London Tonight Tonight Monday 13th August

Afternoon everyone,

 

Another busy start to the week here in London, and we've got all the top stories for you.

 

We start with a harrowing appeal from a grieving mother - begging local people to help catch her son's killer. Ben Hitchcock was one of a record 18 teenagers killed on London's streets this year alone - and his mum is certain someone knows who's responsible. She tells Ronke Phillips how she hopes they'll be brave enough to come forward.

 

Next - how would you feel if a teenager told you what to do in the street? Well, with two sixteen year olds now appointed as community support officers in Reading -Thames Valley residents better get used to it. We'll be finding out why the force thinks kids are capable of supporting the police.

 

They've vowed to cause disruption and admitted they do plan to break the law - we're live at the Camp for Climate Action at Heathrow, as Simon Harris investigates what chaos may ensue at the capital's busiest airport.

 

Now - how many of you carry a donor card? And how many of you have even given due consideration to whether you would donate your organs?

Well, one man on the show tonight is hoping that he might just be able to persuade you it's the right thing to do. Peter Williams is 28 years old, but has been told that without a new heart he will die in three weeks time. Marcus Powell met the father of three, fighting for his life.

 

And finally tonight - "I feel the need for speed". Well sort of! If you recognise that line, you'll definitely want to see Chrissie at a gathering of Top Gun fans tonight.....she hasn't told us whether she'll be in a flight suit just yet...but she is meeting "Viper" and promising not to lose her wing man!

 

Plenty to keep you watching - so hope you'll join us at 6.

 

Emma and Alastair

 

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Fri 10th Aug

Good afternoon and welcome to London Tonight Tonight in which we try to tempt you to join us and stay with us for the whole programme tonight.

 

Well, if I wasn't presenting it,l I'd scoot home to make sure I could watch it!

We take you inside the Pirbright facility where we are now almost certain the Foot and Mouth outbreak began. We talk to the Chief Vet Debbie Reynolds about the latest scares. (By the way, do you think, in 30 years, there'll be a Chief Vet called Uma Thurman or Kate Winslett?)

Away from that, George Galloway reveals which parliamentary seat he intends to contest at the next general election: you probably already know he'd said it wasn't going to be Bethnal Green and Bow again but the person he hopes to hurt this time is even more important, at the moment, than Oonagh King was last time.

The night before graduation at the Sandhurst Military Academy, or passing out as they call it, and disaster struck.

The ghastly details are more Peyton Place than An Officer and A Gentleman.

A young woman cadet, seriously ill in hospital; a young male cadet, held by police investigating attempted murder; 4am booze-ups and people in their underwear. And all among the country's future Officer Corps. It is jaw-dropping.

On the entertainment front, I am in a state of deep decline because Tamzin and I didn't get to interview Natalie Imbruglia who, instead, pours out her heart to Steve. I no longer support his campaign to play Buddy in the West End. (Tamzin says it was only ever a one-man campaign so "He's stuffed!")

Helen will be here to cast an eye over the movies and Tamzin will, as ever, craft her indispensable almanac of the weekend joys in the capital: yes, it is What Not to Miss.

I fought the fight but, alas, there will also be a preview of the footy season that pours, like a pot of poison, across your paths this weekend. The good news is that Piers and producer Chris have come up with a very clever, informative and even sexy take on this commencement of sporting hostilities - even I enjoyed it!

So with the weather wrapped like fine fish and chips in tonight's newspapers, it should be a feast fit for all of you.

Chomping begins at 6.

See you there.

Alastair and Tamzin.

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Thurs Aug 9th

 

Hello.

Busy programme tonight - and here's just some of it.

Among the stories - a twelve year old trapped on Southend beach as the tide came in - it took rescuers twenty terrifying minutes to save her - we talk to her AND her rescuers tonight.

Lots more dogs are being dumped in London - in fact the figures are up a third in a year. Apparently too many people are getting dogs as fashion accessories and then realising they don't actually want them. We investigate and see some of the abandoned canines.

Plus we meet those living in the middle of the Olympic construction site.

We have the latest live from Surrey on Foot and Mouth.

 

 

Oh - and we go down to Devil Gate Drive.  Yes - the queen of leather rock - Suzi Quatro - is with us in the studio.

 

Join Alastair and Tamzin for the latest at six.

 

 

Stuart

Editor

 

 

 

 

 

London Tonight Tonight

Afternoon!

I will be holding the fort alone in the studio this evening as Ben is right this moment hot footing it to Surrey, to bring you the inside story on foot and mouth.
He will be disinfecting his boots and talking directly to farmers about how they are bearing up under the strain of living inside the surveillance zone. 

 

And you know what's really upsetting the farmers -  the possibility that this outbreak has come from one of the animal health labs that is supposed to be protecting animals not INFECTING them.  Tonight both laboratories under suspicion -  the government one and a commercial one - are effectively saying it's not us.  Glen Goodman will be attempting to get to the bottom of who's to blame.

 

It seems as though we have had to report far too many stories of shootings in the Capital this year.  The death of Nathan Foster is another where you just think: God, what a terrible waste.  Nathan was 18, he had everything going for him and he was trying to STOP a fight when he was shot.  Ronke has been talking exclusively to his devastated sister and girlfriend.

 

We will also bring you the latest on the row over the eco demo at Heathrow - disruptive and dangerous or legitimate protest?

And property guru Kirstie Allsopp has been looking into the future to predict where house prices are going. So if you have a property, want to get one or are thinking of selling up - don't miss it.

 

See you at 6,

Romilly

 

 

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Fri 3rd Aug

Good afternoon: it is hot, bright and Friday; and, as with night following day and traffic wardens following innocent motorists, Saturday and Sunday beckon. We will get you off to a cracking start.

Unless you live in Surrey this weekend, where we've breaking news of a possible disease outbreak. Could be some time before we know if it's for real. It could be that, just at the moment you spread marmalade on your breakfast toast, the all-clear will be sounded.

Or not. We'll tell you what the experts are saying tonight at 6.

Idi Amin was a fat, brutal dictator who, whilst falling short of mass genocide, was a killer and torturer of hideous proportions: both the size of the man and the scale of his crimes, if you follow me.

All I want to say at this stage is, given all we know about genetics and nasty things that run in the blood of even nastier families, you will be pleased to hear the current whereabouts of a young thug who was involved in some brutal goings on in Camden last year. It is the stuff of movies, I tell you. Piers is our Stephen Spielberg.

Earlier this week someone found the Boss's baby son's hat and the car keys we had separately left on different trains. We both got back our precious property. Hurrah.

In my case some kind soul handed them in and I got them back from Waterloo Lost Property just 24 hours later. Thank you God, thank you "finding person" and thank you Waterloo lost property.

They were sitting on top of a medium size tray in the Lost Property Office with about thirty keys in it....

At St Pancras, soon to be home to Eurostar, imagine the size of tray (or probably packing case) they require to hold the hundred examples of a particular item already handed in this year. It is rapidly becoming the most frequently lost/found thing at that beautiful terminus: bigger than a set of keys but smaller than an artificial leg, also often lost apparently!

All will be revealed to a chorus of "Ah" at 6.

A man from Wimbledon packed his jam-sandwiches, flask of tea and a bit of toffee and set sail for Australia. Weeks and thousands of miles later he foundered. He had not one but two maps and the cause of his disappointment has form. So what was it and how come he is the man with the reddest face in both northern and southern hemispheres? Give ear to Robin Ross in her fetching matelot outfit, tonight.

Which just leaves Buddy the stage show, a terrific film about the hoax surrounding Howard Hughes (The Aviator) diaries and Tamzin's stellar What Not To Miss, all wrapped up in a review of the evening papers and tied together with Mona's weather forecast: how big will those UV numbers be tonight?

Join me and Tamzin, wrestling with her What Not to Miss script as I write, at 6.

Sun bathe first but be there later!!

Alastair

London Tonight Tonight Thursday 2nd August

Afternoon,

The second report into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes is finally out - and as leaks yesterday suggested it highlights serious errors of communication at the very top of The Met.
The report exonerates Met chief Sir Ian Blair from charges of deliberately misleading the public.

In a press conference today Sir Ian stressed again that he did not lie. However questions remain over HOW the message that an innocent man had been shot took so long to get to the man at the top. Especially when rumours were reaching OFF-DUTY officers at a cricket match on the afternoon of the shooting. We'll examine the report and speak to one of the men in charge on the day.

 

Away from our top story - a tragic tale of a young boy maimed for life after an horrific dog attack in Hoxton. 7 year old Wassim Seghir was mauled so badly by the Staffordshire Bull terrior that doctors say he's lucky to be alive.  The little boy is having another operation today as surgeons battle to rebuild his face. So should there be more stringent controls on dogs ?

 

A couple in Wembley have made a pretty grim discovery in their back garden....a human skull. Police think the murder was likely to have occured just a year ago. We're on board with the real "cold case" experts as they attempt to solve the mystery.

 

Also....Covent Garden market away from the flowers and back to its roots - as a purveyor of fine foods. Sangeeta will be there tonight as it launches as a new evening food market. We'll be forcing her to eat chocolate cake, poor girl.

 

All that and Steve Hargrave chatting to some of pop's top producers-turned-performers...

AND Robin with his usual surreal brand of weather forecast.

It's happening at 6 - see you there.

 

Tamzin and Ben

London Tonight Tonight Weds 1st August

Good evening.

Breaking news is coming in as I type this of a building collapse in Southwark -  we're being told at least one person has died. Details are sketchy at the moment but do tune in at  6 when we'll endeavour to bring you the full story.

 

Also on tonight's programme - the second report into the Stockwell shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes is out tomorrow...but there have been leaks. Those leaks would seem to suggest no heads will roll at The Met. The investigation was into why initial briefings to the press and public suggested that Jean Charles WAS linked to the terror attacks on the capital. Why there was so much apparent miscommunication....Why SUCH important messages were getting mixed. There are some criticisms leveled at senior officers though - we'll have the full story.

 

We're a nation of pet lovers aren't we? So why then were incidents of animal cruelty UP 17 % in London last year? Ronke's been out and about with the RSPCA, seeing the conditions some of our four legged friends have to put up with, and meeting the men and women who fight to protect them. She also makes friends with some kittens so be prepared to get a bit soppy...

 

We're keeping an eye on the story we've been following since last week about the injunction Heathrow airport is attempting to bring against climate change protestors....

And - maybe it's because she's a Londoner but Kate Nash is having a pretty hot time of it. Tipped as the next big thing, with a single that's rapidly becoming the soundtrack to our rather soggy summer... This is a girl going places - and this afternoon Steve Hargrave joined her on her way.

All that plus Chrissie (in the sunshine for once).

Switch on at 6 and we'll tell you more

 

Tamzin and Alastair

London Tonight Tonight, Tues 31st July - and this one's a little surreal...

Good afternoon.
From a pigeon's perspective, this London Tonight lot have a rather mixed programme for you tonight.

 

I have to declare an interest: I am a Trafalgar Square pigeon. I, and my many siblings (can't be sure about my parents, for obvious reasons) have felt under considerable threat for sometime. I do not take well to being called a "rat with feathers" and, given I do not have the vote, can do very little democratically to express my views about this man my great-grandfather called Red Ken. My grandfather knew him as an MP but we have only known him as Mayor. And he hates us. It is difficult to live with. He wants us dead. And to learn that some pie in the sky idea has wafted over from Los Angeles, like a mad migrating magpie, and involves putting us on "The Pill", makes me believe the man is not only bad but definitely mad.
Someone called Robin (is that supposed to be a joke?) Ross will explain all at 6.

Some of my human friends are active members of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds - in London they even set up a branch call "RSPB Including Pigeons, Mr. Mayor". Anyway they, and pretty well anyone else who has joined a society to protect the lovely countryside and save the planet, are all threatened with a ban from Heathrow Airport because they want to protest against another runway. Incidentally, we don't want the runway either. 30 tons of aluminium hitting an innocent pigeon at 300 mph is not amusing. The Mayor has a rant about this at 6 and Simon Harris who, like me, enjoys flying, has the story.

 

A gull, who is a friend from the coast, tells me raw fish is terrific. Chilled but not frozen. That odd-ball EU Health and Safety mob insist it must be frozen when served to you humans as something called sushi. You'll break your teeth, I tell you! Anyway, apparently London Sushi chefs are in a flap about it as Phil will tell.

 

Tamzin, who loves all wildlife including pigeons, has unearthed some great old pictures of even older pops stars, all of whom Alastair recognises and many of whom he has even seen.

 

You'll be hearing from the Household Cavalry in Iraq and in their London barracks, plus the first interview with a remarkably brave and inspiring lady who was a victim of the London bombs but has taken to flying. She's just completed a fund-raising tour.
Now that's my kind of lady!

 

Alastair and Tamzin ask me to ask you to join them at 6.
(I'll be in the Square, unless that Livingstone bloke gets me first.)
Oh, I'm all of a flutter.

London Tonight Tonight 26th July

Good afternoon,

 

It's a bit of a dark and dreary day out there and unfortunately the first story we bring you tonight is also dark, and depressing. Last night a 16 year old boy was chased, by a gang reportendly shouting threats, through a Stockwell estate. He was caught, shot and pronounced dead at the scene. A horrifying crime but one that's becoming all too familiar on our streets.

We'll have the latest on THAT shooting on the day that the killer of another young Londoner was sentenced to life. Last year Hannad Hasan stabbed 15 year old Kiyan Prince through the heart. Today he was told he must serve at least 13 years in prison. Kiyan's dad is coming into the studio to tell us his feelings on this sentence and to update us on his ongoing campaign.

 

Also ..... were you singing along to Babs Streisand last night, or Joss Stone...or chuckling away at the premiere of the new Simpson's movie. If so did you manage to get home OK ? Thos three huge events all took place at the O2 last night, making it a very busy night for the venue. And it seems many people struggled to get away, some waiting for up to three hours for a cab home. We'll investigate further and let you know what we discover.

 

Plus, the thesbian theologian and his church / theatre project....

The one-off works of art based on your DNA.....

And the subject we've all been obsessed with for weeks now - yep that's right the weather. Chrissie will be here to tell us if there's light at the end of the tunnel.

We'll see you at 6

 

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday 25th July

Good Afternoon Everyone.

Hope you're well. Hope you're not working too hard. And if you've got the day off - keep it to yourself.

 

This evening, we're going to be looking westwards. The floods are coming. We've all watched the misery of thousands of people, forced out of their homes for the best part of a week now. Well, much of Oxford (less than 60 miles from London) is under water today and it looks like our corner of England is next. So, a solid chunk of our programme is taken up with events along the Thames.

Simon Harris reports on the picture in Reading where residents could be hours away from disaster... Phil Bayles will cover preparations in Marlow and Henley (and the plan to divert floods around Windsor)... and Chrissie is at work ON the river, out on patrol with the RSPCA. Later, busy girl, she'll talk us through all the flood watches and warnings we need to know about.

 

Away from the floods, Piers Hopkirk has the story of a man, his medals and the thieves who stole them. Yep, two conmen lied their way into a pensioner's house and took 6 medals in all. Two were for his service in the RAF. The others rewarded his father's duties in the First World War. The search for the really precious possessions is on - and the cops are keen to get them back to their rightful owner.

 

We'll also have a restored organ at the Hammersmith Apollo... and the premiere of 'The Simpsons Movie' - NOT now showing in Hammersmith, but at the O2 (which looks uncannily like the Simpsons' home town, Springfield).

 

Okay, plenty more work to do before we can serve it all up, so away we go...

See you at six.

Ben & Katie

 

 

London Tonight Tonight Tuesday 24th July

Hello to you.

 

The sun's shining. Honest. If you're working somewhere that doesn't have windows (or you lost the weekly raffle for the desk by the window) - go outside and see for yourself. Mother said there'd be days like this. And she was right.

However, we - and some of the rest of the country - are not out of the watery woods just yet. As the water that fell out of the sky over the weekend slowly surges down the Thames, there are communities in our parts who's worst fears have, or may soon, come true. That's obviously ONE of the stories we'll be looking at this evening. Chrissie will also have the all-important forecast too.

One thought that will have occurred to lots of people watching the dreadful pictures of flooded homes over the last few weeks - WHY were the houses built so close to the river? They were bound to flood, weren't they? Much the same point is made about future house-building in a Government report - that came out 4 years ago. And yet there are still plans to build on a flood-plain at Barking Reaches. Damien Steward will look at the common sense of it all.

 

And what of the common sense of paying a man MILLIONS of pounds for... well, what DID Bob Kiley do for London transport? The Mayor reckons he's some sort of God. An expensive God, certainly - but now that he seems to be firmly on his way back west, we ask was he worth the money? Mind you, the total bill might not be quite so huge thanks to London's booming property prices ... Confused? Glenn Goodman will try to clear things up for us.

 

Our lead tonight, though, has the 'you have GOT to be kidding' factor. Extraordinary and sickening. Former boxer James Oyebola was in a London club last night when someone started smoking next to him. We know that's against the law. He knows that's against the law. But after he had POLITELY pointed that out... he was shot. He's now fighting for his life in hospital. Liz Wickham will have the latest on the condition of a man described by former colleagues as a 'gentle giant'.

 

On a lighter note, we'll also have Carmen (Jones not rollers)... bike thieves (getting their glorious comeuppance).

It's all on ITV1 at SIX.

 

See you then,

Ben & Katie.

 

This is a technical test

Sorry folks. We've been having a few gremlins! We'll hopefully be back in touch later today.

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London Tonight Tonight Friday 20th July

God to Noah : Build me an ark.
Noah to God: Fine.
Just one question.
What's an "ark" ?
It felt a bit that way this morning in London and , suddenly, as if the dove of peace had landed on my upturned hand and the rainbow of promise had bathed our street in bright pastels, it stopped.
But we have pictures of all that happened in between : from our brilliant cameramen and women, and from you, at your very best, with mobile phones and videos. Get your wellies and sou'westers on and be there at 6. Glen risks the deeps on our collective behalves so you won't miss a frame.
Americans don't do irony but they do in Wandsworth: in the midst of the deluge, a bolt of lightning struck a block of flats causing a rather frightening fire. As gallons of water fell from the sky, yet more gallons of water jetted up - from the brave men and women of the LFB.
The latest on that at 6 as the Met say avoid Wandsworth at all costs. Unless you're a duck.

Our producer Faye is young, beautiful and very gifted: but she is young. OMD were part of the soundtrack to my early twenties - Tamzin, I thought rather cruelly, just pointed out that her dad liked them, too. And then poured salt into my wounds by the sackful by flipantly announcing her dad retires today. Age shall not weary them? Yeah, yeah...
Anyway, Faye was less clear about OMD but bravely commissioned a piece on their comeback. In the hands of Steve Hargrave, all should be well. (What would Faye do, I worry, if they DID find Elvis on the moon? It troubles me).

James King reviews the movies tonight. Apparantly Faye and The Boss have a little competition to see who can write the funniest caption explaining who he is and/or what he does: see if you can spot it tonight and, indeed, in future weeks. It is Friday. We like having a little fun. Yes, I know: it really is a very "little" fun....

Finally, for the political classes, me included, we will confirm what happened in Ealing last night. General Election October 25th 2007. You heard it here first.
Plus papers, weather (if they dare !!) and What Not to Miss for your weekend planning. Faye wasn't sure we had room but Tamzin insisted.
As I conclude, traffic wardens are dealing with cars that were abandoned by their owners when caught in the rain. You won't believe what they are doing but, if you tune in at six, be more than ready to take up arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing, end them. (apologies to Shakespeare)
Tamzin and I, all the whole damp team who can't wait for dry socks and cocoa, hope you will be there at 6.

Alastair

London Tonight Tonight Appeal

Hi everyone,
Time for you to be the journalists!
Are you flooding right now... Is the rain pouring down where you are?
We want to see your video and any pictures you have of the storms, and the wild weather.

Email us at: londontonight@itvlondon.com
Text us: 07738 100 200

Thanks - and get sending!

More from the team later...

Faye (The Desperate Programme Editor!)

London Tonight Tonight Thursday 19th July

Afternoon!

We know how worried Londoners are by gangs of teenagers hanging around on street corners, and with summer holidays looming, I guess there's a concern that problem is only going to get worse. So any courses or schemes to keep young people happy, occuppied and off the streets should be welcome, right? Well .. kind of . Classes are being offered in .. Grafitti. And lots and lots of you think it is the most ridiculous idea they've ever heard. We'll be letting you have a right old ding dong with the government adviser who's dreamed up the scheme.

A sad story of a woman who died of a particularly severe epileptic fit. Her family aren't blaming the hospital that had been treating her .. but they are asking us all to be more aware of the real dangers of this disease that can strike at any time.

An extraordinary tale of canine medical magic.. yes, we're going to introduce you to the world's first bionic dog. No, really, we are! And he swims!

We've got a wonderful happy ending following an ad in the newspaper for adoptive families in the Afro Caribbean community ... we've got the princess of punk herself in the studio, Siousxie Sioux minus her Banshees ...
and we've got Chrissy telling us what we already knew .. that this summer is SOGGY!!! This date last year .. guess what the temperature was... 36 degrees centigrade. Ah well.. I suppose that was a bit TOO hot!

See you at 6, Katie and Al.

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday the 18th July

Good Afternoon one and all.

We hope you're all well and enjoying what's left of your Wednesday.

Busy programme this evening and, of course, the BIG news is the story about one of the companies that's been given an awful lot of money to maintain the tube. Metronet has effectively gone belly up - called in the administrators this morning. They say they're owed half a billion quid for work they've done above and beyond their contract. Not many other people seem to agree - which has left them rather short. So, what of our tube journeys? What of the workers? What of the bills that need paying? Simon Harris is our man with the answers.

Actually, there seems to be rather a lot of people playing the blame game this evening. A businessman who slipped over at Marylebone said rotting petals from a florist were to blame... the owner of the florist said there's no proof... a judge said it probably WAS the petals and says there's rather a lot of compensation due (we're talking over a MILLION). Quite a barney. Lots at stake. Glen Goodman's on top of it all.

Now, every parent will tell you that little boy or girl is one in a million. Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald can rightly claim that their son Lucas is rather rarer. Like, er, doctors didn't know of another living child with his deadly condition. How was he cured? Who cured him? Liz Wickham has been to meet the Family Fitzgerald.

We'll also be looking back at 30 years of rocking against racism... there'll be the latest on the two London schoolgirls accused of drug-smuggling in Ghana... and our Chrissie will tell you just how much rain we're going to have tomorrow.

See you at SIX. On ITV1.

Katie & Ben

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Tues 17th July

Good afternoon from all at London Tonight where Ben Scotchbrook is introducing his delightful son, Noah, to the collective: I smiled but pressed on with work. I was celebrating my daughter's graduation at midnight so toddlers are a distant, but agreeable, memory.

More of a disagreeable memory is all that money Metronet got, indirectly from you. They got it on your behalf and spent it, only to come back and ask for more. Tim O'Toole was pretty clear, on last night's show, where the blame lay for the debacle and, this afternoon, Ken Livingstone was even clearer: unless you are a Metronet share-holder you may well find yourself in gleeful agreement with him. Harris, who else, is the man with the Oyster card and Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass, poring over the details.

Still on dosh, MPs asked George Galloway MP, (Respect, Bethnal Green & Bow) for the details of where his Mariam charity got all their money from. It wasn't his answers that upset them half as much as his attitude towards them. Two falls, two submissions or a pin-fall and George looks set to spend 18 working days in his Constituency rather than in the House. It's the Parliamentary equivalent of being told to stand in the corner. The whys and wherefores from Ronke.

Noah Scotchbrook is now screaming.
I think my daughter is quietly sleeping it off.
We press on.

A total non-sequitor but a mini Taj Mahal floated down the Thames this afternoon and Joanna Lumley spoke elegantly about it: hear her explanation at 6.

Finally, two horror stories that need little explanation but begger comprehension.
In those halcyon days of April, a man was sun-bathing on Clapham Common. What woke him was sheer agony: Emma has the story.
And we bless them, we use them, we often befriend them: the corner shop angels with a pint of milk at midnight or a paper and (for me) a packet of ciggies at first light. We bring you the terrifying images of what has prompted them to set up a "life or death" reward fund to help catch the people making their lives a nightmare as they try to make our lives easier to live.

It is from a brilliant London Programme and you won't want to miss a frame.

Noah has been taken away and some seem to be getting back to work.
Ha! Good to be ahead of the game.

See you at six.

Alastair and Katie.

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Mon 16th July

Good afternoon and welcome to Day One of another week of London Tonight.

Where to start?
Venomous ferocity in Farringdon?
The blitzkrieg on boards, boasting about bountiful estate agents?
Metronet's plea for more millions?
Or Boris?

All is, or all are, there tonight so you don't have to chose: just be there at 6 and feast on it all.

Very few politicians are so iconic that their surnames seem superfluous.
London already has one - Ken.
And we could get another - Boris.

Boris isn't talking, beyond confirming that he wants to ride into battle in Tory colours in search of your votes. "I am not a Tory", I hear many of you scream. Doesn't matter. The Tory party are asking all Londoners who they think should be the Tory candidate for Mayor. So you get not one but potentially two chances to electorally endorse or democratically defenestrate Boris: first, as candidate and next, possibly, as Mayor.
All will be explained when we are joined by the leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, live at 6.

It's all got terribly difficult for Metronet: LT keep changing their minds and asking for extra bits and different standards. They find they need half a billion pounds to get back on the straight and narrow.
No they don't, say LT.
And the man who has to decide between these warring factions has decided who is right: full and frank details at 6 and live reaction from the man who runs the Underground, Tim O'Toole.

There's to be a purge on estate agent's boards - shame it is not the estate agents themselves some might argue but we couldn't possibly comment.

Farringdon has a problem with rattle snakes. Yes, that's what I thought too; so we will attempt to explain, without frightening you.

A lack of the right documents for you and your car used to entail a trip to the Cop Shop - now your pride and joy can end up in the crusher if you are caught short of a license, insurance or road tax: and it is happening with record frequency.

I've run out of ink and energy!

There must be something for you in that lot! And the weather and the papers...and your e-mails on Boris.

Katie and I think you have no excuses left.

See you at 6.

LONDON TONIGHT TONIGHT: Friday 13th July

Woohay everyone. It's F-F-F-FRIDAY. (Sorry too much coffee.)

Ahead, we hope, a gloriously relaxing weekend. For those who like a drop... a cheeky bottle of white perhaps to waken the palate - or, if you prefer, a case of lager. And for the non-drinkers - Ribena.

Fingers crossed we'll have the weather to barbecue by, or at least, go out without galoshes... Chrissie, of course, will have a the full story - aided by Darth Vader and Princess Leia. Now, THAT's woken some of you up, hasn't it?

What about this? 'Boris Johnson WILL run for Mayor'. That certainly woke US up when we read it this morning - but, from his office today, no word of confirmation. We wait, eagerly, to hear, because - let's face it - love Livingstone, or loathe him, you have to agree when he says 'Boris as Tory candidate' would make for interesting electioneering. Piers Hopkirk will sum up the state of play this evening.

As for the rest of the programme, we start with a man who set out to kill people because he thought they were 'sinners' - you may remember the story we covered last year of a petrol-bombing on a shop in Kennington. Two men died. Tonight we have the CCTV pictures of Robert Torto as he prepares and then carries out his deadly attack - and Phil Bayles will have the full story.

Next up: a tax on old bags - not really. It's a tax on NEW ones. If the London boroughs get their way, every time you buy shopping and you want to carry it out in a plastic bag: "that'll be 10p, please". They say it'll cut down the number of plastic bags going to landfill sites and they'll spend their windfall on being even greener. Glen Goodman is our bag-man.

Damien Steward, meanwhile, will be bashing those estate agents who clutter our streets with their ugly boards... especially when they've nothing to sell, or let, at all.

We'll be also be finding out whether 'Harry Potter Five' is worth the price of a ticket... and, AND... we'll be talking to a 'Teacher' and 'The Master' about their life together on the London Stage: Adrian Bower and John Simm are in to talk about 'Elling' which is on at the Trafalgar Studios.

So... put the Pinot (or 'bena) on ice, gather round the TV, and we'll all start the weekend together - on ITV1, at SIX o'clock.

See you then,

Ben

London Tonight Tonight Thursday 12th July

Good afternoon.
On the tie issue, I choose not to wear one on Fridays because it is a drop-down, unwind, get-ready-for-the-weekend sort of day. That's all. Paxman and Snow can elevate it to an issue of intellect if they want, but for me it is about chilling out. Just wanted to get that off my chest - or neck.
Second, I am told cycling is the second most popular sport in this glorious land of ours, second only to swimming. I'd have sworn fishing was up there but, hey, I'll accept producer Faye's statistics, hook, line and sinker.

More of those sports in a moment but we start with a case of dumb naivity, cynical greed or total innocence.
The drama is unfolding in Ghana, west Africa, as I write. The dramatis personae include two 16 year girls, who we think hail from north London; a team from UK Customs and Excise on an undercover operation in west Africa; and some heavies from the Ghanian authorities who say the penalty for drug smuggling is a minimum 10 year term. At the heart of it all is 6.5 kilos of cocaine: and it's our top story tonight.

Cycling at great speed is, apparantly, compelling. Right. They even do it really slowly and then..... shoot off, at great speed. Apparantly THAT is even more compelling. Indeed, compelling on an Olympic scale. Where they will be doing it in 2012 will be revealed to Simon Harris, our man in the peloton...

Swimming is different: elegant, almost an art-form, it can be enjoyed by giggling babies, thrown in at the deep-end by parents who have read the latest text books, right through to gods and goddesses who glide through the water at amazing speeds, propelled by a range of amazing strokes. Then there are the strange folk who Chrissie found. They have swum across London, via all manner of swim-places and they end up on Hampstead Heath, tonight. Worth tuning in just to fathom, really.

Easier to fathom is why 36 Sat-Navs are stolen every week in London - rapid turn-around and good retail value for the scum who lift them. A good-guys-and-gals guide to how you can avoid becoming this week's number 37.
Also, Dave Stewart on how he picked an Annie Lennox sing-alike for his show at Tower of London from hundreds of wannabes. And an invitation to you to nominate the really good people in your community who deserve a public, and very spendable, pat on the back: details at 6.
Katie and I really hope you can make it... unless you are fishing. In which case, we are so sorry.

Alastair