Today 1968 – 1977

Those still able to recall the news service provided by Thames may think of Thames News, fronted by Andrew Gardner and Penny Smith. This bulletin commenced its fourteen year run only in 1978, and it had antecedents well worthy of mention. The original London weekday news programme was Today, a magazine which ran from 1968 to 1977. It was presented by such luminaries as Eamonn Andrews, Bob Holness, Llew Gardner and John Stapleton. Perhaps the most famous Today presenter of all was Bill Grundy. His confrontation with The Sex Pistols on the 01/12/1976 edition has passed into TV folklore, as the interview from hell.

Well-known among journalists for his love of pubs, Grundy was accused of drinking before going on air, since he told the Pistols, “You’re more drunk than I am.’ He claimed it was a joke, but Thames suspended him for two weeks. He was reinstated after three days, but his contract was not renewed in 1977 after which his career went into freefall. The former Granada star and host of What the Papers Say ended his TV career in the 1980s on BBC North. He died in hospital at Marple in Cheshire on February 9th 1993, aged 69, as a result of injuries sustained in a car accident. Spookily, Grundy’s pal Brian Inglis wrote his obituary for The Guardian, and then died himself on 11th February 1993. Inglis had also hosted What The Papers Say. Meanwhile The Sex Pistols incident seems tame compared to the sort of thing one sees on TV these days…