LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT

Good Afternoon to you...

So, I was on duty reading the late last night - sitting there in the studio, gathering my thoughts you know, practising reading out loud - when the music starts, I look up and.... the 'autocue' says nothing more than 'autocue' on it. It's what Sir Alex Ferguson might call 'squeaky bum time'. Anyway, I don't want to make a drama out of a crisis - we got through the first lead in, reading from the scripts and the presenter's friend was up and running after that. But I've just been told this afternoon that a new chap was operating the kit downstairs in the News at Ten studio and when News at Ten finished, he, er... just switched the whole thing off. Two things strike me ahead of this evening's programme - I must double check I've got my paper scripts with me and hope he's got the evening off.

Now, onto what we have in the programme.

The verdict on who was responsible for the Potters Bar rail crash - and the coroner's ominous warning to rail-users.

The Mayor's 'on yer bike' campaign now comes complete with thousands of bikes to rent and special places to park them.

A Romanian woman has been convicted of all sorts of charges today after getting a group of children to beg for money in London.

Lucy Cotter has been speaking to the new boy band tipped to top the singles chart this weekend. Get screaming girls, for 'The Wanted'.

And, my favourite story of the day. At a time when we're all being told that local council's will have to watch their spending very carefully, East Hertfordshire council has just stumped up almost £6,000 for an exercise park. For dogs. Think on, my friends, think on.

See you at six,

Ben & Lucy

_______

Good evening,


I have a squeaky shoe.

It's an unremarkable fact, I know, & I imagine I'm not alone. Most of the time I don't give it any thought but every now & then I find it acutely embarrassing.

I was in good time for my train this morning & having got my paper I started the walk to the far end of the platform in order to be in the front carriage for a speedy exit at Waterloo. The sky was blue (less of that over the next few days as sunny spells & scattered showers are on the menu), the birds were singing & my fellow commuters were enjoying quiet cups of coffee. And then I started my walk. The calm was soon punctuated by angry squeaking that seemed to get louder with each step I took. I tried to alter my gait to minimise the noise but people continued to look up from their papers & watch, frowning, as I half limped half minced my way down the platform, cheeks burning all the while.

This was 8 hours ago & I still get a hot flush when I think about it.

Hope to see you later. Listen out for the squeak that will herald my arrival in the studio.


Robin.

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT

Good Afternoon to you...

We've had a young lady, Poppy, in on work-experience all this week. Now, we get quite a few people coming through looking to see how it all works, wondering whether they might want to help it work in their future career. I certainly did my fair share - quite a few years ago now - but I did my fair share. Anyway, the young people who come in tend to fall into a number of categories. There are those who frankly would rather be doing extra maths - here only because someone else thought it was a good idea. There are those who leave you wondering how they dress themselves in the morning. And there are those who get stuck in, ask lots of questions and add to the general team effort. Poppy's in a category of her own - she brought in home-made cakes today. It's a first. She can come again.

Right, with a mouthful of fluffy-wuffy fairy cake, let's look at today's stories:

Our guest tonight is the astonishingly successful producer/performer Mark Ronson. We'll ask him about his new album and working with Duran Duran on their new album.

Lucy's also been chatting with the X-factor runner-up, Olly Murs, about his first single.

We'll be reporting on the new network of cycle highways that's about to spread out across the capital, and the controversial introduction of a parking fee for motorcyclists in parts of the capital - motorcylists failed in a legal bid to scrap it today.

Marcus Powell has the latest on the £5 million fine imposed on the five companies responsible for the Buncefield explosion 5 years ago - the families who live nearby are, shall we say, less than impressed.

Ronke's job is to tell us about the punishment handed out to one of the doctors involved in the Baby P scandal.

While Sharon Thomas has been talking to the father of a marine, Matthew Harrison, who was killed in Afghanistan this week. I'm sure she won't mind me saying that the composure and generosity of spirit shown by Brian Harrison today left her in awe.

We'll hear from him - and cover the rest of the day's news - at six.

Ben & Lucy

___

It wasn't a good start to the day today. The trains were up the spout due to a power failure somewhere along the line meaning services were down to one an hour & the trains themselves were half the length they would normally be. The combination of lateness & overcrowding is not appealing & usually brings out the worst in people, but today everyone was remarkably well behaved & we all worked hard to make the best of a bad situation.
Perhaps it was just the knock-on effect of relief at escaping the brief shower (a left over from last night) that was pouring down as we whiled away the delay on the platform or maybe it was a general feeling of thank God it's Friday. Anyway I'm hopeful the train service will improve in much the same way the weather will (mainly fine & warm over the next few days) & that my journey home tonight will be punctual & uneventful.
Hope to see you later,
Robin.

LONDON TONIGHT

Good evening,
A couple of days ago I bumped into a tourist who was concentrating hard on taking the perfect photo of Big Ben. As I waited for him to get the perfect shot (I have to admit here that this is unusual behaviour for me as I'm generally late & stop for no-one; I suspect that there are many shots of the local attractions featuring a harassed looking bloke in a suit heading towards the tube) I noticed his armpits.
His shirt contained a crescent shaped section of netting in each armpit which is a design idea I've never seen before. I can't pretend it wasn't hideous but I guess it's immensely practical, especially in weather like this.
In fact with a warm night ahead of us tonight & conditions staying hot over the weekend I reckon we should all be wearing as much netting as possible. I will if you will.
Hope to see you later,
Robin.

******************

And Good Evening from me, too...

Im going to be honest. I don't remember wearing any clothing with any netting in the armpits. Or any of the body's creases. You should be grateful.

Now, the programme: We have got the sentencing of a fifteen year old murderer, a 'parents v council' row over a school's design, the memories of three Battle of Britain pilots and one proposed solution to the irritating people who leave their disgusting chewing gum stuck all over London - that's on the pavements, under chairs on windows. I mean really what's wrong with these people do they really think that the rest of us should have to work round the sticky ghastliness of their selfishness? I'd better stop there. Or I'll get told off.
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