Mark Bingham, as we know only too well, was instrumental in thwarting 9/11 terrorists intent on crashing a hijacked plane into Washington DC, and payed for his bravery with his life.

Aged 31, Bingham was a keen rugby player and a member of the gay rugby union team, the San Francisco Fog. In 2002 a tournament was established in his honour, The Bingham Cup. As his mother observes, it was significant that two rugby players, a quarterback and a basketball player brought down the plane: “They used the skills they learned in the field of competition,” she said.

Eight teams competed in the first Bingham Cup, which has since been held every two years in London (2004), New York (2006) and last month in Dublin. This documentary focuses on the Fog, and Sydney’s Convicts, as they compete for the 2006 Cup.

Two themes characterise teams on either side of the Pacific. One is that gay athletes, frequently derided by homophobic sportsmen as somehow less masculine, can muck in and give as good as they get. There’s no apologies as bones are broken and bodies are bowled over.

The other is a sense of belonging, and of how team spirit builds self-esteem amongst disparate men. Convicts winger Luke Carpenter says he had mistrusted men since he was abused as a teenager. One man met his partner while taking one for the team, and another was motivated to come out to his father. The Fog even has a gay woman on its side.

There are some inspiring scenes here brimming with affirmation, guts and glory. You’ll see practice matches, fundraisers (including a pixellated strip in a Sydney bar) and a joyous shot of some Convicts kicking a footy across the traffic on a New York street. Oi, oi, oi!

Loosely narrating the story is Ian Roberts, whose vanguard step of coming out at the top of his game is unmatched in Australia. Here, his delivery style needs a little more direction and, particularly, clarity. Similarly, there are some audio inconsistencies in the film’s on-field video grabs. But these are small quibbles; this is, after all, a feelgood tale.

Now contested by 32 teams from countries including the UK, Canada and France, the Bingham Cup looks set for a glorious future in memory of a fallen hero. It’s surely only a matter of time before Sydney is host. Go Convicts!

Walk Like a Man airs 7:30pm Tuesday on SBS.

TV Guide

FRIDAY 18
[ABC2/9:30pm] The Graham Norton Show. New Series. Openly gay, openly silly Graham Norton comes to ABC2 with new episodes of his frivolous talk show. Tonight expect Tony Curtis and Kevin Bacon, and in weeks to come Dawn French, Susan Sarandon, Dame Edna, Catherine Tate, Gordon Ramsay and Joan Rivers.

SUNDAY 20
[Seven/6:30pm] Special: ABBA: The Mamma Mia! Story. Here we go again. My my, how can you resist more dubious specials that tease with their behind-the-scenes clips, interviews with Meryl Streep (what else can she say that we haven’t already heard?) audition footage and ‘contributions from celebrity fans including Kylie Minogue, Geri Halliwell and Dawn French’. I’m beginning to think Agnetha was right...

[ABC1/7:30pm] Doctor Who. This week the squid-like Ood are back, and while it’s all very entertaining I’m still waiting for the defining ‘fourth’ series knockout episode. But I have faith. Look out for Tim McInnerny (Blackadder, Spooks, Line of Beauty). The ABC is also screening Doctor Who: Confidential Cutdown, an edited making-of with cast and writer interviews.

[MovieExtra/9:00pm] The L Word. Cybill Shepherd is really, and I mean really throwing herself into this role of a middle-aged woman exploring her sexuality. She races Alice around the bedroom like a rabid tiger, and wants to experiment with all her new found positions as detailed in a How To book. Cunnilingus? Analingus? This is Cybillingus.

[ABC1/10:10pm] Compass. Meet a former Anglican minister, married with six children but granted permission by the Pope to be ordained a Catholic priest. 17,000 Catholics and 167 priests called for an end to compulsory celibacy and a move towards ordaining married men. Let’s not end the debate there, hey, Benny boy?

MONDAY 21
[TEN/7:00pm] Big Brother. Final. And they mean final! Is anyone surprised? This season will be memorable for bullying, Kyle Sandilands, celebrity stunts, a redneck nanna and viewer fatigue. TEN could not reinvent the format and Gretel Killeen has emerged looking like a cat that swallowed the canary. ‘Kiss of Death’ Jackie O strikes again.

[Bio/8:30pm] The Helpmann Awards. LIVE. Jonathan Biggins hosts the Aussie Tony Awards direct from Sydney’s Lyric Theatre. Features the casts of Phantom, Billy Elliot and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

[SBS/9:00pm] South Park: The Early Years. ‘Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat’: a big gay repeat.
[Seven/11:30pm] 30 Rock. Edie Falco (The Sopranos) has a rollicking time starting a clandestine affair with Alec Baldwin. Poor old Tina Fey, meanwhile, thinks her neighbours are terrorists. There’s a cute twist in that tail for TV fans which I can’t possibly divulge.

TUESDAY 22
[FOX8/8:30pm] The Best Years. Premiere. Rather routine college soap made in Canada, set in Massachusetts. One of the characters running a bar, however, will be both bisexual and HIV positive.

WEDNESDAY 23
[Nine/7:30pm] Bert’s 70th Birthday. There’s nothing like a bit of Moonface madness to encapsulate everything that is right and wrong with Australian entertainment. Still, the guest list should interest some of you: Hugh Jackman, Olivia Newton-John, Michael Buble, Joan Rivers, k.d. lang, Julian Clary, Julia Morris and Anthony Callea. Happy camp birthday, Bert, you’re a legend!

NB: The GLAAD Awards previewed in last week’s MCV did not air as scheduled due to music rights issues. Arena advises the program will not be rescheduled. Boo!

www.tvtonight.com.au

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