Pay TV - Saturday, October 3
The Age
Thursday October 1, 2009
Humpbacks: Cracking the CodeNat Geo HD, 4.30pmA BEAUTIFUL doco that pieces together what scientists have managed to learn about the humpback whale's songs. The tunes are long and complicated, a series of themes made of different sounds repeated over and over, often with subtle changes along the way. Humpbacks aren't content to keep playing their classic hits, either €” new songs can spread around the world in a flash. While the songs (which are sung only by males and only in the breeding season) are complex, scientists don't think they're language. The humpbacks' day-to-day communication is accomplished through their large repertoire of "social sounds". The amazing footage of males fighting females and of humpbacks working together in "bubble-netting" fish should come up an absolute treat in HD.Blank CanvasBio, 7.30pmTHIS new documentary chronicles a tumultuous year in the life of the Sydney Dance Company. At the end of 2007, artistic director Graeme Murphy left after more than 30 years at the helm and the company's directors decided to replace him with three choreographers as an interim experiment. The doco features interviews with the choreographers €” Australian Meryl Tankard, Spaniard Rafael Bonachela (pictured) and Canadian Aszure Barton €” and their dancers as they set about creating new works for the company. It's interesting to hear the choreographers' philosophies and back stories and see their ideas come to life. You'll be seeing more of the Sydney Dance Company; it has a three-year sponsorship deal with Foxtel that will include televised performances and the incorporation of the company into Australia's Next Top Model and Project Runway Australia.The Best in AustraliaLifeStyle Food, 7.30pmCHUMMY television cooks Anna Gare, Ben O'Donoghue and Darren Simpson reinvent the lamb roast just in time for Sunday lunch. Simpson keeps things fairly simple, while Gare barbecues then bakes a butterflied leg of lamb and O'Donoghue goes for a harissa-crusted tandoori job. It's all quite pleasant, even though the banter in the kitchen is increasingly tending towards the ribald. Most importantly, the recipes are easy enough to make at home and they come with your choice of dessert: chocolate cake, chocolate brownie or something called a "chocolate nemesis".Worth a lookRacism: A History (History, 7.30pm)Whale Wars (Animal Planet, 7.30pm)Autism x 6 (Discovery Home & Health, 9pm)
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