New Zealand Listener – June 01, 2019

JUNE 1 2019 LISTENER 65

SATURDAY JUNE 1

The Coronation of Queen

Elizabeth II (UKTV, Sky 007,

8.30pm). In a more civilised

time, New Zealanders sang

stirring renditions of God Save

the Queen at street parties and

raced corgis painted in the

colours of the Union Jack.

Sadly, Queen’s Birthday is

now just another holiday and

our allegiance to the British

sovereign has been reduced

to bingeing The Crown on

Netflix and laying bets on

the name of the latest royal

baby. There are always the

repeats, however – this one

looks at the coronation of

25-year-old Elizabeth 56 years

ago. Tomorrow, UKTV screens

a marathon of Our Queen,

which follows her diamond

jubilee year (from 8.30pm);

and on Queen’s Birthday, it’s

The Queen’s Birthday Party, the

celebration concert for her

92nd birthday,

at the Royal

Albert Hall (UKTV,

8.30pm).

SUNDAY JUNE 2

Elvis All-Star Tribute (TVNZ

1, 7.00pm). The commonly

referred-to 68 Comeback Spe-

cial, in which a leather-clad

Elvis Presley performed on

a central stage, nearly didn’t

happen: Presley’s control-

ling manager, Colonel Tom

Parker, proposed a Christmas

special in which one of the

great rock’n’roll singers would

perform carols. However,

producer Bob Finkel turned

it around, and Elvis’s return

to live performance after he

had spent seven years making

movies (more of Parker’s

bad advice) was a sensa-

tion. Here’s some high-class

karaoke celebrating one of the

greatest comebacks. The likes

of Keith

Urban, John

Fogerty, Blake

Shelton, John

Legend, Jennifer

Lopez and, God help us,

Ed Sheeran perform the hits,

and there is remastered foot-

age of Elvis from the special.

Trave l Man (Choice TV,

7. 0 0 p m). Richard Ayoade,
   we love you and your
   ironic 48-hour getaways,
   and we especially love that
   this new series begins with
   a trip to Athens with Dawn
   French. It’s quite gastro-
   nomic: there’s a 14-course
   meal at a two-Michelin-
   starred restaurant, ouzo
   testing and doughnut tasting.
   The Acropolis may have been
   an afterthought, but the
   top-quality banter is not. In
   the other episodes, Ayoade
   takes Nish Kumar to Porto,

ment

boxing community, including

heavyweight champion Ernie

Terrell, refused to call him

Muhammad Ali. There is foot-

age of a tense interview with

US television sports commen-

tator Howard Cosell in which

they nearly come to blows.

Fuqua takes the name of the

documentary from the Ali-

Terrell bout in 1967, in which

Ali can been seen pummelling

his opponent while repeating,

“What’s my name?”

But it’s not all about the poli-

tics. Fuqua even found footage

of Ali’s early amateur days,

when his boyhood boxing

matches where televised on a

local show called Tomorrow’s

Champions.

He was a sensation before

and after he turned profes-

sional in 1960, but especially

after he took the world heavy-

weight title from Sonny Liston

in 1964.

“This film is a lot about

sports being a metaphor for

something greater,” says Fuqua.

“It’s all about getting knocked

down, getting back up. Win-

ning some games. Losing some

games. Trying to find greatness

within yourself.” l

Tra ve l Ma n, Sunday.

The Best of the Week

Television

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