Welcome to London Tonight Tonight.

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


19.10.09

London Tonight Tonight

Hello. Hope you had a great weekend. For me it was a rock n' roll mix of home made pizzas, ten pin bowling, pop corn and Madagascar 2. Brilliant, but a bit more sleep might have been nice, kids! A quick congrats to Jenson Button - a fantastic achievement to win the F1 World Championship. He may regret that awful rendition of 'We are the Champions', as he crossed the finish line, though!?

On the show tonight...more on the story of a doctor found guilty of attempting to spike his lover's drinks to make her miscarry. Married father of two, Edward Erin, from Kensington was found guilty at the Old Bailey this afternoon of attempting to spike his lover's coffee and orange juice. His mistress and former secretary, Bella Prowse, fell pregnant during their affair, but when she refused to have an abortion, Erin crushed up drugs and laced her drinks in the hope that she would lose the baby. She went on to have a healthy little boy. Erin will be sentenced at a later date.

Also coming up: a leading engineer has backed plans by Boris Johnson for an airport in the Thames Estuary and depressing news of a sharp rise in burglaries in the capital. We'll also report on plans to turn Battersea Power Station into thousands of homes, offices, shops and restaurants.

Next, a story that seems to be following me around today - on the radio as I got ready for work, in the paper on the train in and now on tonight's programme. That's not unusual as you try to keep across the news throughout the day, but every so often you hear an interview or read an article that stops you in your tracks. That was the case today with the story of Katie Piper. A former model and tv presenter, Katie was left fighting for her life after sulphuric acid was thrown in her face by the accomplice of a man who had previously violently raped and beaten her. She was left to rebuild her life while doctors used pioneering techniques to literally rebuild her face. She spoke eloquently on the radio this morning about her ordeal and how, while she was recovering in hospital and unable to speak, she wrote her parents a note asking them to end her life, such was her despair. Now, thirty operations later, she says she likes her new face even more than the old one because it means so much to her. Sally Rourke has been to meet Katie, who waived her right to anonymity so she could thank the surgeons at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Joining us in the studio later - Esther Rantzen. In the wake of the MPs' expenses scandal, she recently announced she's going to stand for parliament as an independent candidate for Luton South (the seat that will be vacated by gardening enthusiast Margaret Moran at the next election). Now, I think I speak for most of us when I say that the MPs' expenses scandal has left us all pretty livid and you have to admire anyone who's is willing to put themselves out there rather than just chunter about it over their cornflakes every morning, like I do. But there comes a point after announcing you're going to stand for parliament that you have to actually lay out the nitty gritty of the platform upon which you intend to do it - and that time has come for Esther.

Showbiz - and embarrassingly we have a really popular guest on the show, whose work I am not at all familiar with. After doing a quick internet search it seems that in folk and blues circles 'Seasick' Steve Wold is a bit of an icon. The Californian bluesman spent his working life as a farm hand, a funfair worker and busker, among other things, but found fame after moving to London in his 60's. Tonight he's playing the The Lexington, but took time out to talk to Sangeeta Kandola. I can only apologise for my ignorance. If it's any consolation, I've just spent half an hour trying to (legally) download some of his music on to my phone to experience on the journey home later...no joy as yet though.

See you at six, providing I haven't crashed the whole ITN computer system with 18 attempted downloads of Seasick's new album!

Matt and Katie.

Weather blog

 
Good evening,
 
I decided to make the most of today's dry weather (it's not going to last) & walk from my morning office near the Houses of Parliament to my afternoon office in Holborn. I won't bore you with the reasons for this peripatetic lifestyle but it provides a great opportunity to keep fit & get to know the city even better. It was very pleasant as I walked along the river. The streets were busy without being crowded & London was looking good. Up ahead I noticed a blue flashing light & as I approached it became clear that the police had pulled over a van driver. It all looked very amicable. The van driver & two police officers were talking & smiling while two other officers were standing next to the police vehicle & a final two policemen were examining the van. There hadn't been a crash. Nobody else (pedestrian/cyclist/etc) was involved & without wanting to rubberneck, it was difficult to establish what was going on. I did notice one rather bizarre detail, however. All the police officers were wearing gloves. Not unusual in itself you may think, but these were latex gloves. And not standard issue medical ones but eyecatching bright blue latex gloves. As blue as the Aegean sea in August. It's an image that will stay with me for a while because it struck me as so odd. There's no doubt an entirely reasonable explanation, but if I'm honest I'm not really interested. I'm happy to savour the Python-esque scene & leave logic to one side.
 
Stronger winds with rain later tomorrow & then a mixture of sunshine & showers.
 
Hope to see you later,
 
Robin