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This is the official website of London Tonight, on ITV1 in London and the South East every weeknight at 6pm.


8.10.09

London Tonight Tonight

Afternoon all.

Lots to come tonight including: the start of a court case at the Old Bailey into the disappearance of a 15-year-old girl ten years ago. It's alleged that Tulay Goren was murdered by her father and two uncles in a so-called 'honour killing' after entering into a relationship with an older man. The men deny murder and also deny conspiracy to murder her boyfriend, Halil Unal. Tulay hasn't been seen alive since January 1999 and her body has never been found and now, a decade after the case was first investigated, the girl's mother is preparing to give evidence for the prosecution.

Also on the programme later: news of how the Government could end up in court and be slapped with unlimited fines if the River Thames isn't drastically cleaned up. The European Commission could take action over the amount of sewage pumped into the river on a daily basis. Apparently only five of the 6 thousand or so rivers in England and Wales are deemed clean enough according to a report by the Environment Agency, despite dramatic improvements and millions of pounds invested over the past ten years. The Government - which of course ultimately means us - could end up having to fork out a fortune in fines if 2015 targets aren't met. Phil Bayles, will be up to his wellies in...water...later on.

In the studio tonight - Olympic heavyweight boxing champ Audley Harrison, but he's not in to promote his next fight or to plug a book. Instead he's in talk about post-natal depression. Harrison was due to fight Reading's Michael Sprott at the Prizefighter series on Friday, but Sprott withdrew because his sister tragically committed suicide after suffering from the illness. Now, the fighters have come together to promote a new PND charity.

And none other than Shakespearean actor and Hollywood A-lister Patrick Stewart's on the show after talking to our very own A-List newshound Murray Dron. The more cultured among you probably know Mr Stewart best for his roles with the RSC - but for me, his star turns as the follically challenged Professor 'X' in the 'X-Men' movies and as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in 'Strar Trek' make him a bit of a Sci-Fi legend in my book. His latest mission? To boldly visit a group of enterprising London school children to give them a rare insight into his career.

Finally, how's this for a story? A 13 year old girl has beaten off competition from seasoned farmers to claim first prize in a ploughing competition. That's it in a nutshell - so how many puns do you reckon Producer Neil has worked into the script so far? Well, he's been having a field day, I can tell you! Farmers left with furrowed brows? She knew she could carve up the field? Unearthed as a ploughing star of the future? All those and more at six by which time Katie and I hope to have our groove on for you and if not, well, we'll just plough on regardless!

Matt and Katie

Weather blog

Good evening,
 
The neighbour who pumps water out of the river to irrigate his garden (remember? he's the one whose pump -operational noise of a coffee grinder crossed with an elderly vacuum cleaner- provided the soundtrack to our summer) evidently pays no heed to the weather forecast.
 
I don't take this personally, the media after all provide a huge daily selection of meteorological information. My mild irritation is not, therefore, fuelled by hurt feelings but by a degree of exasperation that prior to the last 3 days of accurately predicted leaden skies & outbreaks of rain, the pump had been on for 36 hours without a break. 2 days & 1 night of background mechanical buzzing which ultimately served very little purpose.
 
So as I huffed out with the dogs this morning enjoying the first blue sky since Sunday, I was grateful that our paths didn't cross obliging me to swallow my true feelings & offer a cheery (albeit tight lipped) 'Good morning'.
 
After a damp blip tomorrow afternoon things look pretty good for the weekend so there'll be a spring in my step again. Unless, of course, the pump is put back into service.
 
Hope to see you later,
 
Robin