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Even the most dedicated Dallas fan is not likely to stay glued to the TV set when his or her Oric is screening this version of the program. The menace of JR is somehow lost when all you get is the odd typed mention of him.

The object of each episode is to make enough money drilling oil to be able to fight off Euing (or at least that's the way the game spells it!) Associates and eventually take it over.

Money is made by investing in oil wells and then developing them.

In the best tradition of the TV soap opera, this is largely a rehash of an old theme, with just a dash of something new. The old theme is that of the 'Kingdom' game: you have to manage resources wisely - don't go too mad and don't be too miserly.

A touch of new is a map showing little graphics which indicate the current state of each oil well.

They start as empty plots of land and are developed into wells, refineries and finally pipelines. All the time their production value is rising, unless of course God or the government should choose to interfere.

Most of the game is spent keying-in two letters (although the program insists on calling them numbers) which give the co-ordinates of each well on the map. These say which well is to be moved/drilled/developed/piped. The cost of doing each of these is subtracted from the company balance sheet shown on the right hand side of the screen. Profits are added to it.

If the finances are handled badly or lots of dry wells are dug, good old JR sends a Telex saying he is taking over your company. If you do well you get to send him one.

Gone is the double dealing and corruption we used to know in Dallas.

I pressed a few odd keys to see what they do. Some land you back in the middle of a huge Basic program, others muck up the screen display, a few cost money and sometimes you even get to cheat.

The viewing figures for this version of the TV series are likely to plummet after the first few episodes.