Well, it's a player I've never heard of who spent most his time at the club out on loan. Going OT but these cases really annoy me - there is no justification for identifying the suspect until any charges have been made - and from experience we know in most cases charges are never made, but the alleged victim will sell the story to the Sunday tabloids for a small fortune.
Mary's voice has always been like that, though it has got worse recently. On the subject of Mary, can anyone remember when she started at ITN? I know she wasn't in the regular line-up in 1999 (as Trevor did the 1830, John Suchet/Julia Somerville did 1230 and Dermot did 2300) but was she at ITN at that point? I only remember her presenting from c.2001. Also, how and when did Mark Austin make his way into the main presenting line-up (my memory's hazy on this now)?
I must say I am finding the Evening News much more watchable these days than the BBC Six O'Clock News. Now, the two bulletins are pretty equal in terms of agenda (in the past, the Six was much more heavyweight) but ITV has the edge with presentation. I like the ITV studio much more than the BBC's and Mark and Mary are a good partnership. The Six hasn't been right since Sophie Raworth left and now it's even more dull with just George Alagiah.
I think she started around September 2000, as it was when Kirsty Young was on maternity leave with Freya. She was covering for Kirsty to begin with and then when Miss Young went back to Five - Mary was confirmed her replacement.
I think she started around September 2000, as it was when Kirsty Young was on maternity leave with Freya. She was covering for Kirsty to begin with and then when Miss Young went back to Five - Mary was confirmed her replacement.
So, did the line-up go something like this:
1999-2001
1230: John Suchet & Julia Somerville
1830: Trevor McDonald
2300: Dermot Murnaghan
2001-onwards
1230: John Suchet (eventually Nicholas Owen)
1830: Dermot Murnaghan & Kirsty Young/Mary Nightingale (eventually Mark Austin & Mary Nightingale)
2200: Trevor McDonald
Then did Mark Austin start on the 1830 programme when Dermot left for the BBC in 2002? Also, did Mary do any reporting for ITN before she started presenting?
Basically yes (to the schedule). No reporting I think - she came from London Tonight.
I think it was January 2001 she became cover for Kirsty, initially as a replacement on the Lunchtime News but then News at Ten was revived and she found herself co-hosting the Evening News with Dermot.
Kirsty then returned, most famously anchoring most of ITV's coverage of September 11th - and speaking to her husband live on air who was in New York, but shortly after announced her decision to move to back to C5 and was promptly put on gardening leave, with Mary and Katie sharing the job on the Evening News.
It wasn't really until the 2004 revamp that Mary officially became the main Evening News presenter. - up until then it generally depended on who wasn't pregnant at the time!
Re: her voice - I remember reading a number of years ago that she does have medical problems with her voice which could cause it to go at a moments notice - not exactly ideal for a newsreader really!
I think she started around September 2000, as it was when Kirsty Young was on maternity leave with Freya. She was covering for Kirsty to begin with and then when Miss Young went back to Five - Mary was confirmed her replacement.
So, did the line-up go something like this:
1999-2001
1230: John Suchet & Julia Somerville
1830: Trevor McDonald
2300: Dermot Murnaghan
2001-onwards
1230: John Suchet (eventually Nicholas Owen)
1830: Dermot Murnaghan & Kirsty Young/Mary Nightingale (eventually Mark Austin & Mary Nightingale)
2200: Trevor McDonald
Then did Mark Austin start on the 1830 programme when Dermot left for the BBC in 2002? Also, did Mary do any reporting for ITN before she started presenting?
It says that Kirsty gave birth to Freya in February 2001, so she was off on maternity leave at the end of 2000. She was still relatively new in joining ITV News.
Mary Nightingale covered for Kirsty when both Kirsty and Dermot co - presented the ITV Evening News from late 2000.
Mary was involved in the ITV Election Night coverage of May 2001 and Kirsty returned to ITV News shortly that summer. She was obviously on ITV News when the 9/11 attacks happened - as she interviewed her husband who was in Manhattan when it happened.
Less than a month later, in October 2001, she was banned from ITV News after she decided to go back to Five News. So Mary would have been the permanent replacement at that point.
I also now recall Kirsty was with John Suchet on the ITV Lunchtime News when the Hatfield train crash happened. I think that was October 2000? so I was wrong with Mary joining in 2000...sorry for that!
Lol, thanks for your help, both of you. It seems that charting the history of ITV News is a lot harder than the BBC, mainly due to so many pregnancies!
Who would present the 11pm bulletin on Friday? I thought it would be 15 minutes (like on Sat and Sun), but looking at schedules its 40mins. Would Julie Etchingham present this (didn't it say on Media Guardian she would do 5 nights a week). Or would Geraint Vincent present - does anybody know?
Who would present the 11pm bulletin on Friday? I thought it would be 15 minutes (like on Sat and Sun), but looking at schedules its 40mins. Would Julie Etchingham present this (didn't it say on Media Guardian she would do 5 nights a week). Or would Geraint Vincent present - does anybody know?
Probably James Mates - though it could even be Mark Austin until Trevor McDonald is kicked back into touch. I'd assume it'll be single headed.
Personally as I've said throughout it's the Weekend News brand which needs rebuilding most - and I think appointing a regular weekend news presenter would help do that, with them anchoring Friday through to Sunday.
Personally as I've said throughout it's the Weekend News brand which needs rebuilding most - and I think appointing a regular weekend news presenter would help do that, with them anchoring Friday through to Sunday.
I think Lucy from Granada Reports who does the Weekend News from time to time would be a good person to anchor the weekend bulletins but whether she would actually do them week in week out is another story with her already having Monday-Friday commitments. Basically, who wants to work every day?
It could work that she comes from Granada Studios every weekend from a locked camera broom cupboard type set, similar to the one they use on GMTV for Penny during GMTV Today but it may not be efficient having the studio in a different place to the actual production. Perhaps if that was to go ahead, they could bend the contract and hand the Weekend News over to Granada? But at the end of the day, that is just a fantasy thing and is very unlikely. The rotation of 5 presenters (Geraint, Steve, Nina, Romily and Lucy) will probably be around for some time to come. But I do think they need set times (or rough times) on when people can catch the news. Sundays are OK, with the bulletin fixed at 6.40pm but there are none during the day except a regional one around 4pm. The Saturday bulletins are moved around like they are just put inbetween shows as show fillers (which is probably what they are doing).
Going back to GMTV, in terms of presentation they have it right, and what I mean by that is 2 presenters anchoring Monday-Wednesday, and another set on Thursday and Friday but whether they have their presentation team right is a whole different topic. My point is for the Evening News, they should consider the same approach and have Mark/Mary doing Monday-Wednesday and Nina/Geraint on Thursday/Friday to give it a sense of structure. The other 2 main bulletins should have full time set presenters rather than the part time approach they currently have. Cover presenters should be those not scheduled for that night on the Evening News. I think viewers should know who to expect when watching a bulletin and each show should be given its own look and presenters to have individuality, rather than the three bulletins morphing into one.