Tonight we say farewell to another local English programme. It is not long since ATV dumped the popular children's Tube Time. Now we are to lose Citylife (Pearl, 8pm). The lifestyle programme hasn't exactly been great television, as Maria Chen's rather silly romp around Switzerland in search of a mystery lover demonstrated last week. This was, in fact, nothing more than thinly disguised advertorial for Swiss watches. Audiences deserve better. A spokesperson says the programme is being axed to give the channel a new look. From next week, the superior news programme the Pearl Report will be shown at this time. This is understandable, but we will still miss the effervescent Jacqui Stafford who has sparkled in her interviews and antics in the face of the show's weak concept. Maria, meanwhile, is moving over to Jade. We will miss Pearl Entertainment (Pearl 7.58pm) even less, which has provided little more information on forthcoming programmes than we have already seen in umptine trailers. Citylife bows out on a strong note. Its main guest tonight is cinematographer, Chris Doyle, otherwise known as Du Kefeng. The ex-surfie from Sydney has long embraced Hong Kong as home, and built his astonishing career here. He is just back from the Cannes Film Festival, where his directorial debut, Away With Words, was screened in the Un Certain Regard section. Doyle is, first and foremost, the region's most prized cameramen, working with the likes of Chen Kaige and Wong Kar-wai and now sought after in America. Later the show comes to its grand finale, with highlights from the last 204 episodes. If Citylife looked somewhat homemade, so does Savoir Faire: The Markets (World, 8.30pm). I am not sure how the show's host and creator Nik Manojlovich has pulled this series off and persuaded the TV markets to buy it. The problem in this episode is that Nik presents himself as an expert on food and lifestyles, and then asks stupid questions, such as what to do with bread, as if he doesn't know the answers. Then there is the sheer arrogance. The choicest moment in tonight's programme is when he says he keeps fruit ready-washed in the fridge, in preparation for friends who often visit 'to watch repeat episodes of Savoir Faire.' More irritating is the way he refers to women as cuties. The market he visits is as sanitised as his yuppy home. It has none of the raw colour and life of Wan Chai. He is shopping for the several occasions he is to host. But it is such a staged performance. He takes home a huge quantity of meat and exotic breads but only a token two kilogram bag of rice that would go nowhere in a party, and rather dull selection of fruit for fruit salad. Compared with Delia Smith, or the Irish-based duo Paul and Jeanne Rankin, this guy has little real savoir faire. You will, though, learn how to store lettuces properly.
