Television
Full steam
ahead
Wendy Cope
Currently I'm in danger of watching too much television because there are several things I don't like to miss. Capital City (ITV, 9 p.m.) continues to keep me happy for an hour on Tuesdays. Last week's episode included a particularly charming scene, in which Michelle (a diminutive blonde) tried to teach Declan (a hunky, fast-moving dealer) to swim. In true soap opera fashion, most of the rough tough yuppies are turning out to be tender- hearted human beings after all. They worry about each other and call round at weekends to see if everything is OK, just like a nice bunch of schoolteachers. They have a headmistress figure called Wendy, who says her prayers, refuses better-paid job offers out of loyalty to the team and always remembers to ask how things are at home. Perhaps the programme is part of a capitalist conspiracy to persuade us that people in the City aren't as bad as we think. In any case, I'm sure it's very wrong of me to be enjoying it so much.
Enjoying Nice Work (BBC 2, 9.25 p.m., Wednesday), on the other hand, is OK. Not even the most sanctimonious televi- sion critic (whom I will refrain from naming) has yet come out against it. Episode Two kept up the high standard, though I must confess that I found some of the sex scenes embarrassing. I caught myself looking away from the screen, unable to overcome the feeling that one shouldn't be intruding on this. But the nature of the sexual relationship between Robyn and Charles is essential to the story, so I'll just have to put up with it and so will Mrs Whitehouse.
Coriination Street (ITV, 7.30 p.m., Mon- day, Wednesday and Friday) continues to be pretty steamy, though here, of course, it is done without nudity or orgasmic groans. Gail is still carrying on with Martin, and now Ken Barlow has embarked on an adulterous affair. It's bad enough spending two half-hours a week on this enthralling stuff — the news that it was to go up to three didn't please me one bit. Fortunate- ly, the first Friday programme was so naff that it may have cured me. Someone at Granada had the bright idea of sending Cilia Black to interview the characters on the set. Cilia was ever so thrilled to meet them in the flesh. She assured all the couples that they were lovely and greatly loved. The cast acquitted itself quite well in
difficult circumstances but the whole thing was still excruciating.
Back to Wednesdays. There's a new and mercifully short programme about architecture that looks promising. It's cal- led Building Sights (BBC 2, 10.20 p.m.), In the first of the series Janet Street-Porter talked about her newly built house in Smithfield. 'I didn't want a house that was anything to do with that crappy old English tradition,' she explained. 'I didn't want a house that looked friendly.' I couldn't decide whether to be annoyed or amused by this line, but I was most certainly intrigued. The exterior walls have dark bricks at the bottom and paler ones at the top, which, as Piers Gough, the architect, cheerfully admitted, makes it look as if it has rising damp. Original interior features include a standpipe to fill the bath and a bed on a metal trolley (the kind that British Rail uses to carry mail). Sadly, I didn't get to see the whole house because the video switched itself off before the end. It would be nice if they could arrange for the programmes to start and finish at the scheduled time but perhaps that's too much to expect.
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