BRIEFLYSUMMIT MOVESoviet Foreign MinisterEduard Shevardnadzeagreed to meetings withUs Secretary of StateGeorge Shultz inpreparation for a newsummit between MikhailGorbachov and PresidentReagan. (Battle to beat theclock, pace 8.)

MARKET BLASTSThree car bombs killedone person and injured 35in crowded markets inPakistan 's capitalIslamabad. No oneclaimed responsibility, butPakistan has blamedAfghanistan for previousexplosions.

BODY FOUNDPolice were questioning aman after thedismembered body ofAnthony Brown, 30, wasfound at a derelict farmnear Scarcroft , Leeds.

RANK OUTSIDERFrench horse Nupsala, a25-1 outsider, won the£50,000 King George VIRank Chase at Kempton(Report , page 31.)

RELICS CHARGEJohn Braddock, 41, wasremanded in custody untilTuesday accused ofdamaging two valuablereliquaries—containers forreligious relics—in anincident at WestminsterCathedral. ¦

DOUBLE DEATHPolice believe that a manstrangled his wife onChristmas Day thenhanged himself at theirhome in Bridgnorth ,Shropshire .

BABY BOOMBritain s test-tube babypioneers Mr PatrickSteptoe and ProfessorRobert Edwards yesterdayannounced the birth oftheir clinic's onethousandth baby.

COLLECTIONEighty-seven people havebeen charged after anundercover policeoperation against theftsfrom delivery vehicles inLondon in the run-up toChristmas.WIN £25,000The Observer by in tableLife Investor of the Yearcompetition, with pri: emoney of £25,000, islaunched tiexi Sunday .i Details , page 29. 1

THE WEATHERMild ; some rain , withbrighter intervals.(Details, page 2.)

& A

THE TWO British women soldas brides in the Yemen ArabRepublic will not be allowedhome unless they are accompa-nied by their husbands.

Nadia and Zana-, Muhsen, whowere taken from\ their remotemountain villages last week afterThe Observer revealed their story,have had to accept pub\icly the menthey were married to seven yearsago. , I

A Yemeni Government officialwith whom they are staging in thecity of Taiz has told them he will beproviding them with visa applica-tion forms requesting that theirhusbands be allowed into Britain.

The Foreign Office said yester-day that the British Embassy in thecapital, Sana'a, had been told of the

latest information , supplied to themby The Observer , and was arrangingto interview the husbands with thewomen when they arrived in thecity.

The young children of thewomen — Nadia's daughter, 21-month-old Tina, her son Haney,four, and Zana's son, 20-month-oldMohammed—were left behind inthe mountain villages of Hockailand Ashube when their motherswere collected last week.

Zana told The Observer yester-day : ' We wanted to bring themwith us, but the man said, no, theywould be collected later .

'My mother-in-law is lookingafter them, but the official says thathe is going to collect them today. 'The three children have beenentered on to the women's pass-

HI2IIIIIQ9L¦Hiam i H i B' iu —^~~~

ports, which are awaiting their visitto the British Embassy.

When the sisters arrived in Taiz,North Yemen's second city, theywere taken to the home of theYemeni Government official whohad collected them. They foundthat their husbands, whom they hadnot seen for- two years, had beenrecalled from Saudi Arabia, wherethey had been working.. On Christmas Day they wereprovided with a flat near theofficial's home, where they are nowliving with their husbands. Theirmother, Miriam Ali, is desperatelest the girls should becomepregnant and be forced to stay.'Don't worry, Mum, they are so

by EILEEN MacDONALD

scared they are not touching us,'Zana reassured her yesterday in atelephone call .

The official has also told Miss Ali,who was not married to the sisters'father, Muthana Muhsen, that itcould take up to four weeks beforethe women can come home.

Miss Ali, 44, said yesterday : ' Hesays that everything must quietendown in the Press and the visasgranted to the husbands before thegirls and their children come home.' I am so scared that it could all go

wrong. The girls are so far away,and living with this official. I justhope they tell him the things hewants to hear.'

Miss Ali applied for a visa at the

Yemeni Embassy in London lastweek, but was treated as a touristrather than as a relative wishing tovisit the country.' They told me to come back on

Tuesday with $500, three passportphotographs and a return airticket,' she said . 'When I visitedthem before I was treated as theirmother .'

The sisters have also had alengthy telephone call from theirfather on Christmas Day. Hebegged them not to come homesoon . Zana told her mother yester-day : ' He said, don 't leave until allthe fuss has died down becausethere would be a lot of reporters atthe airport and he would beashamed. He said he would be soashamed that he would kill himself .'

The sisters have been told that

they will be moved to a luxurioushouse in Taiz with their husbandsuntil ' all the paperwork is done.'

On Christmas Day, The Observerinformed the Foreign Office of thelatest development in the women'ssituation.

We also gave the Foreign Officeand the British Embassy in Sana'athe telephone number of the housewhere the women are staying.

The Geneva-based charity,Defence of Children International,has told Miss Ali it is consideringwhether any criminal charges can bebrought against the women'sfather. Miss Ali said : ' Theirlawyer, Geraldine Van Beurin ,thinks it may be possible to ask thepolice to interview him about whathe has done.'

H Dream of Freedom, page 7Miriam Ali : ' Still worried '.

UP TO 250 Soviet para-troopers have been killed inAfghanistan in the pastthree weeks in the RedArmy's attempt to relievethe besieged garrison atKhost. Casualties amongthe Government forces areeven higher in what hasbecome one of the bloodiestbattles of the war.

The fighting comes on theeighth anniversary of theSoviet invasion on Christ-mas Day, 1979.

The Russians' determina-tion to press ahead in theface of such high lossesagainst the Mujahideenguerrillas has surprisedWestern defence analysts.The sacrifices made to reachKhost will almost certainl yprove to be a fraction ofwhat it will take to hold thegarrison.

by ARTHUR KENT

For all the men andarmour thrown into whatthe analysts say is thebiggest Soviet-Afghan off-ensive in two years, theMujahideen have held theassault column 's advance toa crawl .

Helicopter-borne Sovietcommandos breached thepass at Sato Kandau lastweek. They overran Muja-hideen positions andallowed a handful of tanks todescend into the Zadranvalley, the steep-sided 30-mile-long mountain gaunt-let standing between theassault force and itsobjective .

This is ambush country,and the Mujahideen enjoythe advantage of highground, particularly at themouths of 12 side-valleyswhich overlook the wind-ing, heavily-mined road .

Soviet and Afghan com-mando units have been forcedinto a treacherous series ofleap-frog landings by heli-copter at night to avoid anti-aircraft fire . Each landing haspushed the advance a fewhundred metres further tow-ards Khost.

Held up by this bottleneckis a 10,000-man forcebacked by the latest inSoviet artillery, ' a vastswathe of troops andarmour, 18 miles long ',according to one observerclose to the battle.' If the Russians are happy

to accept a high number ofdead and wounded, thenthey can eventually bull

Since 14 December, policein the North West Frontiercity of Mardan have beenquestioning four Hizbemembers in connection withSkrzypkowiak, who disap-peared on I October whiletravelling through Hizbeterritory.¦ A demonstration in Mos-cow yesterday by a groupcalling for the withdrawal ofSoviet troups from Afgha-nistan was broken up bypolice and security men, agroup spokesman said.B The Foreign Secretary,Sir Geoffrey Howe, saidyesterday that Russia shouldwithdraw its troops fromAfghanistan and allow it toform a truly independentgovernment.

their way through,' he said .' Clearly they've resolved toreach Khost and to hold it atail costs .'

Chris Gregory, the wife ofthe British camerman AndySkrzypkowiak, missing andpresumed dead in Afghanis-tan, said from Pakistan thatshe was ' angered and irr-itated ' by what shedescribes as Pakistan inep-titude in the investigation ofthe case.

Evidence suggests thatSkrzypkowiak, aged 36, waskilled by members of anAfghan resistance group,Hizbe Islami, which hasbeen accused by foreign aidworkers of blocking freetransit of overland trails tothe north.

mn^ nsi*. dfe

Charles willtake Ashesto Australia

by ROBIN MEAD

PRINCE CHARLES hasagreed to escort the Ashesto Australia next monthbecause of fears for thesafety of cricket 's mostfamous trophy.

According to diplomaticsources, the Ashes are totravel on the Royal flightwhen the Prince and Princessof Wales leave to celebrateAustralia 's bicentenary .

They will be carried by asenior diplomat under adegree of security moreappropriate to the CrownJewels than a few bits of burntwood .

The Royal escort was arr-anged because the MCC couldnot allow the Ashes, whichwere impossible to insure, totravel on a commercial flight.

The MCC agreed to sendthem to Australia as a gestureof goodwill only after aprotracted debate at Lord's.The Australians intend todisplay them during thebicentennial Test Match,which starts in Sydney on 29January .

Details of the Royal fli ghtare being kept secret and theMCC has refused to commentuntil the Ashes are safely onAustralian soil.

The Ashes commemoratethe first defeat of England byAustralia at the Oval in 1882.A mock obituary published inthe Sporting Times lamentedthe death of English cricketand said the body would becremated and the ashes takento Australia.

The following year, when

England, led by the Hon. IvoBligh , won the Test series,some Melbourne women bur-ned a bail , sealed it in an urn ,and presented it to theEngland captain.

Ivo Bligh later married oneof the women. When he diedin 1927, as Lord Darnley, hebequeathed the Ashes to theMCC at Lord's.

NO HOSPITAL BED FOR HEARTBREAK MATTHEW

THIS is Matt hew Collier, a little boywith a hole in his heart who was tooweak to open his Christmas presents ,writes Paul Routledge.

Doctors agree he desperately

needs open heart surgery, but onChris tinas Eve he was told for thefifth time there was no bed availablein Birmingham Children 's Hospital.Matthew is four and a half, butweights only 261b and has never

walked . The hospital says it cannotoperate because a shortage ofspecialist nurses has halved thenumber of intensive care bedsavailable to 12, only six of which arefor heart patients . Birmingham

Children's is the hospital tha t figuredin the controvers y over DavidBarber , the baby boy who died threeweeks ago after his heart operationhad been repeatedly postponed.Photograph by John Reardon .

s nB yi m^pifli^ " glip'piHThroughout your life, fro m collecting your first I

.salary cheque to collecting your pension , your moneyneeds careful management.

"Arranging Your Aftairs"is a two-part booklet tohelp you plan your personal finances. It coversmaking the most of your assets, preparing for yourretirement - and even arrang ing the protection yourdependants deserve.

Valuable information from Allied Dunbar - andabsolutely free. And if you feel in need of personalfinancial guidance - we would be pleased to arrange apersonal consultation For you - again , quite free.

For your tree "Arranging Your Aftairs" booklets justcomplete the details below and post to:Sue Hunt , Allied Dunbar Assurance pic . FR EEPOST,Swindon SNI1XZ (no stamp needed).£9g Or phone her on 0800 010500 and quote£ofi Dept. OBI We pay tor tlie call. I ts a 2-4 hourservice, ~ days a week. There is no obligation for you totake any further action.

I Please send me, free and without obligation . Allied Dunbar 's II "ArrangingYourAflEairs"andlci nieh;ivt'dciailsi>fyourfree I¦ consultation service. I am interested in: I• ? Protecting my income should I become unable to work •I through illness or accident. I' D Planning for a profitable retirement. JI CJ Making adequate provision for my dependants. |I Name: (Mr Mrs Ms) Initials: I

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2-page sportscalendar .of the yearJ 26, 27

SPORT

There isnothing like adame

I BARRY HUMPHRIES 5

PROFILE

My farewellto Channel 4JEREMY ISAACS 6

INSIDE

MOMENTS OFCATASTROPHE

PORTRAIT OF 1987

Dame KiriTe KanawaINTERVIEW 15

ARTS

INDEX¦ INSIDEHOME NEWS 2, 3FOREIGN NEWS 8, 9, 11PROFILE 5POLITICAL DIARY 5SUE ARNOLD 6SAYINGS OF THE YEAR 6NOTEBOOK 12

H REVIEWLETTERS 14ARTS 14, 15. 17MORE MUSIC 17BOOKS 17, 18TV GUIDE 20

a businessYOUR MONEY 28, 29

¦ SPORTRACING 31FOOTBALL 32

B WEEKENDWHITEHORN 33TIME OFF 37MOTORING 38PROPERTY 39GARDENING 40CROSSWORD 40

B CLASSIFIEDAPPOINTMENTS 18, 19MOTORING 38PROPERTY 39TRAVEL 19, 34. 36, 37, 39WHAT 'S ON 16

Ashes : Lord' s treasure.

THE GOVERNMENT hasallowed a book on intell-igence to be published whichincludes chap ters from twonamed former MI6 officers.This conflicts with its ownstated policy, central to the' Spycatcher ' case and thedispu te over the BBC Radio4 series, ' My Country —Right or Wrong,' that secretservice officers are bound bylifelong rules of silence onsecurity matters .

The book , ' British andAmerican Approaches to Intell-igence,' covers a number ofmajor secret service issuesincluding covert action , financ-ing and comparisons with theCIA. . It contains chapters writ-ten by two ex-MI6 officers, MrRobert Cecil and Mr John BruceLockhart. Mr Cecil was an ass-istant to Sir Stewart Menzies ,head of MI6 from 1939-53. Thebook states Mr Bruce Lockhartwas ' actively involved withintelligence at a senior level' .

The book is part of a RoyalUnited Services Institute seriespublished by Macmillan at£29.50. It is a collection of papersfirst given by leading intelligenceexperts at an Anglo-Americanconference on intelligence heldby the RUSI in 1984.

The Cabinet Office is respons-ible for screening books byformer civil servants , but wouldnot say last week whether thebook had been cleared. Onesource , however , said that thetwo chapters by the ex-MIn

by PAUL LASHMAR

men had been sent to theForeign Office and then theCabinet Office for clearance,which was granted.

The Director of the RUSI,Group-Captain David Bolton,said he did not know if the bookhad been cleared. That was ' amatter for the book editor,' hesaid. ' RUSI has had close links

with the Ministry of Defence for150 years and we would haveacted responsibly. '

The book's editor , Mr KenRobertson , of the University ofReading, was unavailable forcomment.

The Government now gener-ally prevents the publication ofbooks , or even interviews , byex-intelligence officers. Lastweek in the High Court a per-manent injunction preventingThe Observer , The GiuirdiimandThe Sunday Times frompublishing ex-MI5 officer PeterWright 's ' Spycatcher ' allega-

tions was not granted by MrJustice Scott . But an interiminjunction was reimposed pend-ing the Government's appeal on18 January .

Other less controversialbooks, such as ' One Girl's War 'by wartime MIS agent JoanMiller, have also been banned.The Government still has aninjunction against the BBCbroadcasting the programme' My Country — Right orWrong ' because it containsinterviews with former intell-igence officers.

Mr Lockhart 's chapter is cal-led ' Intelli gence : a BritishView,' and is a detailed analysisof the role of British intell-igence. He says his views are' one man 's thoughts , based onpractical experience . 'Mr Lock-hart is described as havingserved in the Foreign Officefrom 1945-65.

Mr Cecil's chapter is entitled' The Assessment and Accep-tance of Intelligence : a CaseStudy '. It compares intelligencegathering for the Falkland crisisof 1982 with the lesser Falklandscrisis of 195 1 which , Mr Ceciladmits , draws on his personalForeign Office experience.

: H Mrs Thatcher was challenged! last night to prosecute a formerMI6 officer who is reported to"have published his memoirsprivately and sent them tofriends as a Christmas card. MrGeorge Foulkes , Labourspokesman on foreign affairs ,said the Prime Minister shouldtake action or abandon the legalbattle against Mr Peter Wrightand ' Spycatcher. '

Ex-MI6 mencleared to

write in book

Wraps off :Intelligence papers.

The battle for Khost

¦ BBC1 : As London except Wales: 1.00 a.m. News andWeather. Northern Ireland : 1.00 a.m. News andWeather,D BBC2 : As London.¦ ANGLIA : As London¦ BORDER : As London except 12 00 midnight Top TenNew Acts of the 1980s. 12.30 a.m. Border weather.¦ CENTRAL : As London except 12.00 midnight PrisonerCell Block H. 12.55 a.m. Donahue. 1.50 Thriller Classic :Burnt Evidence. 3.00 a.m. Jobfinder.a CHANNEL: As London except 12.00 midnightAirp lane II — The Sequel. 1.35 Weather andClosedown.¦ GRAMPIAN : As London except 12.00 midnightAmerica 's Top Ten. 12.30 Reflections. 12.35 Closedown.B GRANADA: As London except 12.00 midnight AlfredHitchcock Presents. 12.30 Closedown.¦ HTV WEST AND WALES :As London except 12.00midnight. America 's Top Ten 12.30 Weather .Closedown.¦ SCOTTISH : As London except 12,00 midnight. LateCall. 12.05 The All-time Christmas Top Ten. 12.35Closedown¦ TSW : As London except 12.00 midnight. Postscript.12.05 Weather and Shipping forecast. 12.06 Closedown.B TSW: As London except 12.00 midnight. Postscript.12.05 Weather and Shipping Forecast. 12.06 Closedown.H TVS: As London except 12.00 midnight. Airplane II—the Sequel 1.35 Company followed by Closedown.B TYNE TEES: As London except 12.00 midnight. EasyStreet. 12.25 News. Closedown.H YORKSHIRE : As London except 12 00 midnight. Lordof the Tin Soldiers. 12.30 Fjve Minutes. 12.35Closedown,¦ RTE1 : 900 the Phantom Treehouse 10.15

< Laurel and Hardy. 11 10 Holy Communion. 11.55

^ News followed by film, Hugo the Hippo. 1.20

Fortycoats and the Seraphim Stone. 1.45 Dr Snuggles.3.20 Sunday Matinee: National Velvet. 5.30 Piano Plus.6.00 The Angelus. 6.01 News. 6.10 Iris '87. 6.40 Measureof the Year. 7.45 Johnny McEvoy and Friends. 8.15Where in the World? 9.00 News. 9.15 Johnny Logan.10.15 Sunday Night at the Movies: The Bounty. 12.30a.m. Late News, 12.35 Closedown.¦ RTE 2: 4.55 p.m. Pajo 's Junkbox. 5.55 Barnum. 8.00Nuacht. 8.05 Remington Steele. 9.00 The Madonna. 9.55Minnelli on Minnelli. 11.15 Twilight Zone Special. 12.10Nocturne. 12.20 Closedown.B S4C: As Channel 4 except 8.45. Hafoc. 1.30. Film IMy Man Godfrey. 3.15 The Snowman. 3.45 The Old Manol Lochnagar. 5.00 A Gospel Session. 7.15 Sam Tan YTeledu. 7.20 Newyddion. 7.30 Rhaglen Hywel Gwynfryn.B.10 Pobol Y Cwm. 8.40 Dechrau Canu. DechrauCanmol. 9.10 Film : I fro Breuddwydion. 11.10 MariaCallas—Lile and Art. 12.40. Closedown.

HBUU^ ^ UMlUnA ^9Bhn ^ ^ nl^h^ M^ ^ M!«MHHB HIGHLIGHTS : George Harrison talks about his latest album (Radio 1, 4.00 p.m.) ; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau sings lieder by Wolf (Radio 3, 7.50 p.m.) ; ' Hancock's Half Hour ', from 1958 (Radio 4, 12.25p.m.) ;' Space Children ' is a musical with a moral (Radio 4, 7.0 p.m.) ; the vital role ol' The Warm-Up Men ' (Radio 4, 11.0 p.m.).

B RADIO 1 (1053 kHz/285m. 1089 kHz/275m, 88-90.2VHF) 6.0 a.m. Nicky Campbell. 8.0 Peter Powell. 10.0Dave Lee Travis. 1.0 Mike Read. 3.0 Radio Scruples.3.30 Backchat. 4.0 On Cloud Nine. 5.0 Top 40 7.0 AnneNightingale. 9.0 Andy Peebles. 11.0-12.0 Ranking MissP.B RADIO 2 (693 kHz/433m. 909kHz/303m, B8-90.2 VHF)4.0 a.m. Dave Bussey. 6.0 Graham Knight. 7.30 RogerRoyle. 9.05 Melodies lor You. 11.0 Desmond Carrington.1.0 Brian Matthew. 2.0 Benny Green. 3.0 Alan Dell. 4.0Moira Anderson. 4.30 Sing Something Simple. 5.0Charlie Chester. 7.0 Living with Betty. 7.30 Ian Wallace.B.30 Sunday Half-Hour. 9.0 Hundred Best Tunes. 10.05Songs from the Shows. 10.45 Laurie Holloway. 11.0Jazz. 1.0 Bill Rennells. 3.0-4.0 A Little Night Music.B RADIO 3 (1215kHz/247m. 90.2-92.4 VHF) 6.55 a.m.Weather. 7.0 News. 7.05 English Pastorals. 8.0 WorldService News. 8.10 Lili Kraus. 9.0 News. 9.05 ConcertChoice : Purcell, Lulgini, Bach and Dvorak. 10.30 TheOctave of the Nativity. 11.30 New Stockholm ChamberOrchestra: Tubin, Jolibet. Nielsen and Dvorak. 12.20From the Aldeburgh Festival : Haydn, Britten andBeethoven. 1.45 London Classical Players : Beethoven.2.25 Words. 2.30 London Classical Players : Beethoven.3.20 Dmitri Alexeev (piano): Chopin and Scriabin. 3.55My Dear Friend Henriette. 4.10 Dmitri Alexeev, 2:Schumann. 5.0 Chris Martin's Lex Talionis. 6.35 BBCScottish Symphony Orchestra : Lutoslawski, Chain III ;Cello Concerto ; Shostakovich, Symphony Noi 1. 7.50Fischer-Dieskau at the QEH. 9.30 1987 Reith Lectures.10.0 Anti-organic Developments. 10.50 The Octave ofthe Nativity. 11.57-12.0 News.B RADIO 4 (200kHz/1500m, 92.4-94.8 VHF) 6.0 a.m.News. 6.10 Prelude. 6.30 Morning Has Broken. 7.0 News.7.15 On Your Farm. 7.40 Sunday. B.50 Sir HarrySecombe, appeal. 9.0 News. 9.15 Letter from America.9.30 Morning Service. 10.15 Archers. 11.15 On Duty.11.30 Pick of the Year. 12.25 Hancock's Half Hour. 1.0

News. 1.05 New Review of the Year. 2.0 Les Miserables.3.0 The Pickwick Papers, 3.4.0 An Evening with Alan JayLerner. 5.0 With Great Pleasure : Sue Townsend. 6.0News. 6.15 The Hundred and One Dalmatians, 2. 6.30Murder at the Red October. 7.0 Space Children. 7.45Crime at Christmas. 9.15 The Natural HistoryProgramme. 10.0 News. 10.15 Behind the Scenes ofCrime. 11.0 The Warm-Up Men. 11.30 Seeds of Faith.11.45 Little Horrors. 12.0-12.15 News.¦ WORLD SERVICE (648kHz(43Sm) 6.0 a.m. Newsdesk.6.30 Londres Matin. 7.0 News. 7.09 Twenty-Four Hours.7.30 From Our Own Correspondent. 7.50 Waveguide. B.ONews. 8.09 Reflections. 8.15 The Pleasure's Yours. 9.0News. 9.09 Sunday Papers. 9.15 Cantabile at Christmas.9.45 On the Road. 10.01 Short Story. 10.15 ClassicalRecord Review. 10.30 Service. 11.0 News. 11.09 Newsabout Britain. 11.15 From Our Own Correspondent.11.30 Londres Midi. 12.01 Play : Plutus. 1.0 News. 1.09Twenty-Four Hours. 1.30 A Matter of Honour. 2.01 SandiJones. 2.30 Sports Roundup. 2.45 The Hound of Fate. 3.0Radio Nowsreel. 3.15 Concert Hall. 4.0 News. 4.09Commentary. 4.15 Art and Accountability. 4.45 Letterfrom America. 5.0 News. 5.09 Reflections. 5.15 Englishby Radio. 5.45 Londres Soir. 6.30 Heute Aktuel. 8.0News. 8.09 Twenty-Four Hours. 8.30 A Matter of Honour.9.01 Short Story. 9,15 The Pleasure's Yours. 10.0 News.10.09 I've Been Together Now for 70 Years. 10.25 BookChoice. 10.30 Financial Review of the Year. 10.40Reflections. 10.45 Sports Roundup. 11.0 News. 11.09Commentary. 11.15 Letter from America. 11.30Questions of Faith. 12.0 News. 12.09 News about Britain.12.15 Radio Newsreel. 12.30 Service. 1.01 Pop Special.2.0 News. 2.09 Commentary. 2.15 Peebles' Choice. 2.30Discovery. 3.0 News. 3.09 News about Britain. 3.15 GoodBooks. 3.30 A Matter of Honour. 4.0 Newsdesk. 4.30 SixFour Eight. 4.35 Financial News. 4.45 Morgenmagazin.5.45 Recording of the Week.

l(JFyiJSI^;W»'W»frH

MONDAY¦ 7.00-7.40 WOGAN (BBC1): Terryassembles the stars of great radiocomedy shows like ' ITMA' ,' Roundthe Home ' and ' The Navy Lark '. Hisguests include Jimmy Edwards, thelate Irene Handl, Leslie Phillips, andDeryckGuyter.¦ 8.30-10.00 CHARLES RENNIEMACKINTOSH—DREAMS ANDRECOLLECTIONS (Channel 4):Mackintosh'scareer began brilliantlyin Glasgow but ended in obscurity, andhe was forced to turn from architect towater-colourist. Tom Conti stars as oneof his descendants in a dreamy dramadocumentary which does visual creditto Mackintosh's clean lines and paleinteriors.¦ 9.55-10.35 FLYING FOR FUN (BBC2) :The Aeronca (a precursor of themicrolight aircraft) buzzed over theEnglish countryside in the 1930s,piloted by Major-General Jack Parham(played in this drama-documentary byGeoffrey Beevers).The ' flyingbathtub ' had a top speed of 75 mph andcould hover.¦ 10.00-11.00THOMAS ' FATS •WALLER—THIS JOINT IS JUMPIN'(Channel 4): Fats burst on a ' dancecrazy ' world with the music theywanted. His son (a dead ringer for hisfather) is among those interviewedabout Fats, the jazz he played, and thepeople he knew . . . Al Capone' kidnapped ' him once and paid him100 bucks for each request.

TUESDAYB 3.00-5.05 THE LIFE ANDADVENTURES OF NICHOLASNICKLEBY (Channel 4): Channel 4'sfirst-evercommtssion comes round fora repeat. The RSC's productionstarring Roger Rees and DavidThrelfall (among many) is chopped intofour chunks and will be shown onWednesday, Thursday and Fridayafternoons.¦ 8.00-10.00 SHERLOCK HOLMES—THE SIGN OF FOUR (ITV) : Granada TVproduce the trump card in theHolmesian centenary celebrations witha two-hour adaptation, starring JeremyBrett (the best-ever Holmes, I wouldcontest). The story opens outside aGothic mansion, mists a-swirl, as apeg-legged man and some sort ofshuffling dwarf make their way acrossthe grounds. The re-creations ofVictorian London are particularly fine.P 8.30-9.30 JUST A SONG AND DANCESTORY (Channel 4) : Wednesdaynight's archive evening on Channel 4 iscalled ' Salute to ATV '. Tonight's

programme looks at the company'scontribution to British television andthat of its impresario, Lord Grade. ATVgave us ' Sunday Night at the LondonPalladium ',' Emergency Ward Ten ',1 The Persuaders ',' Edward theSeventh ' and of course, ' Crossroads 'and' TheMuppetShow '.¦ 10.15-11.00 ASOURCE OFINNOCENT MERRIMENT (ITV) :Jonathan Miller's re-working of Gilbertand Sullivan's ' The Mikado ' as ' anEnglish panto musical ' seems to havebeen as much fun in rehearsal as it is inperformance. Even Miller is seenreduced to helpless laughter.

WEDNESDAYB 8.30-12.05 SALUTE TO ATV (Channel4) -.The late comedian Marty Feldmanwon the Golden Rose of Montreuxaward in 1972 for this compilation ofsketches from the Comedy Machineseries. CalledThe Best of the ComedyMachine (8.30-9.00pm) it also featuresSpike Milligan. The next dip in ATV'sarchives brings up. the first episode of

the acclaimed series Edward theSeventh (9.00-10.00) made in 1975. WithAnnette Crosbie as Victoria and RobertHardy as Albert. 1961 is the date of ValParnell' s Sunday Night at the LondonPalladium (10.00-11,00pm) whichteams up a very young Bruce Forsyth ina shiny suit , with Norman Wisdom. Andfinally it's The Saint (11.00-12.05am)staring Roger Moore, before hebecame 007. This sadly, is one of thelater episodes made in colour—not thesuperior monochrome from the earlySixties.¦ 9.50-12.10THE MIKADO (ITV ) InJonathan Miller's production for theEnglish National Opera, the action hasbeen transferred from Japan in the1880s to England in the 1930s. Eric Idlemakes his operatic debut as Ko-Ko, theLord High Executioner ; withBonaventura Bottone as Nanki-Poo,Richard Van Allan as Pooh-Bah andLesley Garnett as Yum-Yum.B10.45-11.30 FILMS OF THE YEAR(BBC1): Barry Norman makes hisselection of the year's cinematichighlights—the films you saw, meant to

see, read about, have read the book ofand wi II video when they come roundon television.

NEW YEAR'S EVEB 8.00-9.00 THE CONTINENTAL(BBC2) : A sequel to John Godber 'scomedy series ' The Ritz ', set in a vileNorthern disco. The staff have movedon to Spain where they are opening asimilar establishment called TheContinental. Frank Bruno makes aguest appearance.B 9.30-11.15 THE MOTOWN STORY(Channel 4): It's a perfect story in itsway—big money, power, politics,talent and some tragic deaths along theway. It's also inter-cut with some of thebest pop music ever recorded, and ispresented by the senior statesman ofrock'n'roll, Paul Gambaccini.B 9.35-2.55am 87 WHISTLE TEST 88(BBC2) : Bruce Springsteen talks andplays (including his HammersmithOdeondebutin 1975). At 11.05 we hearfrom Zimbabwe's Bhundu Boys and at11.40 it's the inimitable, Gary Glitter,

live, from Bournemouth InternationalCentre. There could be no better startto the New Year.B 9.45-11.15TAGGART (ITV) : 'ColdBlood. ' A feature-length thriller withthe dead-eyed Glasgow detective(played by Mark McManus). But there'slittle in the way of Hogmanay jollies onhis beat, when a masseur is found,murdered at a health and beautyexhibition. Diane Keen co-stars

NEW YEAR'S DAYB 8.30 a.m.-12.30 p.m. AUSTRALIALIVE (Channel 4): Down Under they'rewatching this in the evening at the startof Australia's Bicentenary Year.Opened with a speech by PrimeMinister Bob Hawke. The programmevisits 70 locations, and is presented byClive James. Paul Hogan and DameEdna Everage, combining to give apicture of the country's past and itspresent. It concludes with a fireworkdisplay.B 9.00-10.00 THE GIFTIE (Channel 4):Comic variation of the doppelgangerstory stars John Wells and RichardO'Sullivan as two suburban males whohave inadvently duplicatedthemselves. Joanna van Gyseghamand Janet Key play the wives who findthis proliferation of husbands is amixed blessing.B10.0O-11.40 WAY UPSTREAM(BBC1) : In the words of adaptor/directorTerry Johnson, AlanAyckbourn's play ' begins like an

episode of" Terry and June " andfinishes up like " Deliverance ".' Twomiddle-class couples set sail up riverfora holiday afloat—and make themistake of picking up a demonic hitch-hiker en route. Marion Bailey andJoanne Pearce are particularly goodas the wives with Stuart Wilson, asVince the hitch-hiker.B10.15-11.1STHE TEN QUIDTOURISTS (ITV) : The largest voluntarypopulation shift in history occurredbetween 1947-73. One and a halfmillion people left England forAustralia when the British andAustralian Government's AssistedPassage Scheme offered a one wayticket to the Antipodes for just E10. Wehear from those who stayed and thosewho came back. The programme alsoincludes archive material from a 1965documentary about four familiesplanning to emigrate. What hashappened to those families 21 yearson?

SATURDAYB7.15-8.15SCHUBERT(BBC2) :KurtMasur conducts the LeipzigGewandhaus Orchestra in aperformance of Schubert's SymphonyNo 9 (' The Great ') recorded in StDavid's Hall, Cardiff. Jane Gloverintroduces the first of six televisedconcerts to be screened next week.B 8.15-9.05 BERGERAC (BBC1): Asixth series for the Jersey detective.Susan, the girlfriend (Louise Jameson)is put out, when Bergerac (JohnNettles) is assigned to be full-timebaby-sitter to a supergrass and hismother. Films PHILIP FRENCH

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Both plums and turkeysNormally you wouldn't want to getdownwind of a set-up like this . But takea closer look. For this small-townartisan and his charming young wife arein on the ground floor of somethingreally big . They're into religion andrevelation, sacrament and salvation.One day this kid will be bigger than theBeatles, bigger even than MichaelJackson and Robert Maxwell rolled intoone. Follow him, goes the sales pitch,and you shall have " Everlasting Life ".The meek shall inherit the earth —though not its mineral rights. But rightnow the kid is cold and hungry. And allbecause his father didn't carry the rightkind of plastic . The American ExpressGold Card . Never leave home withoutit. Especially when you come toBethlehem to be counted.'

' CHRISTMAS itself may be called intoquestion,' runs an old piece of doggerel,' if carried so far it creates indigestion. 'This is certainly the case with Christmastelevision, the sole purpose of which isto cover the season with three coats ofprime sugar-coating, leaving the discri-minating viewer with a bad case ofhives.

The conventional explanation for therelentless banality of the Christmasschedules is that the medium turnseverything it touches into kitsch. Butthis is too charitable a theory. My ownexplanation is that television executivesloathe Christmas because the eventwhich it commemorates happenedbefore television was invented . Thusthere is no Desmond Wilcox film of theVirgin pregnancy, no interviews withthe Three Wise Men, no ' Newsnight 'exit poll on Herod's census, no' Panorama ' investigation into theinvolvement of right-wing Tory MPs inthe Slaughter of the Innocents. There isnot even, dammit, a ' Whicker'sWorld ' special on the Nativity, thougha script for one exists .

It goes like this :Whicker appears against a backdrop of

mud-walled houses. A star gleams in theEastern sky . Somewhere in the distancethe. distinctive sound of a camel fartingcan be heard .WHICKER : ' There is a long traditionhere of austere, ascetic abstinence, aresolute refusal to rely upon theresources of the Welfare State. Here, inBethlehem, though carpenters may carpabout the paucity of pre-natal nursingfacilities and wanderers may whingeabout over-booked bed-and-breakfastaccommodation, self-help is the orderof the day . Or the night . If the Hiltonis full, then a guest-house will do. If theguest house is jam-packed, then thestable will suffice.'

Pan to reveal Nativity scene .WHICKER : ' Not a pretty sight is it ?

In point of fact , Christmas is anexceedingly dangerous time. Apartaltogether from the risks attendantupon close proximity with one'srelatives, there ;are the medical hazardscheerfully enumerated by Dr MiriamStoppard in Chri stmas is Coming,YTV's salutary warning of the dangersahead . Apparently some people getblack eyes from high velocity cham-pagne corks or just by walking intoChristmas trees. Others are electro-cuted by fairy lights. Still more cracktheir dentures upon coins embedded inChristmas puddings, while othersregularly swallow cake decorations, apractice which, according to DrStoppard, ' could lead to peritonitis anda major operation .'

JM^M j iarffi pby JOHN NAUGHTON

dition she held together a surprisinglyentertaining ragbag of sketches.

The crucial thing to understandabout the Christmas schedules is thatthey are pawns in a kind of arcane chessgame, in which planners from the twonetworks compete for control of themass audience. Each team has at itsdisposal a number of 'plums ' — i.e.programmes or films certain to attractlarge numbers of viewers. ' The Soundof Music ' is one such plum ; almost anyJames Bond film is another . The trickis to schedule your plums in such a waythat you capture the mass audienceearly and then keep it for the remainderof the day. Thus on Christmas Day theBBC started playing in earnest with'EastEnders ' at 3.10 p.m., followedby ' Indiana Jones and the Temple ofDoom,' Russ Abbot, ' Only Fools andHorses ' and ' The Two Ronnies.'

ITV, in contrast, mounted Disney's'Alice in Wonderland ' at 3.30,followed by a lame sequel to 'MaryPoppins ', and then by Cilia Black,' Coronation Street ' and Dennis Nor-den's 'It 'll be All Right on ChristmasNight '. This meant that by the time thecommercial channel reached its realplum of the evening — an excellentInspector Morse whodunnit — BBCviewers were already 45 minutes into anew Miss Marple tale, and unlikely toswitch.

The BBC is a formidable opponent inthis game of ratings chess. This is partlybecause of the highly developedpopularising instincts of people likeMichael Grade (prior to his departure to

Channel 4), partly because the BBCcurrently has some very popular shows(EastEnders for example, Paul Danielsand ' The Two Ronnies ') and partlybecause the Corporation has one in-built advantage over ITV, namely thatit can deploy BBC1 and BBC2 in co-ordinated pincer movements. The ITVboys, in comparison, appear to havelittle control over Channel 4. Thisbecame particularly obvious on BoxingDay, when the main ITV plum —' Ghostbusters ', starting at 7.30—wasundermined by BBC1 starting ' ThePaul Daniels Magic Show ' at 7.25 whileat the same time ensuring that' Oliver!' on BBC2 didn't finish until7.40.

The rules of these games were laiddown many years ago, and may in factbe changing. They were based ontheories of ' audience inertia ', i.e. thebelief that viewers were essentiallypassive sods who were likely to stickwith whatever channel they first turnedto. But his assumption is beingundermined by technology. The adventof video recorders offers viewers thepossibility of choosing when they watchwhat . And remote-control televisionsare increasingly popular, giving viewersthe ability to zap from channel tochannel without leaving their arm-chairs. If these trends continue, thenthe TV moguls will eventually have toinvent other ways of keeping viewershooked over the holiday period.

recording Piano Concerto no. 23 in AMajor with the orchestra of La Scala andCarlo Maria Giulini; by BBC's record-ings of Jacqueline du Pre 'smasterclasses; and by Julian LloydWebber's performance of the ElgarCello Concerto (BBC2, Friday).

Wildlife enthusiasts were similarlyblessed with a pair of quirky pro-grammes : Brockside (BBC1) describedthe curious lifestyle of the urban badger—and the even more curious habits ofbadger aficionados, one of whom grindsup 17 pounds of bread and biscuits anight in order to entice the creaturesinto his lounge. The only conclusion tobe drawn is that badgers must be prettysmart to reduce humans to this kind ofreliable food source . Pridd y theHedgehog (BBC2) proved conclusivelywhat one had long suspected, namelythat hedgehogs are not very bright . Infact, they are roughly on a par with theTV moguls' idea of the averageChristmas viewer.

Until then, Christmas will continueto be a bleak time for the discriminatingviewer. At present, just about the onlyminority interests properly catered forare music and wildlife. For example,this week was much improved byHorowitz plays Mozart (BBC2), ariveting verite account of the maestro

Only a major operation could havegot gorgeous, pouting Ms Stoppardherself into her party dress, a backlessnumber from which her top halfemerged like pistachio escaping from adisintegrating cornetto. In this con-

Double act : Husband and wife Tom Conti and Kara Wilson in ' Charles Rennie Mackintosh ' (Monday).

Miriam Stoppard : Pouting.

BBC ! 8.30 THE RACOONS : ' Surprise attack. '8.55 PLAY SCHOOL : Presented by Elizabeth

Watts.9.15 ARTICLES OF FAITH : Prayer. . . A s a

Way of Life.'9.30 MORNING WORSHIP : From the Roman

Catholic Cathedral of St Joseph's,Swansea. A mass in honour of the HolyFamily.

10.15 JOSEPH AND CHILD : Arthur Dooley ssculpture.

10.30, SIGN EXTRA : ' The Turkey.' A film madeby the Natural History Unit , plus signlanguage and subtitles.

10.55 THE INTELLIGENCE MEN (film , 1965) :Mirthless comedy misusing the talents ofMorecambe and Wise as a pair of idiotsrecruited by MI5 to combat the viciousespionage organisation ' Schlecht.'

12.35 THE GRAND KNOCKOUT TOURNA-MENT: Recall the rain-swept days ofsummer , with a repeat of Prince Edward'scharity contest, held at Alton Towers. Theteams were led by the Yorks, the PrincessRoyal and Prince Edward.

1.55 NEWS.'2.00 EASTENDERS.¦3.30 ESCAPE TO VICTORY (film, 19B1):

Unintentionally hilarious World War IIaction yarn about a soccer matchbetween allied prisoners (Pele andBobby Moore among them) and a crackGerman team in occupied Europe.Among the worst films ever made by amajor director (John Huston). StarsMichael Caine and Sylvester Stallone.

5.20 ROLF HARRIS CARTOON TIME : TheMillion Hare ', ' Cat Feud ' and ' The DogHouse.'

5.45 THAT'S LIFE PRESENTS : Anotherchance to see Meg the mathematical dog,the love-sick budgie and the sheep whothought she was a dog. Esther Rantzenlooks at precocious pets from 15 years of1 That 's Life.'

6.20 NEWS. Followed by weather.•6.35 SONGS OF PRAISE : Linking London and

Jamaica on the 25th anniversary of theisland's independence.

"7.15 LAST OF THE SUMMER WINE : ' Big Dayat Dream Acres. ' Feature length episodefinds Seymour, Compo and Clegg helpingout at the annual garden fete. Compo isdistracted by the prospect of seeing NoraBatty in her waitress uniform.

'8.35 PERRY MASON — THE CASE OF THESHOOTING STAR (TV film, 1986) : A chatshow host is shot dead on prime-time TVby a film star. Raymond Burr resurrectsthe mighty bulk of Perry Mason to defendthe star , ably assisted by faithful DeliaStreet (Barbara Hale).

10.10 NEWS.10.25 EVERYMAN: ' Madonna.' The Pope has

declared 1987-88 as ' Marian Year. 'Angela Tilby's film examines the image ofthe Virgin from Ephesus in Turkey (whereshe ascended) to Lourdes (where thous-ands seek her miraculous cures).

11.20 THE MALTESE FALCON (film, 1941) .John Huston's stunning debut as writer-director, an immaculately cast adaptationof Hammet 's classic thriller featuringHumphrey Bogart as private eye SamSpade. A wonderful start to Huston'scareer that ended this year with a superban adaptation of Joyce's ' The Dead.' (b/w.)

1.00 WEATHERCeefax subtitles.

BBC2 9.00 PAGES FROM CEEFAX.9.15 BABAR COMES TO AMERICA : Narrated

by Peter Ustinov.9.40 SEBASTIAN THE INCREDIBLE DRAWING

DOG: Hall Hat Joe.'9.45 THE MOLE IN A DREAM : Children's story.

10.15 MOLLY'S PILGRIM : The children inMolly's new American school tease herabout her Russian parents.

10.35 CHARLIE BROWN : You're a Good Man,Charlie Brown'.

11.25 ARABIAN ADVENTURE (film, 1979) : Cut-price re-working of ' Thief of Baghdad ', ahard day's Arabian night starring Chris-topher Lee as an evil caliph challenged bystocky, uncharismatic Prince OliverTobias. Elizabeth Welch and Mickey Roo-ney lend a much-needed touch of class.

1.00 NO LIMITS : Teenage rock roadshow.2.00 THE BOLSHOI BALLET: Memorable

'Omnibus ' takes us inside the BolshoiBallet School and interviews some of thecompany's stars, including Galina Ulanovaand chief choreographer Yuri Grigorovich.

•4.10 THE GREAT PHILOSOPHERS: Wittgen-stein '. Final programme.

4.55 DID YOU SEE . . .? Ludovlc Kennedylooks back over the year 's TV.

5.45 BUSH CHRISTMAS : (film, 1983) : FourAustralian children try to save their father'sfarm by recovering a stolen racehorse butbecome hopelessly lost. A remake of the1948 classic.

*7.15 MARY ROSE: J. M. Barrie's ghost story,adapted for television by Trevor Ray starsAmanda Root as the women who returns toher family untouched by age, after disap-pearing for a quarter of a century. With NeilMcCaul as her son and Anthony Calf as herhusband, Simon.

8.55 GLOBAL REPORT : A street child in Khar-toum, an Estonian caterer takingadvantage of Gorbachov's reforms, aFilipino journalist, and a Shanghai musicteacher are among those we meet in thisdocumentary.

10.25 STILL OF THE NIGHT : (film, 1982) : NewYork shrink Roy Scheider is obsessed withmurder suspect Meryl Streep in a gleam-ing, ice-cold thriller, directed by RobertBenton and designed as a homage toHitchcock, to some two dozen of whosefilms it obsessively alludes.

11.55 NINOTCHKA (film, 1939) : Garbo, in herpenultimate screen role, laughs for the firsttime as a stern Russian official thawed andseduced by the West. Utterly delightfulcomedy, exquisitely directed by the incom-parable Lubitsch from a script by Wilderand Bracken. Ends 1.50 a.m.

CHANNEL 49.25 MOVIE MAHAL: Shammi Kapoor, star of

1960s musicals.

10.00 COVENTRY'S CUP OF JOY : Repeat of thisyear's FA Cup Final. When Coventrytriumphed over the favourite team. Spurs.

12.00 THE CHART SHOW CHRISTMAS SPE-CIAL : The Top Ten singles of the year anda selection of hits from the ' Dance,'' Heavy Metal,' ' Album ' and ' Indies 'charts. And what was the best new band of1987?

1.30 GLEN MILLER — A MOONLIGHTSERENADE : Tributes, film clips and homemovies, presented by Van Johnson.

3.00 DAMON AND DEBBIE: Phil Redmond'sanswer to ' Romeo and Juliet '-—a spin-off from ' Brookside ' featuring the twoteenage lovers, played by Simon O'Brienand Gillian Kearney. First of threeepisodes (rpt).

5.30 WEST COUNTRY JOURNEY : British Railtravelogue made in 1953.

6.00 AMERICAN FOOTBALL. Followed byNews Summary and Weather.

7.15 MON CHER PAPA : Illustrator MauriceSendak developed a passion for Mozartafter seeing ' Idomeneo ' 15 years ago.The film follows Mozarfs~life~through hisown letters and Sendak's drawing.

8.20 AN ICELANDIC SAGA : Swedish cartoon.8.30 MARIA CALLAS — LIFE AND ART :

Robert Sutherland (Professor at the RoyalCollege of Music and Callas's last accom-panist) is just one of the manyinterviewed. He says, 'They had a lot incommon. Aristotle Onassis was the mostfamous Greek man, and she was the mostfamous Greek woman . . . He used herlike a diamond in his crown, but he neverreally understood her artistic needs.'

10.00 THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE (film,1968) : Wonderfully detailed incarnation ofEdinburgh's wayward, life-enhancingpedagogue by Maggie Smith in a hand-some, well-acted adaptation of MurielSpark's brilliant novella. Yet somehow itlacks the book's individual tang.

12.10 THE DECAMERON : ' Pestle and Mortar.'Boccaccio's tales of lust and greed, insilhouette animation. Ends 12.30 am.

hd«^JHMJ ^?lii: ^ i]t>»c»||i1JITV— London weekend

6.00 TV-am.9.25 BMX BEAT : The Tizer World BMX

Freestyle Championships. Second day.10.00 THE JOHNSTOWN MONSTER (film, 1971):

Irish children make a model monster tostand in for one supposed to dwell in thenearby lough in an attempt to bringtourism and prosperity to their village.

11.00 MORNING WORSHIP :From St Patrick'sRoman Catholic Church in London's SohoSquare. Reflecting the cosmopolitan nat-ure of the community, the service will be inEnglish, French, Spanish and Chinese.

12.00 CHRIS BONNINGTON-THE EVERESTYEARS : Portrait of the climber.

1.00 FUZZBUCKET : Disney children's film—a12 year old boy with an invisible friend.

2.00 THE ROYAL YEAR : Interest in the Royal. Family continues unabated. Julia Somer-

ville looks back over the year's crop ofstories.

2.45 CHRISTMAS BULLSEYE rCelebrity edi-tion with Jan ' I've never thrown a dartbefore ' Leeming, Geoff Capes, Eric Bris-tow and others.

3.30 THE BRETTS : ' Grand Finale.1 With thePrincess Theatre badly damaged by fire,the Bretts decide to stage a pantomime totry to recoup their losses. Final episode.

4.30 CUE GARY'S CHRISTMAS!: LaughingGary Wilmot , with guests Linda Lusardi,and Bill Oddie.

*5.15 CORONATION STREET : Hilda Ogden'sfarewell. 6.15 NEWS.

6.20 HIGHWAY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL : AmongSir Harry Secombe's guests are RoyCastle, Max Boyce and Brian Johnston.

7.15 HOMETO ROOST : Family Ties.'Feature-length edition of the sitcom starring JohnThaw and Reece Dinsdale.

8.15 CHRISTMAS SURPRISE SURPRISE: Whathas Cilia got up her sequinned sleeve thisevening?

9.15 WATCHING : Relentlessly chirpie Liver-pool comedy finds the characterspondering on the problem of getting aChristmas tree on the cheap.

9.45 NEWS.10.00 SPITTING IMAGE :' Christmas Show Spe-

cial.' Seasonal bile.10.30 THE LADY'S NOT FOR BURNING "Shall

we not suffer as wittily as we can?'demands a character in Christopher Fry'sextraordinary drama, set in the 1400s. Andsuffer wittily they do—particularly CherieLunghi and Kenneth Branagh as theaccused witch and confessed murderer.The dialogue is rich, playful andpleasingly eccentric. The production is aneightieth birthday present to Fry, thoughthe set and costumes let down the quality

- and the performances.12.00 HART TO HART :' A Christmas Hart.'

Aetian and intrigue with Robert Wagnerand Stefanie Powprs,

1.00 CARPENTERS-YESTERDAY ONCEMORE: Musical tribute to the late KarenCarpenter, by brother Richard.

2.00 NORTH TO ALASKA (film, 1960): Livelycomedy Western from veteran HenryHathaway starring John Wayne and Ste-wart Granger as the turn-of-the-centurygold prospectors bickering over chillyCapucine and uniting against colourfulvillain Ernie Kovacs. Nicely orchestratedfist-fights.

3.45 CAHILL : UNITED STATES MARSHAL(film, 1973): Smug, sentimental Western,directed by Andrew V. Maclaglen in hissub-Ford style, with John Wayne as anageing lawman whose neglected sons(Gary Grimes, Clay O'Brien) rebel byteaming up with outlaw George Kennedy.One of a 1970s cycle of pictures aboutfrontier kids in search of role models.

5.40 CARTOON TIME.Oracle subtitles

"MMMM\smM^mms^^T^ W^ ^ SSN^ ^Fry 's delight : Cherie Lunghi and Kenneth Branagh (ITV, 10.30 p.m.)

¦ Today, George Harrison discusseshis new album, On Cloud Nine (Radio1, 4 p.m.), while Radio 4 offers amusical Space Children (7 p.m.)about the last children to leavePlanet Earth. Verdi's life isdramatised in three parts, in VivaVerdi , (Mon, Wed, Thurs, Radio 4, 11a.m.) and John Waite reports on fivesurviving, cherishable, specialistsmall shops in Nation ofShopkeepers (Monday, Radio 4, 12noon). Radio 1 charts The Rise andRise ol U2, 1987's leading group withtheir ' Joshua Tree ' album (Monday,Radio 1, 2 p.m.). At 5.10 p.m.. Radio3 broadcasts three classic HenryReed comedies, in memory of theirproducer, the late DouglasCleverdon : A Very Great Man Indeed(Monday), A Hedge , Backwards(Wednesday), and The PrimalScream , as It Were ... (Friday).

On Tuesday Radio 4 offers a tasteof Gamelan music—all gongs, drumsand throwing off British inhibitions(11.25 a.m.), and starts a new six-partfarce Starring Leslie Wllley starringLeslie Phillips (12.25 p.m.). Ending anundistinguished Radio 3 series ofparodies come moderately funnyones on Sartre (Parodies Lost,Tuesday 9.20 p.m.) and Joan Didion(Wednesday 10.10 p.m.), elevated byEleanor Bron's astonishingversatility. John Peel's Festive 50continues (Tues/Wed , Radio 1, 10p.m.), and Radio 3 plays blackAmerican blues about Christmas(Christmas Time Blues , Wednesday,12.30 p.m.). On New Year 's DayRadio 1 features the best of ThePrince 's Trust Concert (3.10 p.m.)with Clapton, Phil Collins. ThisWeek' s Composer (Monday-Friday,Radio 3, 9.10 a.m.) is Ravel.

ANNE KARPF

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