12 1GT Friday August 7 2020 | the times
television & radio
middle-aged men. The
girls hope that their
greying fans can be
a stepping stone to
mainstream pop
success. It sounds
unsavoury enough, but
Theroux tries to work
out whether the girls’
interactions with their
followers are a quirk
of Japanese culture or
if it really is evidence
of something sinister
in the music industry.Unreported World
Channel 4, 7.30pmChannel 4’s world
affairs strand returns
with a typically
disenchanting but
astonishing report.
Marcel Theroux is in
Japan to meet some of
the country’s “junior
idols” — schoolgirl
performers whose
audiences consist
almost entirely ofDavid Essex, Kim
Wilde and Billy Ocean
pop up to explain the
band’s connection to
them (Essex recalls
their stint as his
backing band) and how
they were arguably the
first black pin-ups. Yet
theirs is a tale also
taking in personal
tragedy and addiction
against a bigger picture
of racial prejudice in
1970s Britain.band the Chants,
who became big on
the Mersey beat scene
and whom the Beatles
backed on several
occasions. A line-up
shake-up and an
Opportunity Knocks
appearance later, and
by the 1970s the Real
Thing — four working-
class boys from Toxteth
— were soon being
called “the black
Beatles” by the press.for three weeks in July,
and what people who
recall the song may
not realise is that the
Real Thing were from
Liverpool, not America.
This long documentary
is a good one for being
a lesser-known tale.
The story has elements
of lost innocence, fame,
tragedy, politics — and
disco. The band formed
in 1972, but had their
roots in the early-1960sheatwave of Zoom
lollies sucked
on the back of Raleigh
Choppers, of Ford
Fiestas and Jim
Callaghan — all to a
soundtrack of punk.
Actually, not quite. The
radio was not blaring
out the Sex Pistols,
but You to Me Are
Everything by the black
soul band the Real
Thing. This joyous hit
occupied the No 1 spotViewing Guide
James Jackson
Everything: The
Real Thing Story
BBC Four, 9pm
Today is set to
be a scorcher,
but in the
summer of1976 the mercury shot
over 30C every day for
weeks as Britain baked
in a drought. It was a
Top
pick7
PM
E
arl
y
8PM
9
PM
10PM
1
1
PM
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e
BBC One BBC Two ITV Channel 4 Channel 5
7. 00 The One ShowAlex Jones and a
guest co-host present the usual mix of
guests and stories about people in
extraordinary circumstances
7 .30MirandaPenny falls ill so Miranda
takes care of her in her flat, but the
shop owner begins to think about the
things she regrets in life (4/6) (r) (AD)- 00 A Question of Sport With Adam
Gemili, Heather Watson, Jonathan
Trott and Dean Ashton (r)
8.3 0 Jack Whitehall’s Sporting Nation
A celebratory tour through the
long-standing and essential rivalries
that underpin British sport (5/6)9. 00 Would I Lie to You? With Danny
Dyer, Jon Richardson, Moira Stuart
and Joe Lycett (1/10) (r)9 .3 0 The Young Offenders Mairead
books the lads a behaviour therapy
session in Dublin (3/6) (AD)- 00 BBC News at Ten
10 .3 0 BBC Regional News and Weather
10 .45Interview with the Vampire (18,
1994 ) A man who claims to be 2 00
years old tells a reporter his story ofyears old tells a reporter his story of
how he was bitten during an encounter
with a decadent and charismatic
vampire in 18th-century New Orleans.
He relates how his respect for the
sanctity of human life clashed with his
blood-lust, and how the pair came to
be adoptive parents to a young girl.
Gothic horror based on the novel by
AnneAnne Rice with Tom Cruise Brad Pitt Rice, with Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt,
Kirsten Dunst, Antonio Banderas,
Christian Slater and Stephen Rea- 5 0am-6.00 BBC News
7. 00 Cricket: Today at the Test
England v Pakistan. Action from
the third day of the first Test in the
three-match series, taking place at
Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester8. 00 Gardeners’ World Monty Don shows
how to stake dahlias, sows seeds of
perennials and celebrates an abundant
vegetable harvest. Plus, from the
archives, Carol Klein’s visit to
Aberglasney Gardens9 .00Miriam Margolyes: Almost
Australian On the final part of her
journey, the actress visits Gulf of
Carpentaria to see where the wealth
of the “Lucky Country” comes from.
See Viewing Guidee (3/3) (AD)10. 00 I Love 198 6 Patsy Kensit presents
a look back at the year (7/10) (r)10 .3 0 State of the Union Comedy
starring Chris O’Dowd and
Rosamund Pike (5/10) (r) (AD)
10 .4 5 Newsnight With Mark Urban11.2 0 Snooker: The World Championship
Action from the evening session
on day eight from the Crucible
Theatre in Sheffield, featuring two
second-round matches, one which
reached a conclusion1 2.10am Snooker: World Championship Extra
Extended highlights of the second-round matches on day
eight2.1 0 Sign Zone: Stacey Dooley and the Lockdown
Babies — Panorama. How the pandemic is transforming
the way pregnancy and birth are dealt with (r) (SL)
2 .4 0 -3.4 0 The Rise of the Murdoch Dynasty (r) (AD, SL)7. 00 Emmerdale Tracy and Nate have a
difficult conversation, Nicola feels for
Gabby, and Sam lets slip private
information about Lydia (AD)
7 .30Coronation Street Geoff swears
that Elaine is peddling lies,
and she is not Tim’s mum (AD)
00 Vera The detective investigates the
discovery of a young man’s body in
an area notorious for illicit teenage
gatherings, the corpse wrapped in
plastic sheeting and having received a
blow to the head. Vera follows the trail
to a funfair where the victim used to
work and a church where he sought
refuge having recently been maderefuge, having recently been made
homeless. She delves into his family
history to discover why he was on
the streets when his parents lived
nearby, while forensic evidence
implicates the son of the vicar, who
has a criminal past (2/4) (r) (AD)
00 ITV News at Ten
10 .3 0 Regional News
1 0.4 5 The Danish Girl ( 15 , 2015 ) An
artist in 1920s Copenhagen becomes
one of the first people to undergo sexone of the first people to undergo sex
reassignment surgery. Period drama
based on David Ebershoff’s novel
inspired by the true story of the
artist Lili Elbe, starring Eddie
Redmayne and Alicia Vikander (AD)1 2.45am Teleshopping3. 00 1000 Heartbeats. Vernon
Kay invites his better half Tess Daly and the comedian
Keith Lemon to battle against their own heart rate to try
to complete seven rounds and win as much money as they
can for the Text Santa charity initiative (r) (SL)3.50-
6 .00ITV Nightscreen. Text-based information service- 00 Channel 4 News
7 .3 0 Unreported WorldNew series.
Marcel Theroux reports on Japanese
schoolgirls trying to break into pop
stardom. See Viewing Guidee (AD)8. 00 Travel Man’s Greatest Trips: Food
and Drink Richard Ayoade recalls
some of the finest meals he has
enjoyed on his trips, with guests
including Jon Hamm, Paul Rudd and
Robert Webb. See Viewing Guidee (AD)9. 00 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Jon Richardson and Tom Allen take on
Sean Lock and Rosie Jones in the
classic words-and-numbers quiz, while
Sean Bean — aka Adam Riches — joins
Susie Dent in Dictionary Corner10. 00 The Boss ( 15 , 2016 ) A successful
entrepreneur is imprisoned for insider
trading, losing everything in the
process. After her sentence, she sets
out to launch a comeback and win
back the respect of the nation — but
with no one else to turn to, she finds
herself a reluctant houseguest of
her long-suffering former assistanther long-suffering former assistant.
Comedy starring Melissa McCarthy,
Kristen Bell and Peter Dinklage (AD)1 2.00 FILM: Filth (18, 2013 ) A corrupt policeman plots
to turn his colleagues against each other as his own
cocaine use spirals out of control. Black comedy starring
James McAvoy (AD) 1 .45amCome Dine with Me (r) 4. 00
Undercover Boss Canada (r) 4.50Fifteen to One (r)
5.45-6.00Kirstie’s Handmade Treasures (r)7. 00 The Gadget Show Georgie Barrat
visits a farm that employs state-of-
the-art technology to investigate the
future of food production, Jon Bentley
looks back at the cutting-edge gadgets
of 1989, and Ortis Deley investigates
new means of listening to music.
Presented by Craig Charles (9/12)8. 00 Celeb 5 Go Caravanning: Back on
the Road Sonia and Todd Carty go in
search of Whitby’s famous fish and
chips, while Sherrie Hewson, Tony
Blackburn and Colin Baker travel
back in time on the North Yorkshire
Moors Railway (3/5)9. 00 QE2: The World’s Most Luxurious
Hotel The ship’s most important
restaurant undergoes a significant
renovation, but time is short to update
the venue to suit the needs of modern
visitors. Last in the series10. 00 Bridget Jones: The Edge of
Reason (15, 2004) The disaster-
prone journalist seems to have finally
found the perfect boyfriend. However,
when the couple start to squabble over
their personal habits, she decides to
decamp for a while to Thailand and
write a travelogue. Unfortunately, she
has reckoned without the reappearancehas reckoned without the reappearance
of a duplicitous old flame — and a spell
behind bars in a Thai prison. Comedy
sequel starring Renée Zellweger,
Colin Firth and Hugh Grant1 2.1 0 am Greatest Ever Movie BlundersElis James
showcases mistakes in Christmas movies (r) 1 .1 0 The
2 1.co.uk Live Casino Show3.1 0 Eamonn and Ruth:
Blowing a Fortune (r) 3 .55Nightmare Tenants, Slum
Landlords (r)4.45 Wildlife SOS (r) (SL) 5 .10House
Busters (r) (SL) 5 .35-6.00House Doctor (r) (SL)6 .00amBreakfast. Presented by Charlie Stayt and Naga
Munchetty 9 .00BBC News 10. 00 Murder, Mystery and
My Family. The criminal barristers Sasha Wass and
Jeremy Dein explore the drowning of a wife and mother in
Victorian Bath. Last in the series (AD) 10 .45Homes
Under the Hammer. Properties in Derby, Mid Glamorgan
and Crewe (r) (AD)11.4 5 Close Calls: On Camera. The
story of a paraglider hanging by a thread in a forest after
his canopy collapses (r) 1 2.15pmBargain Hunt. Charlie
Ross hosts from the Agricultural Showground on Anglesey
(r) (AD)1. 00 BBC News at One; Weather 1 .3 0 BBC
Regional News; Weather 1 .45The Heights. Shannon feels
out of her depth at work (AD) 2 .1 5 Celebrity Eggheads.
With Zoe Salmon, Dr Sara Kayat, Shazia Mirza, Iwan
Thomas and Mark Jenkins (r)3. 00 Escape to the Country.
A London couple seek an East Sussex home (r) (AD) 3.
Garden Rescue: Top of the Plots. Some favourite exotic
garden projects4.3 0 Antiques Road Trip. Catherine
Southon and Tim Medhurst explore the rolling Cotswold
hills in their 1970s off-roader (r) 5. 15 Pointless. Quiz
hosted by Alexander Armstrong (r) 6 .00BBC News
at Six; Weather 6 .30BBC Regional News; Weather6 .05amGarden Rescue: Top of the Plots. Charlie
Dimmock chooses some of her favourite transformations
(r) 6. 50 Murder, Mystery and My Family. The barristers
investigate an infamous case from 1856 (r) (AD) 7. 35
Meerkat Manor. Daisy gives birth in the wrong burrow (r)
(AD)8. 00 Sign Zone: The Fens — A Wild Year. The
ancient wetlands and fertile farmland that make up the
fens of East Anglia (r) (AD, SL) 9. 00 Lost Land of the
Volcano. The New Guinea crater yields dramatic
discoveries. Last in the series (r) (AD) 10. 00 Live
Snooker: The World Championship. Coverage of the
morning session on day eight at the Crucible Theatre in
Sheffield, featuring two matches from the second round,
one which reaches a conclusion 1 2. 00 BBC News 1 .00pm
Live Snooker: The World Championship. Coverage of the
afternoon session on day eight at the Crucible Theatre in
Sheffield, featuring two second-round matches, one which
draws to a close 6 .00Eggheads. Quiz show hosted by
Jeremy Vine (r) 6 .30Meerkat Manor. Two youngsters are
left in charge when the rest of the group heads off to
forage for food. Flower gives birth to another litter, and
outcast Tosca tries to rejoin the family (r) (AD)6 .00amGood Morning Britain 9. 00 Lorraine.
Entertainment, current affairs and fashion news, as well
as showbiz stories and gossip 10. 00 This Morning. Daily
magazine, featuring a mix of showbiz chat, showbusiness
news, lifestyle features, topical discussion, health and
beauty advice and more 1 2.3 0 pmLoose Women. Showbiz
interviews and topical debate from a female perspective
1 .3 0 ITV News; Weather 2. 00 Dickinson’s Real Deal.
Staffordshire County Showground plays host to David
Dickinson and his dealers, where Mark Stevens gets hot
under the collar when some saucy films come into the den
(r)3. 00 Tenable. A family of five from the north-east of
England answer questions about top 10 lists, then try to
score a perfect 10 in the final round. Warwick Davis hosts
(r)4. 00 Tipping Point. Ben Shephard hosts the
arcade-themed quiz in which contestants drop tokens
down a choice of four chutes in the hope of winning a
£10,000 jackpot (r) 5. 00 The Chase. Bradley Walsh
presents as four contestants answer general knowledge
questions and work as a team to take on one of the
ruthless Chasers and secure a cash prize (r) 6.
Regional News; Weather 6 .30 ITV News; Weather6 .30amCheers (r) 7 .2 0 Everybody Loves Raymond (r)
(AD)8.4 0 Frasier (r) (AD) 9 .4 0 The Big Bang Theory (r)
(AD) 10 .35Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (r) 1 1.3 0
Come Dine with Me. A trainee accountant hosts the first
dinner party in Boston, Lincolnshire (r) 1 2. 00 Channel 4
News Summary12. 05 pmCome Dine with Me.
A competitions fanatic hosts the second night (r) 1 2. 35
Come Dine with Me. The third night of the competition in
Boston, Lincolnshire (r) 1. 05 Come Dine with Me. The
fourth party of the competition in Boston, Lincolnshire (r)
1 .4 0 Come Dine with Me. The final dinner party in Boston
(r)2.1 0 Countdown: Champion of Champions. With Jon
Culshaw in Dictionary Corner (r)3. 00 A Place in the Sun.
Childhood sweethearts search for their dream home on
the island of Gran Canaria (r)4. 00 Sun, Sea and Selling
Houses. Sharon and Steve come up with three unusual
properties in Spain (r) 5. 00 Four in a Bed. The B&B
owners meet for the last time (r) 5 .3 0 Come Dine with
Me. A psychologist offers a menu inspired by her travels
through Asia (r) 6 .00The Simpsons. Bart takes pity on
Mrs Krabappel (r) (AD) 6 .30The Simpsons. Futurama’s
Planet Express crew turns up in Springfield (r) (AD)6 .00amMilkshake! 9 .15Jeremy Vine. The broadcaster
and guests discuss the issues of the day, with co-host
Storm Huntley 1 1.1 5 Can’t Pay? We’ll Take It Away! The
debt collectors take action to serve a writ issued for the
organiser of a music festival, while a London man is given
a choice between paying up or relinquishing his luxury car
(r) 1 2.1 0 pm 5 News at Lunchtime 1 2.1 5 Nightmare
Tenants, Slum Landlords. Property developer Alex calls
in an eviction specialist after finding that he could be
arrested if he tries to oust squatters from the derelict
pub he has recently purchased (r) 1 .1 0 Access 1 .1 5 Home
and Away (r) (AD) 1 .4 5 Neighbours (AD) 2 .1 5 FILM:
Death by Design — A Morning Show Mystery
(PG, TVM, 2019) Cooking show host Billie Blessings
investigates the murder of a famous interior designer’s
twin sister. Mystery drama starring Holly Robinson
Peete4. 00 Friends. Phoebe is stalked (r) 4.3 0 Friends.
Chandler frets about commitment (r) 5. 005 News at 5
5.3 0 Neighbours. Sheila drops a bombshell when she
reveals an old secret (r) (AD) 6 .00Home and Away.
Alf helps a struggling Marilyn investigate alternative
options for John (r) (AD) 6 .30 5 News Tonight