... Snooze night James Green on a comedy that enters the dozy world of male elitism, The Gentleman's Club BBC-2 A Gentleman's Club IF THERE IS an obvious anachronism in the latter years of the 20th Century it is the gentleman's club - that legacy from another age when there was time and money to spare, and a distinct social divide. There is something mildly humorous about drinking and dining ...

... THAMES 01 for London THIS TV equivalent of Time Out, now into its second series, became compulsory viewing for me in its first series, striking a good balance between information and irreverence. Two of the original presenters Neil Mullarkey and Vikki Groocock have now departed, their places taken by Mark Webster and Fiona Adam. Richard Jobson remains, with his mis chievous Glaswegian cadences ...

... Moonlighter Bruce scores a Motown hit SINGING detectives re nothing new--who can forget Old Blackie Kojak crooning his way to the top of the charts with If. Now news reaches us that Moonlight- ing's Bruce Willis he of the slow grin and fast quip could be putting his much vaunted charm to good use in the recording studio. The man who regularly dons dark glasses, treats his long suffering ...

... Companies in poor film prints row By ANGELA THOMAS PROGRAMME planners are coming under fire over the use of poor quality prints of classic films on television. Director Donovan Winter has accused the TV companies of cal lousness in their use of damaged prints which he claims destroy the reputations of the film makers. In a letter in the Directors Guild publication Direct Extra, Winter points ...

... THE 6 O'Clock Show LONDON WEEKEND EVEN by its own down market standards this was a poor offering from a programme which exists to provide a lightweight start to the weekend. The programme always had a tenden cy to scatter around git-orff-me-bar- rer and Gordon Bennett Cockney patois, but thankfully it seems this latest series, to some extent, is trying to I keep the odd aspirate in the ...

... Falling in a tragic trap called trust Roger Graef on what makes good political drama BBC 2 Death is Part of the Process GOOD political drama ought to upset people. As drama, rather than current affairs, it should make viewers feel as well as think about what it is like to be caught in a particular predicament. It can be a kind of compliment to be attacked--if your drama succeeds as drama. The ...

... Redbrick CHANNEL 4 ADOPTING what producer Stephen Garrett calls a soap opera approach, this Tyne Tees documentary series gives an intriguing picture of the closed life of a university. Over the course of an academic year the production team shot 45 miles of film at Newcastle University for the 12 episodes which follow the lives of a cross-section of students and academic staff, who speak ...

... Venerable verse Nick Smurthwaite on an Olivier poetry special GRANADA What Will Survive Of Us Is Love IT HAD ALL the makings of a Spitting Image sketch, lampooning both the grand old man of British theatre (dear, dear Larry; and the precise po-faced Patrick Garland, whose idea it was to make a programme in which Larry recites some of his (ie Garland's) favourite verse. Never one to submit ...

... They shouldn't let this one lie CHANNEL 4 Vic Reeves' Big Night Out IF ANY further proof were needed that the world is one large lunatic asylum than a glance at the Vic Reeves show will provide the evidence. It is nonsensical, has no continuity or theme, nothing topical, doesn't have a joke, and is very, very funny. The kind of nutty humour that attracts (as with The Goons and Monty Python) a ...

... occur in schools, but I cannot pin things on children I know. I have to change things to a point where it doesn't relate directly to things that have happened, Bernard Ashley ...

... Scotland in major shake-up BBC SCOTLAND executives have drawn up plans which could result in a major shake-up of activities and give the Corporation's operations North of the Border greater autonomy. Among the proposals which emerged this week were moving one of the BBC Television's network programme departments to Scotland, possibly children's, and the for mation of a separate division of BBC ...

... AIDS charities AIDS charities this week slammed the National Viewers and listeners Association for claiming that television's role in condoning casual sex was one of the main factors in creating the spread of the virus. Mary whitehouse, president of National VALA, wrote to heads of broadcasting organisations, including the BBC, and distributors worldwide requesting that they could consider ...