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With three different stories each week we often have to go from the extremely serious to the more uplifting. That is all part of life's rich tapestry and this week we certainly reflect that.

Our lead is an exclusive. We reveal that sources claim police officers wanted to refuse Horden murderer Michael Atherton's application for gun licences but were overruled by more senior colleagues at .

The is investigating the case in which Atherton killed his partner, her sister and niece at his home on New Year's Day. Because of the ongoing official investigation Durham Constabulary have declined to comment on the claims made in tonight's programme.

We've raised the question, many will be waiting to see if the IPCC will provide the answer.

But we also shine the light on the inspirational side of life. In fact you could say we are bringing a little sunshine into these dark winter days with our other two stories.

I doubt there will be a dry eye in the house when you see an amazing reunion that brings to a close a 43 year search on Teesside.

A son who lost his dad when he was just a year old has been trying to track down his songs.

Alan Ludley was lead singer with Rivers Invitation who recorded "Seasons in the Sun" but Alan was killed in a road accident before it was released.

The song later became a global hit when . Alan's son had tried in vain for four decades to see if the original recording still existed.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Tees presenter John Foster turned musical sleuth and you can see the results on tonight's show (³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ One, Monday, 16 January 2012 at 19:30 GMT).

We stay with the sunny theme and in our final film we follow students at as they try to race a car across Australia using only the sun's rays to power them.

The is held every two years, but this is the first time Durham have entered and pitted themselves against the very best teams in the World.

We gave the team cameras to document their trek through the outback and they did a remarkable job to make it all the way from Darwin to Adelaide in one piece.

Today's solar cars have the latest in efficient batteries, solar panels and the like, but our intrepid scientists in Durham are following in a fine tradition of those looking to harness the sun's power.

When I was researching this story I came across two lovely pieces of archive. I didn't have time to include them in the film so here they are for you to enjoy.

The first was shot in America in the 1960's. It appears to be an attempt to power the world's first commercial car, a Model-T Ford by solar power rather than the combustion engine it was designed to have. I can't be sure as both these archive clips are mute.

The next clip was a film made for kid's TV in the 1950's. Again it's mute but it looks like some kind of solar convention. it's a shame the portable solar barbeque never took off! You could have used the same dish for satellite TV during your camping trip as well!