this is bbc news. the headlines. police say the suspects in the attacks in barcelona and cambrils were planning one or more bigger attacks than those that were carried out. the attack in barcelona left 13 dead and more than 100 injured. in cambrils, five suspects have been shot dead after driving a car at pedestrians and killing one person. a minute's silence has been observed in barcelona — the spanish prime minister says all countries must stand together against terrorism. this is a global battle and it is notjust against us —

it is against all the countries that defend freedom, democracy, human rights. theresa may says they are investigating reports of a missing child. seven—year—old julian cadman — who has dual british and australian citizenship — became separated from his mother, according to his grandfather. police in finland say several people have been stabbed in the city of turku. officers say a suspect has been shot in the leg and arrested. the police and the authorities say they believe a network of at least eight people may have been behind the attacks we saw in barcelona and in cambrils that left 1a people dead and 130 injured. four people have been arrested in connection with the attack here in barcelona. 13 people we re attack here in barcelona. 13 people were killed on las ramblas and scores wounded yesterday when that

white fiat van was driven into the crowd right here in the heart of barcelona. las ramblas, such aid popular tourist attraction. last night, five suspects shot dead and 100 limited way, in the coastal town in the coastal town of cambrils, five attack people in anti—car. police say they were carrying an axe in theircaras police say they were carrying an axe in their car as well as fake explosive belts. 0ne in their car as well as fake explosive belts. one of the terrorists may have been one of this —— may have been this 18—year—old... apologies for the problems with the sound from barcelona. just pick up from where ben was, he was saying that the police say that one of the five suspects shot in cambrils may have been 18—year—old mousset luca

beer, whom they believed to have of the van in barcelona. that is not confirmed. —— moussa 0ukabir. police said they have arrested four people so said they have arrested four people so far lesser could this from richard lister. in barcelona today, a minute's silence. the prime minister mariano rajoy and king felipe stood shoulder to shoulder as the city remembered its dead. and then, defiant applause for several minutes. people here determined to show that they won't be broken by the terror that came to their streets. in the resort town of cambrils, this man has canisters strapped to his chest and appears to be taunting police. they open fire. the man is hit but gets back up, and the shooting continues as bystanders look on. eventually he is killed. he is one of five terrorist suspects

shot dead by police here. they were suspected of having driven a car into pedestrians in cambrils at about 1am, injuring seven people and leaving many others in shock. a woman later died. the town is in shock. translation: i suddenly heard a bang, bang, bang here in the port. and after the bang, bang, people were screaming, and then the police screaming. and then more screaming, i was nervous, i did not know where to go. i went to the beach and hid there. eight hours earlier, another vehicle on another spanish street being used as a weapon. this was las ramblas in barcelona, crowded with tourists and shoppers when a white van drove through them all, mowing down people for half a kilometre before the driver fled. it was the definition of fear yesterday. people were terrified, they were running without knowing which direction they were going. it was incredible to watch how quickly people acted, how quickly people responded and worked together because people were scared,

people did not know what to do. through working together, a lot of people were in safer places. the authorities are now linking the attacks in barcelona and cambrils with an explosion on wednesday in the town of alcanar in which one person died. police believe a terror cell at the house was using it for bomb—making. among those arrested, this man, driss 0ukabir, originally from morocco, whose documents were used to rent the van in barcelona. but he denies any involvement, saying his identity papers had been stolen. the spanish prime minister called an emergency cabinet meeting after announcing three days of official mourning. he's denounced what he called the jihadist attack, but said spain will not submit to terror. this is a global battle, notjust against us. but against all

countries that defend democracy, freedom and human rights. those values and principles of which we have always been so proud. in barcelona, las ramblas is full of people once again, this world—famous promenade apparently unbowed by the terror attack here. but those killed and injured are being remembered in tributes of flowers and candles along the street. the nation is grieving and the world is watching. let's talk a bit more about the attack in cambrils. it is about 100 kilometres down the coast from barcelona to the south—west. in very popular seaside resort. that is where another attack unfolded at about one o'clock in the morning. five terror suspects in an audi car ploughing into a group of people. they were shot dead by armed police.

they were shot dead by armed police. they were shot dead by armed police. they were armed in the car with an axe and knives as well as fake explosive belts. let's get the latest from our correspondent who has been telling me what is gimme —— what has been going on there. there is still a big police presence. a car ploughed into pedestrians and flipped on its roof. the assailants proceeded to get out of the car and scatter. as far as the police were concerned, they were wearing viable suicide belts. the police try to challenge them that they kept on coming and they had no option but to shoot them on the spot. two were killed under that tree over there. another one round

the corner, here. five were killed in total. we have since heard that a member of the public, injured in the incident, hasjust died. reunion numbers killed 214. police believe the two attacks were co—ordinated. their peers be quite young men, perhaps quite recently radicalised. mat macro they appear to be. they appear to be part of the same plot, and police are still looking for members of various delays exist within armed police presence here in cambrils despite the fact that the tories are out on the streets here, back on the pavements. that was the latest from cambrils. we have also been hearing from the local police chief. he has been briefing

journalists on the investigation and their hunt for the people behind these attacks. we are working on the hypothesis that these attacks were being prepared for a while around this private home in alcanar. so we think they were preparing at least one or more attacks in barcelona. the explosion in alcanar at least avoided some of the material they were counting on to carry out even bigger attacks than the ones they have already. and because of that, the attack in barcelona and the one in cambrils were carried out in a bit more rudimentary way than they had initially planned. this is the most relevant

information we have from this investigation. so that is what the police are saying in barcelona. let's talk to an eyewitness who is originally from texas, who lives in madrid. you were here when the attack happened, what did year? i was in a store nearby and all ofa did year? i was in a store nearby and all of a sudden, there was an eerie sense in the store, nobody knew what was happening and we were just told by the people running the shop that they are closing it all down, shoppers need to stop shopping because something happened in the street. bodies on the floor, blood on the floor so everybody had to stay inside. so we stayed there for about ten minutes and then if we

could leave and we left. about two minutes in the street, just a stampede of people of people. people got spooked and everyone did 180 degrees turns and was running towards me, towards my partner and herfriend. we were running in the opposite direction, trying to find safety. it was really spooky. it was pretty awful. did you know at that stage that this was a terror attack? no, i had no idea what was going on. no, i had no idea what was going on. no one was saying anything, somebody says something about a shooting which was not correct, but in the very beginning of these things, misinformation happens. but it was pretty scary. things are better, there are a lot more police and people are feeling safer and going back to business as usual. and yet —— daytime —— at the time the attack

happened, las ramblas was packed? it a lwa ys happened, las ramblas was packed? it always is! yes, and it's amazing how people have gone back to normal in such a short amount of time. is that important, for tourists, the comeback out onto the streets and not hide in the apartments or hotels? the police told us to stay indoors and we were hiding for about an hour, a little bit more than that. we did what we were told to do and stayed inside. and that was the gym i shipped. we went outside and continued as normal. it is a beautiful city, isn't it? one of the most beautiful in the world but the latest to be targeted it seems by islamic state, they are claiming responsibility. yeah, it is a big tragedy. my heart goes out to eve ryo ne tragedy. my heart goes out to everyone affected. it is a pretty awful thing that happened here. how long are you staying?”

awful thing that happened here. how long are you staying? i am staying until sunday then i go back to madrid. thank you for being with us. have a safe trip. thank you. he was talking there about what he saw and heard. we have been getting international reaction from world leaders to the horror that has unfolded not only here in barcelona but also in cambrils overnight. let's ta ke but also in cambrils overnight. let's take a look at some of the reaction we have had in. the australian leader, malcolm turnbull has tweeted, resolute with spain in the fight to defeat terrorism. we condemn the terrorist attack. in france, president macron says all my fault and solidarity. we are united and determined. president trump from the united states, the us condemns the terrorist attack in barcelona in spain and will help to do whatever we can. we love you. in south america, the

colombian president, i deplore the cowardly attack on barcelona. we oppose any form of violence. you can keep up—to—date throughout the day andi keep up—to—date throughout the day and i will be giving you constant updates with the latest on the police investigation and also on the casualties as being treated in a number of around barcelona. and you can go online and find out more information if you want to. here's the web address. our coverage has a special live page with the latest developments. you can also download the bbc app. there have now been a series of attacks against civilians in europe over the last year or so in which vehicles have been used to kill pedestrians.

for authorities, such attacks are extremely difficult to prevent. 0ur security correspondent frank gardner has been looking at what's prompted this surge and what more — if anything — can be done to stop them. using vehicles as attack vehicles is not new. seven years ago, al-qaeda urged people to drive into people with cars. this is what happened in nice, where 86 people were killed before the attacker was shot dead. in britain, people were killed by people driving the cars at crowds at speed. one was a far right extremist, the other was inspired by others. inspired by this man, now deceased,

for so—called islamic state. in 2014, he urged jihadist to adopt low tech high impact versions to attack westerners, including vehicles. today, is is on the back foot, it's so—called caliphate in the middle east is shrinking. the more it is squeezed there, the more it tries to lash out at soft targets in the west. the events in spain can be seen in the context even if is only inspired them. how the governments in europe respond? how far can they go to protect their populations? in city centres are particularly difficult. london predominantly, we can'tjust put a barnard —— we can't just —— we can'tjust put a barnard into the pavement, because the need to dig down in a standard format way. we have utilities underground, we have the underground system. as nice as it would be to say put these things all over the place, logistically, and from

an architectural point of view, we can't do that. crash barriers and ballades are increasingly the norm in london and other cities. these ones outside parliament went up 14 years ago to stop truck bombs. today, the threat comes from terrorist driving the crowds. —— driving into crowds. some measures can be put into place but the government can't shield everyone from attack. the challenge remains an intellectual one. to persuade violent extremists of whatever hue, not to do it. that's talk to our correspondent matt cole who is in westminster. what is the response? consular officials and senior officials in the foreign office are speaking a meeting at the moment in the last hour or so. they could be an update shortly. but earlier today, we had a statement from the foreign office in which they say they are currently helping a small number of british

people affected, by which they mean, injured people. they say they are working with the spanish authorities. they have sent more collagen of visuals to support the spanish officials, as well. but we also understand that officials are urgently looking for a dual national boy, a seven—year—old called julian cadman. there are concerns for his well—being. we understand that he has been most recently living in australian but his british grandfather has talked about him being missing. we understand from the met police, that officers will be at ports and airports to meet people coming back from spain if they have anything they can offer in terms of witness statements that the police here can feed into the international anti—terrorism effort. the metropolitan police have also put out a number, 0800789321. that is if you have come back from spain

and think you may have heard something that you can feed back to the police here which can be fed into the wider investigation. although the metropolitan police say that the spanish authorities have a lot of experience in dealing with terrorism and describe the spanish police as very capable. thank you very much. let's be to our correspondent emma va rdy very much. let's be to our correspondent emma vardy in westminster. theresa may among the politicians who has been speaking about the attacks in spain, talking about the attacks in spain, talking about that little boy, julian cadman, who is missing after these attacks and more widely about the political response from britain. take us through all of that. political leaders have been coming out with messages of support for the people of barcelona and messages of solidarity for that city. prime minister theresa may has spoken of the uk standing shoulder to shoulder

with barcelona as yeats —— address theissue with barcelona as yeats —— address the issue of extremist material and extremist propaganda that needs to be tackled online. but we must work together if we are to confront this evil of terrorism. and also to confront and deal with the perverted extremist ideology which drives it. ridding the internet of poisonous material and ensuring that our police and security services have the powers that they need. terrorism is the great threat that we all face, but together, we will defeat it. that is the issue that has been brought up by many politicians, and jeremy corbyn has been speaking about barcelona and especially his horror and giving his sympathy to the relatives of those who were

killed. shocked and appalled at what has happened. terrible loss of life, people innocently at las ramblas just enjoying themselves and somebody does this unbelievable act that has taken the lives of many. my sympathies to the families of all those who have lost people. and thank you to the authorities in spain for reacting so quickly and the emergency services on the scene in less than minutes. to try and help those people. the pictures that i saw last night were truly shocking. because of the nature of the barcelona attack and because we have seen barcelona attack and because we have seen figures used often to attack civilians, there have been questioned as to whether there needs to bea questioned as to whether there needs to be a change in the law or changing regulation that relates to hiring of vans and lorries. i suspect we will hear more on that in the coming days. but also, those pictures on barcelona just bring

back all too familiar memories of when that sort of terror was experienced here in westminster and on the streets of london. because there have been a series of terror attacks in westminster, in london bridge, finsbury park and also that attack in manchester. we also heard the london mayor, sadiq khan, speaking out in support of barcelona. he said london stands shoulder to shoulder with barcelona against the evil of terrorism. thank you very much for that update. earlier, ben spoke to a lecturer for the study of terrorism and violence. from st andrews and he told him why he thought barcelona had been targeted. spain is a big destination for tourists. so carrying out an attack

at las ramblas they made sure of attacking people from around the world. we also need to realise that it is big publicity which ifs needs. —— is needs. they are on the ropes in syria and iraq. there will be expelled from raqqa, their capital in syria. so they are getting their sympathisers in western countries to carry out more attacks. they need this to project an image of strength to their supporters, to show that they can still cause fear. and how are the authorities here dealing with it? it is a difficult situation for them. they are talking about a terror cell with maybe eight people in it, but they don't know who is still at large. the main reaction to the attack was very effective. police forces and the emergency services were really quickly on the scene. metro and train stations were closed down in minutes and there were cordon in place and the area was put on lockdown after the attack. survivors and their families are already receiving emergency psychological support. it seems that the investigation is making great progress. the spanish press has reported that the authorities believe that there was a cell of 12

individuals behind the attack. five were killed last night, five others have been arrested. the last thing we heard is that the police are still trying to identify the leader of the gang. and we gather one of the suspects was born in morocco. is there a connection between the terror threat in spain and morocco in particular? yes, indeed. many of the jihadists who have been arrested in spain since the madrid attacks in 2004 come from that country. the spanish cities in north africa are radicalisation hotspots because they are connected to areas in morocco where there are networks of recruitment for is. so there is certainly a strong connection. the spanish authorities know about that and that is why they have a close working relationship with their moroccan counterparts. meanwhile, the man city manager, pep

guardiola, who is a former player and manager of barcelona has been giving his reaction. the people who died and were injured, it happened in france, in london, and u nfortu nately in france, in london, and unfortunately happened everywhere. we don't know that us alone would be attacked and it shows how beautiful oui’ attacked and it shows how beautiful our country is. all the best for the future. moving away from spain to some other news. it has emerged... it's emerged that emerged... the defence secretary, sir michael fallon, has personally apologised to the mother of a soldier killed in a lightly armoured

snatch land rover in iraq. the bbc has seen the letter sent to sue smith, whose son, private philip hewett, died in a bombing in 2005. now other families who lost sons in a similar way say that they too should receive a similar apology, as our legal affairs correspondent clive coleman reports. sue smith's son, private philip hewett, was killed by an improvised explosive device while travelling in a lightly armoured snatch land rover in iraq injuly 2005. sue hoped an inquest due to last five days would provide answers about the snatch, and how philip died, but it lasted just three hours. she found the inability to get answers from the ministry of defence maddening. sometimes i felt like theyjust wanted me to either go away or die. or be ill. you know, so i would give up. i couldn't give up. in 2013, sue and two other families of soldiers killed in snatch land rovers won a landmark ruling at the supreme court, enabling them to sue the mod because the human rights act was deemed to apply to soldiers on the battlefield. it was the publication here injuly

last year of the report into the inquiry into the iraq war by sirjohn chilcot that changed everything. it gave a damning assessment of how for years the ministry of defence failed to replace the inadequate and lightly armoured snatch land rovers. almost a year after the chilcot report, sue's case along with those of two other bereaved families has been settled. she received a letter of apology from the defence secretary, sir michael fallon, in which he wrote... "i would like to express directly to you my deepest sympathies and apologise for the delay resulting from the decisions taken at the time in bringing into service alternative protected vehicles which could have saved lives." i felt it was bittersweet. because, again, it was for philip. iraq is almost forgotten now, it's almost britain's vietnam. people don't want to remember iraq. but at least, at the end

of it, it was worth it. not his death, but for him to be remembered for what i've done in his name. major matthew bacon was killed in a snatch in iraq in 2005. his father roger, who didn't bring a legal case, also now wants an apology. why didn't they think about all those other families that had suffered in the same way? the secretaries of state should now write to all of us and apologise for what happened. sue's 12—year legal battle with the army that sent her son to iraq is finally over, but her grief will endure. clive coleman, bbc news. let's ta ke let's take a look at the weather. things have been decidedly mixed but

some heavy downpours as well as sunshine. the downpour should reason we should see dry weather in many areas. this —— there have been showers over england and wales in northern ireland and persistent rain over scotland. that will continue into the evening. also blustery winds, gales over the south west and wales. 0vernight, most of the showers should fade away although some will continue across west of scotla nd some will continue across west of scotland and northern ireland. tomorrow, and the face of it another day of sunshine and showers. but there should not be as many as we had today. quite a few across scotland. northern ireland, northern england and wales, saying some showers but across the south, largely drive. as they get into sunday, many areas will stay fine

and dry but some patchy rain will work in towards the south and west. that's all for now, more weather later on. this is bbc news, the headlines: four people have been arrested following the terror attacks in barcelona and cambrils that have left 14 people dead and more than 100 injured. five suspects were shot dead by police on the coastal town of cambrils, after they killed one person and injured seven more. police suspect the driver of the vehicle used in the barcelona attack, thought to be 18—year—old moussa 0ukabir, may have been among those suspects killed. the spanish government has declared three days of mourning as police say they believe a network of at least eight people was responsible. the first victim has been named. he is italian father—of—two bruno gulotta. the 35—year—old died in front of his wife and two small children. theresa may said a child with dual

british nationality was believed to be among those unaccounted for. the seven—year—old, julian cadman who has dual british and australian citizenship, is missing according to his grandfather. people from 34 different nationalities were among the injured. there are also reports that several people have been stabbed in the finnish city of turku. one person has been arrested. it's not clear at the moment if anyone has been killed, but eyewitnesses have spoken about seeing one dead body. let's return now to events in spain. ben brown is in barcelona. yes, it was around this time yesterday that the attack unfolded

at las ramblas behind me. plenty of people back out on the streets, showing they will not be cowed by terrorism or the terrible nature of that attack in barcelona that left 13 people dead and more than 100 injured, from many different nationalities, many different nationalities, many different nationalities, more than 30. the police have arrested four people in relation to the attack, but they are looking for an 18—year—old, moussa 0ukabir, who is believed to have stolen his brother's id papers to rent the white van and is believed to be the driver of that than that ploughed through so many people on las ramblas. we have been talking all day to witnesses who saw the horror. 0ne all day to witnesses who saw the horror. one of them was richard gregg, a british tourist in barcelona. it was very surreal and chaotic at that time. we heard a couple of tourists shouting people had been hit and there was blood

everywhere. we got onto las ramblas and there were people running everywhere, so and there were people running everywhere, so we and there were people running everywhere, so we could not get anywhere near our apartment which is parallel to whether van ended up, so we made our way through the back streets which were filled with people panicking. the police were in the back streets very quickly. las ramblas has numerous side alleyways all the way up and down it and they we re all the way up and down it and they were literally flooded with police on motorcycles, getting as off the street and looking for someone we now know. by the time we got back to our street we could see where the van had ended and we saw bodies on the floor. we are pulling away from that to bring you the breaking news that to bring you the breaking news that the tv veteran sir bruce forsyth has died at the age of 89. his family have announced his death in the last few moments. of course an absolute television legend. his

career spanned more than 70 years. in the last couple of years he had been suffering from ill health. he had been taken to hospital after a fall at his home in october 20 had been taken to hospital after a fall at his home in 0ctober2015. shortly after he underwent surgery in november of that year. he was expected to make a speedy recovery but as a result of that surgery he pulled out of the hosting of the strictly come dancing christmas special. in 2016 it was reported he had been recovering from life—saving surgery had been recovering from life—saving surgery and last year had been rushed to hospital with a severe chest infection and spent several daysin chest infection and spent several days in intensive care. in recent weeks and months friends had spoken about his frail health. but the news

just coming in to ask that the tv vetera n just coming in to ask that the tv veteran sir bruce forsyth has died at the age of 89. 0f veteran sir bruce forsyth has died at the age of 89. of course, he was known for so many television programmes that he hosted. he first came to attention in the mid—19 50s through sunday night at the london palladium but then went on to host the generation game, play your cards right, the price is right and co—presented strictly come dancing from 2004-2013. it co—presented strictly come dancing from 2004—2013. it brought him to perhaps a younger generation of television viewers. sir bruce forsyth was known for those iconic catchphrases, nice to see you, to

see you, nice. and didn't they do well? if you are justjoining see you, nice. and didn't they do well? if you arejustjoining us, the news coming in that sir bruce forsyth has died at the age of 89. his family has just announced that. nick higham looks back at his life. live from london, this is strictly come dancing. please welcome your host, bruce forsyth. most people would have retired years before, but not bruce e. strictly come dancing brought him a new audience, 50 years after he started in show business. he first trod the boards as a child, as the boy bruce. in 1961 he was

appearing in the royal command performance, doing a terrible imitation of sammy davisjunior. he became a star presenting itv‘s sunday night at the palladium. it was a perfect showcase for his talents, including one segment in particular. a bit of paper, come on. that is it. nice to see you, to see you, nice. he was an old—fashioned entertainer, alljutting chin and jaunty manner. he was witty, waspish and brilliant at helping ordinary people. this is another philip here. it is philip with hawaii. this is another bit of trouble. he presented the generation game for 11 years, it was typical saturday evening fair, com plete was typical saturday evening fair, complete with conveyor belt of prizes contestants had to memorise.

and all driven at a hectic pace by bruce e, catchphrases at the ready. he spent much of the next 40 years presenting game shows like play your cards right. like a ginger tom. and the generation game the second time around, using his talent for quickfire wit. tony blair insists weapons of mass destruction will eventually be found in iraq. it would be nice to see them, to see them... nice! later he showed the old pro had not lost his touch, guest presenting have i got news for you. he would have liked to have been a star in america, but never made it. but generations of brits loved him. it was all always nice to see you, bruce e. we havejust

received this statement from soap to recall, the director—general of the bbc. so bruce was one of the greatest entertainers our country has ever known. he has delighted millions of people and with shows like the generation game and strictly come dancing, his warmth and his wit were legendary. i have never seen anyone quite like him when it comes to performing in front ofa when it comes to performing in front of a crowd. he had a remarkable chemistry with his audience. that is what made him such an amazing professional and why he was so loved. he has been a part of all of our lives and we will miss him dearly. that statement from the director—general of the bbc, tony hall. with me now is our arts correspondents david sillitoe. that is true, he has been around for so long that he has been part of so many lives, bringing entertainment to our screens on a saturday night. i remember talking to him on his 80th birthday and he said i was

actually on television first in 1939. it was an radio 0lympia. is there anyone else in tv history who can say they were on tv before the second world war. it is astonishing. the boy bruce, the mighty atom, and his big break came 20 years later at the london palladium. we are looking at it now, beat the clock, a sunday night and at it now, beat the clock, a sunday nightand a at it now, beat the clock, a sunday night and a huge audience and it was his first game show. what you have got to remember why he worked on so many others struggled is he was dealing with the general public, making them funny, making them entertaining, putting them at ease. he was also dealing with a huge audience at the palladium and he had yea rs of audience at the palladium and he had years of huge struggle up and down the country in theatres, and then he

related to a huge tv audience. if it looks easy, it certainly is not. that is what made him stand out. from this period from 1958 onwards he really only had one or two pretty short breaks from being on tv on mainstream tv. and he was the tv entertainer with great comic timing, the tap dancer, the singer, a huge versatility. he essentially wanted to be fred astaire. that is what he had seen in the 1930s. he had seen those hollywood musicals and that is what he wanted to be. sammy davis junior was his great idol. when he said he was giving up on strictly, the first thing he wanted to do was make a programme about sammy davis junior, his hero, and it all came together with strictly come dancing. i remember the laughter when they wa nted i remember the laughter when they wanted to come up with the idea,

reinventing dancing, it was ajoke. suddenly it all made sense 0n reinventing dancing, it was ajoke. suddenly it all made sense on a saturday night these audience are a result of the formula that only he could do. #in # in other words, please be true. # in other words, please be true. #in # in other words, please be true. # in other words, please be true. # in other words, please be true. # in otherwords, i # in other words, please be true. # in other words, i love you. you can see how much he lived and breathed that. of course in recent yea rs we

breathed that. of course in recent years we had unfortunately stories about his ill health which had prevented him in 2015 from hosting the christmas special and then a series of other illnesses. yes, he had been poorly in the last few yea rs, had been poorly in the last few years, but he was still in pretty fine fettle. he once described his morning routine of the exercises and he had a dancer's body and he remained pretty fit apart from the ill—health. to be presenting a saturday night tv programme into your 80s and to be doing it in the same your 80s and to be doing it in the sa m e style your 80s and to be doing it in the same style he was doing it 50 years before is absolutely extraordinary. the longevity is startling. but i think the big issue for most people is he is a reminder of an age when all of us, it seemed, we used to

gather on the sofa and watch the same programmes together. the generation game, sunday night at the london palladium, they are gather experiences. whatever you think of him, we all have him in common, especially of my generation and older, because he never disappeared from the screens. why did he have that longevity? when you are successful at doing those things, the studio audience, the television audience, the ability to relate to people, and the speed of his wit and the ability to relate them all, tv executives need somebody who, whatever you throw at them, can carry it off. that comes from years and years of experience. there are not many people who had gone through

everything. everything that could have gone wrong on the state had happened to him at one point. that fantastic time in the generation game when it is all going terribly wrong, it is perfect because he can react at lightning speed to whatever is happening and he can work the audience. even have i got news for you, doing something he was not born to do, being compared, you knew all the laughs, all the spaces, all the pauses, he would get them absolutely right. look at paul merton's face and he knew he was watching a pro. let's watch this tap dancing with michael parkinson. you can do it, kid. # i kid. #iam kid. # i am putting in my shirt studs.

so, the consummate entertainer and somebody who seem to transition between the old—style entertainer and modern, saturday night entertainment shows. there are very few people who are song and dance, tap dancers, who can remember the 19305, tap dancers, who can remember the 1930s, the hollywood glamour, and who wanted to do that and who are still on television today. he is in a group beyond really. the thing he really wa nted a group beyond really. the thing he really wanted to be i think more than anything was a song and dance man and he would have liked to have been successful in america. his only regret was he did not get a chance, or the big break, to go to the states. he had a few acting roles in

the 1960s, he wanted to be an actor. but that did not work out as well as he wanted. that is one of the things that brought him back to television. but he was so at home on the tv screen, speaking to both an audience in the studio, in the theatre, and also people at home. it did not do him any harm that he had those famous catchphrases, nice to see you, nice to see you, nice. they we re you, nice to see you, nice. they were so familiar to people. play your cards right, i wonder if i watched all those shows and i did. they just lodged in your watched all those shows and i did. theyjust lodged in your head. he had a mixture of being able to be quite cheeky with people and that was unusual at the time. he knew how far to push it. and totally getting away with it. and getting away with it and the little nods to the

audience at home, he was being rude to people, but they were playing along. people at that time were much less used to the idea of being on television and they were appearing in front of 20 million people sometimes and it was a terrifying experience with the general public, but he got the most out of them. he turned them into stars. plenty of programmes have tried to use the general public, but they have com pletely general public, but they have completely failed. when i interviewed people, the first thing they do is look terrified at the camera and the last thing they want to do is perform. he had an ability and away to puncture pomposity and bring out the best in people. we have had dancing and singing, here isa have had dancing and singing, here is a little bit of piano playing now. if you arejoining as, you will

if you are joining as, you will see the sad news that sir bruce forsyth has died at the age of 89, described by the director—general of the bbc, tony hall, as one of the greatest entertainers our country has ever known, delighting millions of people and defining saturday night television for decades. 0ur arts correspondent david sillitoe is with me. iam correspondent david sillitoe is with me. i am looking at the reaction on twitter, david. people calling him a national treasure. a legendary

entertainer, a true legend. rip sir bruce forsyth, to entertainer, a lovely man. there will be so many tributes from so many people. how many people has he worked with over the years? i have looked at the list andi the years? i have looked at the list and i have thought, he appeared in that. he did absolutely everything. he appeared in magnum pi, in a small role. this is still photo from the classic film bed knobs and broomsticks. i remember that pretty well, but i cannot remember him being in it. the film i remember from the 60s was a screen musical of

the nineteen sixties, star. he would have liked to have done more acting and he would have liked to have done more in america. we are always going to remember him dealing with the general public, putting people at ease, the game shows, saturday night television when there were 20 million people often watching. you have got to remember that even strictly come dancing, they thought saturday night television was dead and gone. the x factor proved them all wrong and strictly to the state gets extraordinary audiences and it owes a great deal to the fact that bruce forsyth was there at the beginning of it and injected some old school charm into it, something we grew up old school charm into it, something we grew up with and knew all so well. there he is with tess daly. the show is such a huge success. how

much was his personality and presents a part of that success? much was his personality and presents a part of that success7m would have been hard to have got the show made if they had not had a big name like bruce forsyth there. it seems strange at the time. i remember talking to the man who came up remember talking to the man who came up with the idea, turning dancing into a reality contest. lots of people wondered if it would work. many tv formulas come and go, some look great on paper, and it is only actually when they appear on screen and whether or not people warmed to it. the slightly cornyjokes, the old school feel about it, it felt utterly safe and he felt for everybody. it had the same magic of the generation game, seeing people out of their comfort zone doing something and you wanted them to do well. they were surrounded by people who would laugh at the right moments and they would join in just like the generation game. it would be hard to

imagine anyone quite like bruce forsyth who could have helped make it the success it was from day one. we saw a shot of him a few moments ago holding the olympic torch. he was running with the olympic torch backin was running with the olympic torch back in 2012. he was known for his love of golf as well, he was involved in a lot of charity events around that love of golf as well. think of the generation we have lost and how many of them we remember in the pro—celebrity golf europe. it was not that long ago that i was at ronnie corbett‘s memorial at westminster abbey and they are very much of the same generation. a type of entertainer we do not really have so much these days. there are lots of stand—up comedians who have gone on to be presenters, but the idea of somebody who had done variety, every

form of entertainment, that world has disappeared. it is notjust the glory days when there were only two channels, or three channels, the television we are seeing the end of here, but a form of entertainment lobby for that that he represents. sir tony baldry at the director—general of the bbc, mentioned in his statement he had never seen anyone quite like him when it comes to performing in front ofa when it comes to performing in front of a crowd. is he the last of a generation of great entertainers? there will always be people who have got it and who come along and surprise us. comedians today appear in front of thousands of people with a stagecraft that comes from years of going around the clubs. but the song and dance that he did, the boy bruce, the mighty atom, and also coming from the beginning of tv, that has come to an end. it is not

just bruce forsyth, but he is symbolic of the end of probably the first golden year of television. i am not going to say that television will not have golden eras in the future, but that moment when so many people watched the same programme and that somebody can come up with a form of entertainment that meet aged six and somebody aged 86 and both find something to laugh at and care about and join find something to laugh at and care aboutandjoin in find something to laugh at and care about and join in with, that is the magic formula that pretty much only tv can do. he is survived by his wife, his six children, his grandchildren and great—grandchildren and will live on in the memories of many people, many fans. we were told he died this afternoon surrounded by his family, dying peacefully, at the age of 89.

it isa dying peacefully, at the age of 89. it is a long, long career. whenever you think of entertainers, i think the fact that he is so remembered as a game show host rather than diminishes many people's view of quite how good he was at certain things. he had an ability to hold an audience and speak to large numbers of people and lots of people might have been irritated by it, but they still would have watched him and would have found him quite compelling to watch. he had this manic energy, this ability to react to things very quickly, a sharp wit and an ability to turn his hands to what ever was required of him in a programme. if it was acting in one

moment, song and dance in another, playing the piano in another, that type of performer is now more rare. as we watch these images of sir bruce forsyth we are reminded of exactly how long his career went on for. his first appearance, as david was reminding us, on television was in 1939. his career spanned more than 70 years. a multitalented performer and entertainer, sir bruce forsyth who has died at the age of 89. he was surrounded by his wife and all his children. tonight at 5pm, the veteran entertainer sir bruce forsyth has died at the age of 89.

the star passed away peacefully at home this afternoon, surrounded by his family. from strictly come dancing to the generation game, he was one of britain's best loved stars. his long career in showbusiness began when he was aged just 14 — a career which spanned decades. nice to see you, to see you nice! his famous catchphrase made him a household name to millions of tv viewers. we'll be paying tribute to sir bruce throughout the programme. the other headlines on the bbc news at 5pm: armed police shoot dead five suspected jihadists overnight