Tonight

Thursday, 16 July 2009, 9:00PM – 10:00PM

In Martin Bashir’s landmark documentary, originally shown in 2003, Michael Jackson opens the doors to his private world over a six month filming period. In this edited version, the star shows reporter Bashir around his Neverland ranch, invites him on tour to Germany, where Michael displays signs of increasingly erratic behaviour as he is filmed inside the hotel room from which he infamously dangled his young son as fans outside looked on, and talks candidly about his childhood, his work and wealth, his own children and his lifestyle.

Monday, 8 June 2009, 8:00PM – 8:30PM

Since opening last September, Mehmood Choudhry’s convenience store in Huddersfield has been targeted by arsonists three times. He likens his son taking over the family business to feeling like he is sending him off to fight in Afghanistan.

“I feel like all the parents whose kids have gone to Iraq or Afghanistan. That’s how dangerous it is here,” Mehmood says.

“The first time, we had someone ripping the roof off, pouring petrol down in the through the roof and setting it on fire; the second time we had someone trying to break into the bottom of the shop and put explosives in the basement and try to blow the shop up and we’ve had explosives, fireworks thrown at us.”

The latest attempt caused an explosion so powerful that it cracked the foundations of the shop and caused over £10,000 worth of damage.

A recent report showed a 22 per cent rise in physical violence against shopkeepers over the last quarter of 2008. In the past 18 months, five shopkeepers have been killed during attempted robberies or from acts of violence.

And as this programme shows, shopkeepers are dodging bullets, baseball bats and even samurai swords.

Mark Jordan views the shocking CCTV footage and hears the tales of shopkeepers on the frontline battling against violence, abuse, vandalism and theft. He examines how crime is contributing to the disappearance of the neighbourhood cornershop and he investigates what measures are being taken by police and the shopkeepers themselves to battle the crimewave.

In the 1960s, a network of independent convenience stores stretching across the nation were at the very heart of the community. But the changing face of Britain means that the number of stores has fallen to a tenth of that — just twenty-two thousand.

With a recession biting and increased competition from supermarkets, even petty crimes such as shoplifting can mean the difference between a profit and loss for the week. The government introduced fines of £80 for shoplifters caught with goods of a value less than £200 as a deterrent.

But Stephen Alambritis, from Federation of Small Businesses, says this is simply not working. “It’s actually well worthwhile shoplifting these days, and you can ignore the fine. Over 40 per cent of all shoplifting fines are completely ignored. The shoplifter just tears up the fine, the ticket and it just says it’s well worth the attempt.”

Vandalism and violent attacks are also costly from both a financial and psychological point of view. Stewart Evans from Manchester has resorted to physically fighting back against the perpetrators with an iron bar. Another independent retailer is lobbying parliament to take a tougher stance on crime against businesses. Reporter Mark Jordan also meets a retailer who, after enduring seven armed robberies in six months, has spent thousands to become the first shop in the UK to install a CSI style security system. It sprays perpetrators with a special dye with a code that will stay on for weeks and immediately pinpoint which shop the person attempted to rob or vandalise.

The police have set up new initiatives such as Safer Neighbourhood — small dedicated teams of officers and police community support officers that are meant to patrol each area, contact local businesses to establish their concerns and help resolve persistent problems.

The Kumars, who famously made headlines for being attacked more than 200 times over a 10-year-period, say their local Safer Neighbourhood initiative has made a big difference. Their shop in East London saw attacks fall from 20 a year to seven a year.

“Things have got a lot better because the police are coming a lot more often here and asking our welfare and they’re better,” says Mrs Sebah Kumar.

But some critics say that many businesses are not aware of their local neighbourhood policing unit, and even the Kumars still feel frustrated by their now occasional acts of theft and vandalism.

“They’re not solving the crimes, that’s the main thing that’s what the police are for, we don’t want a shoulder to cry on, we want the crimes to be solved. That’s what we want.”

MP Alan Campbell, however, defends the scheme.

“They’re doing more than walking round…people ask for police on the beat so walking round should not be underestimated but it’s about getting information from communities about who’s committing the crime and making sure that they are there to take action. Not just reassuring…but being there if something happens to make sure that the perpetrators are caught and the criminal justice system puts them in front of the courts.”

Friday, 29 May 2009, 8:00PM – 8:30PM

Fiona Foster meets the women who have had multiple cosmetic surgeries but are counting the cost after suffering psychological problems, leaking breast implants or terrible teeth agony.

Monday, 11 May 2009, 8:00PM – 8:30PM

“I love Katie Price because she’s dead, dead pretty. People look up to you when you are famous. I’d just love that, people looking up to me. I would love to have her hair and people writing into me email and stuff like that saying, ‘I love you, you’re a great singer’ and stuff like that. I’d just love it.”

Fourteen-year-old Emily Ruman like most teenage girls loves make-up, magazines and hair straighteners and has a burning ambition to be famous like her idols.

She and her fellow students at Baines High School near Blackpool have been brought up on a diet of Skins, celebrity culture and reality TV. They are obsessed with fake tans, clothes and the latest gadgets.

But despite all these material trappings and apparent enhancements, surveys have shown that the self-esteem of British teens is worryingly low.

Out of a list of the wealthiest countries in the world, UK youngsters were among the least likely to enjoy school or to rate their happiness levels as above average. Overall, they were the most likely to admit to feeling left out, awkward and lonely.

In this two-part programme, Tonight embarks on a unique social and scientifically-tested experiment, stripping 12 typical teens from Baines High School of the material trappings of 21st century Britain and changing the way they live for an entire month. Will breaking the cycle of rampant consumerism, make-up and mobiles make them any happier?

Leading the experiment is Deputy Head Carol Robinson who has taught at the school for 20 years. She hit the headlines last year when she asked parents to stop their children from wearing fake tan to school.

And supervising is child psychologist Emma Kenny. She explains the rules, “They must have no contact with anything cyber related, so no computers, no games consoles, no mobile phones. They must do things like volunteer and get involved in community experiences. They are not allowed to wear make-up or fake tan, they’re not allowed to wear short skirts if they are female and the boys have got to have all of those things that they think are important taken away like iPods. Basically it’s stripping childhood and adolescence right back to its very basics.”

In part one of the programme, which is aired on Monday 11 May, we meet the teens that will soon be “binning their bling.”

Footballer Lucy Cook does her hair and puts on her make-up before she heads out for a kick around the park with her sister and Baines Head girl Emily.

She says: “I feel like I play better if I look better and obviously people are going to be watching me and I look my best.”

Fifteen-year-old Iona Garrow is dreading having her TV rationed and not being able to get her fake tan or wear her fake nails.

Megan Hassett believes she is addicted to her mobile phone. “I think I’m addicted to my mobile phone because I’ve been known to use 300 minutes in less than a week. My mobile phone goes everywhere with me – even when I go in the shower, it’s there in the bathroom – it’s just all the time with me. I feel I’ve not got contact with the outside world if the phone’s not with me.”

And 14-year-old Joel Clark spends hours a day on his laptop – watching TV shows, messaging on msn, and poking his mates on Facebook much to his mum’s annoyance.

His mum Julie explains: “Joel spends sometimes three hours a day on his laptop…that’s been a regular occurrence since he bought it. He’s got a paper round and he gets a lot of money and so he decided that’s what he wanted to do with it and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I think for me, and probably for a lot of people we felt it was detracting from the time we had together as a family because previous to that he’d always been very sociable, enjoyed going out.”

Before the experiment begins, Emma gives our 12 teens the highly regarded Rosenberg self-esteem test which shows how young people perceive their self worth and acceptance.

Emma is surprised by the results. “I’d imagined that most of the young people would probably have quite good self esteem from initially meeting them but actually, some of these results are quite concerning and were showing very low self esteem, and even the average results were kind of the low normal.”

After binning all their material trappings, the teens find the first week difficult.

Joel says: “It was pretty boring doing my paper-round without my iPod cause all the customers coming out and I had to actually listen to them this time.”

Megan says: “I just hate it because I feel really bare and I feel like everyone is looking at me and saying, ‘how disgusting she looks.’”

The programme follows the students as they attend family functions, meet up with boyfriends and hang out with their friends but without their usual styling and gadgetry. With little time now needed to get ready for a night out, no music to listen to and TV rationed, more time is devoted to homework and their families.

On the weekend, instead of hanging around at the shops all 12 of the teens have been enrolled on a volunteer programme which will benefit the community as well as boost their self esteem.

And Emma Kenny takes three of the girls, who are struggling to come to terms with not wearing make-up, out to the street to find out what other people think of their clean faces.

Emma shows photos of Emily, Abbie and Zoe wearing make-up to passersby and asks how old they think they look.

The majority guess that the girls are in their twenties and one woman thinks Zoe looks 40 years old. Ninety per cent of the shoppers think that the teens look better without makeup. They are shocked by the results.

Zoe says: “I think it’s made me realise that I’m growing up too quick like trying to make myself look older and I actually do look a lot older with make-up on.

But as the girls begin their journey of self-discovery, cracks are starting to surface from the other participants.

Will the entire group make it until the end of the month? And if they do, will the experiment make a noticeable impact?

Friday, 24 April 2009, 8:00PM on ITV1

Morland Sanders follows British families attempting to escape the recession by finding jobs in Canada, Australia and elsewhere. But is any country recession proof and are the opportunities all they are cracked up to be?

Monday, 20 April 2009, 8:00PM on ITV1

Britain’s recession has raised new tensions around immigration with more than half of British adults in a recent poll saying that people from other EU countries should not be allowed to apply for jobs in the UK. Three-quarters of those surveyed said that unemployed immigrants should be sent back to their country of origin. 

Politicians and Londoners have complained that jobs at the Olympic site have been given to migrant workers rather than London’s East enders. 

And the country was hit by wildcat strikes earlier this year over the use of foreign workers at an oil refinery in Lincolnshire. 

In this programme, Sir Trevor McDonald investigates the truth about immigration against a backdrop of economic turmoil, including interviews with economic experts and the Equality and Human Rights Commission chair Sir Trevor Phillips. 

Phillips admits that attitudes towards immigration have hardened in recent months, and that integration and support is vital. 

“Without question the economic climate has made people more unsettled. They’re more anxious about their jobs, they’re more anxious about their kids, are their sons and daughters going to have homes to live in, are they going to be able to find work when they’re competing with these new people,” Phillips says. 

“Well the answer is, actually if we get through the recession then they will, but the fact is we’ve got to plan for it. We can’t just you know cross our fingers and hope it will all work out and that means we’ve got to put more money into places where migrants, immigrants are settling so that the transport and the housing is sufficient for everybody.” 

Sir Trevor McDonald visits one North London school that has mastered integration and has a great educational success rate despite over 50 languages being spoken there. 

He also talks to the local people and politicians who feel let down by an Olympic dream that promised to bring regeneration and employment to the east end of London. 

Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney, says that immigration has little to do with the problem. 

“I think the British jobs for British workers sort of rhetoric is very regrettable because I’m not talking about jobs for white workers or black workers. I’m talking about jobs for East end people and I think it makes it much more difficult to make what is a just case for jobs and opportunities for the East End, when you have all that British jobs for British workers rhetoric flying around,” she says. 

“I am the last person in the world to be saying that we should be stopping economic migrants from getting jobs. My parents are economic migrants but I am a Hackney MP and I want to stick up for the people of Hackney. We were promised jobs and a skills legacy and it’s not too late to make sure we get it.” 

The programme also looks at what is now happening with Eastern Europe migrant workers who have come to London for work and have since lost their jobs or been unable to find a position. 

And Sir Trevor also travels to Liverpool, home to some of the oldest immigrant communities in Britain and where some believe the BNP may win a seat in the European Parliament elections in June.

Friday, 17 April 2009, 8:00PM on ITV1

As the number of empty properties in the UK is predicted to top one million this year, Jonathan Maitland investigates why so many homes lie unused when this country faces an acute housing shortage – and finds out what is being done to tackle the problem.

Monday, 6 April 2009, 8:00PM on ITV1

“It was as though I didn’t exist as a person. You’re saying this isn’t right, there has been a mistake, and no one is taking any notice.”

It’s been three months since the government gave Edward Fowler a cheque for £50,000 in compensation for the HMRC’s “self-serving and mean spirited” actions that led to him being made bankrupt in error.

But the memories of the ordeal, which led him to losing his business and his home and even contemplating suicide, still bring him to tears.

And Eddie’s not the only one to have been at the sharp end of Inland Revenue’s incompetence.

In this programme, Jonathan Maitland reports on what happens when the taxman gets it wrong. He speaks to taxpayers declared bankrupt by the HMRC in error and hears the stories of those forced into often long, costly and stressful battles to overturn the taxman’s mistakes. A tax office whistleblowers reveals the effects that staffing cuts have had on the call centre service to taxpayers. And Jonathan interviews David Hartnett, the head of tax at HM Revenue & Customs, on the problems we discover.

Eddie fought a five-year battle for justice before a Parliamentary Ombudsman, who has powers to investigate HMRC, issued a damning report earlier this year and awarded him £50,000 in compensation.

Eddie was made bankrupt after Inland Revenue mistakenly believed that he owed money for VAT related to his business. But it seems, one department of the tax office wasn’t telling the other he’d paid up – and so while Eddie was on holiday his business was served with a bankruptcy order. He only heard about it after the court had actually made him bankrupt.

“A guy turned up in the office, this was an insolvency practitioner, and said, ‘I’ll have to take over your business and you have to leave the premises now,’” he recalls.

“It was so shocking a thing to happen that you go into like a shell you withdraw from everything …”

His bankruptcy led to the loss of the family home, something his wife Sheila remembers with horror, “It’s hard to explain. It’s like the whole world just crumbling you know you just feel so helpless you can’t do anything.”

Friday, 3 April 2009, 8:00PM on ITV1

About £15 billion is languishing in unclaimed pensions, bank accounts, insurance policies and share dividends and new legislation means the government will now be able take some of it to use for good causes.

Jonathan Maitland investigates why so many people are missing out on their money and travels the country to reunite thousands of pounds with their rightful owners.

Monday, 30 March 2009, 8:00PM on ITV1

Morland Sanders looks at recent hospital scandals, including Stafford Hospital where up to 1200 people may have died unnecessarily and Birmingham Children’s Hospital where a lack of equipment and trained staff has put patients at risk, and asks why regulators failed to recognise the problems earlier.