... Swooping to conquer with Beryl the peril NICK SMURTHWAITE On the high-flying life and loves of a girls' own heroine LWT Shadow On The Sun BERYL MARKHAM's life was always destined to become a television mini-series. Kenyan childhood, neglectful parents, chums with the natives, not to mention the Happy Valley set first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic, a notorious affair with the Prince ...

... Motel movie is at the Crossroads REVIVALS of old television hits appear to be the flavour of 1991, particularly at the BBC's light entertainment department, but perhaps the most bizarre comeback yet looks set to be the return of Crossroads, the ATV/Central Television soap opera which left early evening ITV in 1988. If this isn t odd enough in itseli, rumours currently circulating suggest tnat ...

... HIT it to 'em MIKE LUCKWELL (right) has taken a 1 7 per cent stake in HIT Communications, the co-produc tion and distribution company set up in 1989 by PETER ORTON (left), who was previously in charge of running Muppets creator Jim Henson's television business. Founder of the Moving Picture Company, and former managing director of television-services group Carlton Communications, Luckwell has ...

... TVS makes a breakthrough with Blackrod TVS HAS MADE a major breakthrough in the subsidiary production companies' battle to enter the independent market this week by agreeing to sell its subsidiary, Blackrod Ltd, to a public relations group. It has long been a problem for subsidiary companies that they are precluded from entering the indepen dent production market by IBA regula tions which tie ...

... Blat BBC1 THIS TONGUE-IN-CHEEK look at the seemingly presentable face of international trade deals, banking and stockbroking in Britain, served not only as an entertaining and different eighty-five minutes, but as a piece of fiction allowed us to speculate on the strong possibility of similar goings-on in the City. Blat is the Russian expression lor 'string-pulling'. 'Clout' or simply ...

... Absolutely expands ABSOLUTELY Productions, the independent production company behind Channel 4's popular comedy series Absolutely, this week announced a new phase in the company's development which it hopes will strengthen its position as a Programme maker. From next year Absolutely Produc tions intends to significantly increase its activities both in television and in related areas such as ...

... Red roses for Henfield as he moves stations Preston-based Red Rose Radio is to have a new managing direc tor. MIKE HENFIELD, station director ofGWR FM and Classic Gold Radio in Bristol, is to take over from Dave Lincoln who is leaving to take up the managing director's post at Radio City in Liverpool. It is a return to Lancashire for the 47 year old former journalist who was programme ...

... ANY actor or actress who has been door- stepped by a tabloid reporter will tell you it's a horrible experience and the intrusion on their privacy was simply awful. And if you believe that you're reading the wrong paper lovey. The vast majority of Stage read ers who haven't yet made it to the soaps would probably give up your last tub of make-up just to see that friendly notebook and camera ...

... Wax On Wheels CHANNEL 4 THIS WAS the start of a new comedy chat show for the pint-sized American comedy personality and after reporting that Ruby Wax is back looking fantastic and highly glam, I am reminded of the old belief in the days of male dominated TV that there was no such thing as a funny woman. Now nobody could accuse Miss Wax of being a comedienne. She hasn't got a joke in her. ...

... A Tale Of Two Cities GRANADA TO COMMEMORATE the bicentennial anniversary of the French revolution, Granada has joined forces with Dune Production of France to produce a four hour adaptation of Charles Dickens' weighty classic, A Tale Of Two Cities. In keeping with the spirit of Anglo- French co-operation, the two part film boasts stars from both sides of the channel, among them John Mills, ...

... It's a sin ANN MANN on a shamefully well watered down production BBC1 Confessional IS IT MY imagination or was Liam Devlin already 40-ish in 1944. No matter, it didn't seem to deter him from turning up bright-eyed, bush- tailed and still 40-ish in this latest Jack Higgins adaptation, a turgid and contrived piece of television, from which the only safe means of escape is by switching to another ...

... Red Dwarf BBC-2 MENTION a sit-com set in space, and you'll more likely than not have preconceived ideas of an audience of under-12s, a 6.30 pm transmission slot, and a set of trivial scripts which plunge to dangerous lows as the weeks progress. In this case however, the danger has been averted with a very funny concep tion from writers Rob Grant and Doug Naylor one-time associate producers and ...