On the programme tonight we have the fascinating story of David Barry who was attacked by a gang wielding hammers. He suffered horrific injuries with one doctor describing them as the worst he'd ever seen on a victim who had survived. But, just six weeks later, his appearance has been transformed thanks to the astonishing skills of surgeons at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel. The task, put simply, was to rebuild his head and there are astonishing 3-D X-rays of exactly how bad David's injuries were.
Also tonight, we'll mark the start of London Fashion week. But, the most breathtaking story of the day for me, is this one...
A spate of thefts in Middlesex have cost one man £200,000. So, what was stolen? His diamond collection? Rare art? His fleet of Ferraris? No...some pigeons. Elite racing pigeons, I'll grant you, but pigeons nonetheless. It's big business apparently with the most expensive bought in Britain costing £106,000. A hundred and six thousand pounds???!!!!! More later.
James King's in to talk movies and there are two Oscar nominees in action this week with Stanley Tucci nominated for his role in 'The Lovely Bones' and Jeff Bridges for his part in 'Crazy Heart'. Bridges plays a washed up country singer who finds love late in life while Tucci plays the creepy next door neighbor in Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's best selling book. James will tell us if they're nominations are deserved.
And, staying with the movie theme, actor James Purefoy joins us in the studio later. You might know him for his role as Edward, the Black Prince in 'A Knight's Tale' with Heath Ledger or, more recently, as Mark Antony in the beeb series, 'Rome'. Now he's playing the lead role in the new action movie, 'Soloman Kane' - a sword swinging, pact-with-the-devil-making, justice metering, medieval-type marauding his way around the...er...West Country? Apparently James thinks it's about time we had a West Country action hero which gives me hope, I must say. My accent's West Country-ish. Not sure it's going to catch on though. Do you remember David Prowse? He was the guy inside the Darth Vader suit in 'Star Wars' - he was from the West Country. Can you imagine what it would have been like if George Lucas hadn't dubbed his voice with the sinister growlings of James Earl Jones? I'm not sure Vader would have become one of the most infamous badies in cinema history if he'd have uttered the immortal words, "Luke, I aaam your faaaaaaatherrrr" in his glorious Gloucestershire twang?
Anyway - people in glass houses and all that...
See you between six and haaaaalf paaaaast. Matt and Nina
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Good evening,
Wednesday was glorious. The sun shone all day (there was even a little warmth in it) & there were very few clouds. The winds were light & there was almost a feeling of Spring in the air. This, of course, was wishful thinking because it all went belly up yesterday & we were reminded that we are still in the depths of Winter. I think that's why I find this part of the year so challenging; I want a day of tepid sun & no rain to be followed by another & then another, getting warmer all the while....
It's fair to say that we've had quite a harsh winter so far, in fact I read somewhere that it's been the coldest February for 25 years & looking at the charts there's no sign of an improvement in temperatures over the next few days, so the onset of Spring remains elusive. Frustrating, but there's nothing we can do other than accept it & make sure that when conditions do finally improve we make the most of it....
Hope to see you later,
Robin.
