Television
The Age
Tuesday February 16, 2010
FREE TO AIRTOP GEARChannel Nine, 7.30pmCHANNEL Nine's desire to hitch itself to the Top Gear franchise is a no-brainer. Even on the nation's least-watched channel, SBS, it regularly attracted 1 million viewers. The show comes with a massive back catalogue and is an ideal fit for a network that still clings to its cheeky-bloke image. There will inevitably be cries of outrage €” too many ad breaks, deep fears that the 50-minute international version will be trimmed at the edges to fit the commercial TV hour and what will their local version, due on air mid-year, look like? Wisely, Nine kicks off with back-to-back premiere episodes of the latest (14th) season, which not only offers the tantalising prospect of Jeremy, James and Richard heading off to Romania but, by a perfect coincidence, has our very own petrol-head, Eric Bana, as the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car segment (the second episode was not available for preview). The Romania challenge is a classic, containing an incident that no one will see coming and is guaranteed a place in the Top Gear annals. Will audiences embrace the show in its new home? Of course they will.PAUL KALINAPAY TVVIR SANGHVI'S ASIAN DIARYDiscovery Travel & Living, 9pmTHERE'S something about the way in which Indian journalist Vir Sanghvi talks about and, well, inhabits India that just makes you want to jump on a plane and go. Tonight, he's following the trail of the biryani, the meat-and-rice dish introduced to the subcontinent by Muslim traders many centuries ago, and using it to reflect on the history of Muslims in India. His visits to New Delhi, Lucknow and Hyderabad are fascinating(though perhaps a little light on the history) and the food is mouth-watering.BRAD NEWSOMEMOVIEA LOVING FATHER (2002)SBS Two, 10.55pmREAL-life family Gerard and Guillaume Depardieu play an estranged father and son whose relationship changes when the latter kidnaps the former.CRAIG MATHIESON
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