The Observer from London, Greater London, England • 98

KEWIEW i V. the Observer review i mi tm iWi Road to Zanzibar (194-1) 4.00-5.30pm BBC2 The second and among the funniest of the Hope-Crosby-Lamour ftoacf.conie.dies that took them on exotic journeys to the four corners of the Paramount Studios in search of a diamond mine. elements genes. will we. always be able to.

resist the temptation to standardise human beings? The Bureau 9.00-10.00pm Channel 4 From tablecloth, ana laundering to the" construction business commercial interests of the Mafia have expanded way beyonddrugs and prostitution. Its -income is now second only to that of the US government. Agent Joe Pistone lived the undercover life of jewel thief Donnie'Brascoe for six -years in an effort to infiltrate the-. FBI's most deadly enemy. He conned two Mafia members so successfully he was invited to become guy' a fully-fledged member of one of the.

five 'families run New York, Then Pistone. was asked to undertake a contract killing, and the Bureau needed to do some quick thinking. the Healer 9.30-10.45pm BBC1 Dr John Lassiter (Paul Rhys) disavows aspirin and antibiotics in favour, of a developed bedside manner. He doesn't understand the buck-passjng, the 'not my mentality that comeswith pyramid management in today's NHS. He is just a healer; A man who wanders off on ward rounds to lay on hands; who-stoops down in a Regent Street doorway to tend, to a dowri-andbut; who plays cat's cradle with an ill boy who heeds' nothing more than love.

Newman's two-part drama is sometimes a little. too fanciful (bloody bite marks-from an Alsatian disappear from Lassiter's arm in SffiD Bigfoot and the Hendersons (1987) BBC1 'Jolly, sentimental romp, impeccably green in tone, about a Seattle family (John Lithgow as. Dad, Dillon as Mom) taking home" a-loveable missing link they -name Harry after knocking him down in the Short Stories 8.30-d.00pm Channel 4 The Arts and Antiques Squad, operating out of Belgravia police station, isn't as butch as'Tie Sweeney. They hunt down and Viennese clocks that chime when. Cupid sharpens his arrow.

In this inspiring story, they place their services at. the disposal of 85-year-old German emigre, Edith Mork, recently robbed' of her beloved porcelain. 'They don't do. it because they are passionate lovers of Bustelli figures, she says. Refusing to be a victim, she trawls auction houses and early morning antique markets', continuing her search by torchlight.

Mork is a character from the golden era of Gainsborough Films somehow appropriate then that it -was someone called Rpnny Fontaine from Peckham what did it. University Challenge 8.3O-9.00pm BBC2 Not much has changed the music hasn't been remixed by the BBC Radibphonic Workshop, the students are still given their starter-for-ten, and told there's all to play for. The faces are as timeless as ever, and could have been plucked straight from some Seventies sit-in, But not a lucky gonk in sight, no scarves, now the proceedings are overseen by Jeremy Paxmaii. Not as quick or clever as Baniber, but he's just as'witty. Your average viewer has a better chance with the than on" Mastermind, and with the evenly-matched redbrickers Aberdeen and Birmingham to start, this is a welcome return.

(See feature on page 4). LilMJAn Officer and a Gentleman (1982) 10.2S-12.25am BBC1 The surprise smash hit of 1982 celebrates Reagan's America and rehabilitates the US armed forces after Vietnam through' a hysterical account of the education of a air cadet (Richard Gere) at the hands Investigating ho paranormal: agents Mulder and Scully In The X-Files' (Mon) Harry Hill, performing without his 'Fruit Fancies' (Monday) White Heat 8.00-8.50pm BBC2 'Repeat After Me'. has reduced; technology to parts so simple and repeatable that they mimic fundamental natural elements like atoms, molecules and chromosomes. Using the same reductive approach, today's' biologists are whittling humanity down to its fundamental uniform 4 3 pretends to be a quisling in orderto sabotage the Nazi war effort. Esmond Knight, then recently blinded on active service, courageously returned to the screen as a Gestapo chief.

Also stars Googie Withers. A Powell and Pressburger production. Raymond's Blanc Mange 8.30-9.00pm BBC2 Behind the inexcusable, punning title lies. Raymond Blanc's inoffensive journey 'through flavour. This week isfprthose who simply must know why chopped onions are stronger, why seared meat has more flavour and the easy way to identify the essence of sage, coriander and pineapple.

Freud would have a field day as Blanc cooks (yetagain) for his maman, and rattles on about the symbolism of the family table. Network First 10.40-11.40pm ITV Danny Johnson, 28, is the victim of persistent vegetative state. His. chances of full recovery from his waking coma are nil, yet modern technology can help 'him achieve a better quality of life if only he can start to communicate. This documentary looks at the pioneering work of a hospital that has recently started to achieve small miracles.

ay 4lE win 4sm K'fB '-v ill Ma pi Nick Fisher wades into another series of 'Screaming Reels' (Thursday) minutes), but the fairy-tale elements are kept in check by a quick-moving and convincing line. The X-Files 9.30-10.15pm BBC2 In Bellefleur National Forest, Oregon, the police unearth the fourth dead body from the local class of '89. Autopsy shows nothing apart from two distinctive, welts on the victim 's back. This American drama series takes its stories from the FBI files on unexplained phenomena, and animates them with a bit of honest-to-goodness love interest. He, Fox Muider (David Duchovny), kooky but brilliant she, Dana Scully (Gillian Armstrong), sceptical and interested only in scientific fact.

Togetherthey prove why. they put the I in FBI, and that they are credible enough to understand the complex molecular of sexual chemistry. Not as schmoozy as but every bit as watchable; Harry Hill's Fruit Fancies 10.15-10.30pm BBC2 A black-and-white' series. of silent comedies for those with fond memories of the Prof's Vision On. With a list of credits longer than most period dramas, these six ten-minute offerings haven't come cheap, Unfortunately, the end result Is a show that only the producer and resting actors desperate for work could ever hope to love.

A man who has a funny face, just maybe, could carry off the jokes such as they are. But Harry Hill hasn't, and can't. Hill won the Perrler Best Newcomer Award at the 1992 Edinburgh Festival, and was shortlisted for an award this year, but ho roally should have stayed darling of the Tuesday SBS Tho Silver Floet (1943) 2.20-3.50pm BBClIn this officiont wartime propaganda entertainment, Dutch shipbuilder Ralph Rlchnrdson the Observer David Hodge Memorial Award The Photographers' Gallery 5' Orciat Newport Street London WC2 831 1772 Admission Free Open 'Monday Saturday from 1 lam-Gpm".