25 - 31 MARCH 2023

In terms of quality TV, this week is very good for comparing the old and the new. The much anticipated 6-part adaptation of Great Expectations begins on BBC 1 on Sunday; the classic Elizabeth R starring Glenda Jackson begins a repeat run on BBC 4 on Thursday. Ms Jackson also looks back on the series and gives a brief introduction before the first episode.
LUZZU (2021) Saturday 25 March 9.00-10.30pm BBC 4    P
Luzzu is an unusual drama, with non-professional actors, about a Maltese fisherman who has to consider breaking the law in order to make ends meet. 
REBECCA (1940) Monday 27 March 3.00-5.35pm TP (Channel 82)       
Alfred Hitchcock never won an Oscar himself, but his Hollywood debut did win the statuette for Best Picture. It remains a classic adaptation of a great novel; we showed it in the 1989-1990 season (our second) and it had an audience reaction of 81%. 
I WAKE UP SCREAMING (1941) Wednesday 29 March 11.00am-12.35pm TP (Channel 82)         
Not as fearsome as the title would suggest – just a very good whodunit with film-noir undertones. The central characters are a sports promoter (Victor Mature); a cop (Laird Cregar); a murdered waitress (Carole Landis) and her sister (Betty Grable). Fox remade it as Vicki in 1953 with Jeanne Crain, Jean Peters and Richard Boone as the cop; that was okay, too, but, to my best recollection, hasn’t been on the terrestrial channels for an awfully long time.