London Tonight Tonight Tuesday 20th November

Good afternoon.

 

Car keys, left socks and mobile 'phones: I am always losing them or misplacing them. But, as I write, I am listening to the Chancellor of the Exchequer explain to the House of Commons how someone who works for him has lost or misplaced the personal and financial details of anywhere between 7 and 25 million people. And what makes it funnier, if it weren't so serious, is that it was lost .....    in the post.
A government, fit for the C21st that promised an "information super-highway"! You wouldn't trust them with changing a plug, would you?

They should all have gone to the Science Museum with Liz today: and the kids Liz met there would probably make a better fist of it than those little darlings that sit on the green leather benches of Westminster. Liz and the kiddies get all touchy feely at 6, in the interests of science.

Not a lot of science involved in the Congestion Charge: cameras spot you going in: if you pay, cool. If you don't, they fine you and fine you big. They banked a pretty £95 million in the last period from goons like me who occasionally forget to pay in time. Well, one of our guests tonight has the answer, we think. If you already have a GPS then your resistance  will be low. Tune in and you may hear something to your advantage. Unless you are the Mayor.
He can't tune in, as it happens, because he is still in India. And he has gone underground. Not politically, but physically. We reveal what he found in the dark, dank depths of  Delhi. Harris is our man with the teeming masses.

Child prodigies come and go: they have a sort of built in obsolescence like light-bulbs and iPods. Shirely Temple went on to be a UN Amdassador, but so did Geri Halliwell so perhaps that's irrelevant. Michael Portillo and Martyn Lewis were in TV ads as children and then had very successful careers elsewhere.

So what of Freddie Highmore? Well, at the ripe old age of 15 he has already been there and done it at the peak of Hollywood - egged on by no less a star than Johnny Depp. He started at 7 so, for more than half his life, he has been a successful actor and he is still 3 years short of voting, a year short of joing the army, and 3 years short of going, alone, to one of the horrid, naughty, violent films the big boys make. Like Mr. Depp. Freddie, in good boy mode, joins us at 6 to talk about his latest showing on the silver screen.

And , all over London, the lights are going on: we shall not see them off again in this year's lifetime. 

Tonight, it's Regent Street and there is science involved, it seems. Something to do with motion, movement or maybe magic - I don't know but nor, I fear, did the luminously lovely Faye when she attempted to explain it to us at our planning meeting. But she was very excited and assured us Glen had O level physics. Or GCSE. Or CSE. Perhaps a Scout Badge?

 

See you at 6.
Alastair & Katie

 

London Tonight Tonight Monday 19th November

Good afternoon.
Many of you have often expressed the view when we have invited e-mails that you would like Ken Livingstone to "get lost" or, at least, "go away". He has done the latter but, according to Simon Harris, not yet the former. Both men are in India - Simon, at modest cost to our coverage budget with his camera-man, and Ken at a cost of £750,000 with a big retinue.
We just wondered why and whether it was worth it. So, we are exploring that all this week for he, the Mayor, is there all this week. Simon is the man with the calculator and sends his first electronic postcard at 6.

When I studied economics, you always began an essay with the Latin words ceteris paribus which mean "all things being equal". They never are.
House prices can rise while house price inflation falls. It means the rate at which those prices are rising is falling.
Mud is a good comparator of clarity here but I know Louisa will shine a light through it all, and end up with really useful information for you.

How useful our next report is will depend on two things: 1 - are you a dog? 2 - do you have a dog you really love but who seems, currently, unloved?
I like Gucci; Dan "The delicious Director" thought he used Chanel but then remembered he was a Hermes man; Faye "for she is gorgeous" wears Bulgari; Katie, naturally stunningly alluring, nevertheless favours just a touch of  Chanel Crystal.
Back to the canine connection - tonight, Piers reports on perfume for pooches.
Honest.
No "I smell a rat" gags thank you: it is true. He'll be dabbing his wrists at 6 for what The Boss said was "The most ridiculous story, ever".

A theme I warm to in conclusion: before they were the Beatles and, I think, before they were even the Quarrymen, the Beatles won a talent competition. They went on to become chart-topping recording artists and then became actors in Help! and A Hard Day's Night.
Elvis was also a chart-topper and then actor but, unlike two of the Beatles, neither got shot nor developed cancer: he just got very fat and died on a toilet.
Richard Fleeshman has a different chronology: began life as an actor who went on to win a talent contest and now wants to become a recording star. He joins us tonight amid some interesting pre-judgments: "A dreamboat", "He's not bad" and "Better than expected". Finally, and most troubling ,given one of his offerings is 'Sitting on the dock of the bay', "Otis Redding needn't turn in his grave".
I am sure he is very good but you can be the judges when he pops in off The Street at 6.

 Robin, naturally fragrant, wants me to add my wellies to my vests - an ominous warning as I prepare my winter wardrobe.

See you at 6 - I smell a success.

Alastair & Katie

 

London Tonight Tonight Friday 16th November

Good afternoon.
A taxi driver just told me he watched us on the news "all the time". Worrying, from a man plying his trade at 30mph but a nice thought. He said I made lots of "gestures" which he liked... well, tonight I may be making quite a few angry gestures. I might "wave a fist" at whoever "dognapped" Ruby, the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Ruby looks after her master, a young boy who suffers from epileptic seizures. Ruby warns the lads parents of an impending attack and even helps keep the kid's head up when he is having convulsions. So, give the dog back, please. Robin is following all leads.

 

I may be inclined to give the "thumbs up", however, to the Met who have called a Gang Warfare Summit in the wake of the 23rd shooting of a young Londoner. We also talk to the friends of the young victim. Ronke is our shoulder to cry on.

 

Another "fist shaker", however, in Carshalton where yobs have been persistently fire-bombing an Indian family's home and shop. The cops were invited in and the "scroats" (Faye's inelegant yet strangely accurate word, not mine) fire-bombed the family car when no-one was looking! Glen, clad in asbestos, heads south-west for you.

 

Rumours circulated that Amy Winehouse had died. She hasn't. She is on her way to Glasgow. But, after last night's performance, she may give Glasgow audiences a near-death experience unless she's sorted herself out.
Very much alive and well and gaining a "double-thumbs-up" from most of the collective, however, is Rick Astley.
No?
You, like me, scouring the memory discs?
Well, suffice to say that when we played his back-tracks, the control room all started bopping. You will remember and you will enjoy.

 

One thumb up and one down for our movies, me thinks, though James may take a different view. The thoughts of the Master on American Gangster (Yo!) and Brick Lane (No!) at 6.

 

Robin on why I was right to check out where I had put my vests away, last winter, and the papers with, I suspect, the Amy Winehouse rumours: that  should round if off nicely.

 

Romilly joins me tonight and, despite my saying I was a more regular presenter than her, and that she has had lots of coverage with her brilliant reports from the Princess Diana inquest, she insists on doing What Not To Miss.
I think she's been talking to Salma.
It is a conspiracy that has earned an angry gesture not even my new taxi-driver friend will like.

 

See you at 6 by which time I hope we will be talking to each other.

 

Alastair and Romilly. 

 

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday 14th November

Good afternoon.
We should have put the cameras in our planning meeting today.
We had a right old row  -  no other way of describing it - about poverty.
"Bong": 41% of London children live in poverty. Now what image does that conjure up in your mind? The author is mad, can't count, is a revolutionary, anarcho-syndicalist or .....  a sound judge of social deprivation in Blair-Brown's Britain?
And what do we mean by poverty? Absolute poverty, relative poverty, or social exclusion?
Before you switch channels and enjoy a cartoon, let me tell you this: I was among the doubting Thomas brigade until I saw Emma's report. Two "clients" of the Salvation Army in the 2007 London we love and admire, that will make your toes curl. Give us the chance and honour of shining a lttle light for you on something that will surprise, shock and I suspect sadden you.

 

Remember the MMR row? Measles, mumps and rubella? Lots of parents said over my dead body - bad choice of cliche, that.
The numbers of kids not getting the jab has jumped and medics are increasingly worried about the implications for the health of our little loved ones. Liz is our Florence Nightingale.

 

Phil went to Waterloo, Brussels and St Pancras all in the space of 18 hours. No duty frees these days but quite a tale and a record breaking run, to boot.  We've let him keep the green and red flags for having done so well.

 

Look out for a Red Ford Torino outside our studio turning into a three masted pirate ship as an icon of 70s TV turns into the rogue of J.M.Barrie's brilliant romp. It helped support Great Ormond Street Hospital for years so it is a good thing. And apart from the clothes and hair-styles, so was the TV show. All will become clear as we take you to never-never land - and I don't mean Hollywood.

 

We also have the fattest hedgehog in the world - George. You may have seem him in the papers but we have him live, with Robin.

 

I am very excited.

 

Alastair & Nina

London Tonight Tonight Tuesday 13th November

Good afternoon.
I want you to promise to watch tonight to witness the living proof that I am here. I so nearly wasn't or so nearly might not have been, just to get the grammar right.
I was verbally brutalised last night and threatened with legal and fiduciary sanction by the forces of locomotive oppression. My car was in the wrong place, for reasons too tedious to couple to the rest of this brief but meaningful fable: I dashed on to a train to "another place", wallet to the ready to pay the small difference in fare and clutching my expensive First Class annual season ticket: ( it was that or a holiday home on the outskirts of St. Tropez but I needed the ticket to get to work).
"Why aren't you sitting in First Class?" she bellowed at me.
"Couldn't see it", I said.
"Why didn't you tell the Guard and pay the difference before starting your journey" she harrassed.
"Didn't see him... or her", I said.
"I could charge you a penalty fare" she gloated. She didn't but I was incensed and not a little frightened.....
Big mistake.

Tonight we lead on the unequalled incompetence of our railway system!
It has taken them three times as long as the French to complete the high-speed channel link. They still haven't decided what to do about the now spare platforms at Waterloo.  And they say - despite guaranteed fare rises - that they haven't got the money to sort out more than one of five spare platforms by the end of next year. Phil is the fat controller for us and, if he was, it would be a darn-sight better set up.
By the way, listen out for the time of the final Eurostar departure from Waterloo: made us laugh.

 

No humour at all in our other big story: a childminder accused and convicted of shaking a baby to death faces three years in jail. She protests her innocence and has many voices claiming to support her. Many, though not all, annonymously. Juries are virtually omnipotent and the law is the law. But it is an intriguing story. Ronke wears the red gown and wig.

 

If you had a spare £450 m, you might turn all five ex-Eurostar platforms at Waterloo into functioning SWT platforms and have enough left for a coffee and a cookie or two. If, however, you run Croydon,  you might chose to spend it on turning your north Kent commuter dormitory into the home of Gaudi, the cradle of the 1992 Olympics, the greatest city of culture Europe has ever boasted. Why the burghers of Croydon have gone on a  'Barcelona' binge: Robin plays Norman Foster for you at 6.

 

Denzel Washington is just drop dead gorgeous and not a little gifted in the old acting department: Steve gets nervous with him but what is in a name? Rather a lot, as you'll see at 6.

 

Finally, it is thought to have cost Howard Carter his life, Lord Carnarvon his fortune and countless other people varying degrees of hyroglyphic horrors. The subject of this bizarre banter had a broken leg, his "manhood" was stolen and he was barely old enough to vote when he died: just as well ancient Egypt was an absolute monarchy, for him then!
Liz has a sneak preview of the absolute glory that is London's Tutankhamun - Take Two.
Polish your jewels and gild your nether-regions: our very own Nefertiti will take you to the world of Oris, Isis and all without a note from Oasis - sheer joy.

It's at O2 so the tube, DLR, a bus or a cab will get you there. If you live south west of London, all you have to do is get to Waterloo first - I'd take sandwiches and be prepared for a Tutankhamun-scale delay!

 

See you on the other side - at 6.

 

Alastair and Katie.

 

London Tonight Tonight Monday 12th November

Good afternnon.
Age is an odd thing. There are some things in life that you are judged not old enough to do but who decides? I took my kids to see the movie "Elizabeth" at the weekend and it was rated  12A.
That meant even the 9 year old could go, if I said so and if I was there. But he couldn't go on his own.
Seeing Mary Stewart decapitated would, I am sure, be as shocking whether I was there or not but, I suppose, at least I could explain it was't Auntie Mary but another odd woman with a Scots accent spurting blood all over the parquet flooring at Sterling Castle. And the actresss wasn't really dead. At which point, the whole purpose of the enterprise seemed as futile as Spain's attempt to restore Catholicism to C16th Europe. Oh well, the popcorn was good and so was the destruction of the Armada.

Incidently, my 22 year old daughter attended the 9 year old's birth when she was 12 because she wanted to, and the mid-wife and my wife agreed.
So here are our dilemmas tonight: should a four year old help deliver her little brother?
And is a 20 year old not yet old enough to work in a Gentlemen's Club?

On the first count, it gets even more interesting because the little boy was a staggering 14 weeks premature and the greatest imaginable dramas unfolded over a few hours that made Casualty look like Crossroads.
I swear you won't want to miss a frame and there won't be a dry eye in the house.
Robin has the towels and hot water.

On the second count, (the 20 year old in the Club), our director Dan blew his top at our meeting: "16 year old community support cops in Thames Valley and a 4 year old delivering a premature baby: why can't this young woman just be left to get on with the job she wants to do?", he fumed. I have cleaned up the language but I think you'll want to see and hear what drove the delightful Dan to distraction.  Phil is the man with the P45s.

 

London's had some great fires in it's time: 1666 in Pudding Lane was a cracker and got a Monument for its efforts.
1834 in Whitehall was seen from Brighton, and gave us the Westminster we know, and either love or hate, today.
So, how will Stratford in 2007 rate? It is a kind of movie makers dream come true: the pictures are spectacular but, in the real world, no one was hurt by the immediate blaze. But it was bang in the middle of the 2012 Olympic Park and slap next to the brand new Eurostar line. Coo, what a scorcher, as the Sun might say. Amazing pictures many of which you yourselves have sent us. Piers is the man in the fire-proofs with the big yellow hat.

 

Could the quality of the street furniture in your manor have an effect on property prices? Do you know what street furniture is? It is an intriguing connection of some real importance that you may wish to explore with us at 6.

Miss Derham, a star in my book by any measure, is about to star in the West End ..  alongside the man who gave Rising Damp some ethnic edge. We will be raising the curtain on this little piece of thespian intrigue: "Beginners, please!" also at 6.

 

And we end where we began, setting your senses on fire with pictures you provided us with: we will also risk doing the papers but will keep them away from matches, and we will have Robin with us to conjure up some heavy rain if it all gets a bit too warm for your tastes.

 

See you ar six.

 

Alastair "I'm 55 and can do what I want" Stewart  and Katie "Olivier Awards here I come" Derham.  

 

London Tonight Tonight Thursday 8th November

Good afternoon.
Lazarus here: great to be back!
Were I the type to wear a hat, I'd take it off and doff it to The Beautiful One who wrote so much more sensibly than me in my absense in her seductive efforts to get you to watch our offering.
But today she is so busy , torn between the relative merits of Sony and AppleMac laptops, that it falls to me to make that effort: no hat, less seductive, but equally sincere.

Two big stories wrestle for the top spot tonight: why it is a good day, potentially, for the Met and why it is a bad day, certainly, for the Boys and Girls in Blue and the man who currently leads them. What a choice.

 

The potential good news comes from those boffins of the the micro-forensic world. Throw your minds back 14 years: the words "institutionalised racism" may bring a chilling echo. It is what Lord MacPherson said New Scotland Yard laboured under in the wake of their failure to promptly and properly investigate the murder of Stephen Lawrence. Bad went to worse when they thought they had five young men in the frame only for the case to crumble. A costly private prosecution fared no better leaving Stephen's parents nearly broke  and, certainly,  still broken hearted. Now a fresh examination of the case and the evidence may have yielded some microscopically small, but legally immensely important facts. Harris is the man in the deer-stalker with the pipe and violin.

 

Next to that we have the words of Nick Hardwick, the Chair of the Independent Police Complaints Commission:  Sir Ian Blair "deliberately delayed" and obstructed the investigation of the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, the Brazlian electrician his men thought was a bomber. The GLA have already said Blair has to go, and despite the messages of support from the Home Secretary, Sir Ian may feel more like Martin Jol having listened to the early votes of confidence from the Spurs board! Marcus wields his truncheon for you at 6.

My first encounter with the whole green/environmental thing was when I was a student and we voted not to use plastic cups in the Union because they weren't biodegradable. What? You can't break them down to a chemical point at which they can once again return, cleanly, to the biosphere. So ban plastic bags, tax them or charge for them? It's a debate that rustles across London. Piers is the man with the shopping trolley.

With no unneccesary wrapping, on our pudding trolley we have a non-melting ice-rink at the Natural History Mueum (historic, perhaps, but hardly natural - surely?); plus, Miss Piggy on film and Homer Simpson in the studio. Just as well we are keeping them well apart or we might face the clatter of tiny, yellow trotters down the road a piece... though Ms Porker pledges her undying love to The Frog. "Huh", he wrote, with a toss of the head.

I've been to Dublin and not drunk Guiness, to Manchester and not got wet, and to the Lake District and not played Swallows and Amazons: I was working, honestly: just another time, another place.

Good to be back.

See you at 6.

Alastair & Katie

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday 7th November

Good Afternoon one and all -

Perhaps the most appropriate way to start the show tonight would be with a hefty fanfare and a 'Ta-Da'... For tonight, Ladies and Gentleman, we'll show you London's main Olympic stadium. Oh yes, you may have thought you know what it looked like from the corporate video that accompanied London's bid for the games... but that was just make-believe. Today the REAL design was unveiled. It'll cost (they say ) £500 million to build and it looks... well, we'll let you decide for yourselves - after Mr Harris has given you the full rundown.

The London Assembly decided today that it's time Sir Ian Blair stood down as Commissioner of the Met. Now, that in itself won't have him clearing out his desk (he said as much today) but it doesn't exactly help his PR, does it? And it might give the Metropolitan Police Authority ideas too. Anyway, Ms Wickham will report on the day's (rather heated) exchanges at City Hall.

Mr Hopkirk, meanwhile, has been finding out about a Police Community Support Officer who was badly injured after he was hit by a car as he investigated suspected drug-dealing in Plaistow. So, after a number of accusations that they haven't stepped in when some think they should have done... was this a case of a PCSO intervening when he shouldn't have? It's a new twist on a topical debate so make sure you watch so you know all the facts when you're mouthing off down the pub later on.

Speaking of mouthing off, we've got a **@*+** master of it on the show this evening. None other than Johnny Rotten. To the delight of many and despair of many more... the Sex Pistols are back.  Last week Mr Rotten threatened to attack a fan in LA. Interesting tactic. And it'll be interesting to see if Mr Hargrave emerges unscathed from his interview this afternoon.

Mr McCallum, one hopes, will have a slightly easier time of it down on Oxford Street when the Christmas lights are turned on - LIVE - on the programme. We know... as if the programme wasn't chock-a-block already. Well, Westlife and Leona Lewis will be there too.

But... BUT... our favourite story tonight involves every girl's favourite film - Dirty Dancing. (Seriously, Ms Nickolds - programme editor - has been chuckling over this all day. It's getting a little 'much'.) Remember the Wimbledon couple who re-enacted THAT dance from the film at their wedding... and then became instant underground stars when it all turned up on YouTube. Well, if you loved that... even if you loathed it... you ain't seen nothing yet. Tonight, they dance again - until they're rudely interrupted...

See you at six.

Ms Walden & Mr Scotchbrook

 

(A little formal perhaps but - just for a change...)

 

London Tonight Tonight Monday 5th November

Afternoon everyone -

Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
But then, for some reason,
I'm quite bored of the season,
So you can stick all that firework rot.

Okay, so it's not great but hey, we're busy... Probably best we get on with this evening's run down. Let's start with something light.

Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne say they haven't got room for all the furniture, art and memorabilia round their vast houses - so they're auctioning some of it off. Now, if you or I had to get rid of all the clutter sitting round our house, we might have a car boot sale, cross our fingers, and perhaps raise enough for a pint down the pub. Sharon and Ozzy, one imagines, are setting their sights a little higher. Not that we're bitter. They are, after all, giving some of the proceeds to charity. Anyway, Jasmine's been for a nosey-poke round some of the stuff going under the hammer. (Hope it's not breakable.... geddit?)

Phil Bayles meanwhile has been down to meet Harry Potter, or as he prefers to be called, Daniel Radcliffe. He's starring in a new ITV drama based on a true story about a young soldier - 17 year old Jack Kipling - who was told he couldn't fight in the First World War because his eyesight wasn't good enough. But then his father - that would be Rudyard Kipling (yes, him) - arranged for him to fight anyway. Imagine how he felt when his son died on the battlefield. The whole story is also being told in a new exhibition at the War Museum.

Three more news stories - Marcus Powell will have the latest on Barry George's second appeal against his conviction for the murder of Jill Dando, and we'll also be reporting live from Italy on the murder of Croydon student, Meredith Kercher.
And number three - our talking point this evening. Get ready to e-mail and text...  Two Police Community Support Officers - on duty in a park in Merton - spot a man being assaulted.
What do they do? Call for help.
What else? Wait for the help to turn up.
Is that enough? It's what they're trained for.

 

Who's side are you on? Tell us at SIX.

 

See you then,

Ben & Emma

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London Tonight Tonight Thursday 1st November

Good Afternoon on what's been a rather dramatic day at the Old Bailey.

The Met has been found guilty of failing to keep the public safe.

It was one of those moments in the newsroom when you know everyone's watching the TV next to them, realising that this is a big story. It all goes back to the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes - on the 22nd July 2005. An innocent man was shot dead by the police. The capital was still reeling from the 7th July attacks and shuddering after the 21st July failed attacks. These were extraordinary times.

The Met has apologised several times to Jean Charles for its tragic mistake. They apologised again today - but that wasn't enough them and it wasn't enough for the jury.

So, what next?

The Met gets fined. But that's money it would have used in its public duties.

There are calls for Sir Ian Blair to resign. He's already said he won't go.

A full, public inquiry perhaps? Jean Charles' family have repeated their call for one.

We'll bring you all the angles - which are still developing.

 

We'll also hear from Keane about their charity gig in Brixton tonight... and from Lynda Bellingham about her new play at the Trafalgar Studios.

 

I think that's what you'd call busy...

 

See you at six.

 

Ben & Katie

 

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday 31st October

I know I said yesterday - that Al or Katie would be back... I told a little lie. It turns out they're BOTH too busy making themselves busy AGAIN - so you're stuck with me (Faye) I'm afraid.

 

Tonight's programme is one to make your blood boil. It's Halloween, so all sorts of strange things happen to the sang-froid that usually flows through our veins...

 

Let's start with the story of Mohammed Kendeh. He's a convicted sex offender. And tonight it turns out he can't be deported back to his native Sierra Leone because of the Human Rights Act. It's the second time the government finds itself in this position - wanting to rid the country of a foreign criminal, only to be told it is not so.
Phil Bayles talks to the brave victim who's spoken out about the injustices of this case... AND Simon Harris asks if Europe is controlling our every move?

 

Then Ben Scotchbrook has been to meet the 91 year old World War Two veteran who woke to find his house on fire because a couple of yobs had thrown a firework through his letterbox. With Bonfire night around the corner, we find out what the police are doing to protect the most vulnerable amongst us.
So if we were trying to make you mad - that should do it, eh?

 

Then just when you're ready to throw something at the telly - we'll hopefully take the wind out of those angry sails.

 

We've got a spooky tour of our Da Vinci Code landmarks with the writer who says he's a member of London's secret societies... We've got a bunch of Crusty Demons doing crazy stunts with Piers Hopkirk on board... AND there's Mr Sulu or George Takei as he's rightly known, in the studio.

 

It's a corker so please join Al and Katie and me (that is assuming they're still talking to me of course) at six.

 

Faye (The Producer)

 

London Tonight Tonight Tuesday 30th October

Well it's that time again.

Hello everyone and apologies that it's only little old me (Faye, the producer) writing to you today - Alastair's just far too busy making himself busy to stay in touch... Feeling neglected? Me too.

Anyway, Nina and I ARE here and this is what we've got for you.

We start with an horrific video filmed on an estate on the Isle of Dogs... Two painter/decorators set upon by a gang of youths. Hooded and with their faces covered, they carry out a brutal attack - leaving one man with a broken arm, and the other with a nasty gash to the head.
Residents there say they need more policing and they need it now. Glen is the man to find out what went on.

 

Simon Harris is inspecting the Mayor's fares freeze with a more critical eye. Is he playing an election game just six months before Londoners choose their Mayor. When you see the facts you might ask the very same question... I think Ken may be making some angry noises...

 

Talking of noise, turns out London is louder than ever. Phil Bayles has spent the day being bombarded by the sounds on our transport system, and he asks "why so loud?".

 

And Michael Ball's costumes are pretty loud too. He's not just dressing up, he's camping up. Playing a woman on the West End stage.

 

Plus would you ever spend twenty quid on a bottle of water? Well Scotchy will be taste testing the water list at one of the capital's top restaurants.
It's a real smorgasboard for you...

 

Al and Nina hope to see you at six,

 

Faye

(Don't worry Al will be back tomorrow so the quality will improve!)

 

London Tonight Tonight Monday 29th October

Good Afternoon one and all,

We hope your weekend was fun and you're not too down about Gabby getting the boot from Strictly or indeed, young Daniel singing his last on the X-Factor.

 

Tonight we start with a classic Health & Safety 'barney'.... 6 and 7 year olds get onto a footie course (run by Charlton) and parents buy them new footie boots. School then says - 'you can't wear those... they're not safe'. Who's right?

 

A couple of travel stories for you - we've talk of a fare-freeze across the capital. And we'll also tell you about what happens when you don't put your clocks back. Like Gatwick didn't yesterday. Should have happened automatically. Oops.

 

We'll also have police pictures of some VERY valuable fish in a man's house. Not mug shots. The fish haven't even done anything wrong - but the man may have.
 
You should also tune in to hear from Duran Duran and Lewis Hamilton - about a new album AND almost winning the Formula One Championship. Don't know about you, but we'd never heard Hamilton's first album...

 

See you at six,

 

Ben & Salma

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Fri Oct 26th

Good afternoon and welcome to the Friday blog.

To be frank, it is proving just a little hard to get much work done. To the chaps, he is a sort of bad-boy-done-good hero and to most of the women he is just pretty hunky. And he is on the show tonight.

I'll tell you who in a moment and not a word of a lie.

Imagine I was to tell you that a finance director, with a history of fraud, had landed a job as finance director of a marketing company only to skim hundreds of thousands from them, ostentatiously buying several Porsche cars and a fabulous kitchen she even got featured in a coffee table glossy. You wouldn't believe me.

If I told you an entire army of American's, built like proverbial outdoor facilities, along with another army of rather elegant pom-pom juggling beauties in tow, had come to London to play grid-iron football you'd probably think I was guilty of another porky.

And if I told you Salma had yet again won our fiercely fought contest to present the unique and iconic fest that is What Not to Miss you - well, you might think it inconceivable that that could be true.

But all the above are absolutely de facto.

And Christian Slater, for it is he, is going to be in the studio.

So there's a treat for one and all.

Also tonight, James will review Sicko in which Michael Moore, of Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 fame, says the American health service is killing more people than it is curing, all in the name of profit.

Plus he looks at the chilling Eastern Promises which is about Russian mafia types and I can't wait to see it. Or they'll break my fingers.

They told me to write this. Not the fingers bit but the "I can't wait to see it " bit. There, I've said it. Be frightened. I am frightened.

As you all might be when Chrissie is taught to moon-walk by the guy who taught Michael Jackson to moon-walk.

Blood on the dance floor or a thriller? You'll have to be there to judge. Sorry Michael, bad memories: I should have said decide instead of judge.

As you all will have to over your choice of London's Best New Attraction: Salma is rooting for the gorillas and who am I, something of a professional chimp in her company, to demur?

See you from our side of the enclosure at 6.

Alastair & Salma.

London Tonight Tonight Thursday 25th October

Hello you.

Are you well? Having an easy day? A hard day? A 'can't wait until the bell goes' day? WE are having a busy day - although we feel that we're missing a 'planes' story. We've got trains and automobiles covered.

The trains story is all about Metronet. You remember - the private company getting lots of public money to fix rather a lot of the London Underground. Only, it went belly up - taking a lot of public money with it. Now, do you think those in charge of Metronet should get some sort of pay-off? No, we're not joking. Word has it, one or two of them are getting a rather handsome 'kiss-off'. To be fair, they didn't set the whole private/public arrangement up... And, here on London Tonight, we do like to be fair. YOU, however, can be as one-sided as you like, which is just as well. We want your e-mails later.

For 'automobiles', there's the M25...and plans to squeeze even more traffic onto it. Good idea? Mmmm, unconvinced. Well, they've trialled a scheme 'up north' (Birmingham way anyway) where they allowed cars to use the hard shoulder (empty lane on the left for 'emergency use' only) to alleviate the congestion. It worked there and they're thinking about trying it down our way now.

We'll also be looking at the relationship between Sir Ian Blair and his deputy. Word has it they don't get on. The Met says the word is 'rubbish'. You have a look at their body language on the programme... and come up with your own word.

You should also check out the mug-shot of one of America's Most Wanted - James 'Whitey' Bulger. Nice chap - they reckon he's killed 18 people. The FBI says he was spotted, er, in London - and they want our boys and girls in blue to help track him down.

All that... and the weather AND vampires - at SIX.

We hope you'll be watching.

Ben & Katie.

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday 24th October

Good afternoon!
Much debate at our early afternoon discussion over what gems to offer you this evening and what fool's gold to discard.

 

Jon, our vision mixer, has a thing about shoes and showed some very fetching new trainers to the gathering. Faye, our elegant and, in my view, gorgeous Producer is wearing some smart black trousers that would not look out of place as the lower half of a dinner suit - it is the satin stripe along the length of the sides that does it. Nina is wearing a seriously smart outfit - I think she is off to the ballet or the Ivy right after the show - and I am my normal, sartorially stunning self, risking a bold blue shirt with striking red tie.
None of us, however, owns a moped. None of us has, therefore, been involved in the spate of moped ram-raids which has resulted in this year's haute couture autumn collections being seriously reduced. Sonia Rykiel was last nights target, following Luella Bartley and Frost/French among others, totalling 35 in all. Liz is the lass with the coat-hangers and the crash helmet.

 

If whoever did the raids wanted to celebrate their grubby little crime they might have popped into an offy or even a garage to buy some beer. They'd have got it and got sloshed. So picture a Captain in the 16th Air Assault Brigade, wearing uniform and recently back from the front-line, being told he wouldn't be equipped for a bit of a session because the young man serving at the petrol station counter was anti-war. Shaken and stirred, the Captain reported the incident to an army charity only to be told he was not alone. Nick gathers the evidence and shouts "Attention!".

As will two older soldiers, one ex-SAS, the other an ex-Para, when they arrive at No10 Downing Street to protest at the way we treat our soldiers nowadays. Frankly, if I were Gordon Brown I'd cave in and not risk a full frontal assault on the famous black front door - or second floor balcony, given the SAS are involved. Tamsin has donned goggles and a black balaclava for this one.

Anyone suffering shock or even a heart attack as a result can rest easy as the London Ambulance Service have just been judged the best in the land at dealing with cardiac arrests. And did you know the city is littered with defribulators? Do you know what defribulators are? Emma may have a bit of a shock for you.

Sangeeta counts to seven as she drools over Theo Walcott and others at the Emirates. And Ned Boulting, hang your head! 2 nil? Bah, humbug.
Talking of footy, the new Wembly wants your vote.

A rock combo called Orson have moved from LA to Shepherd's Bush in an effort to spread their fame or boost their fortunes. Opinion is divided here. Steve will help you make your minds up.

Finally. Chrissie dons her salopettes and gloves, lowers her Ray Bans and soars off on her skillfully waxed blades at the London Ski & Snowboard show. Nina is a keen and rather fine snowboarder so I have hired a snow eagle which will swoop on and terrify Chrissie, thus allowing Nina to sweep in and take over.

I'll see you in the apres ski bar. Any time, any place, any where....

Alastair & Nina

London Tonight Tonight Tuesday 23rd October

Good afternoon -  over 40 people have signed up with Richard Branson's Virgin Galactica to go into orbit at a price of £200k, upfront. Surveys suggest the main reason they want to go is to take photos of the view.
Photos are at the heart of our top story, too. I hate school photos, even of my children. Charmless and characterless: not my children but the images, often taken as excuses to give often second rate snappers something to do of an afternoon. But harmless unless the little monster on the extreme right appears, seconds later, on the extreme left. "Laugh? We excluded him".
But what if the snapper asks the kids to line up according to skin colour? Darkest to the left, whitest to the right? Surely it couldn't happen in C21st London, could it? It did and Ronke is the lady under the dark cloth saying "Not much to SMILE about".

 

Nor for those who had planned to motor up to the 2012 Olympic Park to watch sport at it's best. Stop me and buy one takes on a new meaning: buy a ticket for an event and you get, in effect, a bus-pass - whatever your age. Harris is our man with the clamp.

Mind you, who needs a car in London these days with or without the congestion charge. All the roads are up. Robin has been humming Sgt Pepper's "now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall" all day. We expose the 160 holes making life more miserable for the metropolis's motorists.

 

The mighty Arsenal are on duty tonight and we'll have pitch-side intelligence from Ned, while Chrissie has the weather and we have the papers.

 

Finally, the twin peaks of transcendatal meditation, director David Lynch and folksy-sixties-troubador Donovan, bounce across your screens tonight at six with Nick chanting Om Om to the melody of Mellow Yellow played by the Hurdy Gurdy Man. I never got into Twin Peaks but I liked the theme music and I actually purchased Donovon albums in my hippy youth. Universal Soldier was a favourite and, in some ways, is more David Lynch than Donovan. Only a thought.

 

See you at six unless you are away with the mystics or queuing while they fill in a hole somewhere.

 

Alastair & Katie.

 

London Tonight Tonight: Mon 22nd Oct

Good afternoon and it is good to be back, after a short break.

Some children have been on half-term, some are still on half-term and some behave, like mine, as if they are constantly on half-term! Not really, but sometimes it feels that way.

Some parents send their children to private schools because their families always have.

Some wouldn't do it if you broke every pencil in their pencil case because they just think it is politically wrong or they can't afford it.

But we are interested, tonight, in a very thoughtful and interesting group who have tried the state sector and found it not up to muster. Out come the little darlings and off they go to a private school. Big call but lots are doing it. Emma has chalk dust on her gown and says "Pay attention at the back!"

For the well behaved children, meantime, London is full of fabulous treats: Gorilla Kingdom at London Zoo or pop music and snacks at 02 are just two that have made it through to the final of Visit London's New Experience category in their annual awards. We are proudly sponsoring and will invite you to vote.

PSPs, X-Box and Wii are today's must haves for good and bad children: with Christmas getting ominously close, expect notes to be drafted to Santa that, if he is the age I believe him to be, he won't understand! Meantime the games they play on these machines generate as much cash, if not more, as music sales these days. Piers will be tickling the toggles and serving non-existant tennis balls into a non-existent tennis court at 6.

Our guest tonight has done it so many times that I am almost loathe to mention it but The Big Boss insists: Tom Cruise will be in Leicester Square tonight for the premiere of his new movie and I am sure he'll be chatting to Jasmine.

Charlie Chaplin formed United Artists to give actors greater control and freedom over their work. Tom is the subject of a revival at the famous studios so, if he wants to talk to us, no-one can tell him he can't! So I think he will. Mission very possible for Ms Lowson.

Lights, camera action at 6.

Alastair & Katie.

London Tonight Tonight: Fri 19th Oct

Afternoon England fans. Oh, alright... and everyone else.

So. This time tomorrow, we'll be all set. In front of a TV somewhere. Beer, wine, Kia Ora at the ready (Delete as applicable).

Bucket of hotdogs, perhaps. Crisps even. Tick Tock... Tick Tock... the clock ticking down to... the X-Factor. We love it.

Then, friend, THEN there's the rugby. This evening, we'll have rugger fans for you, rugger players - even Jonny Wilkinson (sort of)... and a fine rendition of the England anthem. So, slip on your shorts, get out your 'Deep Heat' and get gargling...

And if you're not remotely interested in the rugby (eh?), fear not, we've got plenty for you too.

There's a lookahead to two of the weekend's big movie releases (together with Mr King's view on whether they're worth the bus ticket to see them).

We've got Patrick Kielty live in the studio telling us all bout his acting debut in the West End, we hope. And if that gets dull, he can always tell us a joke or two about an Englishman, a Scotsman and himself.

Plus, of course, there's all the day's news - including the sentencing of some very young teenagers after they stoned a man to death (what do YOU think about the current legal age of criminal responsibility?)... and we'll bring you the tale of a schoolfull of kids now going to a completely different school 3 miles away. Good for their education? Good for the community?

So, lots to get in to the programme.

Now, all together everyone... Swing Low, Sweet Chariot...

Salma & Ben (who's not at all jealous that his brother's just got a ticket to the game tomorrow. Oh no...)

 

 

London Tonight Tonight Thursday 18th October

Hello to you,

Hope you're all well. The weekend's just a day away everyone, and THEN... it's Rugby World Cup Final Day. Can't wait. Let's hope our boys do a little better than the footballers. I mean, really. Was that the best they could do? Sometimes they promise so much... before delivering less than a striking postman.

 

Anyway onto something a little more positive - our programme.

And when the bell goes they'll come out fighting over... boxing in schools. This evening a school in Bromley will stage the first inter-school boxing event in 60 years. Should it be allowed? Phil Bayles has been gauging people's opinions - and we'll be asking for yours.

 

As for the rest of the team -

Ronke Phillips put some questions to the Met Chief, Sir Ian Blair this afternoon. Not her questions but those of a mother who's son was murdered.

 

Piers Hopkirk tells the story of the man who assaulted Sir Alex Ferguson at Euston.

 

Lucy Cotter reports on a boy with prosthetic legs who has to miss out on some lessons at school because it's too exhausting for him to get to the classroom - on the first floor.

 

Glen Goodman went along to a really rather glitzy bash at Cartier on Bond Street last night - now the most expensive road to open a shop - in the world.

 

And Steve Hargrave will hopefully (they'd better not do a 'Kylie' on us) be speaking to Steve Buscemi and Sienna Miller about the London film festival.

 

Eh? Not a bad little line-up, is it?

 

Tune in at SIX and see if we can deliver a little better than our footballers...

 

Ben

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday 17th October

Hello, Good Afternoon and Welcome to 'London Tonight Tonight Tonight Tonight...etc'.,

 

Okay, it may seem like a long time since last night's programme but, believe us, 'We've been working our way back to you'...

 

And we're going to kick off tonight's show with a look at our secondary school selection system - as more parents in London say they're prepared to tell whoppers to get their kids into the school of choice. And if that leaves you steaming with anger, 'Save it for me' and send in an e-mail later.

 

Now, here's something else that might get you 'Swearin' to God' - a safe full of detonators (mini-explosives) have been found in Golders Green station. They're used by the maintenance workers. But someone left the safe unlocked. So anyone could have walked off with them... We'll tell you what people are saying.

 

We'll also tell you what our Mayor's been saying about speed-bumps. Once he assured us that they're crucial for saving lives. Today, he implied that climate change might have changed his mind. Could this spell a bumpy end?

 

Next up: the Hindhead Project - designed to bring much-needed relief on the A3. It is a HUGE undertaking with two tunnels being built under miles of countryside. The problem is there's quite a bit of our wildlife in the way. Of course, some might say sacrifices have to be made. We - and the people in Liz Wickham's report - say 'Let's Hang On (To What We've Got).'

 

And, of course, Robin will have the weather.

 

Right, we're off for a 'Sherry'.

'Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye)'...

 

Ben & Katie.

(Oh, and we'll be talking to Frankie Valli about a new musical featuring the music of the Four Seasons... Geddit?)

 

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday 16th October

Afternoon!

 

Talk about what if.... ? There was one heck of a near miss at Heathrow last night when 2 planes had a bit of a prang before take off. The wings brushed .. tips were damaged, but thank goodness the fuel tanks on the wings didn't ingite, and there were no injuries. But what does this tell you about the madness that is the world's busiest airport? Simon Harris has been investigating.

 

More on the trial of Levi Bellfield, accused of 2 murders; today more about the killing of french student Amelie De la Grange. Marcus is there.

 

If you thought lager louts in Newcastle were the problem drinkers of England.. they're not alone. You just need to look to leafy Runnymede in Surrey. The affluent borough tops the list of places where most adults are drinking to hazardous levels. Glen Goodman asks .. .why?

 

Liz has been to the palace with some poetic school children, Ben's been waving off his Costume Designing Angels into the big bad world of work, and Steve's been hanging out with Craig David, who's been telling him what he did on Monday. And Tuesday. And Wednesday .... sorry Craig... !

 

See you at 6,

 

Katie and Ben.

 

 

London Tonight Tonight Monday 15th October

Good Afternoon one and all,

Okay, who can remember what the weather was like last Thursday? No? What about last October 16th? No, neither can we.

However, 20 years ago tomorrow, is a different matter; you may well remember waking up to the aftermath of one of Britain's blowiest nights. It wasn't a hurricane, mind. You ask Michael Fish. Anyway, the 'October '87 Storms' did cause havoc across our region and this evening our Chrissie will be looking back at the pictures. We also want to hear about your experiences, so trawl your memory bank - and we'll share out your stories.

We're going to start our programme though with the experiences of a London Mum who's just lost her son. Lee Beckwith died last week after falling under a bus, a bendy bus. In an exclusive interview, she tells Phil Bayles exactly what she thinks about the buses. We'll also be hearing what TfL has to say too.

Marcus Powell, meanwhile, has been down at the Old Bailey all day to bring us the latest from the trial of Levi Bellfield. The jury's been hearing more evidence against him.

We'll also be getting the inside track on estate agents and the tricks they play, the fast ones they pull - all from a former agent who's come over from the dark side.

And, or should we say, AND...  live at the opening of the musical 'Rent', we'll be speaking to 'a bit of a star'. Actually, while she may not be a big person, she is a ENORMOUS star.

You'll have to join us at SIX to find out who she is...

See you then,

Ben & Katie

London Tonight Tonight: Friday 12th Oct

Hi there.

It's the Editor writing your update tonight - and I have to say there's some excitement in the office.

Earlier I was watching some pop videos of our studio guest - and gradually more and more people gathered round to watch and enjoy them.

We're talking 1990/1991 - and the phenomenon that was - boo mania.

The one and only Betty Boo is back - a new single - the same bob haircut - and she's live in the studio tonight. Did you know she wrote one of the fastest selling singles of all time that was a hit for Hear'say?

Also tonight - incredible pictures from Maida Vale where a burst water main turned a road into a river this morning - the A5 could be shut for some time - and the locals are fuming at Thames Water. The full story live from the scene tonight.

We're at the Old Bailey for the start of a major murder trial - and the story of a Bali bomb victim - five years on. Her story may well bring a tear to your eye - it certainly did to one or two people here in the office. Find out how she turned a tragedy into something positive.

All that - plus more - with Ben and Salma - live on ITV1 at six.

You know they'll be Doing the Do.

 

 

S

 

London Tonight Tonight Thursday 11th October

Good afternoon.
The numbers are mind numbing. So are the issues. Hundreds of millions of letters, postcards, parcels and parking tickets held up in mountainous backlog at places like Mount Pleasant.

The headache seems to be turning a nineteenth century business into one fit for the twenty first, when many of the staff still see it as a social service! It's a company that used to have a Minister in charge and is now run by an ex-Saatchi & Saatchi guy and the man who helped create Asda supermarkets. A recipe for disaster, you might think. How right you'd be. 
Liz is our fragrant philatilist and Marcus is on a hopeless search for the stamp of approval as wildcat action threatens to shut down London's postal system, again, from 6pm.

By which time all our lovely children should be home with you after another day at school. If you drive the little darlings right up to the front entrance your reason may be safety or convenience. If some have their way in Camden, you can forget it.
School entrances might become no-go zones for motors. Rediscover your feet and leg muscles with Nick, who likes a stroll.

The travellers on the site of the Olympics are finally travelling but it's been more of a marathon than a sprint. Simon Harris witnesses the passing over of the baton but some of the travellers remain deeply unhappy. As travellers you'd have thought they like to be on the move but choice is such an important thing, isn't it?

So we will also be showing you the choice between  paying thousands to have a suit made to measure in, let's say, Saville Row, and having one "finished" to your specification at your place of work. Glen is the man with the chalk and tape measures: "Suits you, Sir", I said to him. He blushed.

For a wedding you might settle for 'off the peg' unless you think "til death us do part" is only a figure of speech. Anyway, weddings are dear, in any measure, so a little known tradition in the City might help if you and your chosen one fit the bill. Just for you, Phil has something old, something new, something borrowed but never anything blue...

Steve meets Carbon Silicon which should keep him warm this winter. One part comes from the Clash, the other Generation X. I think it will be noisy but nostalgic.

Chrissie has the fog to explain which could take some time. It made us all a bit late this morning, or so some of them claimed. The papers and your thoughts on car bans at school entrances should give us all enough homework to do in the next couple of hours.

Grade us at 6.

Alastair and Katie

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday 10th October

Good afternoon. It is Wednesday. Mid-week. Salma is with me. Well, she's not because she's in make-up but she will be me later. At least I hope she will.

 

 "You can never rely on human beings" is, I think you will agree, a deeply depressing outlook on life but they are the words our delightful producer Faye uttered at our planning meeting. Nothing to do with whether Salma would make it back from make-up or not but about some cops who used the Police National Computer.
Isn't that what they are supposed to do and isn't that what it is there for, I hear you ask? Not if they are running a Private Detective Agency bugging their innocent victims with the help of some of their bent brother officers in Staffordshire. Glen's got the whole case to lay out before you.

Now their backers say they can carry more passengers than ever before, and they are conveniently snapped in the middle, held together with a great big hinge. On the downside, dishonest passengers have a choice of three doors to slip in and out of in an effort to avoid paying the fare. But when you take into account that several of them have caught fire and have been directly linked with a load of injuries you worry a bit. When people are losing their lives because of them the gags end and you might very well think that the time had come to park the entire fleet.
Simon Harris investigates the latest fatality linked to The Bendy Bus, we talk to the man who runs the fleet and then ask for your comments.

From deadly danger to the joy of life: we talk to Megan Blunt who very nearly wasn't with us but has turned her potential tragedy and the genius of her medical team, into one of the most brilliant and useful books I have ever seen.
She's on her way to a parents evening right now so we talked to her earlier.
I am still drying my eyes from tears of pride and emotion. 

So that will probably get me a P45 which will require me to seek a UB40 - or whatever the code is for "The Jobseekers Allowance". In the old days you knew where you stood: UB40 -Unemployment Benefit. Anyway the name of the form was lifted by a brilliant band of musicians who weren't really into protest music but rather good at a sort of white-boy's reggae. Lead singer Ali Campbell is in tonight to talk about a new album.
"I didn't know Tony Blair's former press secretary had had a career as a rock singer", I mused at the meeting.
"He didn't", said Faye, that savage dismisser of humanity.
I froze but have nearly recovered.

 

 

Salma is back from make-up and looks even more lovely than she did earlier. I shall take tea and hope to avoid looking out of place in her company. Dismissed by The Boss for my emotions, ridiculed by the delicious Faye for my ignorance, I cannot afford rejection by Salma for my appearance.
And remember, Faye, a glass can be half-full OR half-empty: here's to humanity.

 

See you at 6.

 

Alastair and Salma.

London Tonight Tonight Tuesday 9th October

Afternoon everyone...

Sorry, we'll have to be quick this afternoon as we've suddenly got very busy here.

Not that suprising... in the programme tonight we've got top-pop, basketball and nudity. (That's the second half of the programme taken care of.)

We start though with an exclusive interview with the athlete, John Regis - talking for the first time about the murder of his nephew Adam. The fifteen year old was 'number 8' in the list of 20 London teenagers shot or stabbed to death this year. Today, teenagers chatted with Government ministers to work out how we can bring a halt to this dreadful roll-call. Will that help? What can be done? It is one of the most important issues facing our capital today. And we'll be asking for your thoughts on that.

Phil Bayles checks out the new emergency teams ready to rescue people on the tube... Chrissie has the weather (more rain, do we think?) and there's so much more... Tune in at SIX and you'll see.

Ben and Katie

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Mon 8th Oct

 

Good afternoon.

 

Last week a remarkable woman came on the programme: she is an advisor to Trident, the anti black on black gun crime unit in the Met. She said it isn't just black on black, anymore. It isn't just gun crime, anymore. It is everywhere and it is a problem for everyone.

 

The family of seventeen year old Rizwan Darbar now know she spoke the painful truth. He become the twentieth young victim of random, brutal, fatal violence in our great city on Sunday night.

250 people took to the streets to protest about it in West Ham.

 

Rizwan was listening to music but someone wanted his cell-phone. And, for that, they were prepared to kill. Where are we going? Marcus asks the hard questions at 6.

 

Also asking hard questions is Alison Thorpe who has two daughters: one is a bubbly, giggly girl who had a great time when she came into our studio with her mum who was on the Lunchtime News. The other, teenager Katie, has cerebral palsy. She smiles a lot but never giggles. Her sister asked tons of questions. Katie asked none. She can't.

Her mum wants the courts to agree that she should be allowed to have a hysterectomy to save her the discomfort and possible embarrassment of monthly periods. Others say that is a breach of Katie's human rights. Before becoming a journalist, I wanted to be a barrister: am glad today I am not a Judge. Emma will guide you through this emotional and legal mine-field.

 

A crack has appeared in the floor of Tate Britain. It happens. The magnificent building that is now Tate Britain used to be a mighty power-station and the room in which the crack has appeared used to house a mighty pair of turbines. Weighty turbines. I think it makes sense that a crack has appeared and they should accept it and just send for the builders. Tate Britain, on the other hand, have declared it a work of art. Both sides of this argument, one of which is true and the other of which is a mad fantasy on my part, will be set before you by Phil Bayles, our very own cross between Brunel and Breugal.

 

What impact will Crossrail have on property prices? The line goes underground at Paddington and I suggested turning that part of London into a building site might lead to improvements. "Nothing wrong with Paddington", said Katie. "I used to live there." Stunned silence and very naughty observations which cannot be repeated followed... the entirely clean and useful thoughts of Louise at 6.

 

Plus Jasmine meets Editors - a music combo, I gather, rather than the worthy cabal of men and women who decide what you read of a morning.

 

Read, and hear, all about it all - at 6.

 

Alastair and Katie.

 

 

 

 

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Fri Oct 5th

Good afternoon, a little later than normal for which I apologise.

But not as late as the massive civil engineering project that Mr Brown promises will arrive by 2017. A couple of American tourists, viewing Magna Carta , asked when it was signed. "1215", explained the guide. "Gee", said the American glancing at his watch, "We just missed it!"

The Boss  had to explain to quite a few people that Crossrail wasn't due to arrive just minutes before twenty past eight this evening and those dear souls are now stacking non-biodegradeable coffee cups in the kitchen.

Simon Harris is our mole on this one and he is very excited. I have postponed my retirement but still wonder if it has any bearing on the timing of a General Election?
Talking of excitement, Salma has had to answer some dark and angry charges of cheating because, once again, it is she who has won (others are saying 'secured' or even 'stolen' ) the right to present What Not To Miss, your indispensable guide to diary filling for the weekend.

Licking his wounds and counting his blessing this weekend will be the PC from Farnham who flagged down a car on the A31 only to end up doing a passable impression of the Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstasy on the front of it. He is OK but there is a bizarre twist to the saga: Phil is the man with the chamois leather.

Lip readers tune in for our coverage of Ian Wright's off-pitch activities that involve parking rather than passing.

And movie buffs unite: you have nothing to lose but your indecision as James takes you through the celluloid wonderland.

Chrissie says it'll be a lovely weekend. Is that the weather or has she got something naughty but nice planned? I don't know but will be as keen as you to find out at 6.

If you feel the need for a 'paper or three we'll have them too but don't forget WNTMiss - I'd have paper and pen at the ready for that!.

Salma and I await your judgement.

 

A & S

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Thurs 4th Oct

 

Hello. It's Stuart, Editor of London Tonight writing tonight's email - and I'm going to start with an apology.

 

Our technology has been letting us down recently - and this email hasn't always reached your inbox in the last couple of weeks. It's not that we've not bothered to write it - it's always been crafted - just not always delivered. The experts have fixed the problem, and I'm hoping that our normal, reliable service has now been resumed.

 

So - to tonight's programme. Yesterday we led off with the story of the Polish care nurse, caught in the crossfire in New Cross. This evening - we return to the scene for more reaction and the latest on the investigation. Sadly, it's just one of three elements of our programme that will focus on gun crime tonight. We'll also talk to the family of the hero bouncer shot outside a bar in July. The sub machine gun used hasn't been seen in Britain before - it's often used in drive-by's in places like L.A. We'll also follow the latest in the Peter Woodhams case, and the investigation into what his family say the police didn't do when he was the victim of crime before he was murdered.

 

After all that - the colleges that aren't really colleges. We were there as police raided a college today - the detectives are looking for places that aren't really educational establishments - they're just ways to get visas for people to stay in the UK. Jon Gilbert tells that story.

 

We're at Great Ormond Street Hospital who announce their biggest single donation EVER. Find out how much, from who - and what it will build at six.

 

Plus Jamie Foxx - yes he who played Ray and got an Oscar for it - on his latest movie. Unlike Michelle Pfieffer (who was late last night) we hope Jamie will join us on the red carpet tonight. Only this evening it's Steve, as Tamzin's now left to await the patter of tiny feet.

 

So there we are - Thursday's London Tonight is live from Studio 4 at six. We'll have all that - and anything that happens between now and then too.

 

Thanks for reading - and before I go a couple of reminders. Firstly, if you miss it on ITV1 - you can watch the programme later at http://www.itvlocal.com/london . And don't forget we're always looking for your stories. If you've a general news story you think we should cover then email it to londontonight@itvlondon.com - if it's a consumer problem then drop us the details to onyourside@itvlondon.com and we'll see what we can do.

 

Bye for now

 

 

Stuart

 

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Weds 3rd Oct

Good afternoon.

Cross-fire killed a care-home worker last night in New Cross. Tragic. Ben will make it is a clear as such a sad and pointless act of violence can be.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Boris Johnson are two gentlemen I wouldn't want to fall out with. Nor would I want either of them calling me nasty names or saying nasty things about me. One of them did about the other. Which one and what? Be amused or bemused at 6 in the coming of Simon "I am already back" Harris.

We've extraordinary picture of a young man who very nearly couldn't utter that famous Arni assertion after he took his bike on a railway station platform and it all went horribly wrong. Emma has her clips on at 6.

Tamzin, who presented her last show on Friday, presents her last interview today before heading home to become a mum. We so wish her well, we really do. I , personally, had hoped she might have had an emergency but safe call this afternoon so I could sweep to her rescue and take her place in Leicester Square. Who is on the Red Carpet that has brought this generous offer on my part? Think slinky singers on top of pianos: fabulous! Well, Tamzin is well and she'll be there with one of the most beautiful creatures to grace the silver screen.

Papers and Chrissie's weather should round it all off nicely.

See you at 6.

Unless I get that emergency call to Leicester Square. Prayer, bribery, cancelling her car: all have gone through my mind and all have been put back in the drawer. I'm not that naughty.

Alastair and Katie.

 

TEST1

This is just a test.

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LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Tues 2nd Oct

Good afternoon.

The Hollies, Flanders and Swann, even The Who have all celebrated, in song, the contraptions that seem to have woven their way into a lot of our programme tonight.

One "variety" has rediscovered it's capacity to catch on fire; elsewhere, a company has set up a training centre in Warsaw, the capitol of Poland, to teach Poles how to drive them; and Spurs and Arsenal, two great teams we feature on the show tonight, use them to get to matches. The glorious omnibus: if bendy, it can be down-right dangerous; if operated by a Pole, it will be as safe as a safe bus should be; and, if occupied by football players, it will almost certainly be that distant cousin, the luxury coach. Glen and Mike are among the clippies pinging the bell for you, at 6... which is 2 LESS than the number of goals that featured in an extraordinary footy comeback you will enjoy watching, unless you are a brummy. In which case, tough.

Plus, we'll have expert views on whether Arsenal have travelled to yet more glory tonight.

The 2012 travelling people, who now want to travel from their disputed site, can't. The boys from the blackstuff who want to do a good job once the travelling people have travelled, can't either.

It is getting very silly out east and Simon Harris has been digging into why yet more digging has caused such mayhem.

Mayhem, too, around Exhibition Road where plans to turn it into a naked street, which has nothing to do with sex but everything to do with Holland, has caused uproar among those of you who are dependent on guide dogs.

What Katie Melua will make of it all, I dread to think but I guess we'll find out together when she joins us live at 6.

See you then.

Alastair & Katie (Derham, that is: not Melua - she's not here until 6 !)

PS: I know the Hollie's song title included the word Stop but permit the poetic license....

ping-ping.

London Tonight Tonight Thursday

Good afternoon.

Just escaped from our final planning meeting for tonight's programme.

Parting words from Faye, The Producer: "Let's remember: it's Jo-zay not Ho-zay. And let's be careful out there".

And this from the woman who assigns Marcus, a life-long Gooner, as top reporter on the story - and Ken "I know and care more about West Ham than any normal human being needs to " Hayes as prodcuer on the Big Back Grounder. Ha. And given Tamzin's delightful husband is a Norwich fan (yes, we do take special care of him)  I guess it falls to me to bring objectivity and authority to our coverage: I just think Jose is one of the most interesting and charismatic figures in soccer (OK, not a huge challenge) and Roman Abramovitch, apart from being one of the richest men in the world, is also one of the most intriguingly mysterious. What a clash. All three points to Roman in extra time. All, even the off-side rule, will be in our coverage in a way even those of us not entirely wedded to the merits of the beautiful game will understand and find interesting.
Or there'll be yellow cards and red cards befor Robin's weather.

 

Also, how the face of Bex appeared in the heavens to give 2012 a much needed boost and how the face of the Paddington rail crash went back to work.

 

The face of Jennifer will challenge you to remain objective as you assess our London Carer of the Year final candidate film. More "Ahs" than a Chelsea own goal would get from Arsenal fans, I can promise you.

 

And the Mobos - nuff said - it was a gas: Tamzin distills the best bits.

 

We're off to change into our home strip: see you when the whistle blows at 6 and right through to half-time in the ITV News Hour at 6.30.

 

Alastair & Tamzin