TV review

IF you thought sleeping next to a snorer was bad, then think again. Jackie Mallon's husband, Hugh, is so disturbed by his dreams that he often lashes out in his sleep, leaving her terrified that she'll get hurt.

Alan Wheatley regularly sleepwalks and dismantles and reassembles the bedroom blinds, much to the bemusement of his wife.

Simon Hall regularly sits up in bed and screams "baby, baby baby" in a high-pitched voice, while toddler Amy Owers stops being the perfect child and turns into a monster while asleep.

For someone who could sleep on a washing line and regularly gets nine hours uninterrupted pleasant dreaming time, Nights From Hell was a revelation.

Experts tried to explain what goes on in these people's heads when they are asleep but I was more interested in the way their partners reacted - talk about sleeping with the enemy.

The funniest reaction came from the partner of nursery nurse Alex Brownswell. We saw Alex getting up in the night, looking for a child behind the curtains and using language Gordon Ramsay would be proud of.

And what did her partner do? Hardly stirring, he glared at her before turning over and putting his head under the duvet and going back to sleep.

But maybe he had the right idea - it is widely believed it can be dangerous to try to wake a sleepwalker - a fact which was used as defence in an unusual murder case detailed on the show.

American Scott Falater claimed he was asleep when he stabbed and drowned his wife and said he was not even awake when he tried to cover his tracks by washing himself and hiding his clothes.

His explanation was rejected by the jury and he was jailed but watching what some people get up to in the night, you can understand why the case gripped America's imagination.

So next time your partner steals the duvet, snores and tries to roll you out of bed, just be grateful that's all they're up to.

Roland Gift and the Fine Young Cannibals, Billingham Forum

MAYBE he knew something we didn't, but Roland Gift was convinced he'd be back at the Forum. "This is my first time in Billingham," he said. "And the last", came the tongue-in-cheek reply from the seats.

He disagreed, of course. As for the audience, whether they were passing comment on Billingham's grey concrete surrounds or the fact that the Forum is due to close was unclear.

With Gift rattling through a mixture of FYC classics and newer songs, this was certainly value for money for a remarkably mixed crowd, which ranged in age from about 30 to somewhere near 70.

Although he's older and is no longer touring with the original Cannibals - including the spaghetti-legged guitarist - the soulful voice is still there with its wonderfully distinctive richness.

Gift's natural charisma also shines through on stage and he clearly looked as though he was enjoying himself.

Part way through the set, the more enthusiastic female members of the audience were busily imploring him to shed some clothes, although he refused to do so.

A brief encore at the end included a rousing version of Elvis's Suspicious Minds, which seemed a good way to round things off.

Filtering out afterwards, one theatregoer was heard to say that it was better than Tony Hadley, presumably referring to the Spandau Ballet lead singer. Plenty there would have given him that.

Stuart Arnold