# In Town Tonight

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{{Short description|BBC radio programme}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
{{refimprove|date=November 2010}}
{{Infobox radio show
| name          = In Town Tonight
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| format        = 
| runtime       = 30 minutes
| start_time    = 19:30
| end_time      = 20:00
| runtime_note  = 
| country       = United Kingdom
| language      = English
| home_station  = {{ubl|[BBC National Programme](/source/BBC_National_Programme)|[BBC Home Service](/source/BBC_Home_Service)}}
| syndicates    = 
| television    = 
| presenter     = 
| starring      = 
| announcer     = 
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| narrated      = 
| rec_location  = 
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| oth_location  = 
| first_aired   = {{Start date|1933|11|18|df=y}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/49eb438c2ecd4c379122dfa3c5e1d2af|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230228221356/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/49eb438c2ecd4c379122dfa3c5e1d2af|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 February 2023|magazine=Radio Times|title=In Town Tonight |date=10 November 1933 |volume=41 |issue=528 |page=68 }} [BBC National Programme](/source/BBC_National_Programme).</ref>
| last_aired    = {{End date|1960|09|17|df=y}}<ref>{{Radio Times|genome=Y |id=bbchomeservice/basic/1960-09-17#at-19.30 |title=In Town Tonight |date=9 September 1960 |volume=148 |issue=1922 |p=50 |network=[BBC Home Service](/source/BBC_Home_Service)}}</ref>
| num_series    = 
| num_episodes  = 
| audio_format  = [Mono](/source/Monaural)
| opentheme     = "Knightsbridge March" by [Eric Coates](/source/Eric_Coates)
| othertheme    = 
| endtheme      = 
| website       = <!-- {{URL|example.com}} -->
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}}

'''''In Town Tonight''''' is a [BBC](/source/BBC) [radio](/source/radio) programme that was broadcast on Saturday evening from 1933 to 1960 (except for a period of 26 weeks in 1937 when ''The BBC presents the ABC'' was broadcast instead).  It was an early example of a [chat show](/source/chat_show), originally presented by [Eric Maschwitz](/source/Eric_Maschwitz).

Its theme music was "Knightsbridge March" by [Eric Coates](/source/Eric_Coates).  Its introductory sequence had a voice crying "Stop" to interrupt the sound of busy central [London](/source/London), before an announcer said "Once more we stop the mighty roar of London's traffic...."  At the end of the programme the voice would say: "Carry on, London." 

A series of outside broadcast spots were included in the 1940s: "Standing on the Corner"  with Michael Standing, then "Man on the Street" with [Stewart MacPherson](/source/Stewart_MacPherson_(broadcaster)) and [Harold Warrender](/source/Harold_Warrender), and "On the Job" with John Ellison, later [Brian Johnston](/source/Brian_Johnston); Johnston continued in the segment "Let's Go Somewhere" from 1948 to 1952. As part of this he stayed alone in the [Chamber of Horrors](/source/Madame_Tussauds), rode a [circus horse](/source/Hippodrama), lay under a passing train, was hauled out of the sea by a helicopter and was attacked by a [police dog](/source/police_dog).

The 1000th episode, on 6 August 1960,<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/917cc9975bdd4ec5ab585dc2da40efd7|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250913233103/https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/917cc9975bdd4ec5ab585dc2da40efd7|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 September 2025|title=The 1,000th edition of 'IN TOWN TONIGHT'|magazine=Radio Times|issue=29 July 1960|page=46}}</ref> included appearances by [Errol Flynn](/source/Errol_Flynn), [Gary Cooper](/source/Gary_Cooper), [Jane Russell](/source/Jane_Russell), and [Doris Day](/source/Doris_Day): this was a few weeks before it ended. Towards the end of its run the programme was simultaneously broadcast on [BBC Television](/source/BBC_Television), presented by John Ellison. Antony Bilbow and [Nan Winton](/source/Nan_Winton) were the last presenters of the programme and carried on in its successor which began after a missing week. After its demise the programme was replaced by ''In Town Today'', which was broadcast at lunchtime and ran until 1965.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
*Donovan, Paul (1992), ''The Radio Companion''. London: Grafton, pp. 133–34

Category:BBC Home Service programmes
Category:British talk radio programmes
Category:1933 radio programme debuts
Category:1960 radio programme endings
Category:1930s British radio programmes
Category:1940s British radio programmes
Category:1950s British radio programmes
Category:1960s British radio programmes
{{BBC-radio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [In Town Tonight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Town_Tonight) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Town_Tonight?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.