:00:08. > :00:14.No deal with President Assad, says the Government n the fight against
:00:15. > :00:19.Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Talks with Syria would be poisonous
:00:20. > :00:23.says Philip Hammond. The former head of the Army says they must be
:00:24. > :00:28.considered. Some kind of dialogue, whether above or below the counter
:00:29. > :00:33.has to take place with the regime. Tonight, British Muslim leaders
:00:34. > :00:38.denounce the extremists. There's nothing Islamic about it.
:00:39. > :00:45.There's nothing that they do that our faith teaches and we condemn it.
:00:46. > :00:52.We'll ask what options are open to the West to tackle the threat. Also,
:00:53. > :00:55.in Gaza, Hamas announces the names of 18 people accused of
:00:56. > :01:00.collaborating with Israel and executes them.
:01:01. > :01:04.Bernie Eccleston gives his first major interview after paying ?60
:01:05. > :01:07.million to end a bribery trial. I have been found innocent. I just had
:01:08. > :01:15.to pay. To get rid of the case, that's all.
:01:16. > :01:20.And Saturday's most famous fixture - Match Of The Day turns 50.
:01:21. > :01:27.Later on BBC London - a 14-year-old boy is arrested on suspicion of
:01:28. > :01:33.raping a woman at the Reading festival. A Tube strike on two major
:01:34. > :01:49.lines causes disruption for thousands of travellers.
:01:50. > :01:57.Hello. Good evening, welcome to the BBC's news at ten. The Foreign
:01:58. > :02:01.Secretary has rejected the idea of holding talks with President Assad
:02:02. > :02:06.of Syria. Philip Hammond told the BBC there will be no co-operation
:02:07. > :02:09.with the Syrian Government, which he called "a ghastly regime." His
:02:10. > :02:14.comments came after the former head of the British Army, Lord Dannatt,
:02:15. > :02:18.suggested discussions should be held if there is to be any chance of
:02:19. > :02:23.fighting the militants of Islamic State. Tonight, IS forces dominate
:02:24. > :02:26.large parts of Iraq and Syria. The Syrian Government is reported to
:02:27. > :02:32.have killed 70 IS militants in the last 48 hours of fighting near
:02:33. > :02:37.Raqqa. Our Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, reports.
:02:38. > :02:41.Kurdish fighters have steadied themselves and are pushing back
:02:42. > :02:44.against Islamic State. IS will not be beaten without much more fire
:02:45. > :02:48.power - political, as well as military.
:02:49. > :02:53.It won't be hurt badly while it still has a power base in northern
:02:54. > :02:56.Syria. That is why there's talk of doing a deal with President Assad.
:02:57. > :03:00.Syria. That is why there's talk of doing a I think, on practical
:03:01. > :03:05.grounds, we have to possibly consider taking a deep breath and
:03:06. > :03:13.holding our nose and saying that it would seem to us now that the
:03:14. > :03:18.extremely vicious nature of Islamic State and objectives are worse that
:03:19. > :03:25.Bashar al-Assad has been doing. It may be when my enemy's enemy becomes
:03:26. > :03:28.my friend. The West's main so far strategy for ending the Syrian war,
:03:29. > :03:32.includes the departure of President Assad. Britain says it will not
:03:33. > :03:54.change its mind about him. I have said
:03:55. > :04:01.Sectarian conflict in Iraq and across the region makes building a
:04:02. > :04:04.coalition against Islamic State much harder. On the edge of Baghdad
:04:05. > :04:09.earlier this summer, a police general, a Shia, was at pains to
:04:10. > :04:14.point out his chief bodyguard was Sunni.
:04:15. > :04:18.Most Arab Sunnis in Iraq don't trust the security forces. If the new
:04:19. > :04:23.Iraqi Government cannot get its people to find the gunman,
:04:24. > :04:26.reportedly Shia, who killed around 70 Sunni worshippers in a mosque
:04:27. > :04:34.north-east of Baghdad today, the collapse of Iraq will continue. In
:04:35. > :04:38.London, the Iraqi ambassador was trying to reassure a small group of
:04:39. > :04:43.Christian demonstrators outside his embassy. He said peace in Iraq
:04:44. > :04:50.depended on separating Sunnis from Islamic State. To feel they are
:04:51. > :04:53.partners in this Government and partners in real partnership, not
:04:54. > :04:59.only signed and declared over the television, but then next day
:05:00. > :05:00.forgotten. You are talking about a real power-sharing agreement with
:05:01. > :05:03.Sunnis? Absolutely. On the ground. real power-sharing agreement with
:05:04. > :05:07.Sunnis? Absolutely. On If you can't get that? We'll be in a difficult
:05:08. > :05:14.position. Very, very difficult position. So, what happens next? The
:05:15. > :05:18.US has said it will do whatever it take against IS. More air strikes
:05:19. > :05:23.are an option. Doing that in Syria, without the regime's conwould be
:05:24. > :05:28.difficult and -- consent would be difficult and dangerous. The forces
:05:29. > :05:33.have good intelligence and are well supplied. The price would be the end
:05:34. > :05:36.of pressure on him to go. Whaebt neighbouring states. Iran is against
:05:37. > :05:42.Islamic State. Saudi Arabia says it is too, but
:05:43. > :05:47.building a coalition against IS means getting tangled in difficult,
:05:48. > :05:52.often bloody, regional politics. It will not be easy.
:05:53. > :05:56.Now Iraq's own sectarian conflict is emerging with the Syrian war, the
:05:57. > :06:01.challenge facing anyone who wants peace becomes twice as big.
:06:02. > :06:06.Syria's war has been impossible to stop. No-one yet has a proper
:06:07. > :06:11.strategy to end the war in Iraq either.
:06:12. > :06:18.David Cameron is facing calls to do more to combat radicalisation among
:06:19. > :06:21.British Muslims. Some critics have argued neither the Government more
:06:22. > :06:26.the Muslim community is doing enough to stem the tide of young Britons
:06:27. > :06:30.leaving to fight in Syria and Iraq. It comes as investigations continue
:06:31. > :06:35.into the death of the American journalist James Foley, apparently
:06:36. > :06:38.at the hands of a British extremist. Here is our Religious Affairs
:06:39. > :06:42.Correspondent. Tonight, the hunt for those who
:06:43. > :06:46.killed the American journalist, James Foley, goes on.
:06:47. > :06:50.The man who may have murdered him is thought to be British, perhaps with
:06:51. > :06:54.family and friends here. This evening, the Secretary-General of
:06:55. > :06:59.the Muslim Council of Britain issued this appeal over the killing.
:07:00. > :07:05.There's nothing Islamic about it and we roundly condemn it. It is our
:07:06. > :07:12.duty to make sure that anyone of us who has seen or witnessed, or is
:07:13. > :07:17.knowledgeable about any wrongdoing, they must report to the police or
:07:18. > :07:21.must report to organisations like the Crimestoppers.
:07:22. > :07:27.Already at least 500 British Muslims have travelled to Iraq or Syria to
:07:28. > :07:32.support Islamic extremists. Many joining the fighters of Islamic
:07:33. > :07:36.State. Some as young as 16. The oldest, 42. Many are active on
:07:37. > :07:40.social media and keen to recruit more. One British convert to Islam
:07:41. > :07:44.says he can understand why they go. He's careful to stay within the law,
:07:45. > :07:47.but the sentiment still shocked after the violence meted out by
:07:48. > :07:50.Islamic State. There is not a single country in the
:07:51. > :07:54.world, whether it is Saudi Arabia or Pakistan or Iran who are
:07:55. > :07:57.implementing Islam in its totality. Now we have this caliphate, I think
:07:58. > :08:01.you will see many Muslims wanting to flock there and leave the insecurity
:08:02. > :08:05.they face in Muslim countries as well as in the West and migrate
:08:06. > :08:11.there and live there peacefully under the Sharia. The Islamic State
:08:12. > :08:15.message was countered by Imams today. The Government's strategy to
:08:16. > :08:19.prevent extremism is supposed to work by engaging the most vulnerable
:08:20. > :08:22.within their communities before they are radicalised.
:08:23. > :08:26.Over the years, the British Government has tried many strategies
:08:27. > :08:30.to stop young British Muslim men going to fight abroad. But
:08:31. > :08:35.increasingly people here are saying the Muslim community itself may also
:08:36. > :08:40.have to do more to help prevent that process of radicalisation.
:08:41. > :08:45.This man is a post graduate student in London. He believes it is up to
:08:46. > :08:49.all British Muslims to act and not stay silent. I am disappointed in
:08:50. > :08:56.our own community. There are some who would rather sweep it under the
:08:57. > :08:59.carpet. Many would love to practise their religion quietly with their
:09:00. > :09:05.own peaceful interpretation and with that silence and only begets the
:09:06. > :09:09.evil that exists out there. And ultimately, peer pressure may prove
:09:10. > :09:10.crucial in countering a message of a group skilled in reaching out to the
:09:11. > :09:19.young and the disaffected. Our Middle East editor, Jeremy
:09:20. > :09:24.Bowen, is with me. Tell me more about the sectarian violence in Iraq
:09:25. > :09:30.- the impact this will have. Horrendous levels of killing. 70 or
:09:31. > :09:34.so dead in a Sunni mosque. Now, the impact that this has is like it is a
:09:35. > :09:38.poison in the political system, this kind of killing. There are already
:09:39. > :09:42.reports this evening, unconfirmed, of some revenge killings taking
:09:43. > :09:46.place as well. And all this is coming at a time when the new Prime
:09:47. > :09:50.Minister is trying to get together a new Government in Baghdad and very
:09:51. > :09:55.importantly Sunnis have pulled out of that. At least for a time because
:09:56. > :10:00.of the killing. Now, if they cannot find a way of including Sunnis in
:10:01. > :10:08.the overall political shape of the next couple of years in Iraq, then
:10:09. > :10:11.the kind of chaos that will ensue is the kind of thing that Islamic State
:10:12. > :10:15.thrives on. It will be highly dangerous. The more people that die,
:10:16. > :10:21.the harder it gets for the politicians. Thank you. Now, the
:10:22. > :10:26.rest of the day's news. And NHS patients could soon be treated by a
:10:27. > :10:29.growing number of physician associates. The Government wants the
:10:30. > :10:34.health service to employ more of this grade of medic, who perform
:10:35. > :10:38.some of the same roles as a junior doctor but with fewer years of
:10:39. > :10:42.training. Some patients' groups have expressed concern that they would be
:10:43. > :10:49.employed to cut costs at the expense of care. Here is our health editor.
:10:50. > :10:53.Is that OK for you? Meet Kate, examining a patient with an ear
:10:54. > :10:58.infection. She's not a doctor, but what has been described as a
:10:59. > :11:02.physician associate - a job title which has emerged over the last
:11:03. > :11:05.decade. I wanted to work within a medical field. I wanted to see
:11:06. > :11:12.patients, treat patients and work with them on a daily basis. And I
:11:13. > :11:17.like the challenge of a new career within that area. What does her
:11:18. > :11:22.patient, Bill, feel about that treatment? If they are doing the job
:11:23. > :11:25.that Kate's been doing, OK. I would say, carry on doing it.
:11:26. > :11:25.I would say, The Government
:11:26. > :11:28.I would say, The wants to expand the number of
:11:29. > :11:34.associates in England - doubling the number of training places. So, what
:11:35. > :11:39.does the role involve? A doctor has seven years training, a physician
:11:40. > :11:43.associate needs a science or medical degree and two years' training. A
:11:44. > :11:50.doctor has overall responsibility for a patient. An associate can
:11:51. > :11:53.carry out an examination, under a doctor's supervision. Those
:11:54. > :11:57.hospitals wanting to expand medical care on weekdays and weekends, say
:11:58. > :12:01.these posts provide a welcome addition to their staffing options.
:12:02. > :12:06.We need more clinical staff during the day time. They give us an
:12:07. > :12:10.exciting new role which can compliment the doctors on the team
:12:11. > :12:13.and give us the ability to do more across the whole week. Questions are
:12:14. > :12:18.being asked about how far this process will go. And to what extent,
:12:19. > :12:24.if at all, standards of patient care may be compromised and corners cut.
:12:25. > :12:26.Patients' groups say the physician associates are not currently
:12:27. > :12:31.regulated in the same way as doctors and they do have concerns.
:12:32. > :12:37.One of the fears that we have is that because money is tight, the
:12:38. > :12:41.powers that be are trying to find ways around spending proper monies
:12:42. > :12:47.on proper care. That is definitely one of our worries. The Government
:12:48. > :12:52.denies that boosting the number of associates who work in GP surgeries
:12:53. > :12:57.as well as hospitals will dilute standards, helping sustain care in
:12:58. > :12:59.the face of increasing demands on docks' time -- doctors' time is the
:13:00. > :13:09.aim. Hamas militants have killed 18
:13:10. > :13:12.people accused of helping Israel locate targets for air strikes.
:13:13. > :13:14.11 men were shot outside a police station in Gaza City,
:13:15. > :13:17.and another seven people were killed near a mosque.
:13:18. > :13:19.The shootings came after an Israeli air strike yesterday left three
:13:20. > :13:21.senior Hamas leaders dead. Here's Quentin Sommerville.
:13:22. > :13:24.You may find some of these pictures disturbing.
:13:25. > :13:27.On a Gaza city street, just after Friday prayers, a group
:13:28. > :13:31.of men are led to their deaths. Bound and hooded, they are made to
:13:32. > :13:34.kneel as a crowd looks on. They are shot dead. Hamas, which supplied
:13:35. > :13:40.these pictures, say they were collaborators. It was a bloody day
:13:41. > :13:44.in Gaza. As well as the men killed here, 11 were earlier put to death
:13:45. > :13:48.by firing squad, accused of the same crime.
:13:49. > :13:51.TRANSLATION: Because they are spies, they
:13:52. > :13:54.helped to kill people. The Jews don't know there is resistance here.
:13:55. > :13:58.The collaborators tell them. The sign on the wall reads, "They gave
:13:59. > :14:03.information on places of resistance and caused many martyrs". Hamas say
:14:04. > :14:08.the men were sentenced by an emergency court, but human rights
:14:09. > :14:14.groups say these were extrajudicial killings. Two women were among the
:14:15. > :14:19.dead. The deaths came a day after Israel dealt its heaviest blow to
:14:20. > :14:22.the militants, an air strike here in the Gaza which killed three of its
:14:23. > :14:26.top military commanders. The brutality and swiftness of today's
:14:27. > :14:30.killings are an indication of the severity of the blow struck by
:14:31. > :14:32.Israel against Hamas with the killing of its three military
:14:33. > :14:37.commanders. The militants suspect that Palestinians in Gaza
:14:38. > :14:41.colluded with Israel to bring about those deaths. Today's shootings are
:14:42. > :14:45.an attempt to disable any network of informants but also send a message
:14:46. > :14:52.to deter others from collaborating with Israel's intelligence services.
:14:53. > :14:55.Hamas is an armed movement but it has been years since it turned its
:14:56. > :14:58.weapons with such force against its own people. Even so, it warns that
:14:59. > :15:05.more killings will follow. Quentin Somerville, BBC News, Gaza City.
:15:06. > :15:08.The boss of Formula One, Bernie Ecclestone, has given the BBC his
:15:09. > :15:12.first major interview since the end of his bribery trial in Germany.
:15:13. > :15:16.He says he always believed he would walk free and he wants to run
:15:17. > :15:19.the sport for as long as possible. Bernie Ecclestone went on trial in
:15:20. > :15:22.April, accused of bribing a German banker to ensure that F1 would be
:15:23. > :15:27.sold to a private equity company which would keep him in charge.
:15:28. > :15:30.But he walked free after paying tens of millions
:15:31. > :15:34.of pounds to the German court to bring proceedings to a close.
:15:35. > :15:38.Bernie Ecclestone has been talking to Dan Roan at Spa in Belgium,
:15:39. > :15:43.in advance of this weekend's Grand Prix.
:15:44. > :15:46.It may have cost him ?60 million but today Bernie Ecclestone was
:15:47. > :15:50.back holding court in the Formula One paddock, finally clear of
:15:51. > :15:54.the cloud that for so long had hung over his leadership of the sport.
:15:55. > :15:57.Two weeks ago, the 83-year-old tycoon pulled off perhaps
:15:58. > :16:02.his biggest deal to date, paying a settlement for a German bribery
:16:03. > :16:06.case against him to be dropped. For months he faced the threat
:16:07. > :16:09.of jail but today in the luxury motorhome from where he rules F1, he
:16:10. > :16:13.told me he was as defiant as ever. I'm not scared of anything,
:16:14. > :16:16.to be honest. Even a ten year jail sentence?
:16:17. > :16:21.I was never, ever bothered about the jail sentence because I
:16:22. > :16:24.was sure it wouldn't happen. Why did you feel the need to pay up,
:16:25. > :16:29.to settle? Because there is a system in Germany
:16:30. > :16:32.which allows you to do it, gets rid of things.
:16:33. > :16:36.It could have gone on. If they had one,
:16:37. > :16:39.I would have appealed, if I had won, they would have appealed.
:16:40. > :16:42.It could have gone on until next year.
:16:43. > :16:45.He was accused of bribing a German banker over the sale of F1.
:16:46. > :16:47.He insisted he had been the victim of blackmail.
:16:48. > :16:50.In February, he won a multi-million pound High
:16:51. > :16:55.Court damages case, although the judge ruled he had paid a bribe and
:16:56. > :16:57.said he was an unreliable witness. Then came the criminal trial
:16:58. > :17:02.in Munich, but he preserved his innocence after paying the biggest
:17:03. > :17:05.settlement in German legal history. Although it has become almost
:17:06. > :17:08.impossible to imagine Formula One without Bernie Ecclestone,
:17:09. > :17:11.his remarkable reign had been in jeopardy.
:17:12. > :17:15.But now, ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix in Spa,
:17:16. > :17:19.the sport's most powerful man is back firmly in the driving seat.
:17:20. > :17:23.He is one of the world 's greatest survivors.
:17:24. > :17:25.This man has been through everything,
:17:26. > :17:28.not just the case in Germany. Lots of other cases
:17:29. > :17:33.and situations before. He has a remarkable survival sense.
:17:34. > :17:36.For 35 years, Ecclestone has run F1's commercial rights,
:17:37. > :17:42.becoming a billionaire in the process and helping turn the sport
:17:43. > :17:45.into a gleaming global phenomenon. I'm going to do what I do as long
:17:46. > :17:48.as I can. How long, realistically,
:17:49. > :17:53.do you think that could be? No idea, I haven't got a clue.
:17:54. > :17:56.After a summer break, it was back to business as usual for F1, Mercedes'
:17:57. > :18:01.British driver Lewis Hamilton setting the pace in practice ahead
:18:02. > :18:03.of this weekend's race. Whatever the result on Sunday,
:18:04. > :18:10.behind-the-scenes, only one man leads the way.
:18:11. > :18:12.Dan Roan, BBC News, Spa. Ukraine has accused Russia
:18:13. > :18:16.of staging an invasion, after dozens of lorries carrying aid
:18:17. > :18:19.entered the east of the country without permission.
:18:20. > :18:22.The convoy left the Russian town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky and has arrived
:18:23. > :18:30.in the rebel stronghold of Luhansk, where there's been fierce fighting.
:18:31. > :18:33.Here's Daniel Sandford. For more than a week the Russian
:18:34. > :18:37.lorries at the centre of the latest crisis, all specially painted white,
:18:38. > :18:40.have been sitting at the border carrying food, water and generators
:18:41. > :18:44.which Russia says are desperately needed in war-torn eastern Ukraine.
:18:45. > :18:49.They have been held up by arguments between Kiev and Moscow.
:18:50. > :18:54.Today, the Foreign Ministry's chief spokesman told me
:18:55. > :18:59.Russia's patience has run out. Kiev has desperately attempted
:19:00. > :19:03.to derail a very important humanitarian operation.
:19:04. > :19:08.Numerous grounds have been invented, bureaucratic procedures have been
:19:09. > :19:14.introduced to delay to the maximum extent the passage
:19:15. > :19:19.of the Russian convoy. And then, without permission
:19:20. > :19:22.from Kiev, the convoy of over 100 trucks simply drove through
:19:23. > :19:28.the abandoned border post and into rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine.
:19:29. > :19:33.The International Red Cross, who should have been in charge,
:19:34. > :19:35.were left behind in Russia. As the lorries meandered through
:19:36. > :19:38.countryside controlled by pro-Russian gunmen,
:19:39. > :19:42.there was an international outcry. America called it a violation
:19:43. > :19:45.of Ukraine's territorial integrity. The government
:19:46. > :19:51.in Kiev was furious but said it would not shoot at the convoy.
:19:52. > :19:54.TRANSLATION: This is
:19:55. > :19:59.a direct invasion done cynically under the cover of the Red Cross.
:20:00. > :20:02.These are military vehicles. These are military men with fake
:20:03. > :20:06.documents who have been trained to drive combat vehicles,
:20:07. > :20:09.tanks and artillery. The war in eastern Ukraine has been
:20:10. > :20:11.particularly bloody in the last two months.
:20:12. > :20:14.Hundreds of civilians have been killed
:20:15. > :20:17.and thousands take shelter each night, as the Ukrainian army pushes
:20:18. > :20:23.forward on the main rebel held cities of Donetsk and who Luhansk.
:20:24. > :20:29.Tomorrow sees the start of a week of frantic diplomacy aimed at
:20:30. > :20:33.bringing the fighting to a close. First, the German Chancellor Angela
:20:34. > :20:36.Merkel will travel to Kiev, and then on Tuesday the presidents
:20:37. > :20:40.of Russia and the Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko,
:20:41. > :20:43.will meet face-to-face in Minsk. But to achieve peace,
:20:44. > :20:48.they will have to make compromises, and it's not clear that either
:20:49. > :20:53.of them is prepared to do that yet. Daniel Sandford, BBC News, Moscow.
:20:54. > :20:56.South Yorkshire Police have accused the BBC of a cover up,
:20:57. > :20:59.in relation to its reporting of the raid on Sir Cliff Richard's
:21:00. > :21:04.home, by officers investigating an alleged historical sexual offence.
:21:05. > :21:06.BBC News had cameras at the scene, after being notified
:21:07. > :21:09.of the operation the day before. The BBC's director general Tony Hall
:21:10. > :21:17.has said BBC journalists acted appropriately.
:21:18. > :21:20.The former Cardiff City manager Malky Mackay has apologised
:21:21. > :21:23.for offensive text messages he sent while working for the club, but he's
:21:24. > :21:28.insisted he isn't racist, sexist, homophobic or an anti-Semite.
:21:29. > :21:36.He shared the text messages with his former colleague Iain Moody.
:21:37. > :21:39.Richard Conway reports. What started as an acrimonious
:21:40. > :21:42.break-up between the owner of a football club and its manager
:21:43. > :21:48.has now enveloped English football in another row over discrimination.
:21:49. > :21:53.Malky Mackay, the man at the centre of this latest affair, has now
:21:54. > :21:56.apologised after admitting he sent a number of offensive text messages.
:21:57. > :22:00.That was something that was unacceptable but I am no racist,
:22:01. > :22:07.I am no sexist, I am no homophobe, and I am not anti-Semitic.
:22:08. > :22:10.The people that know me know that. The League Managers Association had
:22:11. > :22:15.issued an apology on behalf of Malky Mackay in which they sought
:22:16. > :22:19.to justify the texts as banter. Today there was an apology about
:22:20. > :22:22.that apology, but Malky Mackay's former employer, Cardiff City,
:22:23. > :22:27.believe the LMA Chief Executive, Richard Bevan, should stand down.
:22:28. > :22:31.In a statement, the club said, "We find it entirely reprehensible
:22:32. > :22:34.that the LMA should itself put up a statement which seeks to dismiss
:22:35. > :22:38.deeply offensive racist comments as friendly banter".
:22:39. > :22:40.Malky Mackay had been considered one of Britain's brightest young
:22:41. > :22:46.managers, but despite this admission of guilt
:22:47. > :22:48.he is confident he can return. I've got values,
:22:49. > :22:52.and I've got resilience. And that being the case, as I said,
:22:53. > :22:56.I've got a love for British football.
:22:57. > :22:58.And I will come back from this. Mackay insists these are
:22:59. > :23:02.isolated incidents. In the face of another crisis,
:23:03. > :23:10.football is finding it harder and harder to make the same argument.
:23:11. > :23:12.Richard Conway, BBC News. It has probably
:23:13. > :23:16.the most famous theme tune of any television programme.
:23:17. > :23:19.Its presenters - David Coleman, Jimmy Hill, Des Lynam -
:23:20. > :23:24.became household names, the voices of its commentators a feature
:23:25. > :23:28.of Saturday evenings at home. Today, Match Of The Day turns 50.
:23:29. > :23:36.Natalie Pirks looks back at half a century of a programme
:23:37. > :23:40.that became an institution. The tune and the titles have
:23:41. > :23:46.been tweaked over the years. But the chills remain.
:23:47. > :23:49.For football lovers, this melody has been a staple of Saturday nights.
:23:50. > :23:53.It was one of the things I was always allowed
:23:54. > :23:56.to actually do by my parents. They always let me watch
:23:57. > :24:00.Match Of The Day. The format has always been simple,
:24:01. > :24:04.the day 's top matches cut down into highlights with chat in between.
:24:05. > :24:08.If it ain't broke... You can watch all the live football
:24:09. > :24:10.in the world but to get that fix in an hour and a half of everything
:24:11. > :24:15.that pretty much happens on that day, it really does work.
:24:16. > :24:20.Welcome to Match Of The Day, the first of a weekly series coming
:24:21. > :24:23.to you every Saturday on BBC Two. Match Of The Day began life
:24:24. > :24:27.as a pre-recorded show in 1964. The first goal broadcast was Roger
:24:28. > :24:32.Hunt for Liverpool against Arsenal on Kenneth Wolstenholme's watch.
:24:33. > :24:37.Since then, a raft of famous presenters have brought their
:24:38. > :24:43.own special charm to the show. Sorry about the noise.
:24:44. > :24:47.And then there are the commentators. That is absolutely phenomenal.
:24:48. > :24:51.One of the most famous voices returns
:24:52. > :24:54.for a one-off commentary tomorrow, ten years after his retirement.
:24:55. > :24:58.In this digital age, fans can now watch goals almost
:24:59. > :25:03.instantly, anywhere, any how, but Barry Davies says the show remains
:25:04. > :25:09.appointment to view television. It is the comfort that people feel.
:25:10. > :25:13.They know they've got the package. It is true that they try not to know
:25:14. > :25:16.the result of other matches, and they go home and watch.
:25:17. > :25:19.There are other places they can watch.
:25:20. > :25:21.They could get all the scores while they were in the ground,
:25:22. > :25:25.let alone when they leave. So it's a phenomenon.
:25:26. > :25:28.50 years may have passed but it seems the same arguments rage.
:25:29. > :25:32.If anybody is still trying to tell you that football was far better
:25:33. > :25:37.ten, 20, 30, 40 years ago, just very politely say to them, "Nonsense".
:25:38. > :25:41.But as long as the goals still give us goose
:25:42. > :25:46.bumps, Match Of The Day will remain a broadcasting institution.
:25:47. > :25:51.And we will see you next Saturday. Good night.
:25:52. > :25:55.You can see a special programme, Match Of The Day at 50,
:25:56. > :26:00.shortly after this bulletin, at 10.35pm on BBC One.
:26:01. > :26:03.In Northern Ireland, it will begin at 10.50pm.