The Herald - The Herald Magazine
WEEKEND TV CHOICE
DOLLY PARTON AT THE BBC Saturday, (BBC2, 8.30pm)
She’s the little woman with a big heart who’s beloved the world over – by fans of country music and others who simply admire her pluck, tenacity and sense of fun.
Dolly Parton has been a superstar for more than half a century, and that longevity would have been hard to achieve if she’d been nothing more than a dumb blonde.
She’s far from being that, despite it being the title of one of her earliest hits. Parton has certainly come a long way since being raised in a one-room shack in Tennessee with 11 siblings – behind the bouffant hair lies an astute businesswoman who is nobody’s fool.
“I could never have made enough money to live the way I wanted to if all I had ever done was sung,” says the petite diva. “I had to think about the business side. Now it’s nice not to have to worry about record labels, managers and people telling you to do this and that.”
Music was a way of life among her family – it was her Uncle Bill who spotted that young Dolly might have something special when it came to writing and singing songs.
She penned her first tune at the age of five and two years later made her radio debut; at 13 she made her first appearance at the Grand Ole Opry, the home of country music in Nashville.
After school she earned a living as a songwriter, one of the few women to do so, before embarking on a singing career, eventually becoming the glitzy queen of country. She wore flashy dresses and wigs that looked like they needed scaffolding to support them on top of her tiny frame.
Parton later turned to acting, her breakthrough coming in the comedy 9 to 5, which she followed up with
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Steel Magnolias. She even tried her hand at TV with her own selftitled series.
However, music remains her first love. One of her best-loved songs, I Will Always Love You, was a huge hit for Whitney Houston but it was another famous name who originally wanted to record it.
“Elvis loved a lot of my songs,” she reveals. “He wanted to record I Will Always Love You, but Colonel Tom Parker wanted me to sign away half the publishing rights. I thought, ‘These songs are for my family’s future’. I wasn’t going to give away half the publishing rights. I cried and
most prestigious on the World Cup calendar. Held in Kitzbuhel, Austria, annually since 1931, it is the world’s second oldest alpine skiing competition (after Lauberhorn). Tonight’s programme features action from it’s infamous downhill contest, a race with history and danger in equal measure. Plus, Team GB Olympian James Woods, who won six medals at FIS World Cup, meets versatile Italian freeskier Markus Eder, a participant at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
with a dangerous old acquaintance, before being sent on an unsettling mental journey, and finally making a breakthrough about his past. While an increasingly torturous interrogation forces him to think on his feet, Helen faces troubles of her own. Deeply shocked by recent events, she decides to lead the charge on a risky mission after receiving information from an unlikely quarter. Jamie Dornan and Danielle Macdonald star.
and Germans. There are men and women from all walks of life, some of whom became SS members, Wehrmacht fighters, concentration-camp guards or silent civilian witnesses. The footage raises questions about authority, conformity and national identity, and shows how people can be swept up in events when they are blissfully unaware of the ramifications. But does this make them innocent?