It's Berg To The Future On A New Hazard-filled Voyage
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday September 20, 2007
THE ICEBERG THAT SANK THE TITANIC, 8.30pm, ABC: In a first for television, a long-form documentary about an iceberg. Not just any berg but the one that put paid to the Titanic in 1912. The doco offers a useful entree to next Thursday's repeat screening of A Night To Remember (1958). But this is more than retrospective forensics despite the exact location and genesis of the massive ice slab being deduced. With global warming and melting glacial sheets spawning mega icebergs, navigational hazards in busy shipping lanes are bound to increase - notably in the fabled North-West Passage, which recent reports suggest has finally appeared as a consequence of climate change.
GLOBAL VILLAGE, 6pm, SBS: Tragic to die of thirst half a yard from the well. So what of dedicated Russian scientists in charge of precious seed specimens in the Soviet Seed Collection under Stalin? A vast repository of grains and genetic plant material was assembled for research but the director of the facility incurred Stalin's paranoia and perished in a gulag some time in 1943. Back at the lab, his colleagues - left to guard the priceless specimens of rice, wheat and corn - also succumbed to starvation rather than eat the samples they had hoped to cultivate for the greater good. Meanwhile their demented leader pilfered the nation's breadbasket and left millions to perish for want of a crust. The institute opens its doors to Silvio "Ry-Vita" Rivier this arvo.NIGHTY NIGHT, 10.15pm, SBS: Jill's Gordian knot of deceit clenches tighter as she outwits Glen - again. But the scheming minx eventually finds herself pursued along the coastal cliffs by a vengeful mob comprising Glen, Cath, Jacques, the real Floella and a troupe of naked lesbians. In a cliffhanging climax, Cath's wheelchair is hurled over the edge and kills Sue, who is deep in er ... conversation with Don. Splendid madness that would make the late Barbara Cartland spin in her grave.CATALYST, 8pm, ABC: Perfection is a vexing concept. There is no perfection really - we just do the best we can. It's the striving that makes the game interesting rather than attainment but when it comes to measuring things, which our species does with increasing sophistication and obsessiveness, the pursuit of perfection is alluring. The exact metre, the definitive clock, the perfect sphere, the precise kilogram, the flawless troupe of naked lesbians ... Refinement equals profit margins in the world of mass production and consumption. If you make a million packets of cornflakes and give away a couple of grams extra in each pack, you're losing money. Same with poorly calibrated schooners in the pub - you name it. Catalyst examines efforts to create la creme de la kilogram.DIFFERENCE OF OPINION, 9.25pm, ABC: Will anything remain of the fabled $17 billion budget surplus after the Government's binge spending on television commercials? If so, what will the next government, whatever its complexion, spend the money on? Should our tax dollars be returned to us directly or be harnessed in the pursuit of long overdue infrastructure renovation? What about hospitals, schools? Community services - remember them? Tonight's panel is business guru and former Liberal leader John Hewson; leading feminist and social activist Eva Cox; Crikey gadfly Stephen Mayne and taxation policy academic and professor Sinclair Davidson. Is the surplus the tip of an iceberg of public sentiment that looks set to scupper an unsinkable government?
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald