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Always look on the dark side: From Seaside Special to Absolutely Fabulous by way of the Comic Strip, the director Bob Speirs has changed the face of British television comedy. John Lyttle tried to find out the secret of his success00:02
Media chiefs quit00:02
BP confused over Iran licence00:02
Yachts sunk00:02
Car makers see US opening up00:02
Flextech plunges to loss of pounds 2.9m00:02
Bespak improves 68% in first half00:02
Sport in short: Hockey00:02
Firms in Britain 'sending cash to Serbia'00:02
'Green' road guide issued00:02
Thomson's lead under threat00:02
US and Ukraine discuss security guarantees00:02
The Shetland Oil Disaster: Safety standards under attack00:02
Racing: Walker on return journey: Richard Edmondson on the former champion apparent who is almost ready to race again00:02
Chess00:02
Rugby League: Trinity close on Davies00:02
Sports Letters: Hype and glory00:02
The Shetland Oil Disaster: Owners deny emergency fuel tank was left empty00:02
View from City Road: GT emerges with new fund00:02
Public Services Management: Council mortgage scheme fails to hit home: Government plans to boost house ownership have been met with scepticism, says Paul Gosling00:02
The day Diane's husband became someone else: When Derek Munday had two devastating strokes, his wife refused to give up on him. Nicholas Roe hears the story of their struggle00:02
Sport in short: Boxing00:02
The Shetland Oil Disaster: Gales threat to battered oil tanker: Foul weather disrupts efforts of low-flying pilots to disperse six-mile slick Gales threat to battered oil tanker00:02
Business and City Summary00:02
The Shetland Oil Disaster: Spraying deadline looms for rescuers oil unit00:02
Education: They said I was useless, but look at me now: The art school cloud had its silver lining00:02
Company News in Brief00:02
'Mammas' embarrass soldier sons00:02
The long wait in the wind: A poem by Jim Crumley00:02
The Shetland Oil Disaster: Stricken seabirds flown to sanctuary00:02
Cricket: Richardson raises tempo in Australia00:02
Law Report: Court will not enforce unreasonable covenant: J A Mont (UK) Ltd v Mills Court of Appeal (Lord Justice Glidewell, Lord Justice Beldam and Lord Justice Simon Brown) 30 October 1992.00:02
Diary00:02
Sport in short: Pool News00:02
Letter: Shetland disaster: tanker controls, safety at sea, UK fleet's decline00:02
Letter: Implications of rapes in Bosnia00:02
Sailing: Jones sick of life on the ocean wave: Stuart Alexander in Hobart on a glamorous sailing trip that became one man's nightmare00:02
The Shetland Oil Disaster: Damage from Alaskan slick remains despite apparent recovery: Four years after the Exxon Valdez disaster, wildlife in Prince William Sound has still not fully recovered, writes Rupert Cornwell00:02
The Shetland Oil Disaster: Unions seek inquiry into foreign ships00:02
Eubank's peace00:02
Nirex acts to curb impact of report on Sellafield00:02
Heart attack00:02
Darts: Anderson joins list of Beaton victims00:02
33 killed in Kashmir battle00:02
MUSIC / Spread too thin: Isabelle Vernet - Wigmore Hall, London00:02
Four die in Paris plane crash00:02
Further knock to faith in bricks and mortar: The move to cut endowment policy payouts is not yet a cause for panic. Vivien Goldsmith reports00:02
In the youthful time of year: Today and every Thursday, a survey of the week's music This week: Strange flair, yoof culture and opera on the box00:02
Football: Anfield courts Durie service00:02
Jamaica to resume executions00:02
Nureyev, a divine gift, is dead at 54: John Gregory assesses the turbulent life of the greatest dancer since Nijinsky00:02
MUSIC / Perfect modesty: Ralph Kirshbaum - Wigmore Hall, London00:02
Leading Article: Gun law in the ghettos00:02
Winds of recession blow boatbuilders to Europe: Exports are keeping firms afloat, Peter Rodgers and Stuart Alexander find00:02
Teaching: Why we fail those who need us most00:02
Education: They said I was useless, but look at me now: A failure in exams; a success in software00:02
Commentary: TSB's striking example of clumsiness00:02
Rugby League: St Helens move to the top00:02
Royal love eclipses sumo grief00:02
Farms find market for 'exotic' vegetables00:02
Exiled 'demon' bemoans his fate: Charles Richards discovered that the permanently outcast leader of Tunisia's Islamic party was keen to denounce a 'bankrupt regime' that condemned him00:02
Sports Letters: Talking nonsense00:02
Squash: England facing a boycott00:02
1000 killed in Angola battles00:02
Negative response00:02
Tennis: New faces for the new year: Medvedev well equipped for a bumper harvest: John Roberts on the Ukrainian tennis prospect with the physique and touch to put him among the sport's big earners00:02
Obituary: Dizzy Gillespie: John Birks 'Dizzy' Gillespie, trumpeter, composer, band leader, born Cheraw South Carolina 21 October 1917, died Englewood New Jersey 6 January 1993.00:02
Airtours makes pounds 221m offer for Owners Abroad00:02
The Institute of British Geographer's Conference: Spending estimates00:02
Letter: Shetland disaster: tanker controls, safety at sea, UK fleet's decline00:02
Sport in short: Rugby Union00:02
Nauseated by Labour's silly little argument00:02
Letter: Shetland disaster: tanker controls, safety at sea, UK fleet's decline00:02
Hope lives in cold city of dreams: Thoughts of home sustain exiled Palestinians sure of a return to Israel, writes Robert Fisk from Marj al-Zohour00:02
Receivers in at Lilley after refinancing is blocked00:02
King Juan Carlos toasts a good year00:02
Teachers angered by prospect of a 'return to O-levels': Staff are being asked to boycott the tests, which many say will kill pupils' enjoyment of English. Judith Judd reports00:02
Letter: Labour policies for the future00:02
Wyman quits00:02
Cook calls on Labour to back poll reform00:02
Franc and punt await rate move00:02
Driver fined00:02
Citibank rescues Randsworth00:02
Football: Injury blow for Gough00:02
Snow reports00:02
De Beers rough diamond sales plunge 13%00:02
Letter: Pluralism and fair play in Kenyan elections00:02
Sports Letters: Blues of note00:02
View from City Road: The burden of gilt00:02
Letter: Resting place for all00:02
News Corp shares stabilise00:02
Sailing: Golding still holds out hope00:02
Cricket: South Africa's re-entry landmark00:02
British Coal to halt production at last of 10 'doomed' pits00:02
Sport in short: American Football00:02
Obituary: Rudolf Nureyev00:02
Racing: King Credo retreats from Leopardstown00:02
Schools are offered hotline to the Bard00:02
Swiss bank giants boldly merge00:02
Breast cancer drug hailed00:02
The Institute of British Geographer's Conference: South-east and North take the lead in foreign holidays00:02
Cricket: New faces for the new year: Lathwell plans to run wild: Derek Hodgson on the cricketer with a refreshing penchant for plundering runs Somerset opener seeks new adventures while riches beckon Kiev rookie with a racket00:02
RECORDS / No ifs, diggity-do, no butts, diggity-dah: Andy Gill, exploring this week's releases, uncovers the latest addition to the long and distinguished line of buttock anthems00:02
Football: Coca-Cola Cup: Winterburn's illuminating touch: Arsenal advance to last eight - Chelsea swept away at Selhurst Park - Cambridge surrender their advantage00:02
Yemen wary of Islamic extremists00:02
Peking rejects HK speculation00:02
Football: Coca-Cola Cup: Palace's young guard rise to the occasion: Chelsea swept away at Selhurst Park - Arsenal advance to last eight - Cambridge surrender their advantage00:02
Obituary: Rudolf Nureyev00:02
Market Report: BA loses height as forecasts are downgraded00:02
Sport in short: Tennis00:02
Sports Letters: Gower, Sobers and art of poise00:02
RIFFS / Paddy's perfect pop song: Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies on 'Appetite' by Prefab Sprout00:02
Ministers to urge easier home loans for young buyers00:02
Airtours declares war on Thomson00:02
Higher Education: Passing the hat in high places: Oxford has mastered the art of fund-raising, says Michael Durham00:02
Fantasy has nothing on Citizen Mort00:02
Theatre thrives on 'pay what you can'00:02
Letter: Water for London00:02
The Shetland Oil Disaster: Nature knows best how to recover from pollution00:02
Sports Letters: Gold standards00:02
Letter: 'Gun culture' is everyone's problem00:02
dollars 7 million snatched in US armed raid00:02
Sport in short: Basketball00:02
Rugby Union: Scotland try the Anglo touch00:02
German reshuffle00:02
'Critical phase' for peace talks00:02
Lesbians faced fostering bias00:02
Sport in short: Football00:02
Getting down to business with Clinton00:02
Nureyev leaves a fund of inspiration00:02
Leading Article: Lesbian mothers can be better00:02
United Airlines axes thousands of jobs00:02
Cricket: Atherton in one-day exclusion zone00:02
Sport in short: Rallying00:02
Tarmac to match market with cut in housebuilding00:02
Rosehaugh Stanhope makes pounds 100m write-off at Ludgate00:02
Minister's resignation tightens Fujimori's grip00:02
Rugby League: Three leagues to stay00:02
The Shetland Oil Disaster: Taxpayers may have to foot part of clean-up bill00:02
Genius who refused to grow old gracefully: Judith Mackrell, Dance Critic, recalls some of Nureyev's performances, both annoying and heroic00:02
View from City Road: Airtours takes a double gamble00:02
Car-jackings plague US: Correction00:02
Female bricklayer awarded pounds 15,000: Council employee suffered four years of continual sexual harassment and threats from her colleagues00:02
Slovakia steps up arms production00:02
Dizzy Gillespie dies, aged 7500:02
The Institute of British Geographer's Conference: Commercials for drink are small beer00:02
Letter: Shetland disaster: tanker controls, safety at sea, UK fleet's decline00:02
Shall Meek inherit the earth?: Margaret Thatcher, EMI, David Mellor, Tangerine Dream . . . none was spared when John Repsch campaigned to found a Joe Meek museum at 304 Holloway Road, Islington, London00:02
Don't mention the war: Smug mainlanders are too quick to judge Channel Islanders, argues Stephen Ward00:02
Smoking report in US heralds new curbs00:02
Commentary: Self-regulation runs out of time00:02
Former education chief criticises 'cavalier policy'00:02
Insurers put Lloyd's settlement in doubt00:02
BOOK REVIEW / Semolina with fear: A Square of sky - Janina David: Eland; pounds 8.9900:02
Set the referee free00:02
Column Eight: Nautor's readies or not00:02
Anthology set for English tests gets hostile reception: Schools receive compulsory texts for 14-year-olds as teachers protest and actors give help with Shakespeare00:02
Armed raiders escape after chase00:02
Sport in short: Swimming00:02
Dungiggin': AD2020: Scenes from a home for retired pop stars00:02
Chinese blue chip shares suspended in Hong Kong00:02
Fresh start for Somalia's children: The reopening of elementary schools provides hope for the future. Karl Maier reports from Mogadishu00:02
National Grid calls for pricing changes00:02
Education: They said I was useless, but look at me now: I was called 'MD' for 'mentally deficient'00:02
Tiananmen fugitive lands in US00:02
Fashion: A sashay down the catwalk to oblivion: Jean-Louis Scherrer and his daughter Laetitia, are sacked and Paris00:02
Education: Agonising over who'll make the grade: Donald MacLeod sits in with assessors who determine how many candidates will pass or fail their exams00:02
The Institute of British Geographers' Conference: Women find femininity is best tactic for City success00:02
Commentary: Entente loses its cordiality00:02
Nurse charged00:02
Graduates: Fewer forms and greater thought: As the 1993 milk round looms, Philip Schofield suggests that targeted applications and meticulous research will serve candidates well00:02
Quality Care nurses its profits to a healthy pounds 2m00:02
Israel arrests Hamas military squad00:02
Letter: Labour policies for the future00:02
Allies give Iraq 48-hour ultimatum00:02
TELEVISION / Your name in lights00:02
Letter: Pluralism and fair play in Kenyan elections00:02
Russia PM seeks to 'regulate' reforms00:02
Football: Coca-Cola Cup: Blackburn overcome Shearer injury00:02
Sport in short: Skiing00:02
Sport in short: Ice Hockey00:02
Education: They said I was useless, but look at me now: My essays were a write-off; today I'm a writer00:02
Motor Racing: Mansell TV deal in fresh focus00:02
Kinkel poised to oust leadership rivals00:02
Hurd upbeat in Argentina00:02
Four IRA bombs explode in London00:02
Wicked wit and brutal honesty00:02
TELEVISION / Statistics00:02
Airman jailed for pounds 19m fire00:02
Anniversaries00:02
Hope lives in cold city of dreams: Thoughts of home sustain exiled Palestinians sure of a return to Israel, writes Robert Fisk from Marj al-Zohour