which have led to notable scoops, such as the predicted arrest on war crimes charges of General Augusto Pinochet in 1998. A staple of the Radio 4 schedule for over four decades, 2013 figures showed The World Tonight has retained 1.75 million listeners, representing 17.8% of the national radio audience at 10 pm. In popular culture In the 1968 science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey, The World Tonight is depicted as a television news programme on channel "BBC-12". During the programme, a reporter named Martin Amer (played by actor Mike Lovell) interviews the crew of Discovery-1 on a voyage to Jupiter. The overall host of the show, who leads into the interview segment, is played by Kenneth Kendall. In the first ever episode of BBC comedy programme The Thick of It, Secretary of State for Social Affairs, Hugh Abbott (played by actor Chris Langham), speaks live to presenter Robin Lustig on The World Tonight late after office hours, in order to try and rectify a blunder that has played out across the day regarding the multiple U-turns on whether or not they are announcing the department's new 'Anti-Benefit Fraud Executive' (colloquially named 'Snooper Force'). Abbott, however, worsens the situation by panicking and calling it the 'Sponge Avengers', and then having the interview drowned out by a nearby cleaner who is hoovering. Presenters Current Since 2012 the programme has used a roster of broadcasters to host, with one regular presenter as main presenter. Past Ritula Shah - regular presenter from 2009 - February 27 2023; main presenter from 2012 Jane Hill – occasional presenter Jackie Hardgrave Claire Bolderson – regular presenter: 1999–2009 Julian Worricker – occasional presenter Isabel Hilton – main presenter: 1995–1998 Harriet Cass David Sells Richard Kershaw Robin Lustig – main presenter: 1989–2012 Alexander Macleod Anthony Howard John Morgan John Tusa Douglas Stuart Justin Webb – 1997–1998 Editors Roger Sawyer Alistair Burnett David Stevenson (Acting Editor for 2 years) Prue Keely Prue Keely & Jenni Russell (Joint Editors) Ann Koch Margaret Budy Blair Thompson Ken Goudie Jonathan Fenton-Fischer Reporters Current Beth McLeod Paul Moss Past Jonty Bloom, The World Tonight's economics and Europe correspondent. Janet Cohen, Reporter World Tonight 1979-1981 & 1983-2006 Sally Hardcastle John Schofield Rachel Johnson Henry Kelly John Egan Awards In 2011, The World Tonight was nominated for a Sony award for Best News & Current Affairs Programme. In 2009, Jonty Bloom won the Royal