Today (Thames Television series)

Last updated

Today
Thames Television Today show logo.jpg
Genre News, London (regional)
Presented by
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
Production
Production company Thames Television
Original release
Network Thames Television
Release1968 (1968) 
1977 (1977)
Related
Thames at Six

Today is Thames Television's first regional news magazine programme, shown in the London area from 1968 to 1977. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews, Bill Grundy and others. [1]

For nine months, the programme featured Barbara Blake Hannah, the first Black reporter on British television, who was eventually driven off-air by racist complaints. [2] [3]

John Lennon and Yoko Ono made an appearance on the show in 1969, sharing a bed with Eamonn Andrews. [4]

The show is now most commonly remembered for Bill Grundy's 1976 interview with the Sex Pistols, which caused public outrage at the time. [5] Today was replaced in September 1977 by Thames at Six , a more conventional news magazine programme.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lennon</span> English musician and member of the Beatles (1940–1980)

John Winston Ono Lennon was an English singer, songwriter and musician. He gained worldwide fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. His work included music, writing, drawings and film. His songwriting partnership with Paul McCartney remains the most successful in history as the primary songwriters in the Beatles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoko Ono</span> Japanese artist and activist (born 1933)

Yoko Ono is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking.

The Bromley Contingent were a group of followers of the Sex Pistols. The name was coined by Melody Maker journalist Caroline Coon, after the town of Bromley where some of them lived. They helped popularise the fashion of the early UK punk movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eamonn Andrews</span> Irish TV and radio personality (1922–1987)

Eamonn Andrews, was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority, which oversaw the introduction of a state television service in the Republic of Ireland. He is perhaps best remembered as the UK host of This Is Your Life from its inception in 1955 until his death in 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Lennon</span> British-American composer and musician (born 1975)

Sean Taro Ono Lennon is a British-American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, The Claypool Lennon Delirium and his parents' group Plastic Ono Band. He has released two solo albums: Into the Sun (1998) and Friendly Fire (2006). He has produced numerous albums for various artists, including Black Lips and the Plastic Ono Band.

<i>Some Time in New York City</i> 1972 album by John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band with Elephants Memory and the Invisible Strings

Some Time in New York City is a part-studio, part-live double album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono as Plastic Ono Band that included backing by the American rock band Elephant's Memory. Released in June 1972 in the US and in September 1972 in the UK on Apple Records, it is Lennon's sixth album to be released under his own name, and his fourth with Ono. Like Lennon's previous solo albums, it was co-produced by Lennon, Ono and Phil Spector. The album's agitprop lyrics are politically charged compared to its predecessors, addressing political and social issues and topics such as sexism, incarceration, colonialism, and racism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Jones (musician)</span> English guitarist

Stephen Philip Jones is an English guitarist, best known as a member of the punk band Sex Pistols. Following the split of the Sex Pistols, he formed the Professionals with former bandmate Paul Cook. He has released two solo albums, and worked with Johnny Thunders, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick, Bob Dylan and Thin Lizzy. In 1995, he formed the short-lived supergroup Neurotic Outsiders with members of Guns N' Roses and Duran Duran. He played with Suicidal Tendencies frontman Mike Muir's Cyco Miko, which is still an ongoing project. Jones was ranked #97 in Rolling Stone's 2015 list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

<i>Live in New York City</i> (John Lennon album) 1986 live album by John Lennon

Live in New York City is a posthumous live album by English rock musician John Lennon with the Plastic Ono Elephant's Memory Band. It was prepared under the supervision of his widow, Yoko Ono, and released in 1986 as his second official live album, the first being Live Peace in Toronto 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bed-in</span> Anti-war demonstration by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

A bed-in is a nonviolent protest against wars, initiated by Yoko Ono and her husband John Lennon during a two week period in Amsterdam and Montreal as an experimental test of new ways to promote peace. As the Vietnam War raged in 1969, artist Ono and Lennon held one bed-in protest at the Hilton Hotel in Amsterdam and one at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. The idea is derived from a "sit-in", in which a group of protesters remain seated in front of or within an establishment until they are evicted, arrested, or their requests are met.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Grundy</span> English television presenter (1923–1993)

William Grundy was an English journalist and broadcaster. As the host of Today, a regional magazine programme on Thames Television in London, he gained national attention for an interview with the Sex Pistols in 1976, during which the band swore and traded insults with him on live television. The interview effectively destroyed Grundy's career, elevated the Sex Pistols to notoriety, and signalled the arrival of mainstream punk rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woman Is the Nigger of the World</span> 1972 song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

"Woman Is the Nigger of the World" is a song by John Lennon and Yoko Ono with Elephant's Memory from their 1972 album Some Time in New York City. The song was produced by Lennon, Ono and Phil Spector. Released as the only single from the album in the United States, the song sparked controversy at the time due to the use of the word nigger in the title, and many radio stations refused to play the song as a result.

<i>This Is Your Life</i> (British TV series) British TV biographical series (1955–2003)

This Is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American series. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964, and then from 1969 until his death in 1987. Michael Aspel then took up the role of host until the show ended in 2003. It briefly returned in 2007 as a one-off special presented by Trevor McDonald.

<i>Thames News</i> Former flagship regional news programme of Thames Television

Thames News was the flagship regional news programme of Thames Television, serving the Thames ITV region and broadcast on weekdays from 12 September 1977 to 31 December 1992.

John and Yoko: A Love Story is a 1985 American made-for-television biographical film that chronicles the lives of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, beginning just before they met in 1966 and concluding with Lennon's murder in 1980. The movie was made with the co-operation of Ono, who controlled the song rights. It was directed by Sandor Stern and stars Mark McGann as Lennon and Kim Miyori as Ono.

This is a list of British television related events from 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mrs. Lennon</span> 1971 single by Yoko Ono

"Mrs. Lennon" is Yoko Ono's first single from her second studio album Fly, released in 1971. It was written and performed by Ono, and produced by Ono and her husband John Lennon. It includes the B-side "Midsummer New York". "Mrs. Lennon" was featured in the 1972 film Imagine.

Self-Portrait was a 1969 film made by the artist Yoko Ono. Premiering at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London in 1969, the 42 minute film consisted of a single shot of her husband John Lennon's semi-erect penis.

This is a timeline of the history of the British broadcaster Thames Television and its predecessor Associated-Rediffusion. Between them, they provided the ITV weekday service for London from 1955 to 1992, after which Thames continued as an independent production company until 2003.

Barbara Makeda Blake-Hannah is a Jamaican author and journalist known for her promotion of Rastafari culture and history. She is also a politician, filmmaker, festival organiser and cultural consultant. She was one of the first black people to be an on-camera reporter and interviewer on British television when, in 1968, she was employed by Thames Television's evening news programme Today. Hannah was sacked because viewers complained about having a black woman on screen. She later returned to Jamaica and was an independent senator in the Parliament of Jamaica from 1984 to 1987.

References

  1. "Thames News Bulletins & Magazines". TVARK . Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  2. Jolaoso, Simi (22 October 2020). "Barbara Blake Hannah: The first black reporter on British TV". BBC News. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  3. Ponsford, Dominic (18 August 2020). "UK's first black TV reporter Barbara Blake-Hannah: 'Journalists are the most important people in the world' (video)". Press Gazette. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  4. "John Lennon and Yoko Ono appear on Thames Television's 'Today'..." Getty Images. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  5. Bennett, Jon (2 December 2016). "What happened when the Sex Pistols appeared on the Bill Grundy show". Classic Rock Magazine. Retrieved 23 October 2020.