Privatisation. Don't talk to me about privat-
isation ... Marvin the Paranoid Android in his
latest incarnation. Photograph: Disney
Wednesdays: commonly known as "the day furthest from the weekend". Or, alternatively, "that day when it always seems to rain without hope of respite, leading you to wonder if the universe might actually be imploding, water first, and the consequence of this is the lasting feeling that the Atlantic is being poured through a sieve onto your head; albeit mainly on a Wednesday". Maybe Wednesday just tends to bring out the paranoid depressive in some of us. Which may be why BBC4 have chosen tonight to start showing new series Tory! Tory! Tory!, their exhaustive, instructive history of Thatcherism. That'll jolly us all up a bit.
Ach, there's nothing wrong with being paranoid depressive, of course, and especially not if you also happen to be an android - today is the 28th anniversary of the first airing of Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy, the radio series, and frankly I always thought Marvin was the best thing about that - dour, droll, sarcastic, unfazed in his immovable misery. Of course, that was 1978, before Thatcherism took hold, so I doubt the programme above will mention it. So there's no connection there at all, really. Apologies.
Sorry, I should get to the point. What IS the point? Ah - It's tonight's TV previews, of course, taken from this week's Guide. Mostly unpleasantly Wednesday-ish fare, though. Life. Don't talk to me about life.
Dunblane: A Decade On 8pm, Five An anniversary from Hell: it has been 10 years since Thomas Hamilton, with chilling precision, cut the telephone wires leading to the school office building, prior to strolling into the school gym and shooting 15 children and their teacher dead. If "the memories are so fresh", the resulting trauma from those three minutes of carnage is incalculable. "It was literally a lottery who lived and who died," says teacher Eileen Harrild, among those survivors and parents revisiting the events of March 13 for the first time.
Ali Catterall
Brat Camp 9pm, C4 Tonight, we revisit some of the Brats from series two and see what they've made of their lives. The results are mixed -- Xanthe, Josh and Joe prove themselves to have been mere dilettantish adolescent rebels, while Jenni has practically disowned her parents, refusing to join them in Singapore (I know, such hard lives). Some good stories yielded from this "I was, like, so the original wild child" brigade, but no real lessons.
David Stubbs
The Armstrongs 10pm, BBC2 How did they find The Armstrongs? While the sceptics still argue over whether they're real or pretend, sit back and feast yourself on the best fly-on-the-wall documentary ever. Anne and John run a conservatory company in Coventry. That's it. This week, Anne plans the Christmas jaunt to a pub in Cork. "It's wheelchair friendly. And it has an adapted toilet. I love Ireland," she coos. Amid worries about whether or not to sack the workforce, a dog wanders into their yard, so they make it a conservatory kennel. They could call it Receivership. Pure pleasure.
Julia Raeside
Tory! Tory! Tory! 9pm, BBC4 The first episode in this exhaustive, instructive history of Thatcherism covers the background to the philosophy of a free market economy that Thatcher espoused; a model that has lasted, through Conservative and Labour governments, ever since. In the postwar climate the idea of free market Toryism was preached only by political outsiders such Anthony Fisher, who introduced battery farming to Britain, and Enoch Powell. Now the belief that the economy is driven by individual action is the norm, but under Ted Heath's Conservative government -- when the power of the trade unions resulted in an energy crisis and a three-day week -- it was unthinkable, making one realise how much the political climate has shifted to the right, even under Labour.
Will Hodgkinson
Starved 10.30pm, ITV4 Promising new serving from Fox. Following the trend for "controversial" programming (think of the success Weeds found), this black comedy follows four friends with eating disorders. Eric Schaeffer plays his character, the compulsive eater Sam, like a less lovable Billy Crystal. But When Harry Met Sally this ain't. The proof is in the pudding that one or another of the characters is throwing back up -- and yes we get to see chunks and all. Though packed with good lines, it doesn't glamorise addiction and disorder. A bulimic cop, an obese sidekick, and an anorexic sex addict complete the ensemble cast.
Clare Birchall
Desperate Housewives 11pm, E4 The longrunning events with creepy George come to a head for Bree tonight. Surely she's got to start wondering if her choice of partners isn't down to her Stepford persona? Meanwhile, Gabby's getting irate about Carlos' new found spiritualism which is really getting in the way of her rampant consumerism. Indeed, Carlos' spiritual guide, "Sister Mary Hot Pants" as Gabby calls her, introduces some trademark bitchiness previously dissolved by the acceptance of Edie into the fold.
Clare Birchall
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TV previews. Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and what do you want from me? TV previews. Ooooh, Deserate Housewives is on...
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