... Johann Faustus OLD VIC WHEN THE clock strikes, it is not Christ's blood which streams in the firmament for Faustus but the marching song of the oppressed Middle European peasantry, sahd- wiched chronologically between our own Peasants' Revolt of the 14th century and the French Jacquerie of the 17th. In an age of accepted non- belief and from the pen of Brecht's second collaborator Hanns Eisler ...

... The Third KING'S HEAD MOST people who believe in love might at the same time deny any belief in the doctrine of inevitability --the destiny which shapes, when it does not distort, all our rough-hewn edges and ends. Timberlake Wertenbaker's first play The Third won the 1978 Wandsworth tion for dramatists and this premier production is by Dizi Conti for her own company Touchstone. It has ...

... Idol Days CROYDON THE SCENE is a familiar one. In 1930s Hollywood a film musical is being written and produced whose chances of success seem slim. The producer hasn't a clue what it's about. The director is an eccentric Hungarian whose ideas of inspiring confidence usually take the form of imperfect English exhortations line Let us get this show off the rails. The writers are an unlikely ...

... Parkinson One To One YORKSHIRE EVEN WITH crease lines around the eyes and a lived-in face Michael Parkinson is still the best of the chat show hosts. The best, that is, if you want to learn a lot more about the guest on the programme. that is almost certainly because he has a journalistic background instead of the show business or broadcasting train ing of his newer rivals. His approach makes ...

... New Country: Gettin' tough BBC-2 I SUPPOSE I have always been what might be described as a reluctant country music lover, meaning that while I can't resist a song by Hank Williams or Marty Robbins, I tend to shy away from the overall commitment, principally because of the majority of over-sentimentalised ballads, the embarrassingly flambuoyant way in which many of the artists dress, plus ...

... Channel goes for a mix of factual programmes A DOCUMENTARY to be shown on the ITV network this May Day bank holiday is The Dakota 1935-85, a celebration of fifty years of The DC 3 which first flew in December 1935 and entered airline service 50 years ago this summer. It has been made by Channel pehaps the least known ITV com pany, based in St Helena in Jersey. The programme is written and ...

... Action Anneka IT was interesting to read at the weekend that Anneka Rice, who has been popping up on our screens a lot lately Treasure Hunt Wish You Were Here? and Sporting Chance produced a weekly radio show in Hong Kong, and also read the news on television out there. The reason she got her break on Treasure Hunt she maintains was not because she is superfit, but quite the reverse, because ...

... It's good to feel Peaky BBC2 Twin Peaks IT'S BEEN a good year for David Lynch. Wild At Heart took him out of the art houses and into the mainstream, scooping the coveted Palme d'Or at Cannes. Now, after conquering the States, his much-talked about soap noir. Twin Peaks, has hit the British screens. After weeks of hype and rising hys teria, the wait is over. Peaks Freaks now have something ...

... STV builds up strength GLASGOW-BASED ITV contractor Scottish Television is planning to strengthen its posi tion in the ITV network with a large raft of new drama, entertainment and children's pro grammes currently in development. The company, which retained its franchise last year with a bid of just £2,000, aims to take advan tage of its position in the network as a low bidder and become a key ...

... BBC 2 Quantum Leap THIS NEW American drama scries fills the Moonlighting slot. An off beat advanture series was how it was billed. This production however is aimed at younger viewer than the Willis/ Shepherd double act. Where that was irritatingly watchable this is slick but light weight. The central character Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) is the next Einstein. He has found the key to time ...

... Award winner calls for end to 'tokenism' By LISA ROHUMAA AN AWARD- WINNING Asian actress has spoken out against racial stereotyping and 'tokenism' in plays and drama serials on British television. Mamta Kaasb, who is 26, won the best actress award at FIPA in Cannes at the weekend for her lead role in Shalom Salaam, a BBC Pebble Mill production. The five part series also won the best screenplay ...

... Morris Minor's Marvellous Motors BBC-1 FIRST CAME The Beatles. And America, wanting to jump on the bandwagon, concocted a teeny bopper show, The Monkees, which did well enough internationally even if the stars weren't musical performers. Now we have The Monkees of the nineties, three feather-brained lads who work as garage mechanics but somehow form themselves into a top pop group. The motor ...