Sunday lunch a feast on TV

Press, 31 March 1981, Page 15

Sunday lunch a feast on TV

F Review 1

Ken Strongman

'On Sunday, there occurred a combination of events which allowed your reviewer to watch two hours of Channel One's lunch-time television without feeling a moment's guilt. The first hour was taken up with "Big League Soccer.” One either sees this programme as doing a little to fill that unwelcome hiatus between summer and winter sports in New Zealand. Or. one is glad to find it scheduled at a time when one is either still in bed, at church, packing the chilly bin. or just mulling over the possibility of Sunday opening. Even to those of you who wouldn't know one panel of a soccer ball from the next, I can recommend "BLS”. Forget the superlative skills involved: it is nothing to do with that. It provides a fascinating study of some most unusual conventions.

By now. the kissing and hugging following a goal have been closely and suspiciously studied by redblooded sportsmen everywhere. Concentration on this alone can lead to neglect of other subtleties.

There is the sharply raised fist in the air, with bent arm. in front of the body: again, it follows a goal. Surely, this used to mean something entirely different than vindictive jubilation? Or, if it still means what it used to, the cameraman is not picking up all that he might from the field of play.

There are three classes df people at soccer matches, and each has its conventions. The crowd, let out from various institutions for the

afternoon, must shout, sway, sing, punch, kick, wave scarves, and eventually invade the pitch. They are separated by huge barriers from their heroes or enemies, the players. These spend 90 minutes engaged in ritualised aggression, with a public display of postures of threat and appeasement which would do credit to a conference of baboons.

Between these two. patrolling a sort of perimetric noman’sland. is a smaller group, the police. Other than pacing, they are mainly expected to attempt to kick the ball back should it come in their direction. It is a fascinating hour.

The second hour entertained with the delightful specialities of farming, gardening and do-it-your-selfing. "Farming Today” was about milk grading, ’the basis of which is being changed. The new system involves a standard plate count measuring the number of live bacteria in the milk. The measurements were not explained: 180,000 (which was mentioned) sounds like a lot of bacteria, or even more plates. The best part of this programme was 'to see the farmer following the man from the Dairy Division as he checked the cleanliness of his milking system. Sharply indrawn breath followed by: "There's some build-up here. Look, these are cracked and perishing, they’ll have to be replaced." The farmer can only shake his head in astonishment at how it could have happened,

and agree — just like the rest of us when a mechanic gets near the car. "Dig This” is worth watching for the title and finishing sequences alone, particularly for the moment when the big boot comes down. This week. Eion Scarrow — what a perfect name that is for a gardener — appeared to be sitting fully clothed in a bark-coated bath in the rosy bit of the Wellington botanicals answering viewers' letters.

What incredible problems gardeners do have. However. Eion set them all right with advice such as: "A walnut tree would be a boomer for you. Miss . . .” Finally. "Of Course You Can Do It” spent 30 minutes demonstrating how to improve radio reception by building a relatively simple aerial — at least he made it seem relatively simple, which is the trouble with this programme. Next week, it is "Taking out an old brick chimney” which could well be the inevitable conclusion to any attempts to mess around with aerials in one household I know. Anyway, if you have the mixture of good and bad fortunes which seems necessary to justify it, I can thoroughly recommend Sundays on One from 12 until 2.