At the top of the programme tonight, we have the truely sad story of a five week old premature baby who died at Great Ormond Street Hospital following a series of blunders. Poppy Davies was born on Christmas Eve last year just 24 weeks into her mum's pregnancy. But in January, after she was recovering from a routine operation, a trainee nurse with just three weeks experience in the neonatal unit failed to set up the equipment properly. Poppy died of a glucose overdose on the first of February. Marcus Powell will have the full story for us later.
Now, we newsy types are often accused of giving teenagers a bad name. We're told we cover knife crime, gun crime, gang culture and ASBO's ad-infinitum, but rarely cover stories that show young people in a positive light. I don't happen to agree, I think we do plenty of positive stories on LT but I would say that, wouldn't I? Either way, The "Spirit of London" awards have been designed to mark the achievements of teenagers and young people from various walks of life in the capital and to celebrate some inspirational young role models. The judging panel comprises of an eclectic mix of people from the worlds of sport, music and politics and also include role models like Richard Taylor, father of Damilola Taylor. What's clear is that the judges have an incredibly difficult job ahead of the awards at the end of November. Tonight, we highlight one of the contenders, a really talented young musician.
Friday night is movie night and James King is here to review 'An Education', after we had screen writer Nick Hornby on the show on Monday. I went to the press screening with James earlier in the week, so I'm interested to find out if his opinion differs from mine. In case you missed Nick Hornby, the film is set in the early 60's and charts the romance between a 16-year-old Oxford hopeful, Jenny, and her significantly older suiter, David. I really enjoyed it, but James is the expert! One tip: if you ever find yourself in a press screening for a film don't try and leave before the end credits have completely finished...I did and nearly didn't make it out of there alive!
Also tonight, Sangeeta Kandola has fulfilled an ambition of mine by going to Ronnie Scott's jazz club in Soho. Jazz is a bit like musical Marmite, but I'm firmly on the 'love it' side and Ronnie Scott's is, quite simply, a iconic musical venue. One of the oldest jazz clubs in the world, Ronnie's has been thrilling audiences (although not always at the same location) for half a century. You can tell as much about the club's reputation by the list of people who've been in the audience over the years, as you can by the list of performers. On stage, the biggest names in music, not just jazz, have played there from Miles Davis, Stan Getz and Nina Simone to Nat 'King' Cole, Mark Knopfler and Eric Clapton. In the crowd, well, everyone from Judy Garland to The Beatles, over the years. No doubt, Ronnie Scott's will be celebrating their 50th birthday in style and Sangeeta never likes to miss out a party!
And...MORE PUMPKINS! The culmination of our week long search for London's best pumpkin carver today sees Nick Thatcher despatched to the one we deem the best. Just so that you know, this wasn't an official competition, merely a bit of fun and Katie, Nina and I have just come out of a darkened room having gone through the hundreds of pictures you've sent in. It took a while to come to agreement, so Nick has been holed up at a service station somewhere in the capital for several hours waiting with baited breath. Well, the decision's been made so now he's on en route to the winner's house. Let's hope you're in!
See you at Six
Matt and Nina
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