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''Tonight'' (often referred to as ''The Tonight Programme'') is a British current affairs programme, produced by
ITV Studios ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcas ...
(formerly
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
) and ITN for the
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
network, replacing the long-running investigative series ''
World in Action ''World in Action'' was a British investigative current affairs programme made by Granada Television for ITV from 7 January 1963 until 7 December 1998. Its campaigning journalism frequently had a major impact on events of the day. Its producti ...
'' in 1999. Previously airing twice-weekly, on Monday and Friday evenings at 8.00pm (
ITV Wales ITV Cymru Wales, previously known as Harlech Television and HTV Wales, is the ITV franchise for Wales. The new separate licence began on 1 January 2014, replacing the long-serving dual franchise region serving Wales and the West of England. Li ...
, STV and UTV would often air the programme at different times or different days, to make way for regional programming), the show runs the gamut from human interest-led current affairs to
investigative journalism Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...
. ''Tonight'' has conducted interviews with a plethora of political and public figures, including
U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
,
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
and former U.S First Lady
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
. From 1999 to 2007, the programme was known as ''Tonight with Trevor McDonald''. The programme currently airs in the Thursday night timeslot, usually at 7.30pm on
ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...
and 10.45pm on STV, with
Julie Etchingham Julie Anne Etchingham (born 21 August 1969) is an English journalist who works as a television newsreader with ITV News. A graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, Etchingham joined the BBC as a trainee after completing her studies, and went on ...
as host until February 2022, when she announced she would be stepping down as presenter but continuing in a reporter role.


Format

The format of ''Tonight'' consists of a number of long-form news stories which present an angle on a major development, often following up on an investigation instigated by a national newspaper or news network. Many topics centre on allegations of wrongdoing and corruption on the part of corporations, politicians, and other public officials. The show also features profiles. The profiles are occasionally of celebrities and offer a biography of the figure, followed by a sit-down interview. Rather than offering a simple publicity platform, a celebrity will often feature after a period of intense media scrutiny, such was the case when the model
Naomi Campbell Naomi Elaine Campbell (born 22 May 1970) is an English model, actress, singer, and businesswoman. She began her career at the age of 15, and established herself amongst the most recognisable and in-demand models of the past four decades. Cam ...
appeared after there were claims she had a
substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...
problem. Non-celebrity profiles usually feature a person who has accomplished an heroic action. The programme's format differs significantly to newsmagazine ''
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...
'', which airs on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, as it often remains focused upon a sensationalist and human interest-led agenda, rather than political or world affairs. Many of the topics are follow-ups to stories from tabloid newspapers, chosen for their level of public interest. The show gained greater public attention for its high-profile interviews, such as with the parents of murdered schoolboy
Damilola Taylor Damilola Adegbite (born Oluwadamilola Adegbite; 18 May 1985) is Nigerian actress, Model, and Television personality. She played Thelema Duke in the soap opera ''Tinsel'', and Kemi Williams in the movie '' Flower Girl''. She won Best Actress in a T ...
, the five suspects in the
Stephen Lawrence Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...
murder case and Trevor Rees-Jones, the sole survivor of the crash which killed
Princess Diana Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
. Following the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
in 2001, the show shifted its focus to more "heavyweight" topics such as the impending war and featured numerous reports from
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
and
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
respectively, with Trevor McDonald interviewing
U.S. Secretary of State The United States secretary of state is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The office holder is one of the highest ranking members of the president's Ca ...
Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...
in December of the same year. In an emotionally charged and highly controversial episode, airing on 30 October 2001, Martin Bashir interviewed the television star
Michael Barrymore Michael Ciaran Parker (born 4 May 1952), known by his stage name Michael Barrymore, is an English actor, comedian and television presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Th ...
for the first time about the events that led to a man dying in the swimming pool at his home. The entertainer said he felt remorse and responsibility, igniting a tabloid backlash. The edition was the most-watched in ''Tonight's'' history. ''Tonight'' will often react to major news stories as they happen, with scheduled ITV shows pre-empted. Notable major events in recent times have been "''Terror in London – A Tonight Special''" after the terrorist attack in London (
2017 Westminster attack On 22 March 2017, a terrorist attack took place outside the Palace of Westminster in London, seat of the British Parliament. Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old Briton, drove a car into pedestrians on the pavement along the south side of Westminster ...
) and "''The Manchester Attack – A Tonight Special''" after the
Manchester Arena bombing On 22 May 2017, an Islamist extremist suicide bomber detonated a shrapnel-laden homemade bomb as people were leaving the Manchester Arena following a concert by American pop singer Ariana Grande. Twenty-three people were killed, including ...
. Reacting to the shock announcement of the
2017 United Kingdom general election The 2017 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 8 June 2017, two years after the previous general election in 2015; it was the first since 1992 to be held on a day that did not coincide with any local elections. The governing ...
two months earlier, ''Tonight'' programmed special "Leader Interview" specials – which gave each of the major political parties their own respective programmes via an interview with
Julie Etchingham Julie Anne Etchingham (born 21 August 1969) is an English journalist who works as a television newsreader with ITV News. A graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, Etchingham joined the BBC as a trainee after completing her studies, and went on ...
. Family and friends of the party leaders were also interviewed. It was after "''The Leader Interviews: Theresa May''" programme when the Prime Minister
Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...
went viral for revealing the naughtiest thing she had ever done was "running through fields of wheat" as a child in her interview with Etchingham. On 24 February 2022, Russia launched a large-scale
invasion of Ukraine The territory of present-day Ukraine has been Invasion, invaded or Military occupation, occupied a number of times throughout History of Ukraine, its history. List See also *List of invasions *List of wars involving Ukraine References

...
. ''War in Europe - A Tonight Special'' was broadcast across the
ITV network ITV is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television (established in 1936). ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passin ...
on the same night, reacting to the developing story. Julie Etchingham presented the live programme from the ITV News studio, with reports from correspondents in Ukraine, Russia and in the studio.


Controversies

While the show often features interviews with global newsmakers, ''Tonight'' sometimes makes global headlines itself. ;''
Living with Michael Jackson ''Living with Michael Jackson'' is a television documentary in which the British journalist Martin Bashir interviewed the American singer Michael Jackson from May 2002 to January 2003. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV (as a ''Toni ...
'' :A 3 February 2003 episode featuring
Martin Bashir Martin Henry Bashir (born 19 January 1963) is a British journalist. He was a presenter on British and American television and for the BBC's ''Panorama'' programme, for which he interviewed Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995. Although the intervie ...
interviewing
Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
led to the singer being charged for sexual molestation. An interview with Jackson was very special, for it had been extremely rare for Jackson to allow such access to his personal life, or indeed to talk so freely about his childhood. The special two-hour episode was heavily criticised, with numerous claims that the documentary had presented the singer in an unfavourable light. After the episode aired on U.S. network
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
, a follow-up "rebuttal" interview with Jackson was broadcast, featuring a surplus of material Bashir had omitted from his film. ;Charles Ingram (''Major Fraud'') :In the same year (21 April 2003), the magazine aired segments from the 2001 ''
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...
'' episode in which Major
Charles Ingram Charles William Ingram (born 6 August 1963) is an English novelist and former British Army major who gained notoriety for his appearance on the ITV television game show ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?''. In episodes recorded in September 200 ...
was accused of cheating. It was the first time outside of court that the clips had aired and the edition was heavily promoted throughout the week, airing immediately after a highly rated episode of ''
Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...
''. Again, the programme was criticised for its bias, with Charles Ingram claiming in an interview with
Diane Sawyer Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', '' Good Morning America'', ''20/20'', and '' Primetime'' newsmag ...
for US network ABC that ''Tonight'' refused to allow him to defend the allegations on air. This episode would later air in the US as a special episode of '' Primetime Thursday with Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer'' on 8 May 2003, using some of the footage from this episode. While Bashir hosted this episode from the set in London, in place of McDonald, Sawyer solely hosted this episode, also from the set in London, upon
Charles Gibson Charles deWolf Gibson (born March 9, 1943) is an American broadcast television anchor, journalist and podcaster. Gibson was a host of ''Good Morning America'' from 1987 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2006, and the anchor of ''World News with Char ...
's night off. The above episodes attracted 15.32 and 16.1 million viewers respectively.


On-air team


Presenters

Sir Trevor McDonald Sir Trevor McDonald (born George McDonald; 16 August 1939) is a Trinidadian-British newsreader and journalist, best known for his career as a news presenter with ITN. McDonald was knighted in 1999 for his services to journalism. Career ...
presented links for the programme. During this time the programme was known as ''Tonight with Trevor McDonald''. He left in late 2007, with the return of '' News at Ten'' on Monday, 14 January 2008, which McDonald co-presented, along with
Julie Etchingham Julie Anne Etchingham (born 21 August 1969) is an English journalist who works as a television newsreader with ITV News. A graduate of Newnham College, Cambridge, Etchingham joined the BBC as a trainee after completing her studies, and went on ...
, until November 2008. However, on 6 November 2008 McDonald presented links again for the programme, though this is thought to be a one-off as it was a high-profile 9pm slot. Trevor will stay with the programme, to report on high-profile stories. When he was not presenting links, he was an interviewer talking to people in some places. In October 2009, it was announced that Etchingham would present the relaunched programme from early 2010 – with the show airing once a week on Thursdays at 7:30pm, or later in some regions. Julie presented the programme for the final time on 3 February 2022, announcing that she would now be reporting for the show. On 9 March 2022, Paul Brand was confirmed to be the new presenter of the programme.


Reporters

The programme's reporters have included: * Fiona Foster * Martin Lewis *
Jonathan Maitland Jonathan Maitland is a British playwright and broadcaster. Early life He was educated at Epsom College and graduated from King's College London with a degree in law. Journalism Maitland started his career as a reporter on The ''Sutton Guar ...
(1999—) *
Aasmah Mir Aasmah Saira Mir (; born 7 October 1971) is a Scottish television and radio broadcaster and journalist who currently copresents the Monday-Thursday breakfast show on Times Radio. Early life Mir was born to first-generation Pakistani immigrants ...
* Adam Shaw *
Ranvir Singh Ranvir Singh (born 11 August 1977) is a British journalist and television presenter. She is the political editor and newsreader/deputy presenter for '' Good Morning Britain''. Early life Singh was born in 1977 in Preston, Lancashire, into a Si ...
(2014–2016, 2018) *
Helen Skelton Helen Elizabeth Skelton (born 19 July 1983) is an English television presenter and actress. She co-presented the BBC children's programme '' Blue Peter'' from 2008 until 2013, and since 2014 has been a presenter on ''Countryfile''. She also co- ...
(2016, 2018—) *
Martin Bashir Martin Henry Bashir (born 19 January 1963) is a British journalist. He was a presenter on British and American television and for the BBC's ''Panorama'' programme, for which he interviewed Diana, Princess of Wales in 1995. Although the intervie ...
*
Ginny Buckley Virginia Louise Buckley (born 1 April 1968 in Rochdale) is a British journalist, radio and television presenter. Early life Buckley was born and brought up in Rochdale, England, before moving to Australia at the age of 18. She started her ca ...
* Chris Choi (2017—) *
Vanessa Collingridge Vanessa Jane Collingridgehttps://theses.gla.ac.uk/8601/1/2017CollingridgePhD.pdf (born 12 January 1968) is a British author and Television presenter, broadcaster. Early life and education Youngest of the five children of Gordon Ernest Collingrid ...
*
Laura Kuenssberg Laura Juliet Kuenssberg (born 8 August 1976) is a British journalist who currently presents the BBC's flagship Sunday morning politics show. She succeeded Nick Robinson as political editor of BBC News in July 2015, and was the first woman to ...
*
Michael Nicholson Michael Nicholson (9 January 1937 – 11 December 2016) was an English journalist, specializing in war reporting, and a newscaster. He was ITN's Senior Foreign Correspondent. Early life Nicholson was born in Romford, Essex, on 9 January 193 ...
* Melissa Porter * Chris Rogers *
Geraint Vincent Geraint V. Vincent is a British journalist, currently employed by ITN as a Correspondent for '' ITV News''. Early life The son of the international relations scholar R J Vincent and Angela Vincent, Vincent and his family lived in Newcastle in S ...
*
Quentin Willson Quentin Willson (born 23 July 1957) is an English TV presenter, motoring journalist, author, TV producer and former car dealer, perhaps most widely known as a presenter of the motoring programmes ''Britain's Worst Driver'', ''Fifth Gear'', and ...
*
Kirsty Young Kirsty Jackson Young (born 23 November 1968) is a Scottish television and radio presenter. From 2006 to 2018 she was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's ''Desert Island Discs''. She presented ''Crimewatch'' on BBC One from 2008 to 2015. Early ...


Guest reporters

* Joel Hills (2014; 1 episode) * Mark Austin (2014; 1 episode) *
Charlene White Charlene Denise White (born 22 June 1980) is a British television broadcaster, journalist and presenter, best known for presenting ''ITV News'' programmes. She has been an anchor on ''Loose Women'' since 2021Catherine Tyldesley Catherine Tyldesley (born 17 September 1983) is an English actress, comedian and model known for her roles as Iris Moss in the BBC drama ''Lilies'', Eva Price on the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2011 to 2018 and Karen Norris in BBC ...
(2015–2017; 3 episodes) *
Alex Beresford Alexander Isaac Beresford (born 17 October 1980) is an English weather presenter employed by ITV.
(2015–2016; 2 episodes) * Robert Moore (2016–2017; 3 episodes) *
Janet Street-Porter Janet Vera Street-Porter (''née'' Bull; born 27 December 1946) is an English broadcaster, journalist, writer, and media personality. She began her career as a fashion writer and columnist at the ''Daily Mail'' and was later appointed fashion e ...
(2016; 1 episode)https://www.facebook.com/tonight.itv/photos/a.294547533907193.97406.165354860159795/1271275599567710/?type=3&theater *
Robert Peston Robert James Kenneth Peston (born 25 April 1960) is an English journalist, presenter, and author. He is the political editor of ITV News and host of the weekly political discussion show ''Peston'' (previously ''Peston on Sunday''). From 2006 u ...
(2016; 2 episodes) *
Tom Bradby Thomas Matthew Bradby (born 13 January 1967) is a British journalist and novelist who currently presents the ''ITV News at Ten''. He was previously political editor for ITV News from 2005 to 2015, and presented '' The Agenda with Tom Bradby'', ...
(2016; 1 episode) *
Rageh Omaar Rageh Omaar (; so, Raage Oomaar; ar, راجح أومار; born 19 July 1967) is a Somali-born British journalist and writer. He was a BBC world affairs correspondent, where he made his name reporting from Iraq. In September 2006, he moved to ...
(2017; 1 episode) *
Kylie Pentelow Kylie Ann Pentelow (born 29 June 1979) is an English journalist and television news presenter. She is a presenter of ''ITV News West Country'' and the '' ITV Weekend News''. Education and career Pentelow was educated at the Sir Christopher Ha ...
(2017; 1 episode) *
Georgie Barrat Georgie Barrat is a British tech journalist and television presenter, best known as a presenter on ''The Gadget Show''. Early life Barrat graduated from King's College London with a degree in English Literature. She later gained a diploma in ...
(2017; 1 episode) *
Noreena Hertz Noreena Hertz (born 24 September 1967) is an English academic, economist and author, and has hosted her show, "MegaHertz: London Calling," on Sirius XM's Insight channel since 28 August 2017. She has been Honorary Professor at the Institute for ...
(2017; 2 episodes) * Hayley Hassall (2017; 1 episode) * Dan Clark-Neal (2017; 1 episode)


See also

*
Murder of Deborah Linsley On the afternoon of 23 March 1988, Deborah Linsley was murdered on a train between Petts Wood and London Victoria stations in Greater London. Although there were about 70 people on the train, and Linsley apparently fought and injured her attac ...
– high-profile unsolved murder case which ''Tonight'' appealed for information on in 2002 *
Murder of Billie-Jo Jenkins Billie-Jo Margaret Jenkins (29 March 1983 – 15 February 1997)''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916–2007'' was an English girl who was murdered in Hastings, East Sussex in February 1997. The case gained widespread media atte ...
– the alleged murderer in the case, Siôn Jenkins, was interviewed for an episode of ''Tonight'' in 2006


Further reading

*


References


External links

* * {{ITV News 1999 British television series debuts 2000s British television series 2010s British television series 2020s British television series British television news shows ITV news shows Television series by ITV Studios Television shows produced by Granada Television English-language television shows