South Wales Echo from Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales • 21

SOUTH WALES ECHO Saturday 22nd AUGUST 1992 21 Vi plus Now here is the good news ELDORADO BBC 1 Monday Wednesday and Friday When Bunny gets home to help Fizz he finds more than he bargained for Joy and Trish need a night out to cheer themselves up and decide to have nothing more to do with men but which one will give in first? Rosemary joins the amateur dramatic society and Rosario discovers some things are missing from the restaurant Swansea-born Martyn Lewis right the BBC news anchorman supplements his regular diet of drama and tragedy with doses of good news Here he talks to Doreen Brooks Newscaster Martyn Lewis regularly brings the darker side of life into eight million homes in his role as anchorman on flagship Nine News But behind the patina of professionalism is a man like to be spreading more good news The urbane Welsh Ulsterman he was bom in Swansea but grew up in Northern Ireland is on screen 180 nights a year sharing presentation with his colleague Michael Buerk But away from the newsroom at Television Centre he spends much of his time working for the hospice movement His involvement began when a close relative of his wife Liz spent her last week in a hospice during the year they married in 1970 Says Lewis 47: minute yot walk through a hospice door you realise they are places of great warmth hope friendship understanding and laughter At Trinity College Dublin where he graduated with a BA in Economics Philosophy and Geography Lewis was secretary of the rugby club But he had to put the bite on the game after an accident threatened to leave him wearing dentures given up rugby and now play a lot of After leaving university Lewis joined BBC Belfast before heading HTV in Cardiff then in 1970 up to see a second jet taking off was so close I could have reached out and touched he recalls And when flying to Dundalk airfield to cover an IRA story his was caught by a gust of wind forcing the wing to clip a hedge was a bit he says calmly Lewis a Freeman of the City of London joined the BBC in 1986 And he deny that there is occasionally a hiccup if there is a situation that ought to make you panic and you do then you are less in control and less able to deal with it So although my mind does press a panic button it throw everything haywire it says a crisis and got to stay calm to deal with And he reveals: is a key phrase newscasters use They read a few lines and then without batting an eyelid say have a full report on that in just a and move on effortlessly to the next story that really means is that there has been one hell of a cock-up behind the scenes! But I really am amazed that more go wrong and that comes back to being a terrific tribute to the team that puts it He was the first foreign TV journalist to get a one-to-one interview with President George Bush on policy matters and the BBC-tv newscaster who broke the news to the nation that the Gulf War had started going on to present a three-hour unscripted rolling news programme story working on at the time is always the most says Lewis who has brought some 10000 film or video reports into homes though if you want to have any kind of a home Rise and fall of the Dragon A he linked up with ITN He admits had some narrow escapes during his visits to more than 35 countries in 15 years on the road as a reporter Racing to catch a satellite link with a story about boat people in Malaysia he chartered a which flew through an electric storm On another occasion as his plane touched down in the then soviet Union he looked family and rejects his advances Enraged Steve lures Madge with the promise of political support for her reading programme but her faith in him is destroyed and her life shattered when he kidnaps brutally assaults and rapes her So strong is power base he sets himself above the law His eye is on the most glittering prize of all the Presidency of the United States of America EMMERDALE HTV Tuesday and Thursday Christopher and Kathy are back from their holiday and one of them at least had a good time Elizabeth is out of action after an accident and Mark finds Lorraine Nelson is paying him some unwanted attention BROOKSIDE UK4 Monday Wednesday and Friday S4C Saturday Patricia gets the results of her check-up and keeps them from Max Frank's plans to spend a romantic weekend with Lyn suffer a setback Derek has a proposal to make to Margaret EASTENDERS BBC 1 Tuesday and Thursday Ian introduces his new girlfriend while Rachel has an unhappy customer and Michelle wonders what's worrying Sharon CORONATION STREET HTV Monday Wednesday and Friday The Gilroys go to of Southampton although Bet has doubts about a move and Sally is ready to do battle over fiver Ted has disappeared and Rita is worried Vicky is getting ready to go back to school and the valuer visits the Rovers NEIGHBOURS BBC 1 Monday to Friday Paul has mounted a vendetta against double dealing Felicity Brent and Dorothy decides it's time to put up a fight for the school and her job Jim goes to Perth to discover the truth about Michael Daniels and fate gives Joe and Melanie a second chance of romance Caroline goes behind Paul's back into business for herself FAMILIES HTV Monday and Tuesday Jane is determined to play at being Sam's mother while Jackie points out she should care more for her real children Fiona suggests Charles telephones before calling on her and Neil tears a strip off Daniel for walking out of work the day before Anton wonders if it's time he and Diana split up for good HOME AND AWAY HTV Monday to Friday The girls are faced with difficult choices Bobby finally makes the decision over who will share her future and Sophie agrees to lie to try and keep the baby Marilyn loses her job at Alf Stewart's store and looks for a new challenge in her life If a crisis got to stay calm to deal with it 9 CROSS OF FIRE Tuesday (BBC1 930pm) AN explosive true story of romance murder and revenge set in the turbulent 1920s Cross Of Fire is a two-part American drama starring John Heard who featured in the movie Beaches and Mel Harris from the US comedy thirtysomething It is based on the true story of the Ku Klux activities in Indianapolis and the rise and fall of the Grand Dragon DC Stephenson a megalomaniac whose quest for power led him to corruption cruelty and a desperate passion for an unattainable woman The year is 1923 and the Ku Klux Klan believes America should be rid of The charismatic Steve Stephenson (John Heard) has been given the responsibility of increasing the presence in Indiana and gains support throughout the State During his campaign he meets Madge Oberholtzer (Mel Harris) a progressive former school teacher struggling to organise a reading programme for hnigrant workers They are immediately attracted to one another despite the concern of her other admirer local attorney Clell Henry (David Morse) life got to come in from the cold and my wife was terribly good when I was working away as a reporter I also wanted to watch my kids grow says the father of Sylvie 17 and Katie 14 For two years Lewis has been chairman of a charity called Drive For Youth which aims to remotivate unemployed youngsters Lewis has presented Living With Dying BBCls series about coping with bereavement and is a regular presenter on Songs Of Praise His book Cats In The News spent 14 weeks in the top 20 and Dogs In The News will be out at the end of October Early next year another book Go For It with a foreword by The Prince of Wales will be published in aid of The Trust and Drive For Youth publishing the definitive guide to opportunities for young says Lewis whether looking to continue their academic career whether they want holiday jobs to fill a gap here or go on expeditions If disadvantaged or disabled in any way there are organisations they can turn to as their first point for And that has to be good news! OF HATE: John Heard as David Curtis Stephenson and Mel Harris as Madge Oberholtzer But gradually Madge begins to doubt political motives and Indianapolis Times editor-in-chief Boyd Guriy (George Dzundza) is determined to uncover his subversive activities Just as the Klan appoints Steve as the Grand Dragon and holds out the promise of national political office Madge confronts him about a recent Klan attack on a local black 4 I I I I I.