unnoticed. ...

... ITV The Television Show FOLLOWING the rather incestuous trend of making television programmes about television programmes, this latest offering from TVS is proving to be quite watchable and entertaining, with featured clips and interviews from shows and people topical on both sides of the network, comments from the public and the odd inside tit-bit. Housed, presumably, back in Maid- stone ...

... Watch your bad language with C4 ONE has to hand it to Channel 4. After being rapped a number of times by regulatory' and watchdog bods, does it lie down and try not to offend viewers. No it does not. it tries to get down to the nitty gritty. Those of you who cannot understand why broadcaster^ receive far more complaints about bad language on the box than about almost anything else will ...

... DOUG E DOUG star of the Family Channel's hit American comedy show Where I Live tries to steer well clear of cold climates after making the film Cool Runnings and so wasn't too keen to come to these shores to promote the movie. The former stand-up comic, tipped to become the new Bill Cosby, said: After filming Cool Runnings at 30 degrees below zero in Canada, I vowed never to go anywhere cold ...

... EQUITY MAKES A STAND FOR THE PROFESSIONALS By ANGUS TOWLER ACTORS union Equity this week called for professional variety artists to be given more opportunities on network television following the failure in the ratings of two shows featuring ordinary members of the public telling jokes. I he union expressed concern earlier this year about the two programmes, Hewland International's Only Joking ...

... Union stands firm on Euro-wide commercial agreement By SUZAN LEAVY EQUITY vowed this week that it would not surrender any of its current pay and conditions for television commercials in negotiations for a Euro-wide agreement with the advertising industry. The promise came after Gareth Bogaerde of the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, revealed that all sides of the television commer ...

... Crimes and misdemeanours BY ANN MANN WHEN I last contributed to this column, I reviewed a series of dramatised real- life mysteries from Granada, and observed how the television viewer is fascinated by this genre, having become tomed to the re-enactments of unsolved crimes on Crime- watch (BBC) and Crime Monthly (LWT). The new LWT series True Crimes introduced and narrated by Michael Winner ...

... EQUITY SUSPENDS PACT INSTRUCTION Britain's biggest selling weekly for the broadcasting industry By ANGUS TOWLER ACTORS union Equity this week agreed to suspend its instruction to members not to accept work from independent production companies after trade association, the Producers' Alliance for Cinema and Television, appeared to give way on two key issues which had been stalling ...

... Unions call for regional recognition BROADCASTING and entertainment unions this week called on the Independent Television Commission to ensure that ITV contractors maintain their commitment to the regions in which they operate after the new franchises have been awarded. In a document which will be issued to existing contractors and to outside consortia, the BECTU, NUJ and EETPU argue that ...

... Crawfords gets a piece of the Action MANCHESTER-BASED independent production company Action Time is to join forces with Australian studio Crawfords to form a new company supplying quiz and game shows to broadcasters down under. Based in Melbourne, Crawford Action Time will target the Australian market initially with formats from the Action Time catalogue. Both compa nies hold a 50 per cent ...

... Wheel Of Fortune SCOTTISH TV IT MAY HAVE been unconscious irony but the opening edition of this new 13-week game show, with specials due at Christmas and New Year, included the proverb All That Glitters Is Not Gold in the posters. Yes, glitters not glisters! Nothing glittered more than the £165,00 set with its flashing lights, rainbow of colours, and wavering sear chlights. The trouble with ...