London Tonight Tonight: Tuesday December 4th

Good afternoon.

Builders. Can't live with them, can't live without them. I, of an afternoon, enjoy what we laughingly call Builders Tea: PG Tips, hot-water, cold milk, full-stop. I have two cups and a bar of chocolate to fire the turbines and spark the internal combustion engine which, jointly, give me the energy to present our programme for you, alongside the naturally energetic and naturally lovely Katie.
For the last few days, I have been denied both -  (all three if you count the cups of tea separately and then the choclotae bar) - by dint of builders. Our newsroom is currently being refurbished to look like a cross between the Security Council of the UN and Quaglino's restaurant. The builders have erected blue screens to hide their architectural excesses but, in so doing, have denied us sight of the tea-trolley. I keep missing it and I am fading fast.

 

But this is as nothing compared to what their cousins have been up to at Shepherd's Bush Railway Station - a new, overground monument to the iron-horse system that serves our great capital.
A new shopping centre, a new over-land line, much expenditure and excitement, and platforms that are too narrow. "What!", I feel I hear you say. "Yes", I quip quietly back: "too narrow". The small matter of about £7m will now have to be spent to put it right otherwise the busy shoppers and commuters of SB will be standing too close for comfort to the oncoming carriages. "Stand-clear of the train" will be redundant even if annouced by the former naughty lady of the loudspeakers! Harris is hemmed in by the mob and Ken blows his top at 6.

 

We are not blowing our tops but blowing the whistle on the 12 "cons" of Christmas and are asking for your experiences of seasonal sharp practice. Our own song-bird, la belle Faye, penned the words and the London Gospel Choir deliver the Crimble Caution. Emma dons tinsle and raises her conductor's baton at 6.

 

We go on air at 6: not a moment earlier and not a moment later. People have start times for their work as a general and logical arrangement. Many start much earlier than you or I because we need their services or their vittals, later in the day. Milkmen, posties and transport workers all come to mind. So what should a butcher do when his new landlord says he can't fillet those beef cuts nor trim the pork until after 9am?  It has happened and it looks like cleavers at dawn. Robin is wearing a rather fetching blue and white striped ensemble for you and wraps it all up in grease-proof paper at 6.

 

Dolly Parton, who tends to be wrapped up in pink and frills, taught us all how to spell 'divorce' and taught us of the pain and ignomany of failed marriages, all to a rather fetching country melody. Fired up by her abundant success, she now intends to educate the world's children more generally with her Imagination Library - a book for every child! Jasmine met the mega star who Faye said describes herself as a backward Barbie but I can't remember why nor how. That, too, may be revealed at 6. Stand By Your Man was my more optimistic take but then I always was a "cup half full" rather than a "cup half-empty" man: apart from when it comes to tea in which, of late, I have been a no-cup man. Builders.

 

Politicians: "men and women of honour who stand by their word". Discuss. One of them came on the programme on Thursday and pledged to do "something" about the plight of Boyhood to Manhood, the charity generally thought to be doing good in keeping kids off the streets and away from crime." Yeah" , some of you may have thought. We've been on Keith Vaz's case. Has he been true to his word? Find out at 6. It's all rather exciting.

 

Will Robin be true to his meteorological word? Of course he will.

And will London's papers tell the truth on their front pages or will you wrap your fish and chips in them? The salt and vinegar of London's news , all just for you, at 6.

 

If I seem to be fading, send a Red Cross parcel with tea, powdered milk and chocolate.

See you at 6.

 

Alastair & Katie

London Tonight Tonight Friday 30th November

Good Afternoon to you all,

It's Friday and we have our usual end of week banter with James King about what's good on the big screen ... this weekend it's between the scrumptious Brad Pitt playing legendary outlaw Jesse James, it's an incredibly long film - more than 2 and a half hours, but is that such a bad thing? And as it's 1st December tomorrow, we have of course the first Xmas Movie offering - 'Fred Clause' starring Vince Vaughan. Ho ho ho or No no no? We'll let James explain.

And as a special Friday treat Spring has come early - we'll be asking for your help in naming a baby lamb... yes I know it's November, but no-one told this little chap - born yesterday on a farm in Leatherhead.

Plus Pub Landlord Al Murray calls Time on his Nationwide tour this Sunday - with the last of his stand-up shows at the Palladium. Good news though - he's popping in here first to join us live in the studio. Certainly not a "Time-waster".

But we start today with a truly shocking story involving the families of 7/7 victims. They've all been sent postmortem details of their loved ones through the post without any warning. Thoughtlessness, insensitivity or a clerical error? Piers Hopkirk speaks to some of the relatives. A memorial service was held today for grandmother Carmelita Tulloch. Murdered just over a year ago by a teenage, drug addicted schizophrenic. In a deeply emotional interview, her family tells London Tonight that the government should ensure people with mental illnesses are kept off the streets BEFORE not AFTER they kill.

And we have the heartwarming story of a London school choir - teaming up with orphans in Zimbabwe to record a fundraising single of 'Silent Night'. We follow them as they record their parts separately thousands of miles apart - and see how it has all been brought together.

 

Plus we reveal the final winner in our People's Millions contest.

 

Quite a packed show for the end of the week.

The only question left is - where is Ben with my cup of tea?

 

Have a good weekend,

Salma and Ben

 

 

London Tonight Tonight Thursday 29th November

Good afternoon.
In 1936 the then Prince of Wales, on seeing the poverty and desperation of the miners and their families in the South Wales coal fields said "Something must be done". It caused a real stink in Government circles but won him a place in ordinary people's hearts until his abdication. Even then, some still felt a sympathy for him, including my grandad who always referred to him as The Dook.
So, when the Home Affairs Select Committee said From Boyhood to Manhood - a charity helping keep kids out of trouble and off the streets - was worth saving they said "Something must be done". You might have thought Ministers would have learned the lessons of history.
Nope.
The charity can't get help from the Government and is set to close on 19th December. The why's and wherefore's of this short-sightedness will be charted by the wondrous Ms Wickham.
The lovely Lucy has been to New York to see how they deal with kids and gangs there. She does the Daniel Day Lewis bit at 6 with a very interesting glance at some Stateside slammers.

"Soon", " Very shortly", "Some time next year". When traditional cat-eyes have done a perfectly good job for 70 years, it is, perhaps unsurprising that there is some doubt over when their successor will be stuck into our tarmac. However, a former firefighter has come up with a solar powered replacement, it seems. Katie and I wondered, given they are solar-powered, if that might not qualify as environmental pollution. They'll be on the whole time. Badgers will take it amiss and our director, Stuart, felt it might even disrupt migrating Pelicans. I don't know what he's on but I wouldn't mind some.

Faye, all in black today, including the top part of a rather fetching dinner suit, took umbrage at our protestations claiming it only emitted a little red light. But head-lights do the trick for free and, no car - no light. We argued a bit, I must confess, and I was accused of being cantankerous! Hurt... but I soldier on and  I am sure you'll want to flash your head-lights at this on-coming argument. Marcus plays Mr Toad. Poop! Poop!

Equally dubious from that parallel universe where "off the wall" technological ideas crash into the common sense orbit of the Planet Blindingly Obvious, the "sat-lav". There you are, 'caught short' after an evening's imbibing and, being a good, non-Parisian citizen, you are not inclined to add to the unpleasant odour of an innocent doorway. But where is the nearest public loo? Press button B and this latest gizmo will reveal all. Robin found it all worked but rather too late. Embarrassment all round the pissoir at 6.

 

Finally, whistling. Stuart said he hated it - especially in men's changing rooms because it was engaged in by nervous men who probably had something to hide, he thought.
Katie said she remembers being tremendously excited when she first learned to whistle as a child.
Faye and I then showed off a bit.
We can both do the "fingers-to-the-mouth" wolf-whistle and, whilst I need both hands, 'old gorgeous' can do it with thumb and two fingers from one hand. "How cool is that", to borrow a phrase.
Anyway, we meet the man who whistles a good Michael Jackson ditty and whose determined friends want to get him to Number One this Christmas. Cliff Richard be warned. For the rest of you, lick those lips with Steve at 6.

Finally, we have thousands of pounds to give away, again, the papers to be read, and Manali on why any geraniums still not in the greenhouse might as well have been planted at Ypres or on the Somme.

Tin hats on for the cats-eyes row and see you at 6.
Alastair & Katie 
 

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday 28th November - PS. Sorry we're late... Gremlins ate a cable! Or something...

Afternoon all,

It's Wednesday. A pretty dreary one too. Grey. Grey. Grey. With a bit more grey thrown in.

 

But, are we downhearted...? Best not answer that one. Especially as a we've got one man asking us each in turn to get out of our seats - so he can do some drilling... which is nice. And then, over in the other corner, a team from building services are investigating a smell. Not just any smell, either. It's a stinker...
We've also had a technical problem or two... cup of tea anyone? Ooh, and a nice bit of music too perhaps - we're talking to 'Boyz II Men' on the programme this evening. They've shifted over 60 million records in their time - and now they're back on song with a collection of Motown classics. Just been listening to a couple of tracks. Mellow. Nice. Just what we need.

Oh the smell-hunters have gone... and taken the source of the smell with them. Don't ask.

 

Bit of breaking news - just about to sign this off and send it when it flashed on the newswire that police have charged a 41 year old man with the murder of Rachel Nickell. It's 15 years since she was stabbed to death on Wimbledon Common. You'll remember that the case against Colin Stagg was thrown out by the judge and her family have been waiting for justice ever since. Well, now Robert Napper has been accused. We'll have all the detail for you.

 

There's also the truly dreadful story of Laila Rezk - the mother battered to death in her own home by a teenager who followed her from the bus. Her son and daughter found her on the floor when they got in. They've been talking to Ronke Phillips about how they tried to save her life. It's a story that sends a chill down your spine - and your heart out to Laila's family.

 

There are a couple of very different stories about schools. In one of them, down in Crawley, a fourteen year old boy has allegedly been arrested after taking a gun into school. Yes, what you're thinking now is what we were all shouting at the programme meeting earlier. Anyway, on closer examination, it turned out to be a replica - but that's covered by the school rules too. Unsurprisingly, the staff haven't been falling over themselves to talk to us. Emma Walden has been talking to some parents this afternoon.

 

In the other, slightly more cheery story we've got a school in Fulham which has had a bit of a makeover. Well, the kids have. Recently returned to a regime of wearing blazers, the headteacher says it's a happier, better-behaved AND... more successful school. Coincidence? She thinks not.

 

And it's ITV People's Millions time... after you all voted last night, we'll be giving lots more lottery lolly away to either the Phoenix Garden in Hemel Hempstead or the Sensory Garden Annexe project in Streatham. Both wonderful projects but there can only be one winner and it's... yeah, like we'd tell you now. Even THEY don't know yet.

 

Join us at SIX - and we'll tell you and them.

Ben & Katie

 

PS Just looked out the window. It's black now! Oh dear - better watch London Tonight, we'll try to cheer you up!

 

 

London Tonight Tonight Tuesday 27th November

Good afternoon.
I think Faye has already launched the 12 days of Christmas, decked, as she is, in a spangly silver dress today. This metallic vision of festive energy opened our planning meeting with the excited claim "We've got a cracker". I thought this was another yuletide reference but, no, it was her energetic description of the programme I seek to entice you to watch from 6.

We had a fierce argument over whether we'd prefer to talk to Nicole Kidman or Daniel Craig at the premiere of Golden Compass.
Goldfinger was a Bond film so was The Man With The Golden Gun. But Golden Compass, despite the reference to precious metal and Mr. Craig's involvement, isn't.
It is the film version of Phillip Pullman's amazing children's saga said, by many, to be the heir to The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. It has its premiere in London tonight and we are there, still deciding who we'd rather talk to.
Salma says the Speedos win it for Daniel.
Our own Daniel , (we call him Dan The Director), and I are for Nicole purely on the basis of method-acting ability.
But we'll see. Jasmine will be there for you, saying Lights, Camera, Action!

For those coming into London by train to see it, enjoy what will soon seem like a "cheap as chips" fare.
Harris is like a saucepan full of boiling water having uncovered that South Eastern are poised to up their fares by inflation plus whatever comes into their minds. Not entirely fair but it is at least inflation plus 3% and for some folk, like the entirely innocent people of Hayes, it's 15%. SET's transparently ludicrous justification? High speed trains. Take a hike! Actually, many of you probably will, come the New Year and the new fares.

Once in town, you may hop on a pedicab to get from Charing Cross to Leicester Square. In doing so, you run the risk of either being killed or becoming one of the most unpopular road users in town, according to TfL and Westminster Council.
The Rickshaw pedal-cabs are dangerous and disruptive, they say, and licenses are the answer. Not sure about the prescription but, here in the newsroom, there's a lot of sympathy for the description of the symptoms.
See what you think as Lucy rolls up her sleeves and gets into harness at 6.

We've thousand of pounds to give away again in the People's Millions and we tell one of our two hopeful candidates from last night, that they can do even MORE good in the future with our dosh.

Christine Ohuruogu also got some great news today. The world champion, medal winning, hope-above-hope for the next Olympics was told she had won her appeal against a ban for failing to make a drug test appointment... or three.
Mixed opinions and mixed emotions on this one. You will be the judges at 6.

No mixture of emotions on Brick Lane, home to much of London's Bangladeshi community, just bitter sadness. One in twenty lost a relative in the recent cyclone. Liz meets one woman with 35 members of her extended family lost or left homeless - none of us could even think of 35 members of our own extended families. That's a bit sad, but not as sad as the good folk of Brick Lane. A moving report from Liz.

So, a cracker? I think so... But I won't say who's wearing the silly paper hat nor who's a bit of a joke - you'll have to pull it apart at 6 and make your own minds up.

We're out of the rickshaw and onto the starting blocks, waiting for the off. Be there promptly or you won't get a seat...

See you at 6.

Alastair & Salma

London Tonight Tonight Monday 26th November

Good afternoon.
Drugs have often featured in our programme and, frankly, in a pretty negative way. From the London girls in Ghana being jailed for trying to bring them here, to the debris of addicts' paraphernalia, littering our backstreets and stairwells. So, when I saw DRUGS was the title of our top story I thought what a sad start to the week. I will leave you to form your own reactions tonight but when I tell you it is about a charming lady in Bromley and involves a Primary Health Care Trust eventually doing the right thing, I believe you will be thrusting your fists in the air, victory-style. We bring tidings of great joy for Gillian Eames.

Keeping his fists to himself tonight is the star of the Thriller in Manilla. I asked Faye if that was the bloke who also advertised griddles on TV and she said "No! That's the star of the Rumble in the Jungle!"
I had no idea such a delicate beauty would know so much about heavyweight boxing. My mum was one of the grapple fans who used to enjoy Kent Walton and the Saturday afternoon wrestling but she, like most, was a middle aged woman. Faye, so young and lovely, into big men with boxing gloves at the ends of their arms? Very troubling. Anyway, Joe Frazier gives his take on curbing youth crime but not a blow is struck outside the target area. Phil wants a clean fight and calls seconds away at 6.

A young Watford football star thinks his treatment is far short of a clean fight: he faces extradition back to his native Sierra Leone where they wanted him to be a tribal chief. When he said he didn't want to do that and did a runner instead, they got seriously nasty about it. What faces him if he is "sent-off" in a pretty drastic way by HM Immigration Services, at 6.

My Uncle Jack and Auntie Chrissie lived, for years, in a  pre-fab in Letchworth. He always used to go to the pub before lunch, saying he was just going "to get some change". It was a mystery to me as a child but I think Auntie Chrissie knew what he was really up to because she seemed so happy when he fell asleep, after lunch. Anyway, sad to say, their pre-fab outlived them. Odd, that, for homesteads that were only a temporary move after the war. "Not so", say the good folk of Catford: "We've got some too that are still alive and occupied!" Emma put on her A line frock, permed her hair and danced down to Catford to the strains of Glen Miller.

Priceless, as indeed will be the reaction of our eventual winners of the People Millions: two contestants tonight and, remember, you get to play Santa Claus when all the runners and riders have been revealed.

Jools Holland reveals how wide is the range of his musical taste and his musical mates. On one album, Tom Jones, Suggs and JK, of Jamiroquai fame, to mention but three! Jools joins us live.

Live, or not, the woman who did the announcements on the tube that keep you safe but drive you mad at the same time, has been naughty. A case of mind your manners more than mind the doors, I think!
Oyster cards at the ready and we won't be limited to Zone One, I can tell you.

See you  at 6.

Alastair & Katie

 P.S. sorry about Friday's blog: someone lost the keys.

 

London Tonight Tonight Thursday 22nd November

Good afternoon.

Many years ago, when I was presenting a Sunday  programme called The Sunday Programme for GMTV (never very imaginative with their programme titles) I went to talk to a hero of mine.
He was campaigning hard for English, and especially Shakespeare, to be taught with more imagination and energy in our schools. He didn't need to as he was, even then, a terrifically successful actor but it mattered to him so he did. I liked him even more when I left his delightful home in Limehouse. I have seen him many times since at the movies (me in the audience, him on screen of course) and on television. He gets better all the time.
This is a man, however, who described one character he was playing on TV as "a washed up actor, in the twilight of his career" and who has played Widow Twankey in panto - not always a good sign. His latest role, however, is said to the actor's equivalent to climbing Everest without help or oxygen. And most of the critics say he has reached that summit with greater style, strength and glory, than many others who have gone before him.
He and his leading lady are on the show tonight and , whether or not you have guessed who I am describing, my tip is that you will not want to miss him.

Incidentally, if you want a cool, insider tip on the McClaren succession, remember the name Ken Hayes. I'll say no more than that but think second mortgages and World Cup glory in 2010.
Quite separately, but literally laterally, Annie from our forward planning desk is leaving to join Setanta, the sports channel. An act of brutal betrayal from a woman I worship. It is a flight too far.

As, say the good protestors around Heathrow, are Government plans for Heathrow. In fact, several hundred flights too far. And they tell us the consultation about a third runway at London's premier airport is as much a consultation, as teacher asking if you think it might be a good idea to do you home work; or your mother enquiring if you think it might make sense to eat up your greens. Lucy says "chocks away!" and Phil cries "grounded!" because balance is everything in journalism and aviation.

The jury in the murder trial of Anthony Joseph, who killed Richard Whelan because he asked him to stop throwing chips at his girlfriend, had to balance some very difficult evidence. In the end, they couldn't decide and the judge dismissed them. Joseph's plea of manslaughter has caused grave distress in Richard's family. Ronke has been talking to them.

Simon is still in India and has been talking to Mylene Klass who he says is absolutely stunning. She used to go to Mumbai with her family when it was called Bombay. There were slums there then and there are slums there now. Ken has been to take a look and our Transport Commissioner reveals a fascinating side to his life few of us knew about. Simon rings the bell and asks you to stand clear of the doors,at 6.

Romilly is with us tonight, back from Malta and still glowing with the success of her impromptu encounter with the Duke of Edinburgh. She assures me it was all entirely innocent. Why, then, have my friends at the Palace told me there is now a Ms Weeks Suite under construction at the Tower of London? Wrapped in ermine, for now, we'll be there for you at 6.

Alastair & Romilly

London Tonight Tonight Wednesday 21st November

Good afternoon.

One of my favourite writers is E.M.Forster and one of his finest works is A Passage to India. In Sir David Lean's stunning film adaptation, Sir Alec Guiness plays Godbole and there is a celebrated scene in which a very crowded train pulls out of a very crowded station and, standing alone and utterly still, with his hands held in front of his heart in prayer mode, is the enigmatic Godbole.
"Clever old bugger" is how Lean described Guiness's serene performance in this powerful piece of simple, understated acting.

Imagine, if you will, the scene in India yesterday when our Mayor wanted to do a "Godbole" but someone had mentioned, in passing, that Ken was going to be on the Delhi to Mumbai express. Serenity went out the window, as nearly did our cameraman Kevin. 80 film crews mounted the rolling stock, thousands of Indians, anxious to catch sight of this celebrated revolutionary turned democratic municipal leader, that it all went "buffers up" in a frantic cacophony of iron-horse lunacy. We were there! Ken found time to clap the clapper board and to plead with the Indian authorities to buy the media centre at the 2012 Games park and to turn it into a post-2012 subsidiary of Bollywood. He put the idea to one of Bollywood's biggest stars.
The Big Boss, incidentally, said he thought the "Ken on a Train in India" scene sounded no different to the "Him on the Northern Line" scene at 8am any Monday morning.
Harris of the Subcontinent continues to do his Clive of India number for you at 6.

I think someone will make a film of our top story: last winter, 2 teenagers from north London were stopped at Accra airport in Ghana and, far from having Dell or Sony's finest in their laptop bags, they were found to have a third of a million quid's worth of Columbia's finest nestling up to their modems. They were found guilty of the cocaine smuggling today and are likely to learn next month that it will cost them the next three years of their lives in a ghastly, young offenders institution in West Africa.
Liz takes an impartial line on what is either a tearjerker or a case of 'reaping what you sow'.

Talking of which, I'd have thought we should be doing everything we can to be nice to the Croatians. They have qualified for what Ken assures me is called Euro 2008. So, tonight, they could just stand there, admire the view, let Peter Crouch pop one past them and do his odd dance. Job done, if they wanted to be nice to us. But we have to earn it. So, by way of a cleverly planned welcome, I am sure, one of our brave lads in blue lifted the head of the Croatian FA, at Gatwick Airport, on suspicion of shop-lifting from W.H.Smith. In the old days of Soviet satellite states, a free press was worth risking your life for but nowadays, frankly, no Croatian is going to risk their liberty for a copy of the Daily Mail or even the Sun. Marcus screams "Read All About It" at 6.

Also screaming at 6, the parents of the pupils at a school for deaf children in Camden. Sadie Frost's niece is a pupil and she joins the noisy throng with Glen who, I hope, won't get lost in the crowd.

Steve talks to Nigel Havers and we talk to Bobby Davro about panto. Oh no we don't, I said at the meeting. Oh yes you do, said Faye, my own vision of Cinderella. Your career, Alastair: it's behind you, said Katie...

 

Tracey Emin goes to church, in itself a potential lead story I'd have thought. She comes back with some beautiful images of her favourite place in London.
Robin has made his bed with his forecasts so he'll have to lie in it tonight.
I hope he doesn't need to wrap up in the papers once we have read you the front pages: it is getting cold out there.

Thinking of Ken and his Indian summer? The crowding will convince you the place to be, is with us... at 6.

 

Alastair & Katie

 

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!)