Browse Sections
Interactive
Popular Sections
Partly cloudyMagazine
TV: BBC looks to Africa for variety
by Conrad Astley30/ 6/2005
APPARENTLY, there's some concert or other going on this
weekend.
To tie in with the
Live 8 event (
Saturday,
BBC1, BBC2, BBC3) the BBC is pulling out all the stops for its
Africa season.
Amid all the discussions about whether anything has changed in the
20 years since Sir Bob's original event, the BBC has come up with a
varied bag to paint a vivid picture of the fascinating
continent.
Some of the offerings veer from one end of the extreme to the
other. Trauma Africa (Thursday, BBC3) looks at how an A&E team
manage to deal with the aftermath of Johannesburg's notorious
street violence, while Panorama (Sunday, BBC1) sees Fergal Keane
asking why, a decade on from the Rwandan genocide, the world seems
willing to sit back and watch a similar situation unfold in
Darfur.
Across the spectrum, a
Ground Force special
(
Thursday, BBC1) will see Charlie Dimmock and the team
attempt to create an African-style garden outside the British
museum, for some reason.
But elsewhere, there are genuine attempts to tell real people's
stories.
One Life (
Tuesday, BBC1) looks at
supermodel Alek Wek, who had to flee Sudan at the age of 12 when
civil war broke out.
Since escaping to the UK, she has become an international catwalk
star.
Now, she goes back with her mother to try to find a long-lost
relative.
Elsewhere,
TV Africa (
Wednesday, BBC4) is
a romp around African television programmes, such as the
continent's versions of Big Brother, Question Time, Eastenders and
The Bill.
This may at first sound like a much lighter bit of fluff, in the
Tarrant On TV mould, but it is likely to offer an intriguing
glimpse at what life is really like in 21st century African.
Still in the continent,
Escape To The Legion
(
Monday, Channel 4) is a new twist on a format that's
looking a bit familiar.
Eleven volunteers are put through their paces by former members of
the French Foreign Legion. All the romance associated with the
legion is washed away as we watch the recruits drop under the
brutal toughening-up techniques, including sleep deprivation,
denial of food and water, and being forced to carry packs over
desert sand dunes.
Unusually, a chance to watch something you almost certainly haven't
seen before is available this week on
Slaughterhouse - The
Task Of Blood (
Monday, BBC2).
Yes, this is a real look inside what happens inside an abattoir.
This one is a small family-run business in Oldham, and no detail of
what goes on there escapes the camera's lens.
There may be a few more vegetarians on Tuesday.
Got an opinion you want to share?| Company | Typical APR |
| Platinum Exclusive Loan | 7.8% |
| AA | 7.9% |
| Sainsbury's Personal Loan | 8.2% |
| Alliance & Leicester | 8.7% |
| Lloyds TSB | 8.9% |
| Abbey Personal Loan | 8.9% |
| Provider | AER* |
|
ICICI BANK HiSAVE Savings Account |
4.50% |
|
FIRST DIRECT Everyday e-Saver |
1.75% |
|
SAINSBURYS FINANCE Internet Saver |
2.25% |