| Tonight | |
|---|---|
| Genre | News andCurrent affairs |
| Created by | BBC |
| Presented by | Sue Lawley Denis Tuohy Donald MacCormick John Timpson Ludovic Kennedy Robin Day Valerie Singleton |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 756 |
| Production | |
| News editors | Michael Bunce Chris Capron Roger Bolton |
| Running time | 40-50 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC1 |
| Release | 1 September 1975 (1975-09-01) – 15 July 1979 (1979-07-15) |
Tonight is a BBC television current affairs programme that was shown on weekday nights from 1 September 1975 until 5 July 1979 onBBC1.[1][2] It was initially presented bySue Lawley,Denis Tuohy andDonald MacCormick and reporters includedJohn Pitman,Richard Kershaw,David Lomax,David Jessel and Michael Delahaye. Michael Bunce was the programme's first editor.[1] Unlike its predecessor also calledTonight which was shown in the early evening, this programme was generally the last BBC1 programme each evening and appeared at variable times. It took over from the24 Hours programme, also on BBC1 in late evenings, and ran in the same years as the BBC'sNationwide which was shown early evening.[1]
In 1976, under editor Chris Capron,John Timpson alternated with Tuohy and MacCormick presented occasional topics. Lawley took maternity leave andLudovic Kennedy andRobin Day, from BBC2'sNewsday current affairs series, became new presenters, supported byMelvin Bragg andBarry Norman for arts and cinema topics.[3][4]Jeremy Paxman became a new presenter.[5]
Valerie Singleton had become a presenter andRoger Bolton the editor by the time the programme ended in July 1979,[6] making way forNewsnight onBBC2.[2]