Back To The Wharf: An Aid For Reith's Fickle Memory

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday January 13, 2009

DOUG ANDERSON

BASTARD BOYS: GREG'S WAR 9.30pm, ABC1: What kind of impact will a repeat of this political drama series have more than a year after the Howard government, which isn't portrayed in a terribly favourable light, lost office? Its initial screening created considerable controversy and, with industrial relations a major factor in the election of 2007, it reiterated a few unsavoury incidents - some of which have subsequently been ventilated from the horse's . . . er . . . mouth in the four-part series The Howard Years. Hello there, Peter Reith! This instalment (scandalously biased against the Coalition of course), relates events from the perspective of Greg Combet (played by Daniel Frederiksen) and John Coombs (Colin Friels). Coombs, the national secretary of the maritime union, receives a tip-off advising him of covert moves, orchestrated with government approval, to smash union influence on the Australian waterfront. None of the usual tactics are being countenanced and, as a consequence, the familiar response by wharfies may be inadequate. It's a do-or-die manoeuvre, so smart thinking is more important than bulk grunt, but when push comes to shove - and it does - a combination of the two proves necessary.

BLOOD AND GUTS: A HISTORY OF SURGERY 8.30pm, SBS: I'm all for displays of finesse when it comes to carving, be it a leg of ham or a televised breast reduction procedure. Always thought Zorro a bit limited when it came to his signature "Z", administered with an epee . . . fwit! fwit! fwit! A man with a knife needs something to cut and it seems hardly a day has passed since headlines around the world reported the pioneering work of Dr Christiaan Barnard, the cardiac surgeon who, just over 41 years ago, successfully transplanted the heart of a road accident victim, Denise Darvall, into the chest of a diabetic grocer, Louis Washkansky. Alas, the immunosuppressive drugs needed to prevent rejection disposed the patient towards infection and, after 18 days, he succumbed to pneumonia. But the threshold had been passed and, despite howls of outrage from conservatives, claiming God's will was being subverted, the new era of heart surgery was up and running. In Sydney, the sanctimonious Christian Democrat Jim Cameron, who had suffered a coronary during an anti-abortion rally and who was the only NSW MLA to oppose the establishment of an organ transplant program, lined up for a new spare-parts ticker rather than check out of God's Waiting Room. The presenter, Michael Mosley, has a family history of heart problems so his investigation into cardiac and thoracic surgery are sure to have some sense of personal meaning. There are no cosmetic-enhancement programs screening at present but viewers longing for the throbbing drama of such elective manoeuvres might find some degree of involvement in ER (12.30am Wednesday on Nine), when Neela collides with Gallant in the ER as he prepares to treat an Iraqi burns victim. Meanwhile, in Desperately Seeking Doctors (7.30pm, SBS), Dr Fortune has arrived in Kalgoorlie and begins to realise the system is sicker than the people it treats.

SHRINK RAP 10.40pm, ABC1: Life seethes with hard decisions. Is it more fulfilling to watch Sharon Osbourne submit to the third degree from Dr Pamela Connolly or to slide over to Seven to watch a lot of skinny celebrity mums strut their tiny stuff in tonight's edition of Extreme ? The fabled third way (OFF) looks more enticing.

RADIO BACKGROUND NOISE midnight, 2MBS-FM: The Now Now Festival, devoted to all forms of spontaneous music, runs from January 16 to 18 at that glittering epicentre of global culture, the Wentworth Falls School of Arts. Tonight's program previews the event with commentary from Jim Denley, a festival organiser and esteemed practitioner of improvisational music. The American guitar legend Eugene Chadbourne will appear and so will the violin maestro Jon Rose. Clayton Thomas and Clare Cooper - now resident in Berlin - will add their tuppenceworth and the Loopies are set to make their Now Now debut.

© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald

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