... One Over The Eight SCARBOROLIGH THE PHYSICAL hard work the actors put into Peter Robert Scott's new play at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round as they train for a big boat rowing challenge must be almost unsurpassed on the British stage. From the start they demonstrate their skills as athletes as well as actors. Most of the cast had never rowed before but show considerable proficiency in ...

... Karel Gott Studio Please, 45 minutes, no English subtitles. THE star of this opening show is a Czech who is also very popular with East and West Germans. He is a tall, dark, young tenor who smiled incessantly to the camera and although he seemed likeable, nothing came across to the audience. The show began with a deserted studio where the cleaner is waiting for everything to begin. Star, ...

... Hit Parade Special, 52 minutes, no subtitles AS its title suggests, this was a mix ture of songs, pop and rock suc cesses that featured in the charts of Radio Tele . Looking for a way to present a list of numbers taxes the imagination of producers and the producer of this programme decided that the best way was to fascinate you with pictures: in me end it was an ill-judged assault. Watching ...

... Spain Christmas Time, 49 minutes, no subtitles CHRISTMAS festivities and a Christmas tale were the foundation of this studio production. There were songs from around the world sung in English. French and German with the performers in modern winter dress. The design was a simple street set backdrop in colours of muted brown and white. There was dancing in the snow with the star, a fair, ...

... Poland Beauty Parlour, 33 minutes, no subtitles THIS was ballet, music and pictures, an impressionistic idea of a beauty salon, with a style sustained to the end on the same pitch. It had a rock opening with some girl dancers in a sort of masked ball setting and the dance routines were very stylish indeed. Dress, sets and lighting were extremely well used and the dramatic tempo was held all ...

... Finland Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? 36 minutes, English subtitles THE blurb said. What is jazz musici an's dream? That Rave the show away for this was a simple pil grimage to New Orleans. The idea was to show the Downtown Dixie Tigers, a jazz group, all but one of whom also had a profession, looking forward to going to the great jazz occasion. (The dentist in fact used jazz ...

... Roumania This Is The Way, 30 minutes, no subtitles THIS Roumanian film looked as though it was going to be another travelogue from eastern Europe but it had several nice touches that were recognised by the professionals from the UK who sat through it. It was a look at folklore, the seasons, and youth set to music. It looked at the countryside, in all its moods and finally ended with the Black ...

... France (TF 1) Showmachine, 25 minutes, no subtitles THIS was the first programme to be seen in category C, for innovatory programmes. A little robot with flashing lights is the centre of atten tion for performers crowding round waiting to hear what it wants them to do. It squawks and the show quickly launched into a rock number with a group. This lasted for five minutes before the next number, ...

... Bulgaria FSB No Stop, 23 minutes, no subtitles THE group featured in this musical were formed in the record factory where they all work. They per formed funky and reggae pop music on electronic instruments and it was cheerful enough although the pro ducer said the words were all philo sophical and poetic. The best sequence came first, a stop-motion dance timed to the music. It was followed by ...

... Belgium Hands, 24 minutes HANDS, fingers, gloves and a whole range of simple accessories were used in this programme to illustrate life, from Adam and Eve onwards, and show people's changing attitudes. There was hardly any dia logue and the movement and music had to indicate everything, which they did quite effectively. Using cloth, the hands were made to look like people. Young man and woman ...

... Switzerland The Apple, 28 minutes BACK to Adam and Eve again, this time with an allegory with no speaking and little music. Just before this pantomime, however we got some primordial images set to music; this became leaves, a man and woman in green cloth shaped like leaves, as it became apparent. They strip off the leaves and are in green skin suits. The woman tries to plug the head of the ...

... Italy Tilt Chromakey Follies, 34 minutes, no subtitles THE last in a seven-part series six of which were devoted to international disco stars and the seventh to ballet, so our official information told us. Well, this show took a look at Louis Armstrong, the Clown, Rudolph Valentino and Superman, using choreography and electronic effects. It had a jazzy opening with a blonde surrounded by a ...