Channel 4 News at 25: Krishnan Guru-Murthy
Updated on 31 October 2007
From ad-libbing on his first programme to covering the London bombs on 7/7, there's not much presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy hasn't seen. He reveals his top moments here.
As a viewer, my favourite moments will probably be the same as everyone else's. The sheer drama of Alastair Campbell's furious appearance, Alex Thompson's relentless Bloody Sunday investigation, watching Jon go out on a limb after the death of Diana over the Queen's handling of the affair (and kissing goodbye to his knighthood).
As a presenter, my most memorable moments inevitably involve the biggest stories I was involved with and they have largely been framed by what has become known as 'the war on terror'.
My very first programme as presenter was entirely ad lib, as 10 minutes before air we got word Bill Clinton had bombed Sudan and Afghanistan.
It was the first time I really had to read up fast on Osama Bin Laden.
On the morning of 9/11 I was about to drive up north to my home town of Burnley to film an authorised piece about the race riots. The way that day unfolded will probably stay with all of us forever.
It was an amazing time to be working in television. We had never quite seen anything like it.
My very first programme as presenter was entirely ad lib, as 10 minutes before air we got word Bill Clinton had bombed Sudan and Afghanistan.
The night coalition forces started bombing Afghanistan will stay with me too, because we really felt we were at the start of something massive. Something we felt even then would probably, eventually, lead to Iraq and suicide bombs on the streets of London.
It was a weekend, in the early days of Channel 4 News weekend, and I think it ended up getting the programme's biggest ever audience viewing figure.
On the morning of 7/7 I was on a day off. But after the bombs went off I drove into work through a capital in shock and went on air at noon, then again at seven. It was a strange day to cover because so much of what had happened was out of sight, underground.
At the lighter end of the spectrum, our tribute to Ingmar Bergman was fun - Jon and I playing chess at the end of the show.
But one of my favourite Channel 4 News moments happened off screen. It was the morning after Gary and Jon had broken the story of the Attorney General's legal advice about the war in Iraq, with days to go before the 2005 general elections. Tony Blair was holding an election press conference with Gordon Brown and Patricia Hewitt at the very swanky Bloomberg HQ in the City.
- Watch the report
- Read the background
He wanted to talk about the economy but Iraq and Channel 4 News were the talk of the room. Blair recognised that he just had to take the flak and took several questions from all of us.
He even got bluffed into publishing the document because he assumed we were going to.
Gary was on fire. I've never seen Jon so chuffed... and that's saying something!
