Profile: Recent Episodes
BBC Radio 4
The New Labour old boy was at one time a front runner to lead his Party. But after a scandalous resignation from Gordon Brown’s Cabinet, it seemed his political career was over…until now.
James Purnell grew up between France and Guildford. Spending his teenage years at the fee-paying Royal Grammar School, he was known for his distinctive Parisian style and ‘Rupert the Bear’ trousers. A fan of the theatre, golf, and student politics, he began establishing a network that would prove fruitful for a high-flying career. This continued at Oxford - where he studied Politics, Philosophy, and Economics - and spent summers interning with up-and-coming Labour politician, Tony Blair.
His career took off early - serving as a councillor in Islingon, Head of Corporate Planning at the BBC, and then Special Advisor to the prime minister all in his 20s. In 2001, he was elected MP for the northern seat of Stalybridge and Hyde, and soon climbed the ranks of government, serving as a minister in Gordon Brown’s government. Purnell weathered storms and scrutiny, before generating a scandal of his own: a failed coup against the prime minister, resigning from the cabinet in 2009.
Now, after decades out of Westminster - with top jobs at the BBC, University of the Arts London, and a corporate advisory and lobbying firm under his belt - he’s back. Andy Burnham, James Purnell’s former flatmate and football buddy, will become prime minister on Monday. And he’s invited his old friend back as his Chief of Staff.
What will the so-called ‘Ant and Dec of New Labour’ do when they take the reigns of government next week?
Production: Presenter: Becky MilliganProducers: Tom Gillett, Ellie HouseProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele, Siobhan ReedSound: Neil Churchill Editor: Justine Lang
Archive: FA TV
The FIFA president grew up in Switzerland as part of an Italian migrant family, and fell in love with football and its administration when he was just a teenager.
Having qualified as a football lawyer and making a name for himself at the European football federation UEFA, Infantino ended up perfectly positioned to take over the presidency of the world body FIFA after the organisation was mired in corruption charges. His promise to give the member associations double the money sealed his bid.
He’s now been president for over 10 years and has overseen FIFA’s expansion, with World Cups in Qatar, Russia and now North America; the growth of the women’s game; more competitions; more controversy - and of course more money.
This week, his love affair with Donald Trump has been thrust into the spotlight after US player Folarin Balogun’s red card was suspended following Trump's appeal to Infantino. Will this latest controversy prove his undoing, or is it just another chapter in a new brazen age?
Production:Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Tom Gillett, Eleanor Harrison-DengateProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele, Siobhan ReedSound: Neil ChurchillEditor: Justine Lang
ARCHIVE:FIFA
Donna Ockenden is a senior midwife and healthcare leader who has spent more than 35 years reforming patient safety in UK maternity services.
Born in South Wales, she overcame a difficult childhood marked by poverty, family breakdown, and a period of homelessness.
As a young midwife she cared for a baby named Gina who died from substandard care. This tragic event led to her lifelong 'Gina promise' to devote her career to making childbirth safer for mothers and infants.
Ockenden qualified as both a nurse and a midwife, before moving into senior NHS leadership roles. She transitioned into a formidable independent investigator, widely known for uncovering systemic NHS failures.
In 2017, she was appointed to chair the Ockenden Review into Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust. Her landmark 2022 final report exposed severe deficiencies connected to the deaths of over 200 babies and nine mothers, shifting national perspectives on maternity clinical governance.
Ockenden was later chosen to lead the largest maternity investigation in NHS history at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. Her 2026 report has identified hundreds of cases of avoidable harm and prompted national safety reforms.
Outside of healthcare she is an active community advocate, founding the Four Streets Project charity in Chichester to support the local homeless population.
Stephen Smith speaks to friends, families and colleagues who know her best.
Production: Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Bethan Ashmead Latham, Annabel DeasProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele, Siobhan ReedSound: Rod FarquharEditor: Richard Fenton-Smith
The former boyband member and teen heartthrob, Harry Styles, is going into the final week of his sold-out residency at Wembley before continuing his world tour.
After winning music competitions while at school in Cheshire, Styles entered television’s biggest talent show, The X Factor, in 2010. While not making it as a solo star he was grouped together with four other contestants to form One Direction and becoming one of the most successful boybands of all time selling over 100 million records worldwide.
One Direction created a modern-day Beatlemania before going on permanent hiatus in 2016. Since then Style’s has released four solo albums and launched a career beyond music seeing him take on film roles, modelling gigs and become known as a fashionista. His celebrity best friend the actor James Corden, who used to ‘babysit’ the teenage Harry when he first started out in London is among the guests who speak to Mark Coles for this week’s Profile.
Production:Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Annabel Deas, Mhairi Mackenzie and Nathan ArcherProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele and Siobhan ReedSound: James BeardEditor: Justine Lang
Carpool karaoke: The Late Late Show (CBS) Harry Styles singing with White Eskimo (YouTube: OneDirectionNews)Harry Styles X Factor audition tape (ITV, The X Factor UK)Fans screaming at One Direction ‘This is Us’ Premier (YouTube: Poveelive)'As It Was' by Harry Styles (Erskine and Columbia)'What Makes You Beautiful' by One Direction ( Syco and Columbia)'Sign of the Times' by Harry Styles (Columbia) 'Watermelon Sugar) (Erskine and Columbia)
Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe is the newest disruptor in right-wing politics but the path he has taken to get there is a familiar one.
Born in Oxford in 1957 Lowe attended an elite all boys boarding school before studying for a degree in Estate Management. After university he was a commodity broker in the City and went to Japan to work in securities but when British football clubs emerged as attractive financial assets in the 1990's he became chair of Southampton after a reverse takeover. Lowe resigned in 2006 after a decade in charge – having been blamed by many fans for relegation in 2005 after 27 years in the top flight. He made a return but resigned again in 2009 as the club’s holding company went into administration.
Next he decided to try his hand at politics. In 2019 Lowe became an MEP for the Brexit Party before switching to national politics after the UK left the EU in 2020, this time for Reform UK. In 2024 he became MP for Great Yarmouth but after falling out with Reform leader Nigel Farage he became an independent MP and launched his own party, Restore Britain.
Production: Presenter: Becky MilliganProducers: Annabel Deas and Mhairi Mackenzie Production Coordinator: Maria OgondeleSound: James Beard Editor: Justine Lang
Credits:@bedbox via YouTube, Rock Against Rupert - Rupert Lowe Michael Wilde out protest (1 February 2009) Channel 4, Reform UK infighting escalates as Farage and Lowe trade blows (9 March 2025)Channel 5 Vanessa, Is it wrong to put your pet down yourself? (24 June 2025) GB News, Rupert Lowe - ‘I wouldn’t hire Boris Johnson for my organisation’ (5 December 2021)Restore Britain, Rupert Lowe - Restore Britain Launch Speech (14 February 2026)Sky News, Restore Britain leader: Farage 'tried to politically assassinate me' (18 June 2026)The News Agents, Rupert Lowe- In His Own Words (15 March 2025)The Spectator, Farage - Lowe is ‘a vengeful man’ (9 June 2026)
Next week, Harry Kane will lead the England men’s squad into their first game of the 2026 World Cup.
Kane has a wealth of experience behind him - he is England’s all-time record goalscorer and has also racked up an extraordinary tally at his current club, Germany’s Bayern Munich. Kane is at the top of his game, but his ascent has been anything but smooth.
Born in east London in 1993, Kane developed a near-obsessive love for the beautiful game. It was a passion he shared with his childhood sweetheart, Kate, who later became his wife.
At the age of eight, Kane joined Arsenal’s academy, only to be released after one season. Then, after signing for Tottenham Hotspur, he spent years out on loan to the likes of Leyton Orient, Norwich City and Millwall.
So how did Kane go from underestimated youngster to world-class striker? Mark Coles looks back at Harry’s life and career so far.
Maggie O'Farrell was born in Northern Ireland in 1972. Keen to move away from The Troubles, her father took a job at the University of Wales and the family moved to Bridgend when Maggie was a child. At the age of eight she was hospitalised with encephalitis. She didn't attend school during this time but instead she discovered literature.
The family then moved to Scotland. After her A' Level's, Maggie O'Farrell travelled south to Cambridge University to study, what else, English Literature. In her twenties she became a journalist working at the Independent on Sunday but her ambitions lay elsewhere.
At the age of twenty eight O'Farrell published her first novel 'After You’d Gone'. Her writing has been described as lyrical, intimate and sensory, writing in a way that physically immerses the reader in a scene.
In 2020 she published Hamnet, her greatest literary success to date, as the world went into lockdown. In 2025 the novel was adapted into a film, directed by Chloe Zhao who describes O'Farrell as someone "interested in the land, the earth, the body and what's hidden underneath".
Production:Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Annabel Deas, Bethan Ashmead and Wedaeli ChibelushiProduction coordinators: Maria Ogondele and Sabine SchereckSound: James BeardEditor: Justine Lang
Israel's national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has received international condemnation after he posted a video showing himself taunting activists kneeling with their hands tied behind their backs on board a Gaza-bound aid flotilla intercepted by Israeli naval forces.
His actions also drew rare criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said they were "not in line with Israel's values". But the incident is not the first time Ben-Gvir has attracted widespread criticism.
Born in 1976 in Jerusalem, Itamar Ben-Gvir became radicalised during the First Palestinian Intifada against Israeli occupation. He became a follower of the far right politician Meir Kahane and was frequently arrested for various petty crimes. Unable to join the Israeli Army due to his criminal record, he later became a lawyer where he notoriously defended Jewish arsonists who had set fire to a Palestinian home killing two young parents and their 18-month-old son.
In 2021 Ben-Gvir won a seat in the Knesset and following a period of political instability where Benjamin Netanyahu turned to two far right parties to form a coalition to form a government, Itamar Ben-Gvir became National Security minister of Israel.
Contributors: Leonie Fleishmann - Senior Lecturer, International Politics and Human Rights, City St George's University of LondonRuth Margalit - Contributing writer for New York Times magazine and the New YorkerDvir Kariv - Former Isreali intelligence officer
Production: Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Annabel Deas and Bethan AshmeadProduction coordinators: Maria Ogondele and Sabine SchereckSound: Neil ChurchillEditor: Justine Lang
Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth has been confirmed as Wales' first minister, calling it "the greatest privilege of my life".
Born in Tonteg in south-east Wales, ap Iorwerth moved to Anglesey as a young child. His father was a teacher, prominent singer and composer, and an active campaigner for Plaid Cymru. His mother was also a teacher and went on to become president of several organisations promoting the Welsh language.
After graduating from Cardiff University ap Iorwerth became a journalist and spent two decades as a reporter and presenter with BBC Wales. But in 2013, following the death of his mother, he left broadcasting and successfully contested the Ynys Môn by-election, winning the Anglesey seat in the Senedd.
When the Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price resigned in 2023 ap Iorwerth quickly emerged as the obvious successor for many in the party. He was elected unopposed, at the age of 50. Three years later he has become the first Welsh minister from Plaid Cymru.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producers: Annabel Deas and Bethan AshmeadEditor: Justine LangProduction Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Sabine SchereckSound Designer: James Beard
British cryptocurrency investor and billionaire Christopher Harborne made headlines when it was revealed he gave £5million to Reform Party leader Nigel Farage before he was an MP.
Last year Harborne also gave a single donation of £9m to Reform UK - the biggest ever donation to a UK political party by a living person. He has also previously donated to the Brexit Party and the Conservatives.
Very little is known about the Cambridge-educated businessman, who is also known as Chakrit Sakunkrit.
So how did he make his fortune? And why is he so interested in British politics when he has lived abroad for the last few decades?
Mark Coles talks to journalists Tom Burgis and Ceri Thomas, and family friend Mark Vellacott, to paint a picture of one of the most powerful men funding British politics.
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Keiligh Baker, Beth Ashmead Latham, Kirsteen KnightEditor: Matt WillisProgramme Coordinators: Sabine Schereck, Maria OgundeleSound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Nearly 30 years ago, Jamie Oliver hit British TV screens with The Naked Chef, beginning a career arc that has seen him become a bestselling author and social campaigner.
He started helping out in his parents' pub aged just eight, and struggled at school, but after making the move into cookery he flourished, first in top kitchens and then behind the camera.
Cultural ubiquity and campaigning documentaries followed, though his business fortunes took a significant hit after his Jamie's Italian chain collapsed in 2019. Seven years later, he's betting that he's learnt from his mistakes, as he relaunchs the chain. At the same time his campaigning over school food standards has started to bear fruit again.
Stephen Smith speaks to those who know Jamie Oliver best.
ContributorsGenarro Contaldo - chef and mentorElişa Roche - chef and former participant in 'Jamie's Kitchen' documentaryGiles Coren - food critic and friendEd Loftus - Global Restaurant Group Director for the Jamie Oliver GroupSheila Dillon - presenter of Radio 4's The Food Programme
Archive:ITV This Morning interview with Jamie OliverAn Italian Christmas: Recipes from the River Cafe (BBC)The Naked Chef (BBC and Optomen Television)Jamie’s Kitchen (Channel 4, Talkback Productions and Fresh One Productions)
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Beth Ashmead Latham, Nathan Gower, Tom Gillett Editor: Justine LangProgramme Coordinators: Rosie Strawbridge, Sabine Schereck, Maria OgundeleSound Engineer: James Beard
Dame Emily Thornberry, Labour MP and the influential head of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee, is in the hot seat as the committee continues its ongoing investigation - dubbed ‘Scandelson’ scrutinising - into the circumstances behind Lord Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador.
Born in Guildford in 1960 her mother was a teacher and her father an academic who would go on to be a UN Assistant Secretary General. When Emily was seven her father walked out on the family leaving her mother with no income and three children to look after. They were made homeless and moved to a council estate.
After A Levels she studied law and qualified as a barrister in the mid 80s and spent 20 years as a human rights barrister at the chambers of Michael Mansfield KC.
She was first elected as a Labour MP in 2005. She has since been re-elected 5 times and held a number of Shadow Cabinet positions including Defence, Foreign Affairs, International Trade, and Attorney General. But when Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister to many people’s surprise there was no ministerial job for Emily.
Now, as chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, she has the power to scrutinise government decisions and appointments; a role that has seen her grilling members of her own party in recent weeks.
Mark Coles looks back on her life.
Contributors:Michael Mansfield KCDawn Butler MPSir Jeremey Hunt MPLord Christopher SmithJim Thornberry
Archive :Devil Wears Prada 2 trailer - 20th Century Studios / Wendy Finerman Productions / Sunswept Entertainment
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Tom Gillett and Nathan Gower Editor: Justine Lang Sound mix: Neil ChurchillProduction co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Rosie Strawbridge
Kristalina Georgieva is not like previous heads of the International Monetary Fund. She grew up behind the Iron Curtain in Bulgaria, which was then part of the Soviet bloc. Born in Sofia in 1953, her father was a civil engineer and her mother a shopkeeper. Life was tough because her family weren't part of the Communist Party regime. Her father fell ill when Kristalina was young and she was just fifteen when she went to work at the local food market. She studied economics at the then Karl Marx Higher Economic Institute and then in the late 1980s she headed to London to spend a year at the London School of Economics. Over the last 30 years she's landed top jobs at the World Bank and the European Commission. In 2019, she was appointed managing director of the IMF, becoming the first person from an emerging economy to lead the institution. In the rare moments when she's not working, friends, colleagues and family paint a picture of a fun-loving woman who likes nothing better than dancing and singing. Becky Milligan explores Kristalina's life and career. ContributorsDessislava Kinova - daughterIliyana Tsanova - friend and Chief Risk Officer at the European CommissionLord Nick Stern - friend and environmental economistLord Mark Malloch Brown - friend and former World Bank Vice PresidentIvan Krastev - friend and political scientistGalia Mintcheva - special adviser Archive60 Minute interview - CBSFace the Nation interview - CBSIMF news conference - UN Audiovisual LibraryGeorgieva at Fortune MPW summit - Fortune Magazine
Producer: Nathan Gower Editor: Justine LangSound mix: James BeardProduction co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Marina Abramović is the self proclaimed ‘grandmother of performance art’. Her latest work, a reimagining of Slavic fertility rites, opened in Manchester earlier this week.
Notorious for committing extreme acts to her body, the Serbian first achieved fame with her “Rhythm 0” performance, where she stood still in a room and invited guests to do anything they liked to her. They removed her clothes, cut her neck and held a loaded gun to her head.
Many of her biggest works were made in collaboration with German artist Ulay, her one-time romantic partner. They ended their relationship in 1988 by walking from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China and meeting in the middle.
In 2010, she received international acclaim for her performance The Artist is Present. It saw her sit in a chair for eight hours a day, 6 days a week for three months. She invited anyone to sit across from her. It famously ended with Abramović reuniting with Ulay.
Mark Coles looks back at her career.
ProductionPresenter: Mark Coles Producers: Ben Cooper, Mhairi MacKenzie and Alex LoftusEditor: Justine LangSound Editor: Duncan Hannant
ArchiveAbramović/ Ulay - Light/ Dark (1977)Abramović/ Ulay - AAA-AAA (1978)The Artist is Present trailer (2012)TED Talk - An Art Made of Trust, Vulnerability and Connection (2013)BBC - This Cultural Life: Marina Abramović (2024)Marina Abramović at Glastonbury (2024)Abramović - Balkan Erotic Epic (2025)
Actress and disability campaigner, Liz Carr, is probably best known for her role as forensic examiner, Clarissa Mullery, in the TV crime drama, Silent Witness. She’s also done comedy, theatre and even written a musical, about what she calls ‘assisted suicide’. Last year she fronted the award-winning BBC TV documentary, Better Off Dead, making the case against assisted dying.
Born and raised in Merseyside, Liz Carr became seriously ill when she was seven and has used a wheelchair since she was eleven. Whilst studying law at Nottingham University, she got involved in politics, disabled rights and activism. As her public profile grew she became a powerful voice in the debates over assisted dying.
As the assisted dying bill returns to the Commons this week, with MPs debating and voting on a series of contentious amendments, Mark Coles speaks to Liz’s friends and colleagues about her acting, comedy and campaigning.
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Sally Abrahams and Nik Sindle Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples Sound: Neil ChurchillEditor: Nick Holland
Credits: Silent Witness: ‘Covenant part 2’ (2017) BBC/Cipango Productions Audiovisuelles/Dir. David DruryBetter Off Dead (2024); Burning Bright Productions/ BBC/Dir. James RouthHardtalk – Stephen Sackur interviews Liz Carr Abnormally Funny People, 2005, Edinburgh Fringe showDirty Dancing (1987) Great American Films Limited Partnership/Vestron Pictures/Dir. Emile Ardolino
Donald Trump calls Susie Wiles the “ice maiden” for her ability to stay cool under pressure. It’s an invaluable skill in her role as White House Chief of Staff - responsible for who has access to the President.
Aged 68, Susie Wiles has spent more than 40 years in Republican politics – steering powerful men to elected office. She’s worked for US presidents, governors, mayors and Congress members. But she likes to stay out of the limelight.
Most of her experience has been in Florida, where she’s had a string of political success stories. Including big names like Senator Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis – running their campaigns to become governor of the Sunshine State.
Back in 2015, Donald Trump was a long shot for President, so he turned to Wiles for help winning Florida. His victory in the state helped him clinch the White House in 2016.
As Trump’s campaign manager for the 2024 run, Susie Wiles is widely credited with running what many regard as Trump’s most disciplined and strategic campaign.
Susie Wiles grew up in New Jersey. Her father, Pat Summerall, was a professional football player and later a famous sports broadcaster. But, he was an alcoholic and he credits his daughter for helping him overcome his addiction.
Stephen Smith talks to friends, colleagues and commentators to find out how events in Susie Wiles’ life have shaped her to become one of President Trump’s most trusted advisors – doing a job widely considered to be one of the most important in Washington.
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Bob Howard and Sally AbrahamsProduction Co-ordinator: Sabine Scherek Sound: David CracklesEditor: Nick Holland
Credits:Susie Wiles interview with Lara Trump on Fox News, March 2025The Apprentice, Episode1, Series 1, 2004 on NBC. Produced by Mark Burnett and Donald Trump CNN Florida Gubernatorial Debate - Ron DeSantis vs Andrew Gillum Oct 21, 2018
Tom Fletcher heads the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and has been at the forefront of recent efforts to deliver aid into Gaza. Last week, he was criticised for making inaccurate claims about the impact of the Israeli blockade. No stranger to tough jobs, he was previously a foreign policy advisor to three British Prime Ministers and the UK Ambassador to Lebanon as the country dealt with the civil war in neighbouring Syria.He once fought the mayor of Nairobi in a boxing match and had a mortar round land in his swimming pool at the British embassy in Beirut.One of four siblings, he was born in Folkestone, where he attended the Harvey Grammar School before studying at Oxford University. Prior to his UN role he was Principal of Hertford College and has written books on diplomacy as well as novels.
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Tom Gillett, Lucy Pawle and Jo CasserlyEditor: Nick HollandSound: Gareth JonesProduction Coordinator: Sabine Schereck
In April 2024 Rosemary Coogan became only the third person from the UK to qualify as an astronaut after completing basic training with the European Space Agency (ESA).
Originally from Northern Ireland, she excelled academically and holds two master's degrees from Durham University and a PhD in astronomy from the University of Sussex. She became an ESA astronaut after a challenging selection process which whittled down 22,000 applicants. The agency hopes to send Rosemary to the International Space Station by 2030.
In this episode of Profile, Stephen Smith explores the life and career of the woman who has a chance of becoming the first person from the UK to walk on the moon.
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Tom Gillett and Lucy PawleEditor: Nick HollandSound: Neil ChurchillProduction Coordinator: Sabine Schereck
Earlier this month the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also made President Trump's National Security Advisor. The last person to undertake both roles simultaneously was Henry Kissinger in the 1970s. The son of Cuban immigrants, Mr Rubio has had a turbo-charged career; rising from junior positions in his home city of Miami, to the US Senate which he reached before he turned 40 and now a Cabinet position where he dominate US foreign policy.
As a boy he dreamed of being President and he made his first attempt in 2016. The Republican primaries were brutal, with candidates trading deeply personal insults. It was assumed that Mr Rubio's relationship with the eventual winner of that contest - Donald Trump - had been fatally damaged. But they continued their working relationship and today Rubio serves as one of the President's most trusted advisors.
Will Marco Rubio be tempted to run once again for the White House? And what forces have shaped his stellar political career?
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Tom Gillett and Lucy PawleEditor: Matt WillisSound: David CracklesProduction Coordinator: Katie Morrison
Reform UK triumphed in May’s local elections, winning many more council seats up for grabs than the other major parties. Behind the scenes, the party has gone through major changes. Millionaire businessman and donor Zia Yusuf was appointed chairman last summer, and has been credited with professionalising the party. The son of Sri Lankan immigrants, he made his money co-founding a luxury concierge business, before moving into politics; and all before the age of 40. But where do his ambitions lie beyond being chairman? And where does the future of the party lie beyond the central figure of Nigel Farage? In this episode of Profile, Stephen Smith explores the life, career and journey of the man some say is responsible for Reform UK’s growing success. Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Lucy Pawle and Nik SindleResearcher: Gabriel MayEditor: Max DevesonSound: Gareth JonesProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Archive:‘Communication Problems’ - Fawlty TowersBBC / writers: John Cleese and Connie Booth
President Trump shocked the world earlier this year when he announced plans to impose tariffs affecting nearly all goods entering America.
But rather than coming as a surprise, the US President had made the policy one of the key cornerstones of his re-election campaign. He'd also implemented some tariffs during his first term in office too.
Despite strong opposition to the move, President Trump enjoys the unflinching support of economist Peter Navarro, who is seen by many as the architect of the agenda. Having advised the US President during his first term in office, Navarro is back in the White House to see it through.
In this episode of Profile, Mark Coles explores the life, career and journey of Trump's key economic advisor on global trade.
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Ben Cooper, Lucy Pawle and Smita PatelResearchers: Chloe Scannapieco and Darin GrahamEditor: Max DevesonSound: Gareth JonesProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
ArchiveC-SPANPolitico
Canadians are gearing up to vote in a snap General Election.
It's been called by Mark Carney, the former Governor of the Bank of England, who in recent months replaced Justin Trudeau as leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party. Carney is hoping to receive a fresh mandate from the public, and face down US President Donald Trump, whose rhetoric towards America's neighbour in the north has become increasingly belligerent since returning to the White House.
It's been a long journey for 60-year-old Carney - from growing up in a small town in Canada's Northwest Territories all the way to the very highest levels of international diplomacy.
In this episode of Profile, Stephen Smith charts the life and career of the man hoping to become Canada's Prime Minister.
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Ben Cooper and Lucy PawleResearcher: Chloe ScannapiecoEditor: Max DevesonSound: James BeardProduction Coordinator: Katie Morrison
ArchiveCPACCP24Global NewsThe Guardian
Beloved Britpop band Pulp have released their first new music in almost a quarter of a century, the single 'Spike Island'.
Their talismanic frontman Jarvis Cocker has always been the band's star turn, with his second-hand 70s style, mesmeric stage presence and biting lyrics.
Following some difficult early years in his hometown of Sheffield, Cocker formed the band in 1978, but had to wait over a decade before breaking through on the crest of the Britpop wave in the mid-90s. The band released some of the most memorable and well-loved songs of the era, including 'Common People' and 'Disco 2000'.
But his very public bottom-baring protest against Michael Jackson at the 1996 Brit Awards thrust him even more firmly into the public's imagination, and the fame he had craved for so long quickly took a darker turn.
Mark Coles speaks to some of the most important people in Jarvis's story, including current and former bandmates Candida Doyle, Nick Banks and Richard Hawley, and his sister Saskia.
Presenter: Mark ColesProducer: Ben CooperResearcher: Chloe ScannapiecoEditor: Max DevesonSound: Gareth JonesProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Stephen Smith profiles the actor Lesley Manville, winner of a second Olivier theatre award. From growing up in Hove to her long-time collaboration with film-maker Mike Leigh, Manville has a reputation as the complete professional. With contributions from Mike Leigh, Director Rob Icke, Actor Tim McCullan, former teacher Julia Clarey, Observer critic Susannah Clapp and friend Rebecca Blond.
Presenter: Stephen SmithProduction Team: Bob Howard, Chloe Scannapieco, Devian MasideEditor: Max DevesonSound Engineer: Gareth JonesProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Steve Witkoff started out as a New York lawyer, until a late night encounter with Donald Trump in a sandwich shop inspired him to move into real estate. Known as "Smoking Steve", he has amassed a property empire worth millions, become friends and golf buddies with Trump, and has now been appointed as his Middle East Envoy and go-to international negotiator and trouble shooter.
To his critics he's dangerously unqualified and out of his depth. To his supporters, he's the straight-talking fresh pair of eyes needed to resolve deeply entrenched conflicts.
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Josephine Casserly, Chloe Scannapieco, Devian MasideEditor: Max DevesonSound Engineer: James BeardProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Jack Thorne is co-author of Netflix drama Adolescence. But this is far from his first rodeo, over a 20 year career, his writing has appeared in many iconic British dramas, from Shameless and This is England '86 to His Dark Materials. He started out as a playwright and hasn't lost his love for theatre, having written West End box office hit, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Jack is known in the industry for his compulsive work ethic, political edge and capacity for empathy.
Stephen Smith speaks to the people close to Jack, including early collaborator and Oscar-winner Daniel Kaluuya, actor Morven Christie, and Jack's dad, Mike Thorne.
Production TeamPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Josephine Casserly and Chloe Scannapieco Editor: Max DevesonSound: James BeardProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
ArchiveAdolescence, Plan B, NetflixThis is England ‘86, Warp Films and Film4 Production, Channel 4Skins, Netflix
Jonathan Powell, the UK’s National Security Adviser, is used to operating behind the scenes: he’s spent decades working as a diplomat, negotiator and mediator. Recent events in the US and Ukraine have thrust him into the spotlight. After the fiery Oval Office meeting between President Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, Powell has been credited with advising Ukraine and ensuring that lines of communication were kept open. He travelled to Kyiv to meet Zelensky and played a key role in fashioning a plan for a ceasefire and the steps that might follow.
Powell began his career in the foreign office before becoming Tony Blair’s chief of staff. He was crucial to the negotiations that led to the Good Friday Agreement which helped bring peace to Northern Ireland. Since then, he’s worked on resolving conflicts and crises all over the world in places like Colombia, Mozambique and Libya.
Mark Coles talks to his friends, family and former colleagues to find out how this veteran negotiator became one of the most important figures shaping British foreign policy.
Production TeamPresenter: Mark ColesProducers: Viv Jones, Hugh Sheehan, Clare Williamson, Mantej DeolEditor: Bridget HarneySound: James BeardProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has one the toughest tasks in Labour’s domestic programme: tackling the burgeoning welfare bill.
Next week, the government is expected to announce reforms to the welfare system. There is unease over the plans within the party, with some Labour MPs saying they fear drastic cuts could push vulnerable people into poverty. The move could split the party and put Liz Kendall in a difficult position.
A grammar school girl, Kendall went on to study history at Cambridge, where she liked to revise while sunbathing and listening to Wham. She became MP for Leicester West in 2010, and ran for Labour leader in 2015, but came away with just 4.5% of the vote. Now on Keir Starmer’s front bench, her supporters say she’s not afraid of a fight and willing to take on some of the party’s sacred cows.
Production TeamPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Viv Jones, Chloe Scannapieco, Hugh Sheehan, Keiligh BakerEditor: Bridget HarneySound: Neil Churchill Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
As the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas is the bloc's top diplomat. So when EU leaders gathered in Brussels this week to thrash out a new defence plan for Ukraine, Kallas was in the thick of things.
Before taking up the EU role she was Prime Minister of Estonia, the nation's first female leader. She was born in 1977 in the Estonian capital Tallinn, then part of the Soviet Union, into a family bound up with her country’s centuries-old struggle for independence. A Russia hawk and fierce critic of Putin, she is already on the Kremlin’s wanted list.
Mark Coles has been talking with her friends and political allies to understand how Kaja Kallas came to be called "Europe's Iron Lady".
Production TeamPresenter: Mark ColesProducers: Viv Jones, Chloe Scannapieco, Keiligh Baker, Hugh SheehanEditor: Ben MundySound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinator: Katie Morrison
He’s the former corporate lawyer, who has a pilot's licence and loves music, but has never before been a government minister.
Friedrich Merz was born in the west German town of Brilon in 1955 into a prominent conservative, Catholic family. He joined the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) while still at school, before going on to study law.
Merz then worked as a lawyer and judge for a few years, but he always had his eye on politics.
He was elected to the European Parliament in 1989, and his journey to the top has been a winding one.
Sidelined by Angela Merkel before she became chancellor, he quit parliament entirely to pursue a lucrative series of corporate jobs and was written off as yesterday's man.
But with the CDU topping the ballot in Germany's elections earlier this year, he is now on the brink of clinching the job he has coveted for so long.
In a programme originally broadcast last month in the aftermath of Merz's election victory, when the prospect of a CDU coalition with the far-right AFD - now off the cards - was still a possibility, and Donald Trump's fiery meeting with President Zelensky was fresh in everyone's memory, Stephen Smith set out to find out how Merz bounced back.
Production TeamPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Arlene Gregorius, Caroline Bayley, Chloe ScannapiecoEditor: Ben MundySound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele, Janet Staples
CreditsAudio of Friedrich Merz at the Munich Security Conference by Bayerischer Rundfunk Audio of swearing-in ceremony of Angela Merkel, 2005, by ZDF Audio of French President Macron at the White House courtesy of the White House
His 14 year-stint at the top of European politics has earned him a distinguished record of domestic and international achievements.
Mark Rutte, born in The Hague in 1967, embarked on a career in business after leaving university and held several positions at Unilever.
His career in Dutch politics started in 2002, and four years later – as leader of the VVD party – he became prime minister.
During his tenure, he steered the Netherlands through times of significant national and global upheaval. From economic crisis, to the coronavirus pandemic.
And now, as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s 14th Secretary General, he faces his next challenge – leading Europe’s response to recent Russia-US talks over Ukraine.
Mark Coles takes a closer look at Mark Rutte.
Production TeamPresenter: Mark ColesProducers: Sally Abrahams, Mantej Deol, Chloe ScannapiecoEditor: Ben MundySound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
CreditsJoint press conference by NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte with the President of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini, 20 Feb. 2025Mark Rutte cycles away from his office, on his last day as Prime Minister of the Netherlands, tv47 Yes Minister, BBC TV, Comedy Greats
Having helped mastermind Labour's renewal in the 1980s and 1990s, one of British politics best-known figures has just embarked on his latest role.
And, it's a long way from Hartlepool, in the post-industrial North-East of England, where he first became an MP.
Born in 1953, Peter Mandelson started on the road to party politics as a researcher at the Trades Union Congress. After a stint as a TV producer, he left to take up the role of Labour's director of communications, but his real ambition was a place in Parliament.
Even his sternest critics accept he is a slick political operator and a good networker, but he’s a controversial figure – with a big challenge ahead.
Stephen Smith takes a closer look at the UK’s new ambassador to the US, and the man once dubbed the "Prince of Darkness".
Production TeamPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Sally Abrahams, Mantej Deol, Marianna Brain, Chloe ScannapiecoEditor: Ben MundySound: James BeardProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Jack Young
CreditsLondon Weekend Television station ident 1970s Jon Culshaw, Imposter Syndrome UK tour
Despite just winning a seventh consecutive presidential term, a look at Alexander Lukashenko’s early life reveals rather humbler origins.
Brought up by a single mother in a poor village in eastern Belarus, he first made his mark as the manager of a farm in the late 1980s.
After moving into politics at the end of that decade, he quickly established his reputation as a man with authoritarian instincts – and by 1994, he was elected president of Belarus for the first time.
Ever since, he has managed a balancing act between Russia, his closest economic and political partner, and overtures to the West. But, the country’s faced sanctions following its role in the invasion of Ukraine, while many Western governments have labelled this latest election as a sham.
Stephen Smith takes a closer look at the man often referred to as Europe's last dictator.
Production TeamPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Sally Abrahams, Charlotte McDonald and Nathan GowerEditor: Ben Mundy Sound: James Beard Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Jack Young CreditsAnimal Farm by George Orwell, recording produced by Ciaran Bermingham Narrated by Roger Ringrose
A mathematician and cyber defence expert, Poppy Gustafsson has been handed an integral role within government, as the prime minister attempts to grow the economy and attract international investment.
She was born in 1982, to parents John and Gilly. Her father ran an agricultural sales business, while her mother was a journalist.
In her early career, Poppy Gustafsson worked for a venture capital firm before co-founding Darktrace, a cybersecurity company, in 2013. She would go on to take the role of co-CEO in 2016 and became the sole CEO in 2020.
Darktrace was among the first companies in its field to use artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning to improve cyber-security.
So, as ministers attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, what tricks does this one time CEO of the Year have in store?
Mark Coles has been taking a closer look.
Production TeamPresenter: Mark ColesProducers: Sally Abrahams and Bethan Ashmead LathamEditor: Ben MundySound: James BeardProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Jack Young
She is the renowned scientist who studied environmental engineering, and went on to hold the role of mayor of Mexico City during the Coronavirus pandemic.
Late last year, Claudia Sheinbaum made further history.
"For the first time in the 200 years of the [Mexican] Republic, I will become the first woman president of Mexico," she said before taking office.
Born in 1962, Claudia Sheinbaum’s father was a chemical engineer and her mother, a biology professor. Both parents descended from Jewish immigrants from Europe who settled in North America.
She’s enjoyed remarkably high poll ratings since taking office, but critics suggest she will live under her mentor’s shadow, and her biggest test is yet to come.
As Donald Trump gets ready to enter the White House for a second time, Claudia Sheinbaum has already had to respond to his suggestion to rename the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.
So what lies ahead? Stephen Smith has been talking to her friends, colleagues and peers to find out more about Mexico’s history-maker.
Production Team Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Sally Abrahams and Bethan Ashmead LathamEditor: Ben MundySound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele and Jack Young
CreditsEmilia Perez, Trailer Director, Jacques Audiard; Production companies: Why Not Productions, Page 114, Pathe, France 2 Cinema, Saint Laurent Productions
"Claudia: El Documental", Director: Rodrigo Imaz; @ClaudiaSheinbaumP https://youtu.be/NDuUL-RQvMU
The Nobel Peace Prize, 2007, Nobelprize.org
He's been described as the best connected man in the business world. Allan Leighton’s the arch-moderniser who's led some of the UK's most well-known companies.
His career started at Mars Confectionery in the mid-70s, working his way up through the business over nearly two decades. But, it was in the 90s that Allan Leighton really made his name.
He moved to Asda in 1992, becoming Chief Executive four years later. There he was credited with a successful turnaround of the supermarket and oversaw its acquisition by Wal-Mart in 1999.
By the 2000s, Allan Leighton had left Asda to 'go plural', as he put it, and went on to take prominent positions in companies including Royal Mail, Co-Op, Dyson and lastminute.com. But late last year, the supermarket chain came calling again.
Mark Coles has been talking to his friends and peers to understand where Allan Leighton came from and what’s in store for him at Asda.
Production TeamPresenter: Mark ColesProducers: Nathan Gower and Sally AbrahamsEditor: Ben MundySound: James BeardProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Jack Young
Credits:Marketing Academy: Rene Carayol interviews Allan LeightonMars Maltesters, TV advert 1970s Walmart Rollback TV advert 1998 Asda Rollback TV advert
He’s been described by his new bosses at the Football Association as, "one of the best coaches in the world".
Thomas Tuchel has also earned a reputation as a “control freak”, with “charming” yet “divisive” attributes.
Born in Krumbach, Bavaria in 1973 his football journey began as a youngster when his father coached him at his local club. After growing into a promising defender, a knee injury brought his playing career to an end at the age of 25, but he’d already turned his eye to coaching.
Spells at Augsburg, Mainz, Borussia Dortmund, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea and Bayern Munich followed. As did the honours, including a Champions League title.
But, as he now embarks on the international stage, Mark Coles has been talking with Thomas Tuchel’s friends and colleagues to find out more about the man leading the Three Lions.
Production TeamPresenter: Mark ColesProducers: Bob Howard and Drew HyndmanEditor: Ben MundySound: John ScottProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Oh! What’s occurrin'? Good question…
This week’s Profile, with Stephen Smith, is focusing in on a woman born in Bridgend in south Wales, who loved to participate in musical theatre as a child – and went on to create one of Britain’s best-loved sitcoms.
With a degree in drama under her belt from the University of Warwick, Ruth Jones initially found work at BBC Wales in both TV and radio comedy. She soon branched out into theatre, before gaining a role in the popular ITV series Fat Friends.
It was there that she would work with James Corden for the first time. But not the last. The pair went onto create BBC Three hit, Gavin & Stacey in 2007. Seventeen years on, the sitcom has just provided us with one last trip to Barry Island and Billericay.
So grab a chicken bhuna, lamb bhuna, prawn bhuna, mushroom rice, bag of chips, keema naan, nine poppadoms and listen to this episode of Profile on the woman known for her iconic role as Nessa.
Production TeamPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Ben Cooper and Diane RichardsonEditors: Ben Mundy and Sarah WadesonSound: John ScottProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
CreditsGavin & Stacey 2008 Christmas Special: BBC / Baby Cow ProductionsLittle Britain: BBCBarry Islands In The Stream: BBC / Comic Relief / Mercury Records
Since it was privatised over a decade ago, there's been speculation around the future of the UK's troubled postal service, Royal Mail.
Now the government has approved its purchase by the Czech billionaire, Daniel Křetínský, a relative unknown here in the UK.
Born in communist Czechoslovakia in 1975, Křetínský was a teenager when the Berlin Wall came down. He started his career as a lawyer, but after taking a job in an investment firm soon acquired a reputation as a financial prodigy. He went on to make his fortune in energy investments, but has since expanded to become a big player in the media scene, as well as buying stakes in businesses in Western Europe, especially France and the UK.
In this episode of Profile, Stephen Smith finds out more about the man who's set to take on the challenge of turning around a once cherished national institution.
Production TeamPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Nathan Gower and Ben CooperEditor: Sarah WadesonSound: John ScottProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
CreditsCanal+
Through his passion for stop motion and modelling clay, we have come to love his silent (but wise) dog and well-meaning owner.
Wallace and Gromit are Nick Park’s most famous creations, but what more do we know about this Preston born Oscar winner?
He would use his mother’s home movie camera to record his early films; he studied animation at the National Film and Television School in Buckinghamshire; and joined Aardman Animations in the mid-80s.
Over the last few decades, Nick Park has gained critical acclaim for feature films, Chicken Run and Early Man. So, as we await the latest Wallace and Gromit offering this Christmas, Mark Coles has donned the RIGHT trousers to take a closer look at the multi-award winning animator.
Production Team Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Bob Howard and Natalie Ktena Editor: Richard VadonSound: Gareth JonesProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Archive CreditsWallace & Gromit: A Grand Day Out directed by Nick Park (Aardman Animations/National Film and Television School)Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl directed by directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham (Aardman Animations)Creature Comforts directed by Nick Park (Aardman Animations)Chicken Run directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park (Aardman Animations/Pathé/DreamWorks Animation)Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit directed by Nick Park and Steve Box (Aardman Animations/DreamWorks Animation)Wallace & Gromit Christmas Jumper Ident (Aardman Animations for the BBC) Merlin Crossingham & Nick Park on WALLACE AND GROMIT: VENGEANCE MOST FOWL at AFI Fest 2024 (American Film Institute)The Bike Ride (Collett Dickenson Pearce)
From using a skateboard to baking sourdough, Tom Molnar leads an eclectic life.
Born in the United States, he earned a degree in Ecology at Dartmouth College, before going on to gain experience in corporate strategy and client management. It was during those years, that he noticed a gap in the market for quality bread.
Tom Molnar joined forces with Ran Avidan and Gail Mejia in 2005, and their Gail’s story began in a small corner of North London. Nearly 20 years later, the chain has become omnipresent on high streets all over the country and looks set to yield a handsome sum amid speculation that its owners have appointed a Wall Street bank to oversee an auction.
Stephen Smith takes a closer look at the visionary behind one of Britain’s fastest-growing chains.
Production TeamPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Ben Cooper and Natalie KtenaEditor: Ben Mundy Sound: James Beard Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Credits
BBC / Gordon Murray PuppetsGentleman's Journal
She is the self-styled "proud Yorkshirewoman" at the centre of an extraordinary week at Westminster.
Kim Leadbeater, the Labour MP behind a bid to legalise assisted dying for the terminally ill in England and Wales, was born in West Yorkshire in 1976.
Before her life in politics, she worked in furniture sales and as an exercise instructor, before becoming a lecturer in health and exercise in her late 20s. But it was the murder of her sister Jo Cox in 2016 that saw her thrust into the public eye.
After years promoting social cohesion with the Jo Cox Foundation and More In Common, in 2021 she became an MP in the same constituency her sister had represented.
Mark Coles talks to family, friends and political allies, to understand the views and events that have shaped the woman at the centre of an intense, and highly charged debate.
Production Team
Producers: Nathan Gower and Ben CooperEditor: Ben MundySound: James BeardProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele
From television commercials in the 1970s, to today’s toga-ripping, chariot-flipping sequel to Gladiator.
Sir Ridley Scott is one of Britain’s greatest film directors.
The grammar school boy, born in South Shields, spent part of his childhood in Germany before pursuing his passion for art at school in Hartlepool and then the Royal College of Art.
But the camera appealed to Scott as much as the canvas, and Stephen Smith has been talking with the Hollywood titan’s friends, family and peers to find out more about him - and his work.
ContributorsJake Scott - DirectorArthur Max - Production DesignerFrancine Stock - Film CriticMichael Broers - HistorianDavid Scarpa - ScreenwriterJanty Yates - Costume Designer
Production TeamPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Nathan Gower and Ben CooperEditor: Ben MundySound: James BeardProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
CreditsAlien (1979): 20th Century-Fox, Brandywine ProductionsGladiator (2000): DreamWorks Pictures, Universal Pictures, Scott Free Productions, Red Wagon EntertainmentNapoleon (2023): Apple Studios, Scott Free Productions, Columbia Pictures (through Sony Pictures Releasing)Gladiator II (2024): Scott Free Productions, Lucy Fisher/Douglas Wick Productions, Paramount Pictures
Born in communist East Germany, to a German mother and Iranian father, Sahra Wagenknecht has long been the face of the country’s hard left.
But her own breakaway political movement, supporting a higher minimum wage as well as an end to weapons deliveries to Ukraine, appears to be gaining further support.
And with Germany set to hold elections early next year, following the collapse of the governing coalition, some think the 54-year-old will play a pivotal role in the future politics of the EU's largest economy.
In this edition of Profile, Mark Coles takes a closer look at the leader of the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
Production teamProducers: Emma Close and Ben Cooper Editor: Ben MundySound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele and Janet Staples
CreditsDW
She is one of the highest-ranking women in the Labour Party, now holding the position of home secretary.
Yvette Cooper, born in Inverness in 1969, grew up in Hampshire and went on to forge a career in politics full of firsts.
She served as the first female chief secretary to the Treasury. She also became the first minister to take maternity leave, and she was one half of the first married couple in the cabinet - alongside Ed Balls.
But not everyone is convinced Yvette Cooper has the answers to the big problems in her in-tray, particularly on the small boats issue.
Stephen Smith talks to friends and political allies, to understand the views and events that have shaped this veteran Labour politician.
Production team Producers: Emma Close and Nathan Gower Editor: Ben Mundy Sound: James Beard Production Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele
CreditsPolitical Thinking with Nick Robinson (BBC)1991 Harvard Commencement Address1992 Bill Clinton Campaign SpeechTony Blair 1997 Election Victory Speech2015 Election Exit Poll (BBC)
From his hilltop glass mansion in ancient Tbilisi, he’s accused of cultivating Georgia’s shift from the west over the past decade.
And, with his political party’s recent victory in the parliamentary elections, that trajectory appears set to continue for some time yet.
Bidzina Ivanishvili is the guiding force behind the Georgian Dream party, but what else do we know about the mysterious billionaire?
In this edition of Profile, Mark Coles takes a closer look at the man who keeps animals, collects rare trees, and who spent much of the 1990s in Russia founding companies.
Production team Producers: Ben Cooper, Marianna Brain, Kirsteen Knight Editor: Ben Mundy Sound: Neil Churchill Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
CreditsIMEDI TV
The Liverpool-born comedian, known for his razor-sharp wit, has traded in his stand-up routines for some serious dance moves of late.
Chris McCausland is the first blind contestant to take part in the BBC show, Strictly Come Dancing - and he's being tipped as a possible winner.
In his 20s, Chris lost most of his sight due to retinitis pigmentosa. But that didn’t slow down his career. He's been lighting up the comedy scene since 2003, with regular appearances on hit programmes like 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and Would I Lie to You. He's also taken to the iconic stage of Live at the Apollo.
In this edition of Profile, Stephen Smith talks to some of his closest friends, fellow comedians and former colleagues about his life, Strictly success - and the time he attended a job interview in the wrong trousers.
Production teamProducers: Caroline Bayley, Julie Ball, Natasha FernandesEditor: Ben MundySound: James BeardProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele
CreditsLive at the Apollo, Open Mike Production, 04/01/2018
He's the man who masterminded Labour's general election campaign, and now holds one of the most important positions in Downing Street.
Morgan McSweeney was recently appointed the prime minister's chief of staff, after Sue Gray quit the role. But what do we know about him?
Born in Macroom, County Cork, he moved to London aged 17. He soon joined the Labour party under Tony Blair, working in a junior role at their headquarters.
He rose through the ranks, forging a reputation as a skilled campaign strategist, and has been credited with being the brains behind this year's landslide victory.
Mark Coles speaks to the people who know him - from school friends back home in Ireland, to others who've worked with him.
Production teamProducers: Bob Howard, Caroline Bayley, Ellie House, Natasha FernandesEditor: Ben MundySound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele
She’s a girl from New York's Lower East Side whom grew up to a life of stardom and is now known by just one name.
Gaga, a classically trained pianist, has secured Grammy-winning songs like Poker Face and Rain on Me. While her performance in A Star Is Born was Oscar-nominated.
Along the way, there’s been a meat dress, a high-profile stance against US military policy, and a collaborative album with Tony Bennett.
Her latest work, Harlequin, is a companion album to her new big screen performance in Joker: Folie à Deux.
From all-conquering song thrush to screen favourite, Stephen Smith has been find out about the life of Gaga.
Production teamProducers: Diane Richardson, Kirsteen Knight and Ben CooperEditor: Ben MundySound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele
Credits Joker: Folie à Deux (Official Trailer) - Writer/director/producer Todd Phillips. Warner Bros.A Star is Born (Official Trailer) - Director Bradley Cooper. Warner Bros.The inauguration of Joe Biden, 2021, CSPAN.The Late Show, RTE.2016 Academy Awards.
It’s a tiny computer with a catchy name: Raspberry Pi. But what's the story behind the man who thought up this affordable device?
His name is Eben Upton. He has gone from being a child desperate to make computer games, to the head of a company described as a ‘city darling’.
The firm reported higher than expected profits in its first report, after being listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Stephen Smith has been speaking to Eben Upton’s childhood friends, former colleagues and some big hitters in tech and business.
ContributorsHolly Williams - Business Editor, Press Association news agencyHermann Hauser - Entrepreneur, venture capitalist and co-founder of Amadeus Capital PartnersHarriet Green - Investor, philanthropist. Former chair and CEO of IBM Asia PacificPete Thornhill - School friendVictoria Drew - School friendDavid Cleevely - Entrepreneur and former Raspberry Pi chairman
Production teamProducers: Julie Ball, Farhana Haider, Ben Morris, Michaela GraichenEditor: Tom BigwoodSound: Gareth JonesProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
ArchiveCentre for Computing History, CambridgeKerbal Space Program: Take-Two Interactive, publisher Private Division, developer SquadSensible Soccer: developer Sensible Software
Some call it one of the trickiest jobs in the country. How do you stop the small boats trying to cross the English Channel and smash the smuggling gangs?
The government has appointed Martin Hewitt to the role- he’s leading the UK’s new border security command. It’s a tough job, so can he do it?
Martin Hewitt is a former senior police officer and chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council. He is also the man who oversaw the policing of Covid lockdowns.
Mark Coles has been speaking to some of his colleagues, former colleagues and the journalists who reported on him.
ContributorsTim Smith - Chief Constable, Kent PoliceDanny Shaw - Former BBC CorrespondentFestus Akinbusoye - Former Police and Crime Commissioner for BedfordshireRuth Turner - Senior Director at the Forward Institute Dal Babu – Former Chief Superintendent in the Metropolitan PoliceVikram Dodd - Guardian Police and Crime Correspondent
Production teamProducers: Farhana Haider, Ben Morris, Ben Cooper, Michaela GraichenEditor: Richard VadonSound: Gareth JonesProduction Co-ordinators: Sabine Schereck and Maria Ogundele
This week we delve into the life of the First Minister of Wales Eluned Morgan, the first woman to hold the position. Morgan was introduced to politics at a very young age by her parents, who were both councillors. Her early career was spent working in broadcasting before her political career began at the age of 27, elected as the youngest Member of the European Parliament in 1994. She went on to take up a seat in the House of Lords and was Welsh Health Secretary during the Covid pandemic. Stephen Smith talks to friends and political figures, hearing how a girl from a deprived part of Cardiff, became the most powerful person in Wales. Contributors:Lord Neil Kinnock - Former Labour LeaderGloria Yates - NeighbourRuth Mosalski - Political Editor of Wales OnlineCeri Innes Parry- Childhood FriendClaudia Velez – School Friend Production Team:Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Diane Richardson, Julie Ball and Ben MorrisEditors: Ben Mundy and Alex LewisSound: James BeardProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Some of world football's biggest names have been linked to England's top job since Gareth Southgate hung up his waistcoat. But, for now at least, it is Lee Carsley who takes over as England's interim manager.
The modest, methodical and quietly spoken coach started his footballing journey at Derby County – before making his name at Everton.
Family and charity work are Lee Carsley’s other priorities. He’s a patron of the Solihull Down Syndrome Support Group – after they helped his middle child, Connor following his diagnosis. Lee also volunteers at the Solihull Moors Foundation.
Some say this collection bucket rattler has all the attributes required to lead England to glory, so Mark Coles speaks to his friends, and colleagues to find out more.
ContributorsBecci Fox - CEO, Solihull Moors FoundationKevin Turner - Former PE Teacher, Cockshut Hill SchoolKevin Kilbane - Former footballer, Everton Football ClubJack Gaughan - Northern Football Reporter, Daily Mail
Production teamProducers: Di Richardson, Farhana Haider, Drew Hyndman and Ben MorrisEditor: Ben MundySound: John ScottProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
ArchiveRAMS TVThe Football AssociationMatch of The Day 11/12/04 (BBC)BBC Radio 5 Live
James Graham’s writing obsession started at the age of six in the shadow of Nottinghamshire's former coalmines. Equipped with a typewriter from his mother he created hundreds of stories from the family home in Kirkby-in-Ashfield.
Accelerating through university in Hull and a writing residency in west London, Graham’s work started to attract wider audiences following a break at the National Theatre in 2012. Building on his thrilling political drama This House, he went on to write plays and TV series including Sherwood, Dear England, Quiz, Best of Enemies and Brexit: The Uncivil War.
During this year’s MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, he called for more working-class people in TV.
But what next for this prolific playwright? Stephen Smith speaks to his family, friends and colleagues to find out more.
ContributorsAnne Ellis - MotherDavid Morrissey - Actor Kate Wasserberg - Artistic Director, Theatr ClwydDr Sarah Jane Dickenson - Senior Lecturer, University of HullMartin Humphrey - Former Head of Creative Arts, Ashfield School, NottinghamSusannah Clapp - Theatre Critic for The Observer
Production teamProducers: Julie Ball, Ben Cooper, Miriam QuayyamEditor: Ben MundySound: John ScottProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Archive2012 National Theatre production of This House written by James Graham and directed by Jeremy Herrin.The cast in the extract features Phil Daniels playing Bob Mellish, Philip Glenister playing Walter Harrisonand Lauren O’Neil playing Ann Taylor.
PictureBBC/PA Media
From ‘hillbilly’ roots to becoming Donald Trump’s nominee for vice-president. At 39, if JD Vance is elected, he would be one of America’s youngest ever Vice-Presidents. A lot has been laid bare in his own words, in ‘Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis’. He talks about being raised by his grandparents who moved from the Appalachian Mountains area of Kentucky to Ohio, to a Middle America Rust Belt town looking for a better life. His mother struggled with drug addiction and a string of chaotic relationships. So how did he go from a sometimes unstable, sometimes violent, upbringing to being in the running to take one of the highest offices in American politics? There’s another transformation many wonder about too: why did he change his mind on Trump? Only in 2016 JD Vance said ‘I can't stomach Trump. I think that he's noxious and is leading the white working class to a very dark place.’ Mark Coles finds out.
Credit: NPR Fresh Air
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Phoebe Keane, Diane RichardsonEditor: Penny Murphy
Shabana Mahmood is the new Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.
Born in Birmingham in a Kashmiri Pakistani family, she has three siblings, one of whom is her twin. From an early age her father ensured that the children were aware of the world around them, and made them each read five minutes from the Times newspaper every evening.
Inspired by the 1990's TV series, 'Kavanagh QC' to become a lawyer, Shabana Mahmood attended Lincoln College, Oxford University, a year below a certain Rishi Sunak.
After a few years working in law, she changed career and moved into politics, in 2010 winning the seat of Birmingham Ladywood for Labour, which she has held to date. Stephen Smith talks to those who know her.
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Diane Richardson and Julie BallEditor: Penny MurphyProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Rosie StrawbridgeSound mix: Hal Haines
CONTRIBUTORSWilliam Audland KC, 12 Kings' Bench Walk ChambersDavid Gauke, former Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for JusticeJane Haynes, Journalist Birmingham Live/MailBaroness Sayeeda Warsi, former, Chair of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio.Lord Tom Watson, former MP West Bromwich East & deputy leader of the Labour party
CREDITSKavanagh QC - Central TV for ITV productionsPolitical Thinking - Nick Robinson BBC R4/BBC Sounds
Evan Gershkovich is the Wall Street Journal's Moscow reporter. He's been imprisoned in Russia since March last year, and has just gone on trial there - the first American journalist to be jailed in Russia since the Cold War. He's accused of espionage, something he, his employer and his government all strenuously deny.
To his friends, like Jeremy Berke, he is "the most extroverted person that I've ever met in my whole life". He loves football and is a dedicated Arsenal fan - so much so that he'd get his flatmates in Brooklyn up at 7am on Sunday mornings - despite them having been out on the town together till the early hours - to watch Arsenal matches with him on TV.
The son of Soviet-born, Jewish parents who'd fled to the USA in the late 70s, he grew up speaking Russian at home. Once in Moscow as a reporter, his fellow correspondents - many of whom quickly became friends too - were impressed by his drive, his knowledge of Russia's language and culture, his ease at making contacts, and his willingness to go the extra mile - often literally, to places like the remote Russian republics of Udmurtia and Yakutia.
He's now been detained for fifteen months and counting. Gershkovich's friends and family say his release can't come too soon; they're waiting to welcome him home with hugs, and the desire "to never let him leave again".
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Arlene Gregorius and Julie Ball Editor: Penny MurphyProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Before she became one of the best-selling musicians of all time, Shania Twain worked for the family tree-planting business, singing for tips in lumberjack bars to help make ends meet. Stephen Smith charts the rise of a hard-up Canadian country girl, from a violent family home, to a country-pop crossover superstar.
This year's Glastonbury 'Legends' slot will be the first time some will have seen or heard from Shania in decades - we hear about the disease that robbed her of her voice at the peak of her powers in the early 2000s and, along with a devastating divorce, led to a 15-year gap between albums. Contributors:
John Kim Bell, former producer and boyfriend Lindsay Ell, guitaristJake Gosling, music producerMarc Bouwer, fashion designer
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Simon Tulett and Natasha FernandesSound: Neil ChurchillProduction Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine SchereckEditor: Penny Murphy
Sometimes known as the “sultan of swing,” Professor Sir John Curtice has become an institution of election coverage in the UK. But is there more to the man than stats and figures? There might be some broad beans and jam, as Mark Coles finds out.
Rev Dr Lisa Curtice, John’s wifePhil Tremewan, childhood friend John Leston, friend from universityDavid Dimbleby, broadcasterPaddy O’Connell, BBC broadcaster
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Ivana Davidovic, Diane Richardson and Julie BallSound: James BeardProduction Coordinator: Maria OgundeleEditor: Tom Bigwood
Who is National Rally's 28-year-old leader, Jordan Bardella? Stephen Smith looks at the life of the boy from the Paris suburbs who joined the far-right as a teenager and rapidly became the face of National Rally, helping to bring success for the party in the European elections.
ContributorsCécile Alduy, Professor of French Studies, Stanford University, Political Scientist, Sciences PO ParisAymeric Durox, National Rally Senator Pascal Humeau, Communications Advisor and Media TrainerBénédicte Paviot, UK Correspondent France 24Pierre-Stéphane Fort, Jordan Bardella biographer
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Diane Richardson, Ivana Davidovic and Julie BallSound: Neil ChurchillProduction Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Rosie StrawbridgeEditor: Tom Bigwood
Rylan Clark is on the cusp of becoming a national treasure. Having defied the odds of most reality TV stars, he has managed to stay the course, cementing his already steady career rise to the top with his most recent television outing with Rob Rinder 'Rob and Rylan's Grand Tour', which showed the viewing public a whole new side to his talents.
Brought up in the East End by his mum, Linda. Rylan or Ross as his family and friends know him, was always performing from a young age, according to his mum. The family moved to Essex when he was around 11 going to school in Upminster, where Ross was a mischievous and talented student.
After a few years in retail he started modelling and went off to Ibiza where he was in tribute bands to Take That and Westlife. His big break came when he appeared on X Factor in 2012. Although he didn't win, he did make an impression, and after winning Celebrity Big Brother his career took off.
Mark Coles charts the rise of Rylan Clark.
Presenter: Mark Coles
Contributors
Scott Bryan, TV critic and broadcaster
Linda Clark, Mother
Bernice Cole, Make-up artist and friend
Nader Dehdashti, Agent and friend
Mark Duncan, Deputy Headmaster, Coopers' Company and Coborn School
Robert Rinder, Broadcaster and barrister
CREDITS
X Factor - Thames and Syco EntertainmentRob and Rylan's Grand Tour - Rex Productions Keeping Up Appearances - BBCMasterchef - Endemol Shine UK How to Be a Man - Mindhouse production for BBC SoundsHow to Be in the Spotlight - Mindhouse production for BBC Sounds
Production Team
Producers: Julie Ball, Diane Richardson & Ivana DavidovicEditor: Tom BigwoodSound: James BeardProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Alan Bleasdale, the Liverpudlian screenwriter and playwright, is in the spotlight this week as a stage version of his iconic 1980's TV series 'Boys from the Blackstuff' opened at the National Theatre. Born in Liverpool, an only child who first went into teaching, his first public work was 'Scully' for Radio Merseyside, a kind of Liverpudlian Adrian Mole, which he wrote whilst he was still teaching.
But it was 'Boys from the Blackstuff' that made him a household name with one of the characters, Yosser Hughes' line 'Gissa job' providing a chant on the stands of his beloved Liverpool Football Club.
His work has courted controversy with successive governments, although he says he's not political, only voting for the first time at the age of 38. Now in his late 70's and 40 years on from the original television series, he's back in the spotlight. Stephen Smith talks to friends and colleagues about his work, phobias and how to tell if you're having a heart attack.
Presenter: Stephen Smith
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producers: Julie Ball and Diane RichardsonResearcher: Marianna BrainEditor: Bridget HarneySound: Neil ChurchillProduction co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck
Contributors
Peter Ansorge, former Script Producer, BBC Drama and Commissioning Editor, Drama C4
James Graham, Playwright and Screenwriter
Robert Lindsay, Actor
Sir Michael Palin, Actor and Author
Tony Schumacher, Author and Screenwriter
Trevor Stent, former teaching colleague
CREDITS
Boys from the Blackstuff, BBC Drama
Desert Island Discs, BBC R4
GBH - Channel 4
Scully's New Years Eve, BBC
Ann-Marie Powell, is the exuberant and colourful, garden designer, whose' Octavia Hill 'Garden was one of the eight main gardens in competition at the Chelsea Flower Show this year.
After dropping out of college she spent six months travelling in India, Nepal and New Zealand, which inspired her to take up gardening. Attending Capel Manor horticultural college her first job was working in sales for a large nursery. But Ann-Marie's colourful personal style and outgoing personality led her employer to encourage her to apply for a job as a presenter on a TV gardening show. She soon blossomed into a popular gardening show host working with fellow gardeners like Carol Klein, Joe Swift and gardening supremo, Monty Don.
In addition to running her own successful garden design business from the home she shares with her husband and two boys, on the Hampshire borders, she feels it's important that everyone should have access to green spaces, no matter where they live. During lockdown her Instagram page 'My Real Garden' was a big hit broadcasting garden tips and advice everyday.
Presenter: Mark Coles
CONTRIBUTORS
Julian Bundy - HusbandAngela Halksworth - Co-owner, Tendercare NurseriesJanet Morgan - FriendJane Owen - Garden Designer Mark Straver - Hortus LociCleve West - Award winning Garden Designer Tamsin Westhorpe- Gardener and Horticulture Writer
CREDITS
Gardens, Weeds and Words Podcast - Presented by Andrew O'BrienReal Gardens - Channel 4RHSNational TrustMy Real Garden - Instagram - Ann-Marie Powell
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producers: Julie Ball and Diane RichardsonEditor: Bridget HarneyProduction Co-ordinator: Maria OgundeleSound: David Crackles
You may know her from Play School, Bafta or the House of Lords, Baroness Floella Benjamin doesn’t sit still, she’s even appeared in panto.
Stephen Smith hears about the remarkable life of the Trinidad-born actress, TV presenter and author, who campaigns passionately for children and the Windrush generation.
ContributorsColin Webb, Publisher, 'Coming to England'Nero Ughwujabo, Senior Strategy Adviser - Equality Diversity and Inclusion, The Prince's TrustLord Simon Woolley, Principal at Homerton College, Cambridge UniversityJohnny Ball, Children's TV presenterPaul Nicholas, ActorLinzi Beuselinck, ActressJeremy Swan, Children's TV producer
CreditsBAFTAAladdin and The Forty Thieves, BBC 1984Desert Island Discs, Baroness Floella Benjamin, BBC Radio 4, October 2020
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Diane Richardson and Drew HyndmanEditor: Tom BigwoodSound: Neil ChurchillProgramme Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck
After over four decades in the SNP and nearly two in government, John Swinney is finally stepping up to the top job for the first time, becoming Scotland’s new First Minister.
He’s no stranger to big jobs - it’s actually his second stint as SNP leader - but leading his country and his party is looking tougher than ever, as the SNP finds itself facing formidable challenges.
Who is this stalwart of the SNP, and do his life and experiences equip him for the task ahead? Mark Coles talks to friends, colleagues, and those who’ve watched this political operator up close for years.
Presenter: Mark ColesProducer: Nathan GowerAssistant Producer: Diane Richardson and Marianna BrainEditor: Tom BigwoodProgramme Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine SchereckSound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Music:
‘John Swinney (We Salute You)' by Nocturnal Vermin (Isaac Brutal, James ‘Slippyunderfoot‘ McCready, Arnold Bastard)
Isaac Levido has established a formidable reputation as a election strategist, helping to craft wins both in the UK and Australia. Thought of as a protege of the quasi-legendary election guru Sir Lynton Crosby in his early years, he’s rapidly racked up achievements of his own, propelling both Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson back into office with his brand of data-driven analysis.
Stephen Smith opens the black box that is electoral strategising and sets out to understand the mind of the man who is set to shape the Conservatives’ impending general election campaign.
Guests:Katy Balls, Political Editor of The SpectatorAlexander Downer, former leader of the Australian Liberal PartyPaul Stephenson, Vote Leave Campaign DirectorLord Andrew Feldman, former chair of the Conservative PartyDavid Bold, friend and Australian political advisor
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducer: Nathan GowerAssistant Producers: Julie Ball, Diane RichardsonEditor: Tom BigwoodProgramme Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine SchereckSound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Archive:The Thick of It, BBCScott Morrison election night speech, ABC NewsBoris Johnson election victory speech
Timmy Mallett, former DJ and 1980s children's TV presenter, is creating a social media storm, during a cycle tour around Northern Ireland, in tribute to his late brother, Martin who had Down's Syndrome.
Timmy Mallett was a massive star on children's TV in the 1980s and 90s. He honed his zany style of presenting on Piccadilly Radio in Manchester. Amongst his helpers were a teenage Chris Evans and the Today programme's Nick Robinson. He then went on to breakfast television where he presented the Wide Awake Club with Michaela Strachan and then Wacaday. A generation of children grew up watching him and his trusty foam mallet, Pinky Punky which he used to bonk competitors on the head when they stumbled or hesitated in his word association game Mallett's Mallet.
Nowadays, he's swapped the Mallet for the artist's palette and is as successful at art as he was at children's TV presenting. At the age of 68, he's cycling round Northern Ireland, giving mini history lessons and tour guides on TikTok whilst painting scenes of his travels in memory of his late brother.
PRESENTER: Mark Coles
CONTRIBUTORS
Mairia Cahill, Sunday Independent, IrelandProfessor Brian Cox, Professor of Particle Physics, University of ManchesterHelen and Peter Francis, family friendsTony Ingham, former Head of Entertainment, Piccadilly Radio, Manchester Michaela Strachan, TV presenterNick Robinson, Zack the Zit
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Radio LuxembourgPiccadilly Radio, ManchesterTV-AM Wide Awake Club and Wacaday
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producers: Julie Ball and Diane RichardsonEditor: Tom BigwoodSound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Ibtisam Zein
Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the founder of parkrun, was born in Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa at the age of five, where he was brought up in care with his two siblings. Always a keen middle distance runner, he was a second for a friend in one of South Africa's most gruelling road races. Eventually he moved to the UK to work in IT and raise a family.
After a perfect storm of redundancy, marriage breakdown and an injury which prevented him from running with his own club, he decided he'd start a time trial in a local park, for his running club pals. The only proviso that they had to have coffee and cake with him afterwards.
Twenty years later, that timed run that he started has outpaced anything he could have envisaged and turned into parkrun. The 5k run around local parks on a Saturday morning, has gone global and the parkrun community has hundreds of thousands of people running or volunteering as stewards every week. Stephen Smith finds out what makes Paul Sinton-Hewitt run.
PRESENTER: Stephen Smith
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producers: Julie Ball, Natasha Fernandes, Farhana HaiderEditor: Tom BigwoodProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine SchereckSound: Neil Churchill
CONTRIBUTORS
Roun Barry, School friendHugh Brasher, Director, London MarathonBruce Fordyce, Marathon runnerDuncan Gaskell, parkrunner and friendRuss Jeffereys - CEO, parkrunEileen Jones, Author and parkrunnerJoanne Sinton-Hewitt, Wife
Although Simon Harris reportedly describes himself as an 'accidental politician', he has managed to make a career out of it. His interest in politics was sparked at the age of 15 when he set up a support group in his local town to campaign for better secondary education for autistic people after he saw his parents struggle to get help for his younger brother. From then on his path was set. After a brief dalliance with Fianna Fail he joined the youth wing of the Fine Gael party at 17. He gave up his degree studies in year three of a four year course to work as an assistant to the then leader of the opposition in the Irish Parliament. By the age of 24 he was elected to parliament with the nickname 'Baby of the Dail' and was a junior minister by the age of 27. Since then he's held two further ministerial posts.
Now, after the shock resignation of former Taioseach, Leo Varadkar in late March, he was elected unopposed as leader of the Fine Gael party and now is expected to be confirmed as the new Taoiseach when the parliament returns after the Easter break. With a new nickname, 'The Tik Tok Taoiseach' because of his use of social media he's on track to break another record, set by his predecessor as the youngest Taoiseach in history to date.
Kate Lamble finds out what makes him tick outside of Tik Tok and his rapid rise to the top job in Irish politics.
PRESENTER: Kate Lamble
CONTRIBUTORS
Frances Fitzgerald, MEP, Dublin, Ireland
Councillor Ray McAdam, Fine Gael
Alice O'Donnell, Triple A Alliance
Jennifer O'Leary, BBC Ireland Correspondent
Fionnan Sheahan, Ireland Editor, The Irish Independent
PRODUCTION TEAM
Producers: Julie Ball & Madeleine DruryResearcher: Jay Gardner Editor: Tom Bigwood Production Co-ordinators: Katie Morrison & Sabine Schereck Sound: Nigel Appleton
Rosemarie Mallett’s star has risen quickly in the Church of England. After a career in academia and a period of disenchantment with the institution, she became a priest in 2005, attracting the attention of senior members of the clergy for her engagement with communities and issues of social justice alike.
Bishop Rosemarie was herself born into a situation shaped by slavery, in the then colony Barbados, before coming to the UK as a child. Now a senior cleric, she has co-authored a report on how the Church of England should make amends for its historic financial involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, which has attracted praise from some and criticism from others.
Stephen Smith talks to those who know Mallett best, exploring how her life has shaped her approach to music, ministry, and racial justice.
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducer: Nathan GowerProduction team: Debbie Richford, Drew HyndmanEditor: Tom BigwoodProgramme Coordinators: Sabine Schereck, Maria Ogundele Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Vaughan Gething this week became Wales’ new First Minister, and the leader of Welsh Labour. He’s the fifth person to hold the post and the first black leader of a national government in Europe.
No stranger to breaking barriers, this employment lawyer rose apace to the top of student and trades unions alike, before election to the Welsh Senedd and ministerial office, charged with overseeing first health and then the economy.
Mark Coles looks back at how a cricket-mad schoolboy became First Minister of the land of his father - a journey from Zambia to Cardiff by way of rural Dorset - and finds out what drives him from those who know him best. Presenter: Mark ColesProducer: Nathan GowerProduction Team: Debbie Richford, Drew Hyndman, Julie BallProduction Coordinator: Katie MorrisonEditor: Tom BigwoodSound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot
The current Secretary for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, first joined the cabinet in 2010 and has remained there for most of the past 14 years in various posts. He’s served four prime ministers.
During that time he has provoked controversy from many areas - from teachers, lawyers, landlords for the policies he has championed. But he has also attracted friends and enemies in his own party due to his decisions over Brexit, leadership bids and party politics.
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Charlotte McDonald and Debbie RichfordEditor: Tom BigwoodProduction Co-ordinator: Katie MorrisonSound Engineer: James Beard
Credits
Sky NewsITV
The millionaire hedge fund manager Sir Paul Marshall has recently hit the headlines, both for his growing media portfolio and controversy over his social media activity.
After an eclectic career spent mostly in the background, from philanthropic work to high-powered finance, Sir Paul seems to be increasingly exerting his influence on the media and politics. He already backs GB News and UnHerd and is reported to be preparing a bid for the Telegraph and Spectator.
Stephen Smith asks what shaped and drives Paul Marshall, by talking to those who know him best.
Presenter: Stephen SmithProducer: Nathan GowerAssistant Producer: Debbie RichfordEditor: Matt WillisProgramme Coordinator: Sabine SchereckSound Engineer: James Beard
Archive:
Speech by Paul Marshall to the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship Conference 2023Citizen Kane, RKO Radio Pictures
Mother, widow... and now the face of Russian opposition?
Yulia Navalnaya has risen to the spotlight in recent weeks following her husband's death in a Siberian prison. The wife of Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has until now remained in the background. Navalnaya chose to focus on bringing up their children, supporting his political work from behind the scenes. When her husband was poisoned in 2020, she fought the authorities to release him to a German hospital for treatment. Navalny said she saved his life.
Now, Yulia Navalnaya has taken on the role of the defiant widow in their tragic love story. Making speeches to the European Parliament, meeting with world leaders, and launching her social media profile, Navalnaya has vowed to continue the work of her late husband. Who is the woman taking on Putin?
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Ellie House and Madeleine Drury Studio Manager: Hal HainesProduction Coordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine SchereckEditor: Damon Rose
Frank Auerbach was sent to Britain from Nazi Germany by his parents at the age of 8. Growing up in a Quaker boarding school in Kent, he developed his artistic talents - later to be inspired by the landscapes of war-torn London in the Blitz. Worrying about how he would afford paint for much of his career, an Auerbach piece now commands a price tag in the millions.
He has developed a reputation as a recluse - rarely giving interviews, or even attending his own exhibitions. Now, his wartime art 'The Charcoal Heads' is on display in London. Who is the 92-year-old artist still working seven days a week? Stephen Smith gets beneath the paint layers to learn more about one of our greatest living artists.
CONTRIBUTORSDale Berning Sawa, Journalist and Commissioning Editor William Feaver, Art Critic, AuthorCatherine Lampert, Curator and Art Historian Barnaby Wright, Deputy Head, The Courtauld Gallery
PRODUCTION TEAM Presenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Ellie House and Julie BallStudio Manager: Neil ChurchillEditor: Matt WillisProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck
CREDITS: Omnibus, BBC TV, 2001. Jake Auerbach FilmsThis Cultural Life, BBC R4, January 2024
Timpson - best known for its key cutting and shoe repair services - has become a household name, with over 1000 stores on town high streets and in local supermarkets. But its current CEO, James Timpson, is probably better known for his pioneering work on prison employment.
After being impressed by a prisoner in 2002, and offering him a job on release, James Timpson has worked to develop employment schemes for ex-offenders and campaigns for prison reform. Now, ten percent of the Timpson workforce is made up of ex-offenders.
He has recently published a new book on his unusual approach to business: 'The Happy Index: Lessons in Upside-Down Management'.
With a passion for dance music and old cars, who is this businessman turned philanthropist?
Presenter: Timandra HarknessProducers: Ellie House and Diane RichardsonStudio Manager: Rod FarquharProduction Coordinator: Maria OgundeleEditors: Richard Vadon and Matt Willis
With power sharing in Northern Ireland restored after a two year hiatus, the DUP's Emma Little-Pengelly has landed herself a top job - Deputy First Minister. It’s the first time a unionist has been in the role.
Hailing from a border town in Northern Ireland, County Armagh, she grew up during the Troubles. Her house was damaged in a bomb attack. Having held several positions in Stormont and Westminster, Little-Pengelly has now taken up her new role opposite Sinn Fein's Michelle O'Neill.
Co-opted to the position, rather than elected, she is facing new scrutiny in Northern Ireland. Who is the trained barrister turned DUP rising star?
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Ellie House and Madeleine DruryEditor: Richard VadonStudio Manager: James Beard
General Sir Patrick Sanders has served in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kosovo, Bosnia and Northern Ireland, rising through the ranks from Infantry Officer to Head of the Army. It's not a position he expected to reach and says "my first sergeant would never have seen this coming".
He's spoken candidly about experiencing depression following a tour in Iraq, having lost a number of his own infantry regiment, encouraging others to seek help.
Most recently General Sanders has ignited debate about the size of the army, suggesting that the "pre-war generation" should be prepared for the possibility of a potential land war, stating "Ukraine brutally illustrates that regular armies start wars; citizen armies win them."
As he prepares to leave the post of Chief of the General Staff (CGS), Mark Coles looks at the life and career of General Sir Patrick Sanders, speaking to some of the family, friends and colleagues who know him best.
CreditsThe Benedictine Monks of Worth AbbeyCentre For Army Leadership PodcastBritish Army Time to TalkBFBS Sitrep PodcastGB News
Presenter: Mark ColesProduction: Ellie House and Diane RichardsonProduction Co-ordinators: Sabine Schereck and Maria OgundeleSound: Neil ChurchillEditors: Richard Vadon and Matt Willis
He’s led Liverpool Football Club to countless victories and is adored by fans for his touchline antics.
As he announces his departure from Liverpool FC after nine years, Timandra Harkness looks at the life of Jurgen Klopp, from his childhood in the Black Forest to the young player who could run like the wind, before hanging up his boots to become a coach.
Presenter: Timandra Harkness and Becky MilliganProduction: Ellie House, Phoebe Keane, Diane RichardsonProduction Coordinators: Maria OgundeleEditor: Richard Vadon
Stephen Smith looks at the life of the newly appointed French prime minister.
The child of film producers, at one stage it looked like he was bound for a career in entertainment.
Instead, Gabriel Attal has become the youngest PM in modern French history and he hopes to revive President Macron's government.
One of his first tasks will be to lead the French government into the European Parliament elections in June.
ContributorsMarisol Touraine, former French Minister of Health, chair of Unitaid.Mireille Clapot, National Assembly member for Drôme.Philippe Marliere, Professor of French and European Politics, University College London.Dominic Gould, Actor.Sophie Pedder, Paris Bureau Chief, the Economist.
CreditsFrance 24TF1, France.La Belle Personne, directed by Christophe Honoré Institut National de l'Audiovisuel
Presenter: Stephen SmithProduction: Daniel Gordon, Leontine Gallois, Diane RichardsonEditor: Richard VadonSound: Andrew FellProduction Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Katie Morrison, and Janet Staples
The ‘New Adult’ romance author topping book charts, and breaking records - she’s even outsold the Bible. Who is Colleen Hoover?
The small-town Texan turned hit novelist is a TikTok sensation. Young women film themselves sobbing as they read her books, and queue for hours to meet her. Her meteoric rise to fame, from a small trailer on the family farm, reads like one of her stories. And now, her hit novel - ‘It Ends With Us’ - is set to hit the silver screen.
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Ellie House and Diane RichardsonEditor: Richard VadonStudio Manager: Neil ChurchillProduction Coordinators: Maria Ogundele, Katie Morrison, and Janet Staples
Reform UK - formerly known as 'The Brexit Party' - has hit 10% in polls for the first time. And its leader, Richard Tice, is gearing up to contest the next general election. In a press conference this week, he vowed that Reform UK candidates would stand in every seat in England, Wales, and Scotland - posing a threat to Conservative candidates across the country.
Dubbed a "bad boy of Brexit", who is the businessman turned politician leading this charge from the right?
Presenter: Paul ConnollyProducers: Ellie House, Diane Richardson, Julie BallEditor: Richard VadonStudio Manager: James BeardProduction Coordinator: Janet Staples
Sir Mufti Hamid Patel, chief executive of education trust, Star Academies, which runs schools often in deprived areas, many of which have achieved outstanding results. Sir Mufti Hamid Patel left school in Blackburn at 16, without himself excelling academically. Having worked in local government in Blackburn, he then ran a Muslim girls school before starting Star Academies. The trust has grown to include 34 primary and secondary schools mainly in northern England, the Midlands and East London.New government ways of monitoring progress, show almost half the top twenty achieving schools in the country are run by Star.
PRODUCTION TEAMPresenter: Mark ColesProducer: Bob HowardEditor: Richard VadonSound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Polly Neate. CEO of the housing and homelessness charity Shelter. Recently rescued in a dramatic cliff top drama, Neate was determined to fight social injustice from an early age. She started life as a journalist and then worked for the charities Action for Children and Women's Aid before taking the top job at Shelter. Her climbing injury has left her on crutches but she continues her professional work campaigning to help the homeless and is still determined to carry on climbing.
PRODUCTION TEAMPresenter: Mark ColesProducer: Bob HowardEditor: Richard VadonSound: Graham PuddifootProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Tucker Carlson, the American conservative political commentator and newscaster.
He was born in California and from the age of six was brought up by his father after his mother left the family home. Tucker Carlson followed in his father's footsteps when he left college and took up a career in journalism. He's worked for CNN, MSNBC and Fox News from which he was 'let go' in April this year.
As he launches his own streaming website 'Tucker Carlson Network', Stephen Smith finds out about the man who has been described as one of the most influential people in American media in recent years.
CONTRIBUTORSNeil Patel, Co-founder and CEO of Tucker Carlson NetworkChadwick Moore , Journalist and Author of 'Tucker' a biography of Tucker CarlsonAlex Shephard, Senior Editor, 'The New Republic' Heather Hendershot, Professor of Communications and Journalism, Northwestern University
PRODUCTION TEAM Producers: Diane Richardson, Julie Ball Editor: Bridget HarneySound: James Beard Production Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
CREDITS Network, MGM 1976, Peter Finch, Faye Dunaway- Tucker Carlson Network, Last Country IncAnchorman - The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Dreamworks Pictures
Olivia Colman, Oscar winning actress. Stephen Smith charts her career from an appearance at the age of 4 in a school nativity play, through to her current project as Mrs. Scrubbit in the new 'Wonka' film.
Olivia Colman first came to public attention as a comedy actress in 'That Mitchell and Webb Look' and then 'Peep Show' but she always felt she could do more. It was being cast in the British film 'Tyrannosaur' that brought her to the attention of Hollywood. Now she's on her way to National Treasure status with the likes of Dame Judi Dench and Dame Helen Mirren.
CONTRIBUTORSPaterson Joseph, Actor, Producer, Writer. Screen Credits, Boat Story, VigilPaul Hands, Former Director of Drama, Gresham's SchoolAnna Smith, Film Critic, Broadcaster and host of 'Girls on Film' podcastCatherine Shoard, Film Critic, The Guardian
PRODUCTION TEAMProducers: Diane Richardson, Julie BallEditor: Bridget HarneySound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
CREDITSPeep Show, Channel 4 Wonka, Warner Bros. PicturesL'Orchestre Cinematique, Pure Imagination (Newley/Bricusse) Oscars Award Ceremony 2019 - Best Actress AwardThe Crown, Netflix , Writer: Peter MorganLife in Stages, Episode 1 Olivia Colman, National Theatre
It is only a year since the controversial AI chatbot, ChatGPT was launched by Open AI, the company founded by this week's profilee, Sam Altman. For him the past year may have felt like a roller coaster but surely nothing compares with the last two weeks. Over the course of a week, he lost his job at Open AI and was immediately offered a job by Microsoft who'd invested heavily in the business. Next, Open AI employees threatened to resign in solidarity with their founder if he was not reinstated. The board had no choice but to take him back.
Sam Altman is now back as CEO of Open AI, and those who ousted him are no longer on the board. But who is this relatively young tech entrepreneur who founded an AI company with Elon Musk and ran one of the most successful tech incubators in Silicon Valley? Timandra Harkness finds out.
CONTRIBUTORSAndy Abbott, Head of School, John Burroughs School, St. Louis, MissouriElizabeth Weil, journalist, New York magazine Mike Isaacs, Tech reporter, New York TimesMadhumita Murgia, AI journalist, Financial TimesKate Bevan, Writer and Broadcaster, Technology
PRODUCTION TEAMPresenter: Timandra Harkness Producers: Julie Ball, Diane RichardsonEditor: Bridget Harney Sound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
CREDITSABC World Tonight CBS News Open AI Development Day Nov 2023CSPAN - 16th May 2023
The new President of Argentina, Javier Milei swept into power winning fifty-five percent of the popular vote. He's threatened to take a chainsaw to the economy, replace the peso with the dollar and blow up the Central Bank.
With looks more reminiscent of a seventies rock star, will this unconventional economist be able to solve the hyperinflation that is crippling Argentina's economy once more. Or will his lack of experience and support in government cause this self-professed anarcho-capitalist to have to change tack?
CONTRIBUTORSJuan Luis González, author, El Loco.Lilia Lemoine, Vice president of the Libertarian Party in Argentina.Ana Lankes, Latin America Correspondent, The Economist.Ezequiel Gonzalez-Ocantos, Professor of Comparative and Judicial Politics, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford.
PRPDUCTION TEAMPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Diane Richardson, Julie BallEditor: Bridget HarneySound Engineer: James BeardProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
Born and raised in south east London, James Cleverly once dreamed of being an artist, then opted for an army career. But never expected to become a politician. Yet now, after swiftly climbing the cabinet ladder, the high-flying statesman has made the step up from Foreign Secretary to Home Secretary. But with a bulging in-tray - including the government's troubled plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda - can he rise to the challenge? Charismatic, convivial and sometimes cautious, does James Cleverly have the skills needed for the job? Paul Connolly talks to friends and colleagues about Cleverly's fast political ascent, his ability to stay the course and his passion for spicy food.
Presenter: Paul Connolly Producers: Sally Abrahams, Kirsteen Knight, Julie BallProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound Engineer: James BeardEditor: Bridget Harney
As President Biden's top diplomat, Antony Blinken is in the eye of the storm as the conflict rages in Israel and Gaza. The US Secretary of State has been preparing for this role his whole life. But has he got what it takes? After a gilded upbringing - living in New York and Paris, an Ivy League education and a passion for music - he reluctantly turned his back on rock and roll to pursue a career at the top of politics, becoming a confidante of three US presidents. Stephen Smith talks to friends and colleagues to find out more about the man whose father was an ambassador and whose stepfather survived Auschwitz.
PRODUCTION TEAMPresenter: Stephen SmithProducers: Sally Abrahams, Natasha Fernandes, Kirsteen KnightProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele, Janet Staples, Rosie Strawbridge, Gemma Ashman Sound Engineer: James Beard Editor: Bridget Harney
CREDITSWithout Ya, Ablinken (Spotify)
The US pop superstar, Taylor Swift, who's just become a billionaire entirely through music. Recent success includes a new re-recorded album, her live tour and accompanying film.
One of Britain's most popular comedians, Sir Lenny Henry, has spent nearly 50 years in show business. His new TV drama series 'Three Little Birds' is inspired by his mother's generation, who came to Britain from the Caribbean to make a new start in post-Windrush Britain. Timandra Harkness charts his life from impersonator and stand-up comedian, to Shakespearean actor, scriptwriter and campaigner for diversity in the media. She discovers how his talent as an entertainer was first discovered as a teenager on the disco floor in Dudley, in the West Midlands. Timandra talks to family, friends and colleagues to find out what drives Sir Lenny to keep trying new things.
Presenter: Timandra HarknessProducer: Sally Abrahams and Natasha FernandesSound: James BeardEditor: Simon Watts
Archive credits:Three Little Birds ITV - Douglas Road and Tiger Aspect Productions under Banijay UKGraham Norton ShowNew Faces - Associated Television (1973-1978), ITV Central (1986-1988)BBC Seaside Special BBC Comic Relief 1988Northern Broadsides Othello on Radio 4BAFTAs Guru 2014 Speech
After helping to secure strong results for opposition parties in Poland’s most recent election, former Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk looks highly likely to return to his country’s top job.
Best known in the UK as a former President of the European Council, Donald Tusk is a political survivor, forged in the struggle and resistance against communist-era Poland in the 1980s, but who then went on to scale political heights at home and abroad again and again. So how did this son of Gdansk and self-confessed former football hooligan become one of Europe’s most enduring politicians?
Paul Connolly speaks to those who watched his ascent first hand.
Presenter: Paul ConnollyProducer: Natasha FernandesAssistant Producer: Nathan GowerEditor: Richard VadonSound Engineer: James Beard
Archive:
Speech by Donald Tusk as President of the European Council, 14th October 2016Interview with Donald Tusk on the website of the European CouncilSpeech by Donald Tusk as President of the European Council, 6th February 2019
Adam Kay is a Bafta-winning TV writer, author and comedian who previously worked as a hospital doctor. He's famous for using his medical experiences to highlight the pressures of working in the NHS. He recently spoke out in support of junior doctors and hospital consultants who've been demanding better rates of pay. Despite give up a career in medicine in 2010, celebrity friends occasionally ring him up seeking medical advice.
Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Nick Holland and Natasha FernandesEditor: Richard VadonSound Engineer: Neil Churchill
The Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer is hoping to become the UK's next prime minister. He first won his seat in Parliament in 2015 after a successful career working as a human rights lawyer and then being appointed the UK's Director of Public Prosecutions. He was previously rumoured to be the inspiration for the handsome but stuffy character Mark Darcy, a lawyer and love interest in the novel Bridget Jones's Diary, written by Helen Fielding. The author has denied the link, however interest in Mr Starmer has started to grow as polls suggest he could get the keys to 10 Downing Street. Steve Smith travels through the 'Starmersphere' speaking to friends, colleagues and critics finding out who he is and what he stands for.
Presenter: Steve SmithProducers: Nick Holland and Natasha FernandesEditor: Richard VadonSound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Lachlan Murdoch will become the boss of one of the world's most powerful media empires. His father, Rupert, has said his eldest son will succeed him as chairman of Fox and News Corp. Lachlan's appointment ends years of speculation over which one of the siblings will take control of the businesses their father built.
At one point Lachlan's younger brother James was favourite for the top job but it didn't go his way. So, who is Lachlan Murdoch, how did he win his father's approval and what impact will he make? Timandra Harkness pieces together what we know about him through interviews he's given and by speaking to people who've worked for and observed the Murdochs.
Guest:Paddy Manning, Author, The Successor: The High-Stakes Life of Lachlan Murdoch.Michael Wolff, Author, The Fall: The End of the Murdoch Empire.Sarah Ellison, Washington Journal National Enterprise Reporter, Author, War at the Wall Street Journal.Kelvin MacKenzie, Former Editor, The Sun.Claire Enders, Founder, Enders Analysis.
Credits: ABC Dynasties
Presenter: Timandra HarknessProducer: Nick HollandResearcher: Diane RichardsonEditor: Richard VadonSound: James Beard
Miriam Margolyes is at the peak of her career, even though she's been acting on our screens for decades. Her career started in the 1960 but despite playing many roles on stage, TV and film she is more famous now than ever before. She's in demand not only for her acting talents and presenting documentaries, but also as a sofa guest on chat shows. Her potty mouth, refreshing honesty and shocking stories have won her many laughs and new fans. However, her language isn't for everyone and there have been times, particularly in live broadcasting, when it's got her into trouble. Is who we see and hear on screen and radio the real Miriam Margolyes? Mark Coles looks back at her life and career.
Presenter: MR MARK COLESProducer: Nick HollandResearcher: Ellie House and Diane RichardsonProduction Coordinator: Maria Ogundele Editor: Richard Vadon
Davina McCall is regularly referred to as the queen of reality TV and has been a familiar face on our screens for decades. From the unpredictable dating show Streetmate, to the iconic Big Brother and now her latest show Your Mum, My Dad, which features middle-aged singles looking for a second chance at love.
She’s been open about overcoming addiction, taking drugs with her mum and surviving an overdose in her twenties. Now, with a long list of presenting credits under her belt, she’s turned to making documentaries raising awareness about the symptoms of the menopause and looking at contraception in the UK.
Mark Coles looks at the life and career of the fitness fanatic who has even starred in a Kylie Minogue music video.
Credits:My Mum, Your Dad, ITV.Big Brother, Channel 4.God’s Gift, ITV.Streetmate, Channel 4.The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
Presenter: Mark Coles Production: Alix Pickles, Diane Richardson, Phoebe Keane Production Coordinators: Maria OgundeleSound Engineer: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon
The recently appointed defence secretary Grant Shapps is no stranger to getting his teeth into a new job, it’s his fifth cabinet role in less than a year. He's widely seen as a safe pair of hands and an effective communicator but has received criticism over his latest appointment because of his lack of military experience. A married father of three and a cousin of The Clash guitarist Mick Jones, he survived a car crash at the age of 20, which put him in a coma for a week, and also made a full recovery after being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Mark Coles looks at the life and career of the cabinet veteran who is a spreadsheet whizz, enthusiastic TikToker and licensed pilot. Presenter: Mark Coles Production: Alix Pickles, Diane RichardsonProduction Coordinators: Maria OgundeleSound Engineer: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon
Benjamin Netanyahu is Israel's longest-serving Prime Minister, but his government’s plans for judicial reform have triggered one of the most serious crises of his political career.
Timandra Harkness looks at the life of the man who has won six elections and who is known to his supporters as 'King Bibi'.
Credits:
The Hoover Institution: “Bibi: My Story,” Benjamin Netanyahu On His Life And Times The 92nd Street Y: Benjamin Netanyahu and David Rubenstein in Conversation
Presenter: Timandra Harkness Production: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson, Alix Pickles Production Coordinator: Sabine Schereck Sound Engineer: James Beard Editor: Damon Rose
The multi-millionaire climate campaigner and Just Stop Oil donor Dale Vince, made his fortune in green energy.
He started generating his own power with a homemade windmill before setting up green energy provider, Ecotricity in the 1990s. He’s since commissioned a record-breaking electric car and added a football club and lab-grown diamonds to his sustainable businesses.
Mark Coles looks at the life of the eco-entrepreneur who says that the disruption caused by Just Stop Oil protesters is nothing compared to the havoc caused by climate change.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson, Alix Pickles Production Coordinator: Sabine Schereck Sound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot Editor: Richard Vadon
Joe Biden has been involved in US politics for more than fifty years, becoming one of America’s youngest senators in 1972, when Richard Nixon was in the White House. Now, aged eighty, Biden is the oldest US president in history and is seeking re-election in 2024.
He’s experienced terrible tragedies in his life, when his first wife and baby daughter were killed in a car accident in 1972, and the death from cancer of his elder son, Beau, in 2015.
Yet he bounced back, serving two terms as vice president under Barack Obama, and finally making it to President in 2021. As he makes another run at the White House, Mark Coles charts his life from the blue-collar town of Scranton, Philadelphia to Washington DC and hears how family plays a very important role in his life.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Diane Richardson, Alix Pickles, Sabine Schereck, Sally Abrahams Sound: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon
Lee Anderson, MP for Ashfield and Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party, is no stranger to media attention. He has made headlines for his controversial statements about poverty, migration and the death penalty. Now he is reported to be a prominent figure in the New Conservatives, a pressure group calling on the Prime Minister to drastically cut migration before the next general election. Yet he started his working life as a Nottinghamshire miner, and worked as a Labour councillor before later switching parties. Mark Coles finds out about his life and career.
Presenter: Mark Coles Editor: Richard Vadon Sound: Rod Farquhar Production: Viv Jones, Diane Richardson, Alix Pickles, Sabine Schereck
Russia's Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, was publicly condemned by Wagner leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, during his march on Moscow. Yet despite the criticism, this long-term ally of President Putin remains in post.
Timandra Harkness looks at the life and career of the former construction engineer, who once headed Russia's disaster relief programme, becoming a minister under Boris Yeltsin.
Presenter: Timandra Harkness Editor: Richard Vadon Sound: Neil Churchill Production: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson, Maria Ogundele, Sabine Schereck
The youngest person ever to receive a life peerage, Charlotte Owen’s elevation to the House of Lords, after less than six years in Westminster - some of it working as an intern - has made newspaper headlines.
She’s had a remarkably quick rise through the Conservative party, starting as an intern and ending up a special advisor to then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson - the man who recommended her peerage when he resigned.
Charlotte Owen has faced much scrutiny since her peerage was announced but those close to her say she has youth and energy on her side, and is ready to embrace her new role.
Mark Coles talks to her colleagues and friends to gain insight into the particularly private future baroness.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Daniel Gordon, Isobel Gough Editor: Richard Vadon Sound Engineer: Nigel Appleton Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele
Jack Smith is no stranger to the courtroom. He counts mob bosses, public officials and war criminals among those he has put behind bars. But no case he has been involved with has been as high profile as the one he is bringing against the former, and possible future, President of the United States - Donald J. Trump.
In the last week, he made a very rare public appearance announcing his charges against Trump, unsurprisingly leading to a volley of criticism from the man he will face down in court.
A young man from upstate New York, made his way first to Harvard Law School and then, New York City, 250 miles away from his home town. Here he embarked on the impressive legal career that has led to his appointment as Special Counsel.
Mark Coles speaks to his old sports teacher and colleagues about his distinguished career so far and why he will not let anything get in his way of presenting the strongest possible case against President Trump.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Georgia Coan, Kirsteen Knight and Isobel Gough Editor: Richard Vadon Sound Engineer: James Beard
Former High Court judge Baroness Hallett is no stranger to a high-profile case, having previously chaired an inquiry into the 2005 London terror attacks. But her most recent appointment as chair of an inquiry looking at the UK's response to the pandemic could be her biggest job to date.
In the past few weeks she’s been stuck in a legal battle with the Government after refusing to withdraw her order for them to hand over unredacted material for her investigation.
The first female Chair of the Bar Council, Baroness Hallett didn’t come from the usual privilege associated with the top tier of the legal profession. She grew up as the daughter of a policeman and a secretary, moving around a lot in her childhood and going to various state schools before getting a place at Oxford where she went on to specialise in criminal law.
Mark Coles speaks to friends and peers about her extraordinary legal career and why she will not sway over Government demands when the COVID inquiry starts next week.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Georgia Coan, Octavia Woodward and Samantha Haque Editor: Richard Vadon Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Suella Braverman, the current home secretary and former attorney general, has found herself making the headlines for all the wrong reasons in the last few weeks.
After a row over a speeding fine, and data showing record levels of net migration on her watch, her poll ratings have dipped. However, she is still a popular figure among many in her party, and despite losing out on the last leadership contest in 2022, she appears to still have her sights on the top job. Some Conservative MPs have accused her of undermining Rishi Sunak's authority and making a bid for future leadership of the party during the National Conservatism conference.
Presenter Edward Stourton finds out about the life and career of Suella Braverman, the Harrow born barrister who came from first generation migrants.
Credits
Dallas Created by David Jacobs Warner Horizon Television, a subsidiary of Warner Bros
James O’Brien/LBC Radio
National Conservatism
Producers: Georgia Coan and Octavia Woodward Editor: China Collins Sound Design: Rod Farquhar
Succession - the dark comedy following an American media family - has won 13 Emmys, 5 Golden Globes and a BAFTA. As it draws to a close, we take a look at the life of its creator, a British writer who has co-written some of the best television of the last 20 years including Peep Show, The Thick of it and Fresh Meat.From the border town of Oswestry, Shropshire to the toast of Manhattan and LA, Jesse Armstrong has had an extraordinary journey.Mark Coles hears from his family, friends and colleagues (including Chris Morris, Isy Suttie, Paterson Joseph, David Mitchell and Susan Soon He Stanton), finding out how Armstrong was able to write such rich worlds that bring the pain and absurdity of life in such a colourful fashion. CreditsThe Hollywood Reporter Succession Created by Jesse ArmstrongHBO Peep Show Objective Productions/Channel 4 The Thick Of It BBC Comedy Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Jordan Dunbar, Georgia Coan and Nathan GowerEditor: Richard VadonSound Design: James Beard
Enter the murky world of one of the most dominant men in Russia. From selling hotdogs to running a private army and meddling in the US elections, from Syria to Ukraine- who is this man in the shadows?One of the most powerful figures you may not have heard of - Yevgeny Prigozhin.Once a hotdog seller in St Petersburg, this former prisoner has risen to become a friend of Putin and his private army is now one of the main Russian players in the invasion of Ukraine.Along the way he has catered to celebrities at his top end restaurant, allegedly run a centre for internet trolls, been accused of meddling in the US elections and financed a mercenary army - the Wagner group - based worldwide. But is his time up? As the situation for his mercenaries gets worse in Ukraine, Prigozhin has started lashing out publicly at the Russian state.Could this be the last course for the man once named 'Putin's Chef'?Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Jordan Dunbar, Georgia CoanEditor: Richard VadonSound Engineer: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele
This weekend the controversial President of Turkey faces one of the most important elections ever for his country and the wider Middle East region. But how did the son of a Black Sea coastguard rise to live in a thousand-room palace? And how will he cope with one of the biggest political challenges of a career spanning more than twenty years?Mark Coles hears from Turkish and British guests who know Recep Tayyip Erdogan well. And for more on the Turkish leader, the two part series, Empire of Erdogan, is available on BBC iPlayer.Presenter -Mark ColesProducer - Jordan DunbarResearcher - Olivia WoodwardSound Design - Rod FarqhuarEditor - Simon Watts
South African opera star Pretty Yende is performing her biggest gig yet at the Coronation. She was personally selected by the King to sing at the service in Westminster Abbey.Growing up in the small rural town of Mpumalanga, Yende’s passion for opera began when she saw a British Airways advertisement featuring the Flower Duet by Delibes. She asked her teacher about it, who advised her to join the school choir.Abandoning her initial plans to become an accountant, Pretty Yende went on to study at La Scala in Milan before making her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York in 2013, in the role of Adèle in Rossini's Le Comte Ory. A last-minute substitute, Yende had only weeks to prepare for the part. She tripped as she went out on stage, but picked herself up and carried on, going on to receive a standing ovation. Mark Coles talks to family and friends about one of the rising stars of opera. Credits:Title: I Feel Pretty (from the musical West Side Story)Lyrics by Stephen SondheimMusic by Leonard Bernstein.Presenter: Mark ColesProduction Team: Georgia Coan, Julie Ball, Osman Iqbal Editor: Simon WattsSound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinator: Sabine Schereck
The country girl who won the heart of a prince: Queen Consort, Camilla, will be crowned Queen at the Coronation of King Charles III at Westminster Abbey.The BBC’s Royal correspondent, Jonny Dymond, talks to friends and royal authors about her life so far.Presenter: Jonny DymondProducers: Sally Abrahams and Diane RichardsonResearcher: Louise ByrneSound: James BeardEditor: Simon Watts
The Russian journalist and Cambridge-educated historian Vladimir Kara-Murza has been a long-time opponent of President Putin's regime. A dual national who also holds a British passport, he was instrumental in getting the Magnitsky Act passed in now over 30 countries, in a campaign led by financier Bill Browder. The legislation enables governments to sanction Russians engaged in corruption or human rights abuses. He has been a thorn in the side of Putin ever since. More recently he has also spoken out against Russia's war in Ukraine. He was poisoned in Russia, and almost died, twice, in 2015 and 2017, suffering long-term health consequences. Yet he returned to Moscow from the US last year, because he didn’t think he had any right to call people onto the streets into action in Russia if he was sitting safely in America. He was arrested soon after his return, and this week was sentenced to 25 years in a Russian penal colony. But as he wrote from prison: 'the night is darkest before the dawn, but what do you know, the dawn may be just around the corner.' His friends however fear for his life. Presenter Mark Coles speaks to some of those who know him best: Bill Browder, the head of the global Magnitsky Justice Campaign; University of Cambridge historians Dr Clare Jackson and Prof Hubertus Jahn; fellow Russian opposition figure Vladimir Milov, and the BBC's former Moscow correspondent Sarah Rainsford. Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Georgia Coan Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon Production Coordinator: Sabine Schereck
Physicist Dr Nicola Fox, who grew up in Hertfordshire, is the new head of science at the US space agency NASA. Only the second woman to hold the post, Dr Fox is a world-renowned expert on the Sun, who'd previously overseen one of the most important missions to study its scientific mysteries.In her new role, Nicola Fox will be responsible for hundreds of NASA projects, including returning humans to the Moon and exploring Mars. Outside of work, she enjoys karaoke... and fashion with a space theme.Mark Coles speaks to Nicola Fox’s friends, family and fellow scientists about how she landed ‘the best job on the planet’. Presenter: Mark ColesProduction team: Diane Richardson and Georgia Coan Editor: Simon WattsSound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Alvin Bragg, Manhattan's district attorney, is making history and headlines by bringing criminal charges against Donald Trump. It's the first time a former American President has been indicted.The first African-American to hold the office of New York District Attorney, Alvin Bragg is the single child of middle class parents. He was born and brought up in Harlem, although he attended an elite private school on New York's Upper West Side before going to Harvard to study Law. Despite his private education, Bragg was no stranger to the danger on the city's streets in the 1980s; he had guns pointed at him by both the police and a suspected drug dealer.Adrian Goldberg speaks to friends and colleagues of Alvin Bragg about his rise to the job of district attorney in his home town, and how he'll manage the historic case against Donald Trump.Presenter: Adrian GoldbergProduction Team: Sally Abrahams, Julie Ball, Georgia Coan Editor: Simon WattsSound: Neil ChurchillProduction Co-ordinator: Sabine Schereck
Newly-elected leader of the SNP, Humza Yousaf, has become First Minister of Scotland at the age of just 37. The Glaswegian showed community spirit from a young age, fundraising for charity and broadcasting for community station Radio Ramadan, before a political awakening that led to a speedy rise up the ranks of his party and into office.Humza Yousaf has taken on some difficult government briefs, as well as some flak, but now he faces the challenge of a political lifetime: healing divisions in the SNP, improving public services and trying to deliver the party's dream of independence. Mark Coles talks to friends, family and colleagues to try to find out more about the first ethnic-minority leader of a devolved government.PRODUCTION TEAMPresenter: Mark ColesProduction Team: Nathan Gower, Julie Ball, Diane RichardsonEditor: Simon WattsSound: James BeardProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine Schereck
Baroness Louise Casey has this week delivered an excoriating review into the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police. It’s just the latest of a series of tough reports issued by Casey during a career tackling deep-rooted social issues, including homelessness and anti-social behaviour.Casey is now a cross-bench peer and go-to troubleshooter for governments of all stripes, but her route to the top of public life has been unconventional. Profile speaks to close friends and colleagues of a civil servant known for her fearlessness and no-nonsense style.Presenter: Mark ColesProduction team: Sally Abrahams and Nathan GowerEditor: Simon WattsSound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot
Shadow chancellor and former economist Rachel Reeves, who was a national chess champion aged 14.
Scottish screenwriter Lesley Paterson’s debut film, All Quiet on the Western Front, has won seven BAFTAs and has nine Oscar nominations, including Best Adapted Screenplay. It took her and co-writer Ian Stokell sixteen years to get their script to screen, with Netflix and German director, Edward Berger. On the way, Paterson competed in extreme off-road triathlons, winning five world titles and putting the prize money towards the adaptation rights for the novel. Now the movie is winning awards and provoking debate among critics.Timandra Harkness talks to family, friends and colleagues about Paterson’s childhood going to ballet classes with knees still muddy from rugby, her journey from Stirling to Hollywood, and how her drive to win has got her through every challenge.Presenter: Timandra HarknessProduction team: Sally Abrahams, Georgia Coan and Nathan GowerEditor: Simon WattsSound engineer: Neva Missirian
Born in Jamaica to parents who were both doctors, Professor Dame Angela McLean was fascinated by science from a young age. After studying maths at university, her PhD thesis involved pioneering work on measles. She’s also done ground-breaking research into HIV/AIDS. During the coronavirus pandemic, Dame Angela played a key role drawing up advice for the government. Mark Coles speaks to friends, family and colleagues to find out more about the ‘no-nonsense’, straight-talking scientist who loves theatre, birdwatching and campfires. Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Sally Abrahams and Georgia CoanEditor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinator: Sabine SchereckSound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Born in London, to Jamaican parents who came to Britain as part of the 1950s Windrush generation, Shirley J. Thompson fell in love with music from a very young age – and it has remained her life’s passion. She’s created music for film, TV, orchestras and opera. Mark Coles talks to family and friends to find out what influences her work. Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Sally Abrahams and Georgia CoanEditor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinator: Sabine SchereckSound Engineer: James Beard
Irish actor Barry Keoghan spent most of his childhood in foster homes, losing his mother to addiction issues when he was just 12-years-old. He found his passion for acting after answering a casting notice for a short indie film in his local shop window.Keoghan was so determined to succeed that he’s often made his own audition tapes to send to studios. Praised by directors for his natural talent, Keoghan has risen from starring in the Irish drama series Love/Hate as a ‘cat killer’ in 2013, to the current hit The Banshees of Inisherin. His moving performance as the comical yet heart-breaking Dominic is wowing critics.So can Barry Keoghan take home all the awards this year? Mark Coles speaks to his friends, colleagues and teachers about his rise from the streets of Summerhill in Dublin to success in Hollywood.CreditsIreland Unfiltered with Dion FanningThe Banshees of Inisherin Director and writer: Martin McDonaghSearchlight PicturesBetween the CanalsDirector and writer: Mark O’Connor High Fliers FilmsDunkirkDirector: Christopher NolanWarner Bros. HairsprayDirector: Adam ShankmanWarner Bros.Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Diane Richardson, Beth Ashmead-Latham and Georgia Coan Editor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinator: Sabine SchereckSound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, spent his gap year serving with the Royal Fusiliers. Now he finds himself in the line of fire from striking health workers, in a long-running dispute over pay. His job is to somehow find a solution to the row, without adding to the Treasury’s headaches.Can this rugby-loving sky-diver rise to the challenge? Adrian Goldberg talks to family and friends to find out why some Whitehall officials tremble under his forensic questioning – and why he’s been likened to popular TV detective, Columbo. Presenter: Adrian GoldbergProduction team: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson and Beth Ashmead-LathamProduction co-ordinator: Sabine SchereckStudio engineer: Graham Puddifoot Editor: Penny Murphy
The naturalist, broadcaster, author and campaigner has announced he is taking a three-month sabbatical from his TV work to give himself some ‘brain space’.After rising to prominence in the 1980s as a presenter on the BBC children's TV programme The Really Wild Show, Chris Packham has spent nearly four decades exploring and explaining the natural world on our screens. Along the way he's written books, fronted numerous environmental campaigns, and also raised awareness of living with Asperger's Syndrome.Mark Coles hears from Chris Packham's family, friends and colleagues about his life and career.Presenter: Mark ColesProducer: Ben CooperResearchers: Bethan Ashmead-Latham and Diane RichardsonEditor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine SchereckSound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot
Nan Goldin has been documenting her life through photography since her teens, revealing and intimate portraits exploring issues from sex and drug addition to domestic violence and parenthood. Laura Poitras's film celebrating Nan's work, 'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed' has been nominated for an Oscar.Mark Coles looks at the life of the acclaimed artist, whose addiction to prescription opioids made her determined to hold Purdue Pharma and their owners the Sackler family accountable for the US Opioid addiction crisis. The campaign resulted in galleries and museums around the world cutting financial ties with the Sacklers, because of their link to the prescription opioid OxyContin.Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Viv Jones, Tural Ahmedzade and Ben CooperEditor: Richard Vadon
After suffering a fall that has left him paralysed, the playwright, screenwriter and author has begun sharing his thoughts with the world from his hospital bed.Born in suburban Bromley to an English mother and a Pakistani father, Hanif Kureishi turned to the arts to escape his everyday surroundings growing up. He became one of the most celebrated writers of his generation.Mark Coles hears from Kureishi's friends, family and old colleagues, as he explores the life and career of the man whose works include The Buddha of Suburbia and My Beautiful Laundrette.Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Ben Cooper and Diane RichardsonEditor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Sabine SchereckSound Engineer: Neil Churchill
As the threat of teacher strikes looms over schools in England, Mark Coles looks at the life and career of Education secretary and Conservative MP for Chichester, Gillian Keegan.Friends and colleagues reveal how coming of age in Liverpool during the 1980s shaped her political views, leading her to a successful international career in business before entering politics.Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Ben Cooper and Diane RichardsonEditor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-CrossSound Engineer: Neil Churchill
Paul Nowak has taken up his post as General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress at a time when workers across multiple sectors are striking for better pay deals to help with the cost-of-living crisis. It's the worst period of industrial unrest since the 1980s.Nowak, who's from Merseyside, has spent his entire adult life fighting for workers' rights. How will the TUC negotiate with a government which says pay rises are unaffordable and inflationary, and which now plans to tighten the rules on strike action?Adrian Goldberg investigates Paul Nowak's life - which includes a career off the picket line as an amateur musician. Presenter: Adrian GoldbergProducers: Ben Cooper and Diane RichardsonEditor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-CrossSound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
It's hard to remember that the actor who plays straight-talking cop Catherine Cawood in crime drama Happy Valley, set to return on New Year's Day, was once ditzy barmaid Raquel in Coronation Street.From musicals to soaps to hit drama series, Sarah Lancashire has had a long and varied career on her way to becoming one of the Britain's best loved actors. Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Lucy Proctor and Matt ToulsonEditor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-CrossSound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
People across the country will be turning to TV chefs this week to help plan the festivities - and, arguably, nobody does Christmas better than Nigella.Mark Coles takes a look at the life of Nigella Lawson, the daughter of a famous Chancellor of the Exchequer who became the Queen of Christmas cooking.Friends recall their favourite memories, many of them culinary. And journalist Gilly Smith, author of Taste and the TV Chef, explains why Nigella has become a global food star.Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Lucy Proctor and Matt ToulsonEditor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-CrossSound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
As nurses strike and the Health Service faces winter pressures, Mark Coles looks at the life and career of Shadow Health Secretary and Labour MP for Ilford North, Wes Streeting.Friend and colleagues reveal how childhood poverty and a cancer diagnosis have shaped the views and aspirations of the man tipped to be a future leader of the Labour party.Presenter: Mark ColesProducers: Ben Cooper and Diane RichardsonEditor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-CrossSound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Oliver Dowden, the MP for Hertsmere, has worked closely with four Prime Ministers, David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and now Rishi Sunak, one of his best friends in parliament. He's made his mark quietly, mainly behind the scenes - but as Culture Secretary during the pandemic, he managed to secure extra funding to support the arts. As Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, some might argue Oliver Dowden is now the second most powerful person in government. He's been given the key job of organising the government response to the current wave of strike action.Away from work, Dowden is a patriot, a monarchist and a man who enjoys pub lunches and walks in the countryside with his family and pet dog, Betsy. Adrian Goldberg speaks to friends and colleagues who give us an insight into a man whose nicknames run from Olive to The Undertaker. ContributorsGeorge Osborne, Chair, British Museum; Former Chancellor of the Exchequer.Sir John Hayes, MP for South Holland and The Deepings.Annabelle Dickson, Political Correspondent, Politico.Andrew Gimson, Biographer, Boris Johnson.Sir Nicholas Coleridge, Chairman, Victoria and Albert Museum.Sean Worth, Director, WPI Strategy, Communications Consultancy.PRODUCTION TEAMPresenter: Adrian GoldbergProducers: Diane Richardson and Julie Ball Editor: Simon WattsProduction Co-ordinators: Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-CrossSound Production: Neil Churchill
Olena Zelenska delivered a moving speech to MPs and peers this week, calling for military support for Ukraine by describing the terror of air raids and evoking memories of World War II.The Ukrainian first lady has also addressed the US Congress and appeared on the cover of Vogue but stepping into the limelight has not been easy for the comedy writer, who is more comfortable behind the camera.Adrian Goldberg profiles Olena Zelenska, speaking to some of the friends and colleagues who know her best. ContributorsIrina Pikalova, 'Kvartal 95' executive producer.Stylist Natalya Kamenska.Rachel Donadio, Journalist, Vogue.Iuliia Mendel, Author The Fight of Our Lives.Ukrainian Chef, Levgen Klopotenko.Presenter: Adrian GoldbergProducers: Diane Richardson and Natasha Fernandes Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Editor: Simon WattsStudio Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Stand-up comic, broadcaster and LGBT rights activist, Joe Lycett, appeared to shred £10,000 of his own hard-earned comedy cash in protest at footballer David Beckham’s refusal to step down as an ambassador for the Qatar World Cup - a country where homosexuality is banned.
He didn't really do it - but it's the latest in a series of stunts that have become the comedian's calling card.
Friends, relatives and colleagues reveal how Joe Lycett went from drama-loving schoolboy to 'Esther Rantzen in a sparkly jumpsuit'.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Lucy Proctor and Diane Richardson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Editor: Simon Watts Studio Engineer: Rod Farquhar
Wales are heading to their first football World Cup since 1958. Their captain is Gareth Bale, who was once the most expensive footballer in the world.
Born in Cardiff in 1989, Gareth was first spotted at the age of 9 by Southampton. He become their second-youngest player of all time when he broke into the first-team aged 16, and enjoyed two seasons with the south coast club before moving to the Premier League with Tottenham.
It was in North London that Bale announced himself on the European stage, eventually securing a move to Spanish giants Real Madrid for a then-world record fee. After nearly a decade in Spain, where he won some of football's biggest prizes, he surprised many by moving to the MLS to play for Los Angeles FC earlier this year.
Gareth Bale's meteoric rise also coincided with a renaissance of the Welsh national team's fortunes - they'd regularly struggled to qualify for major tournaments in the decades before he broke onto the scene. With their World Cup campaign kicking off against the USA on Monday, Mark Coles looks at the life and career of the man who'll be leading Wales out.
Producers: Ben Cooper and Matt Toulson Researcher: Kirsteen Knight Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Editor: Simon Watts Studio Engineer: Graham Puddifoot
This week the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced its first ever nationwide strike. Pat Cullen, the RCN's General Secretary and Chief Executive, will lead them into industrial action which is expected to start in December.
Born in Northern Ireland, Pat Cullen was inspired by her older sisters to train as a nurse during the Troubles. After roles at Northern Ireland's Department of Health, and Public Health Agency, Cullen joined the RCN's Northern Ireland branch in 2016. Three years later, she led the union's first-ever strike, seeking pay parity for Northern Irish nurses with those working elsewhere in the United Kingdom.
Since 2021, Pat Cullen has been the interim leader of the RCN at national level. Drawing on her experiences in Northern Ireland, she's now campaigning for better wages and conditions for nurses across the UK.
Timandra Harkness takes a look at Pat Cullen's life and career.
Producer: Ben Cooper Researcher: Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Editor: Simon Watts Studio Engineer: John Scott
Since entering Parliament in 2017, the MP for Saffron Walden has rapidly risen through the ranks to a seat at the Cabinet table as Trade Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities.
Kemi Badenoch surprised some in Westminster when she reached the fourth round of the Conservative leadership election this summer. Her forthright views on British colonialism and trans issues have won her admirers on the political right, but also been heavily criticised by LGBTQ campaigners.
So who is Kemi Badenoch? How has her childhood in Nigeria influenced her political outlook? And how does she like to unwind? Mark Coles investigates.
Researcher: Alice Struthers Producers: Ben Cooper and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Sound engineer: Graham Puddifoot Editor: Simon Watts
This month, the multi-award-winning violinist has started work as the first Scottish and first female director of the Edinburgh Festival since it began in 1947. Nicola Benedetti's passion for culture also extends well beyond performing; she's used her high profile to advocate for the importance of the arts in education. Mark Coles charts Nicola Benedetti's journey from first picking up the violin at age four to overseeing one of the world’s biggest annual cultural events.
Researchers: Matt Toulson and Alice Struthers Producers: Ben Cooper and Bob Howard Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Sound Engineer: Graham Puddifoot Editor: Simon Watts
The chancellor, Surrey-based entrepreneur and protege of David Cameron. He served as Foreign and Health Secretary while twice challenging - unsuccessfully - for the Conservative Party leadership. In just a few days he tore up most of the prime minister's economic policy. Now he has to try and restore the government's credibility with the markets while attempting to deal with the impact of the cost of living crisis. With Timandra Harkness. Produced by Bob Howard
Researchers: Alice Struthers, Ellie House, Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Sound engineer: James Beard Editor: Bridget Harney
Erling Haaland is a phenomenon. Since arriving in the summer, Manchester City's Norwegian star striker has lit up the Premier League after scoring 20 goals in 13 games. Born in Leeds to a footballing father and an athlete mother, he grew up in a small Norwegian town before moving to Austria and then Germany to further his career. While some foreign footballers have struggled to adapt to English football, Haaland has taken to it like a duck to water. With Mark Coles. Produced by Bob Howard.
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, commonly known as Lula, was born into poverty in Brazil in 1945. Coming to prominence as a union leader, he failed to become president on three previous occasions before finally succeeding in 2002. He helped reduce social inequality in the country over two terms but after leaving office he became mired in a corruption scandal and was jailed for 18 months. Now he is facing a run off vote for the Brazilian presidency against incumbent Jair Bolsonaro later this month. How did Lula rise to become such a significant politician and can he repeat his electoral success of 20 years ago? With Mark Coles. Produced by Bob Howard.
Researchers: Octavia Woodward & Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross Editor: Richard Vadon Sound engineer: James Beard
Downing Street's new Chief of Staff, Mark Fullbrook, is not a stranger to politics. He's been the "backroom boy" behind many political campaigns around the world, including Boris Johnson's successful Mayor of London campaigns and President George Bush’s unsuccessful re-election bid in 1992. But, until now, Mark Fullbrook has kept his names out of the headlines.
That changed when it was reported that Fullbrook had been questioned as a witness in an FBI inquiry into alleged electoral bribery in Puerto Rico. Then, this week, he became headline news when it was revealed his Downing Street salary was being paid through his own lobbying firm. The publicity comes at a bad time for Prime Minister Liz Truss who is facing economic turmoil following the Chancellor's mini-budget.
So, who is Mark Fullbrook and why do we know so little about him? Mark Coles looks at the life of an influential, yet unheard-of, political figure.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross Editor: Richard Vadon Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Downing Street's new Chief of Staff, Mark Fullbrook, is not a stranger to politics. He's been the "backroom boy" behind many political campaigns around the world, including Boris Johnson's successful Mayor of London campaigns and President George Bush’s unsuccessful re-election bid in 1992. But, until now, Mark Fullbrook has kept his names out of the headlines.
That changed when it was reported that Fullbrook had been questioned as a witness in an FBI inquiry into alleged electoral bribery in Puerto Rico. Then, this week, he became headline news when it was revealed his Downing Street salary was being paid through his own lobbying firm. The publicity comes at a bad time for Prime Minister Liz Truss who is facing economic turmoil following the Chancellor's mini-budget.
So, who is Mark Fullbrook and why do we know so little about him? Mark Coles looks at the life of an influential, yet unheard-of, political figure.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross Editor: Richard Vadon Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Downing Street's new Chief of Staff, Mark Fullbrook, is not a stranger to politics. He's been the "backroom boy" behind many political campaigns around the world, including Boris Johnson's successful Mayor of London campaigns and President George Bush’s unsuccessful re-election bid in 1992. But, until now, Mark Fullbrook has kept his names out of the headlines.
That changed when it was reported that Fullbrook had been questioned as a witness in an FBI inquiry into alleged electoral bribery in Puerto Rico. Then, this week, he became headline news when it was revealed his Downing Street salary was being paid through his own lobbying firm. The publicity comes at a bad time for Prime Minister Liz Truss who is facing economic turmoil following the Chancellor's mini-budget.
So, who is Mark Fullbrook and why do we know so little about him? Mark Coles looks at the life of an influential, yet unheard-of, political figure.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinator: Helena Warwick-Cross Editor: Richard Vadon Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
As Italians go to the polls it's Giorgia Meloni's right-wing party, Brothers of Italy, that's tipped to lead a centre-right coalition. But what is it about her that appeals so much to her voters?
Meloni was born in a working-class neighbourhood of Rome, and got into politics aged 15. She rose through the ranks of her local far-right party, often being sent into schools to counteract left-wing activism.
She made history in 2008 when she was appointed Youth Minister by then prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, becoming Italy's youngest ever minister.
Four years later, aged 35, she split from Berlusconi and started her own political party, the Brothers of Italy, where she has been President since 2014.
In recent years, Fratelli d'Italia has boosted its appeal and looks set to become the largest party. But with Italy's fast turnover of prime ministers, can Giorgia Meloni stay the course and deliver what Italy wants?
CREDITS AP Archive, Fratelli d'Italia rally, Oct 2019.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Sound engineer: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon
As Italians go to the polls it's Giorgia Meloni's right-wing party, Brothers of Italy, that's tipped to lead a centre-right coalition. But what is it about her that appeals so much to her voters?
Meloni was born in a working-class neighbourhood of Rome, and got into politics aged 15. She rose through the ranks of her local far-right party, often being sent into schools to counteract left-wing activism.
She made history in 2008 when she was appointed Youth Minister by then prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, becoming Italy's youngest ever minister.
Four years later, aged 35, she split from Berlusconi and started her own political party, the Brothers of Italy, where she has been President since 2014.
In recent years, Fratelli d'Italia has boosted its appeal and looks set to become the largest party. But with Italy's fast turnover of prime ministers, can Giorgia Meloni stay the course and deliver what Italy wants?
CREDITS AP Archive, Fratelli d'Italia rally, Oct 2019.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Sound engineer: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon
As Italians go to the polls it's Giorgia Meloni's right-wing party, Brothers of Italy, that's tipped to lead a centre-right coalition. But what is it about her that appeals so much to her voters?
Meloni was born in a working-class neighbourhood of Rome, and got into politics aged 15. She rose through the ranks of her local far-right party, often being sent into schools to counteract left-wing activism.
She made history in 2008 when she was appointed Youth Minister by then prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, becoming Italy's youngest ever minister.
Four years later, aged 35, she split from Berlusconi and started her own political party, the Brothers of Italy, where she has been President since 2014.
In recent years, Fratelli d'Italia has boosted its appeal and looks set to become the largest party. But with Italy's fast turnover of prime ministers, can Giorgia Meloni stay the course and deliver what Italy wants?
CREDITS AP Archive, Fratelli d'Italia rally, Oct 2019.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Sound engineer: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon
The new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, faces big challenges in his first week in office. The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will be at the top of his agenda, but also improving the reputation of the force.
The Met was heavily criticised following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving policeman and the sharing of racist and sexist group chat messages by officers at Charing Cross police station. Public trust in the force was strained even further last week when an unarmed black man, Chris Kaba, was fatally shot in Streatham.
Born in Birmingham, Mark Rowley attended Handsworth Grammar School before studying mathematics at Cambridge. After university he joined the West Midlands Police force, rising through the ranks to become the Head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, overseeing the response to the terrorist attacks in 2017.
He retired from the Met in 2018, and co-authored a crime thriller.
Now Sir Mark Rowley aims to restore public confidence in the force. So, what kind of leader will he be?
CREDITS The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Editor: Richard Vadon Studio Manager: James Beard
The new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, faces big challenges in his first week in office. The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will be at the top of his agenda, but also improving the reputation of the force.
The Met was heavily criticised following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving policeman and the sharing of racist and sexist group chat messages by officers at Charing Cross police station. Public trust in the force was strained even further last week when an unarmed black man, Chris Kaba, was fatally shot in Streatham.
Born in Birmingham, Mark Rowley attended Handsworth Grammar School before studying mathematics at Cambridge. After university he joined the West Midlands Police force, rising through the ranks to become the Head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, overseeing the response to the terrorist attacks in 2017.
He retired from the Met in 2018, and co-authored a crime thriller.
Now Sir Mark Rowley aims to restore public confidence in the force. So, what kind of leader will he be?
CREDITS The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Editor: Richard Vadon Studio Manager: James Beard
The new Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, faces big challenges in his first week in office. The state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II will be at the top of his agenda, but also improving the reputation of the force.
The Met was heavily criticised following the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving policeman and the sharing of racist and sexist group chat messages by officers at Charing Cross police station. Public trust in the force was strained even further last week when an unarmed black man, Chris Kaba, was fatally shot in Streatham.
Born in Birmingham, Mark Rowley attended Handsworth Grammar School before studying mathematics at Cambridge. After university he joined the West Midlands Police force, rising through the ranks to become the Head of UK Counter Terrorism Policing, overseeing the response to the terrorist attacks in 2017.
He retired from the Met in 2018, and co-authored a crime thriller.
Now Sir Mark Rowley aims to restore public confidence in the force. So, what kind of leader will he be?
CREDITS The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Diane Richardson and Matt Toulson Production Co-ordinators: Helena Warwick-Cross and Maria Ogundele Editor: Richard Vadon Studio Manager: James Beard
Described as “incredibly bright, borderline eccentric and very Thatcherite”, Kwasi Kwarteng has been MP for Spelthorne in Surrey, since 2010.
Born in London to Ghanaian parents, Kwasi Kwarteng excelled academically – he was an Eton scholar, got a double first from Cambridge University and a scholarship to Harvard.
He’s worked as a newspaper columnist, a financial analyst and has written several books on history and politics.
Kwasi Kwarteng is a long-time friend and close political ally of the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, who’s just promoted him to the top post in the Treasury. At a time of high inflation, rising energy costs and a looming recession. So is he up to the challenge?
Mark Coles charts the life and career of the man with one of the most powerful jobs in the UK.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Sally Abrahams and Matt Toulson, Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon
Credit: Sky News – Anna Jones interview with Kwasi Kwarteng, 5 August 2022
Described as “incredibly bright, borderline eccentric and very Thatcherite”, Kwasi Kwarteng has been MP for Spelthorne in Surrey, since 2010.
Born in London to Ghanaian parents, Kwasi Kwarteng excelled academically – he was an Eton scholar, got a double first from Cambridge University and a scholarship to Harvard.
He’s worked as a newspaper columnist, a financial analyst and has written several books on history and politics.
Kwasi Kwarteng is a long-time friend and close political ally of the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, who’s just promoted him to the top post in the Treasury. At a time of high inflation, rising energy costs and a looming recession. So is he up to the challenge?
Mark Coles charts the life and career of the man with one of the most powerful jobs in the UK.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Sally Abrahams and Matt Toulson, Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon
Credit: Sky News – Anna Jones interview with Kwasi Kwarteng, 5 August 2022
Described as “incredibly bright, borderline eccentric and very Thatcherite”, Kwasi Kwarteng has been MP for Spelthorne in Surrey, since 2010.
Born in London to Ghanaian parents, Kwasi Kwarteng excelled academically – he was an Eton scholar, got a double first from Cambridge University and a scholarship to Harvard.
He’s worked as a newspaper columnist, a financial analyst and has written several books on history and politics.
Kwasi Kwarteng is a long-time friend and close political ally of the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, who’s just promoted him to the top post in the Treasury. At a time of high inflation, rising energy costs and a looming recession. So is he up to the challenge?
Mark Coles charts the life and career of the man with one of the most powerful jobs in the UK.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Sally Abrahams and Matt Toulson, Maria Ogundele and Helena Warwick-Cross Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon
Credit: Sky News – Anna Jones interview with Kwasi Kwarteng, 5 August 2022
Winner of this year’s Olivier Best Actress Award for her role in the musical Cabaret, now nominated for a Mercury Prize with Bernard Butler for their album, For All Our Days That Tear the Heart.
Mark Coles profiles Killarney actress and singer Jessie Buckley, speaking to some of the family, friends and mentors who’ve helped her along the way.
Credits • Wild Rose, Universal Pictures, Directed by Tom Harper. • Out to Lunch with Jay Rayner, A Somethin’ Else / Jay Rayner production with Sony Music Entertainment. • Olivier Awards 2022.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Julie Ball, Matt Toulson, Diane Richardson and Helena Warwick-Cross Sound: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon
Despite finishing second in the vote amongst her Conservative parliamentary colleagues, Liz Truss is seen by many as the favourite to win the leadership contest when party members have their say. But who is the woman bidding to become the UK’s third female Prime Minister? Timandra Harkness follows her unconventional journey in British politics - from child of CND campaigners to preferred candidate of the political right.
Presenter: Timandra Harkness Producers: Bob Howard and Ben Cooper
Just seven years after first entering Parliament as Conservative MP for Richmond, North Yorkshire, Rishi Sunak is now one vote away from becoming Prime Minister. From replacing party grandee William Hague to managing the country’s finances through the coronavirus pandemic, Mark Coles follows his journey in British politics and talks to those who know him outside the political world of Westminster.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson and Ben Cooper Editor: Richard Vadon
Born in the Netherlands, the England women's football manager had a successful playing career both at home and in the US, before hanging up her boots. Mark Coles tracks her journey from playing alongside boys at the age of six to the England dugout.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson and Ben Cooper Editor: Richard Vadon
The new Chancellor who came to the UK as a child refugee, began a business selling Teletubbies merchandise and is now tipped by some to become Prime Minister. Mark Coles charts the meteoric rise to power of the man who's been in the cabinet less than a year.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Sally Abrahams and Kirsteen Knight Editor: Richard Vadon
Timandra Harkness tells the story of the the US Supreme Court Justice at the centre of overturning the right to abortion in America. How did he go from poverty in Georgia to highest court in the land? And why did his politics change from campaigning for black rights to anti-affirmative action conservatism?
As national rail strikes disrupt train travel across the UK, what makes RMT leader Mick Lynch tick? And how did he become the leader of one of Britain's most powerful unions? With Mark Coles. Produced by Bob Howard
Kate Bush, whose song Running up that Hill is storming the charts across the world. The singer exploded onto the music scene at the end of the 1970s with Wuthering Heights, the first UK number one song performed and written by a female artist. Kate Bush has experimented throughout her career, sometimes being in the public eye and at other times composing at home while bringing up her son. With Timandra Harkness. Produced by Bob Howard
Johan Lundgren, Chief Executive Officer of Easyjet, one of Europe's biggest airlines. The carrier has been faced customer fury after cancelling hundreds of flights. Johan Lundgren has dealt with extremely trying personal and professional situations at different times in his life. Mark Coles hears about his youthful career ambition - to become a trombonist. Producer: Bob Howard Researcher: Natasha Fernandes Sound: James Beard Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Editor: Hugh Levinson
What makes Ben Stokes, the New Zealand born poster boy of English cricket and England's new captain tick? He has at times courted controversy but was the hero in England's world cup triumph as well as the 2019 ashes win. With Mark Coles. Produced by Bob Howard
Boris Johnson’s Mr Fixit - a Deputy Chief of Staff - brought in to steady the ship at the height of the "Partygate" allegations. Described as politically astute and determined for the Conservatives to win the next election, Canzini's career in the Tory party began in the 1980s. He's a long-standing Brexiteer who's worked alongside former Conservative leader, William Hague, and is a close ally of the Tories’ election guru, Sir Lynton Crosby. His critics worry he is pushing the Prime Minister further right on things like asylum seekers and trans issues.
Mark Coles explores the life and career of the man who goes by the name DC Grumpy on social media, has a profile picture of Darth Vader and once sported a David Cassidy-style haircut.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Bob Howard, Natasha Fernandes, Brenda Brown Sound: Graham Puddifoot Editor: Richard Vadon
Jack Monroe rose to fame with her blog 'A Girl Called Jack’, sharing her struggles as a single mum on benefits, with just £10 a week to spend on food. She’s become a best-selling, award-winning writer of cookery books and she campaigns against poverty.
A regular on TV and social media, talking benefits and food banks, Jack Monroe has attracted the wrath of some right-wing commentators. She successfully sued former newspaper columnist, Katie Hopkins, for comments made online. Now, she’s threatening legal action against a Conservative MP who’s accused her of profiteering from the poor.
Mark Coles finds out what inspires Monroe's love of cooking, how growing up with foster children influenced her outlook and why she’s determined to speak out for the poorest in society.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Sally Abrahams, Natasha Fernandes and Janet Staples Sound: Andy Garratt Editor: Richard Vadon
She wants to be a first minister for all, having led her party to a historic election win. Sinn Féin now hold the most seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly, entitling them to the position of first minister.
From local councillor to would-be leader of the power sharing executive, Mark Coles looks at the life and career of Michelle O'Neill, the IRA man's daughter, changing the image and appeal of nationalist party, Sinn Féin.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson and Janet Staples Sound: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon
The brutal and corrupt regime of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos was overthrown in 1986, yet their son, known as Bongbong, is leading the race to become the next president of The Philippines.
Edward Stourton profiles the life and career of Philippine presidential hopeful, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Her multi-media work celebrates the achievements of women in music and art, challenges racial and sexual bias and asks how our cultural institutions can become more inclusive.
From pastels to a cappella, Mark Coles profiles the life and career of Sonia Boyce, winner of this year's Venice Biennale, international art exhibition.
Sonia Boyce’s winning entry entitled 'Feeling Her Way' features the improvisations of five black female musicians, Poppy Ajudha, Jacqui Dankworth MBE, Sofia Jernberg, Tanita Tikaram and composer Errollyn Wallen CBE.
Credit: Feeling Her Way by Sonia Boyce.
Presenter: Mark Coles Production team: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson and Janet Staples Sound: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon
Playwright, screenwriter and creator of the hit TV sitcom Derry Girls, about five school friends in 1990s Northern Ireland - getting up to all sorts.
The far-right politician going head-to-head with Emmanuel Macron in the French presidential elections.
Mark Coles charts Marine Le Pen's life and political career, which began alongside her father Jean-Marie Le Pen - founder of the far right Front National party.
Today she has sought to soften her image by playing down her party's past policies by taking on issues such as the cost of living crisis, as she challenges for the French presidency for a third time.
Producers: Sally Abrahams and Diane Richardson.
Credits: Marine Le Pen ‘Une Intimate Ambition’ interview with Karine Le Marchand, Channel M6.
Despite being fired by Amazon early in the pandemic, Chris Smalls continued to campaign for better rights and conditions for Amazon employees, setting up the Amazon Labor Union last year.
Now the Staten Island warehouse where Chris used to be based has made history, becoming the first Amazon workplace in the United States to vote for union representation, a serious defeat for Amazon which has been fighting against unionisation.
Timandra Harkness hears about the man behind this historic vote, speaking to some of the family, friends and team who’ve supported him along the way.
Presenter: Timandra Harkness Production team: Sally Abrahams, Diane Richardson and Janet Staples Sound: Rod Farquhar Editor: Damon Rose
Martin Lewis of MoneySavingExpert has helped millions of people save money through consumer advice and big campaigns on bank charges and mis-sold PPI credit insurance. But now with the cost of living crisis, has he "run out of tools"? He grew up in a Jewish family in Cheshire. He lost his mother in an accident just before his 12th birthday, an event that had a lasting influence on him. He later became a journalist and financial campaigner, motivated by wanting to help others save money. The success of MoneySavingExpert made him a multi-millionaire. But the only thing that's flamboyant about him is his dancing style. He also loves Scrabble, even proposed to his wife over a game of it. He's obsessed with his daily step count, and has been known to hold meetings while on a treadmill. He's said to be the most trusted man in Britain - a heavy responsibility.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Arlene Gregorius Researcher: Imogen Serwotka Sound: James Beard Production Coordinator: Janet Staples Editor: Damon Rose
She made history in the US this week as the first black woman to go through Senate confirmation hearings for an appointment to America’s all powerful Supreme Court.
A person of profound faith, Ketanji Brown Jackson poured her soul into her studies. She excelled at Miami Palmetto Senior High School where she was a champion debater, star performer and the president of her class.
She graduated from Harvard University where she met her husband Patrick Jackson and formed life-long friendships. From there, she rose up the legal ranks, fast becoming a public defender, Vice Chair of the US Sentencing Commission and finally a Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Mark Coles profiles the indefatigable Judge on the brink of becoming the 116th Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Diane Richardson Researcher: Imogen Serwotka Production: Coordinator Editor: Damon Rose
One of Britain’s most popular authors, Dame Jacqueline Wilson is famous for stories of sassy children, troubled teens and struggling parents. Her books explore themes including death, divorce and depression. Now, the award-winning writer, who created characters like Tracy Beaker, Hetty Feather and Vicky Angel, has just released a new story - her 114th novel to date, about teenage pregnancy.
The novelist lived through a difficult childhood and her own marriage ended in divorce. But, after decades as a writer, she finally hit the big time in her middle age. Now 76, she has a wife, a fandom and a string of TV and stage adaptations under her belt.
Mark Coles profiles the former Children's Laureate, who's sold over 40 million books worldwide.
Produced by: Sally Abrahams and Ellie House Editor: Damon Rose Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar
She took the defining picture of Putin’s war so far: a family killed by Russian troops as they tried to flee to safety. The US photojournalist, Lynsey Addario, has reported from almost every major conflict in the twenty-first century, and now she is on the ground in Ukraine, documenting suspected war crimes.
Lynsey Addario - who reported on the Taliban before most of the western world knew who they were - has borne witness to war, humanitarian disaster and the worst effects of climate change. She has been kidnapped twice, but still keeps returning to conflict zones.
Mark Coles profiles the award-winning photographer whose images continue to make the front pages.
Credits: Lynsey Addario, talking to CBS Evening News’ Norah O’Donnell Sky News’ Stuart Ramsay and his team being attacked in Ukraine
Producers: Sally Abrahams and Ellie House Editor: Damon Rose Studio Manager: Neil Churchill
As the Ukraine crisis continues to escalate, NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, finds himself in the thick of it - tasked with preventing a third world war.
Norway’s former prime minister gained international renown for his stoic response to the 2011 terror attacks. Described by NATO colleagues as the ‘Trump whisperer’, he is known for being cool, calm and collected under pressure. Does he have what it takes for this latest challenge?
Mark Coles profiles the longest serving NATO chief in a generation.
Producers: Sally Abrahams and Ellie House Editor: Damon Rose
Credits: Professor John J Mearsheimer, courtesy of King's College, Cambridge Politics department ‘No Harm’ by Smerz
He’s gone into business with Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg, but this isn’t Nick Clegg’s first leadership coalition.
He was nicknamed Calamity Clegg but now the papers are calling him Master of the Metaverse. The former deputy prime minister has turned his fortunes around from a bashing at the ballot box, to becoming Silicon valley’s latest top dog.
Mark Coles profiles the man hired to fight Facebook’s fires.
The defence secretary topping Tory polls has had some strong words to say about Russian activity on the border of Ukraine. Adrian Goldberg profiles the soldier turned politician Ben Wallace.
Jimmy Carr has been condemned for his ‘abhorent’ Holocaust joke about the murders of thousands of people from the Roma, Sinti and traveller communities. Mark Coles looks at the life and career of the controversial comedian.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Joe Kent Researcher: Drew Miller Hyndman Editor: Damon Rose
Spotify reportedly paid $100m in 2020 for rights to The Joe Rogan Experience, the streaming service's top podcast. The show is said to be downloaded around 200 million times a month.
Joe Rogan hosts a variety of guests who discuss their views on a range of issues - but some episodes have featured false and misleading claims.
Big names from the music industry, including Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, have asked Spotify to remove their music from the platform. They have criticised the music streaming service for publishing a podcast that spreads Covid misinformation.
Mark Coles traces the life and career of the controversial former martial arts fighter and comedian.
Researcher: Drew Miller Hyndman Producer: Ben Crighton Editor: Damon Rose
Zelensky was an actor and comedian who became a household name in Ukraine by starring in a TV series about a teacher who accidentally became president. In a surreal case of life imitating art, Zelensky found himself elected in 2019 with zero political experience. As the threat of a Russian invasion looms, Mark Coles profiles a man on the brink of becoming an unlikely wartime leader.
From pub landlady to chief interrogator, Adrian Goldberg profiles Sue Gray, the woman who secretly “runs Britain”, and is leading the investigation into Downing Street parties. We hear about her unconventional background, a mysterious career break involving brushes with the IRA, and her meteoric rise to become Whitehall’s most feared inquisitor. She’s been called “the most powerful person you’ve never heard of”. But, will she be able to withstand the pressure of investigating her own boss, the Prime Minister?
Adrian Goldberg profiles the life and career of World No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic.
We hear about him practicing in the streets of Belgrade as a child during the war in the former Yugoslavia, how his views on health and medicine were shaped and how he became the formidable and resilient competitor that he is today.
Programme Credits In Depth with Graham Bensinger ABC News
Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Diane Richardson Editor: Penny Murphy
It’s been quite a year for proudly Ukrainian conductor Oksana Lyniv, becoming the first female conductor at the 145-year-old Bayreuth Festival in August and now embarking on a new role as Teatro Comunale di Bologna's first female Music Director.
Presenter Mark Coles discovers the family stories and personal challenges which have brought Oksana’s charisma and talent from Western Ukraine to classical music's world stage.
Picture Credit: Tristram Kenton, Royal Opera House.
Programme Credits: Teatro Comunale di Bologna UATV The Ukrainian Institute in London DW Classical Music MDR Television Choir and Orchestra of the Bayreuther Festspiele US-Ukraine Foundation
Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Diane Richardson
British curling is looking forward to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics - and all eyes are on head coach David Murdoch, the man in charge of bringing home some medals.
All three teams - mixed, male and female - have qualified and hopes are high this former World Champion and Olympic silver medallist can inspire the teams to victory.
Mark Coles finds out what makes the Lockerbie-born sports nerd tick.
Producers: Diane Richardson and Lucy Proctor Editor: Penny Murphy
Pharoah Sanders’s 2021 album Promises has been called a spiritual album for the dark ages. Mark Coles hears how Sanders helped invent a new style of music, after his birth in the southern United States, and time spent sleeping rough in New York City.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Ben Crighton and Chris Flynn
The pandemic has thrust the Government Chief Scientific Adviser into the middle of the clash between politics and science. He’s faced criticism from MPs, the press, and the public. Edward Stourton finds out about the man behind the pedestal, Sir Patrick Vallance. From fixing caravans on his parents’ site in Cornwall to breakfast with an mentor and a stint in industry with GlaxoSmithKline, who is the man advising our leaders on the pandemic? Presenter: Edward Stourton Researcher: Drew Miller Hyndman Producer: Ben Crighton Editor: Richard Vadon
He’s twice been convicted of hate speech, believes foreign names should be banned, and has been accused of being a Holocaust denier. Mark Coles looks at the life and career of the journalist turned politician who hopes to be the next leader of France.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Chris Flynn
After becoming the first Black woman – and the oldest person – ever to win the Turner Prize, British artist Lubaina Himid is now enjoying a retrospective at London's Tate Modern.
She’s become recognised as one of the most powerful political voices in British contemporary art, creating works about black identity, as well as championing the work of young black British female artists. Mark Coles speaks to those who know her.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Chris Flynn
The idea for the four year old pigchild was dreamt up in a London pub by three out of work mates in the 90s. She’s now the inspiration for theme parks across the world, and they are worth millions.
After the prime minister declared his love for her in front of the UK’s leading business people, Mark Coles explores how Peppa Pig has become one the most recognisable characters on television.
Producers: Ben Crighton and Chris Flynn
Boris Johnson says he "crashed the car" in his handling of the case of the party's former MP Owen Paterson. But if the prime minister was at the wheel, Jacob Rees-Mogg was the backseat driver.
The Leader of the House of Commons has described himself as a man of the people. Others have referred to him as the honourable member for the 18th century.
Mark Coles asks what now drives the man who as a monocle wearing child was chauffeured in a Bentley.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Ben Crighton
He came to Britain as a toddler - one of several thousand Indian immigrants from Kenya.
Raised in poverty in 1960s Bradford, Kamlesh Patel was targeted by skinheads – and sought solace playing cricket in a field with other south Asian friends.
Almost 50 years later - now a peer - Lord Patel is tasked with trying to repair the reputation of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, which has been accused of systemic racism.
As MPs begin their own investigation, Mark Coles follows Kamlesh Patel's remarkable journey from schoolboy cricketer and one time ambulance driver to social worker, academic, the House of Lords and now chair of the club he always dreamed of playing for.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Ben Crighton
He shot to fame as a teenage punk star from Derry, enjoyed hits as a solo artist and later worked behind the scenes for years in the music industry. But now Feargal Sharkey is enjoying a belated second burst of fame as a leading voice in the campaign against river and waterway pollution.
His life-long love of fly fishing has led to a deep knowledge of the chalk streams of Southern England, and now Sharkey finds himself being quoted with approval in parliament by MP’s and peers.
Adrian Goldberg talks to those who know him well, and hears about cigarette smuggling, stag dos – and a decidedly PRIVATE private life.
Presenter: Adrian Goldberg Producer: Ben Crighton
Mark Coles finds out how Amanda Staveley went from a long-jumping Yorkshire schoolgirl to one of the most prominent women in football via horse racing, the Middle East, and a former employee she made dress up in a gorilla suit.
With her extensive Middle Eastern contacts book, Amanda Staveley isn’t afraid of putting her, or other people’s, money where her mouth is.
Although she doesn’t always get what she wants.
Producers: Ben Crighton and Chris Flynn
The UK’s ‘strictest’ headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh has landed a new role as head of the Social Mobility Commission, a public body designed to boost the life chances of the country's most disadvantaged children.
Born to Jamaican and Guyanese immigrants, Katharine Birbalsingh first rose to prominence at the 2010 Tory party conference. Her speech about Britain’s “broken” education system received a standing ovation, but it also made her one of the most controversial figures in British education, and for a while she couldn’t even get a teaching job.
Then, in 2014, she founded the Michaela free school in north-west London, which has a zero tolerance behaviour policy. Pupils are penalised for forgetting to bring a pencil, or even for talking in corridors between lessons. The school has been deemed “outstanding” in all areas by Ofsted inspectors.
Edward Stourton examines the life and career of Katharine Birbalsingh, and asks if her forthright personality and achievements as a headteacher will equip her to address issues of entrenched inequality.
Producer: Nick Holland Researcher: Bethan Head
Singer-songwriter Adele Adkins is one of the world's best-selling artists, with sales of over 100 million records. Better known simply as Adele, she’s also won nine Brit Awards, a Golden Globe and fifteen Grammys - not to mention an Oscar in 2013 for her singing in the Bond film Skyfall.
This week she released her first new single in six years, offering her fans a first glimpse of her so-called ‘divorce album’ entitled ’30’, due for release next month.
The 33 year old currently lives with her son in Los Angeles, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous. She’s come a long way from the working class upbringing with her single mother who once smuggled the toddler into a gig, hidden inside her coat. So how did this ‘ordinary girl’ from North London conquer the popular music world? Mark Coles looks at her life and extraordinary career.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Nick Holland Researcher: Bethan Head
British actress Cush Jumbo is best known for her starring role in US TV dramas The Good Wife and spin-off The Good Fight. Now she’s aiming to set the London theatre scene alight, playing ‘a new kind of Hamlet’ at the Young Vic. Only a handful of women have ever taken on the role before, and Jumbo is the first woman of colour to play the troubled Danish prince in a major production in Britain.
It hasn’t been plain sailing for Cush Jumbo, who worked a long list of jobs – including door to door sales and waitressing in a strip bar – to support herself as an aspiring actress, and came close to quitting altogether. But, as Mark Coles hears, she wrote her way out of the doldrums and became a star on both sides of the Atlantic.
Celebrity mates Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) and Phyllida Lloyd (Mamma Mia!) help tell her story, and spill some great anecdotes along the way.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Researchers: Zoe Gelber, Soila Apparicio, Bethan Head Production Coordinator: Janet Staples Editor: Penny Murphy Mix: Neil Churchill
Olaf Scholz is expected to be the new leader of Germany if he can construct a successful coalition. How did the former mayor of Hamburg appeal to the country's voters? With Adrian Goldberg.
By her own admission, Liz Truss is not always known as being diplomatic. As she takes on the role of Foreign Secretary, Profile investigates the influences and events that have taken her to one of the great offices of state, and finds that the journey has been far from usual.
Mark Coles hears from Liz Truss’s brother, her student friend and keen watchers of her political career, and asks how this former Liberal Democrat, karaoke-lover and child of CND campaigners came to sit almost at the top of the Conservative party.
Producer: Nathan Gower Researcher: Bethan Head
Sir Ed Davey is a mallet wielding, man on a mission. That mission is to demolish the Conservative 'blue wall' which he's already made a hole in after the surprise Liberal Democrat victory at the Chesham and Amersham by-election in June this year. With a First class degree from Oxford, he could have ended up as a spy, but instead chose the path well trodden for a PPE graduate, politics, taking a job as Economics Researcher to the then leader, Paddy Ashdown. He's committed to renewable energy and brought us wind farms during a stint as Energy Secretary in the Coalition Government in 2012, but can he keep the lights on for the Liberal Democrats?
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Julie Ball Bob Howard Editor: Richard Vadon
The seminal rapper and billionaire fashion mogul Kanye West's new album Donda is named after his late mother, who was an influential figure in his life. It's gone straight to number one in many countries, it's the most successful album of the year already, clocking up over 180 million streams in just 24 hours.
Some consider Kanye West - who also calls himself Ye - a creative genius. Others have been put off by controversial behaviour. President Obama called him a "jackass", after Kanye interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for a video music award to say Beyoncé "had one of the best videos of all time", implying she should have won instead. He apologised later.
The hip hop artist doesn't lack self-belief. He has called himself a "God", and compared himself to the likes of Picasso and Shakespeare. But could he have a point? Even Barack Obama admitted that Kanye is "very talented" too. And experts say he has changed the genre, both as rapper and as producer. There is "hip hop before Kanye West, and hip hop after Kanye West".
And then there is fashion - his designs of popular trainers and clothes have made him a billionaire.
So what drives the controversial yet highly successful artist? Mark Coles dives into Kanye West's life and work to find out.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius Researcher: Maia Lowerson
Following a sometimes ugly campaign, Britain's second largest trade union, Unite, has elected its first woman leader, Sharon Graham. But who exactly is she? Jealously guarding her privacy, Unite's new 52 year-old head represents a significant break with the union's retiring chief, Len McCluskey and, it would seem, his close political links with the Labour Party. Instead, centering her campaign on bringing the union "back to the workplace", Sharon Graham has emphasised her own focus on jobs, pay and conditions. She has called for "an obsession" with the Labour Party to stop and instead for "bad bosses" to be held to account. She claims to have won fifteen disputes without a defeat. But her policies are not without their critics. The strategy she has pioneered for "leveraging" disputes with employers by applying pressure across company activities has been attacked as "chilling". And within the union itself - where two-thirds of the members are men - accusations of misogyny have been levelled. Edward Stourton discovers how Sharon Graham has made it to the top of Unite, what makes her tick and what the union's members, employers, politicians and the public at large can expect from her. Among those taking part: Roz Foyer of the Scottish TUC; John Cooper of Unite; Gail Cartmail, President of the TUC; and Sebastian Payne of the Financial Times.
Producer Simon Coates
With the fall of Kabul and the Taliban back in power in Afghanistan, this week Mark Coles profiles the man who’s become the public face of the strict Islamist movement - its political leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.
Baradar was one of those who founded the Taliban almost thirty years ago. Now, after spending eight years in a Pakistani jail, many are tipping him to be Afghanistan’s next President.
Mark Coles speaks to some of the world’s leading experts on the Taliban to try to find out more about Mullah Baradar’s background, his upbringing and what he really believes in.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Di Richardson
By the end of July this year, more than 80 million vaccinations had been administered in the UK.
Mark Coles takes a look at the talented and determined scientist leading the Oxford University vaccine team, Professor Sarah Gilbert.
Producers: Ben Crighton and Soila Apparicio.
George Mpanga, better known as George the Poet, is a British spoken word poet, podcaster and advocate for social change. Born in north London after his parents fled Uganda in the 1980s, he’s become an increasingly significant voice in the debate on race and class in the UK.
His innovative style mixes music and poetry. It has won him critical acclaim both as a recording artist and a social commentator, playing to a wide range of audiences, from the Cheltenham Literature Festival to 1Xtra. His award-winning podcast ‘Have You Heard George’s Podcast?’ blends fiction, news and music to depict inner city life.
Mark Coles speaks to friends, family, and colleagues to find out more.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Jim Frank Researchers: Soila Apparicio and Sowda Ali Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples Studio Engineer: Nigel Appleton Editor: Alex Lewis
Last October, British sprint cyclist, Mark Cavendish, broke down on TV, fearing he’d cycled the last race of his career. Now the 36 year-old is making sporting history, against the odds. After illness and injury, the man dubbed the Manx Missile has now equalled the record – set by cycling legend Eddie Merckx - for the most Tour de France stage wins. And, if things go well for him on this last weekend of the Tour, he could even top that tally of 34. And yet, Cavendish only secured a place in the team at the absolute last minute. Few expected him to take part, never mind secure win after win.
Mark Coles talks to friends and family of the sportsman who says he’s addicted to winning.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sally Abrahams Researcher: Soila Apparicio Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples Studio Engineer: Neil Churchill Editor: Richard Vadon
Commentary of Tour de France 2021 Stage 4 win courtesy of Eurosport.
For almost a decade Raheem Sterling has been one of English football’s most talked about players. Born in Jamacia and raised in the shadow of the Wembley arch, he burst onto the scene as a precocious 17 year old talent at Liverpool.
But for all his talent on the pitch, Sterling has been just as defined by his battles off it. He has had frequent tussles with the tabloid press and has become one of the most outspoken voices against the racist abuse suffered by black players.
Edward Stourton gets behind the headlines and speaks to those that know him best to find out how the quiet young boy from Brent become one of English football’s most talismanic figures.
Producers: Beth Sagar-Fenton & Matt Murphy Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples Mix: Graham Puddifoot Editor: Richard Vadon
He's 23, with 16 Grand Slam titles to his name and focused on winning his first Wimbledon singles title. Yet British wheelchair tennis champion, Alfie Hewett, is facing the end of his career because of a change in rules. The elite sportsman, from Norwich, Norfolk, is currently ineligible to compete beyond 2021 after being told by the International Tennis Federation that his disability is not severe enough.
Mark Coles talks to friends, family and career professionals to find out how the sports-loving six year-old was suddenly forced to adapt from running around a football pitch to being in a wheelchair. And how this life-changing event has shaped him into the player he is today.
Presenter: Mark Coles Researchers: Lauren Moore, Sowda Ali and Bethan Head Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples Producer: Sally Abrahams Studio Engineer: Rod Farquhar Editor: Alex Lewis
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is one of Nigeria’s foremost literary voices. Her writing is noted for its touching examination of homeland, identity and feminism. For more than a decade she has been coaching and mentoring promising young authors through her yearly workshops in Lagos, bringing a new generation of African writers to mainstream attention.
On the subject of transgender people and feminism, Chimamanda Adichie has been criticised by some on social media for comments she made in a 2017 TV interview, in which she said "my feeling is trans women are trans women". She was branded transphobic and there were calls for her to be banned from book events.
This past week, she has hit back, writing a furious online essay slamming some of her critics and arguing that social media platforms have become too toxic.
Mark Coles talks to friends and family about the award-winning writer whose outspoken nature has seen her drawn into a social media firestorm.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sally Abrahams Researcher: Matt Murphy and Sowda Ali Editor: Alex Lewis
The military commando turned self-made tech millionaire who’s now Prime Minister of Israel.
The right-wing, nationalist, supporter of Jewish settlement in the West Bank has formed an unlikely alliance of left and right, secular and religious, Jewish and Arab. Once the chief of staff to Benjamin Netanyahu, Naftali Bennett brought an end to his old boss’s 12 years in power.
Presenter: Mark Coles Researcher: Sowda Ali Studio manager: Graham Puddifoot Programme co-ordinator: Janet Staples Producer: Joe Kent Editor: Alex Lewis
ARCHIVE I24NEWS English: 'Kingmaker' Naftali Bennett Hopes to Become Israel's Next Prime Minister – February 2021 Zionist Federation of Australia: Lockdown Learning 15 with Naftali Bennett. June 2020 ABC News: The ABC Evening Newscast - July 1976 Brookings Institution: Saban Forum 2014 - A Conversation with Naftali Bennett. December 2014
The multi-talented performer has just made BAFTA history, after taking top honours for ‘I May Destroy You’, her drama about sexual consent. The TV show – which she created, wrote, directed and starred in - also won best mini-series. It was inspired by Michaela Coel’s own experience of sexual assault after her drink was spiked.
Born in London to Ghanaian parents, 33 year-old Michaela Coel grew up with her single mum and older sister on a council estate in London’s East End. At eighteen, she became a Christian. Her conversion kick-started her writing career as she began penning and performing poems praising Jesus.
After winning a scholarship to the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama, her graduation piece - unusually- featured her own work, a play called ‘Chewing Gum Dreams'. It was about life on her estate and a girl desperate to lose her virginity. She later developed that into the award-winning Channel 4 comedy, Chewing Gum.
Now Michaela Coel has been dubbed 'Queen of British TV' after her latest BAFTA success for her drama, 'I May Destroy You'. Mark Coles tells the story of her life, by talking to those who spotted her talents from a very young age, including friends from school, the church and the world of theatre.
Presenter: Mark Coles Intake producer: Matt Toulson Producer: Sally Abrahams Editor: Alex Lewis
Joanne Anderson has just taken on what many might call one of the toughest jobs in local government - leading the Labour council at the centre of corruption allegations.
Liverpool-born and bred, the 50 year-old single mum only became a Labour councillor in 2019. But she was encouraged to stand as mayor when her predecessor, Joe Anderson (no relation) stood down after being arrested over claims relating to bribery, which he strongly denies.
Growing up on a council estate east of the city centre, community activism is in Joanne Anderson's blood. She was barely out of nappies when her mum took her along to protest against poor housing conditions. She's spent most of her career helping companies, charities and councils improve diversity and promote equal opportunities.
Now she’s got the top job at Liverpool city council and is promising a fresh start. So who is Joanne Anderson? And how did a woman who until recently, was outside the city’s political inner circle, come to be its Mayor? Talking to close friends, family and colleagues, Adrian Goldberg charts Joanne Anderson’s rise from council flat to council leader.
Presenter: Adrian Goldberg Intake producer: Matt Toulson Producer: Sally Abrahams Editor: Alex Lewis
Kate Bingham took on one of the hardest jobs in the Covid pandemic - finding and procuring the necessary vaccines to stop people dying. A venture capitalist who invests in new drugs, she got the call from the Prime Minister who asked her to chair the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce. Once she had worked out which vaccines to back and order in advance, she and her team had to get the systems in place to roll them out in record time. Before this she had spent 30 years in private equity in the city, which she has now returned to.
Described by many as "a force of nature" she defied critics and sceptics and successfully secured 350 million doses of six different vaccines which started going into people's arms at the end of last year. The number of doses administered in the UK has now past 60 million and everyone over the age of 30 is being offered the jab.
Via in depth interviews with close friends and colleagues from throughout her life and commentators, Mark Coles reveals the character behind the woman responsible for securing a pipe-line of Covid vaccines for the UK population.
Presenter: Mark Coles Researcher: Stefania Okereke Studio manager: James Beard Programme co-ordinator: Janet Staples Producer: Jim Frank and Caroline Bayley Editor: Richard Vadon and Alex Lewis
Photo Credit: Tom Kates
Edwin Poots has been named as the new leader of the Democratic Unionist Party.
A farmer from the outskirts of Lisburn, not far from Belfast. Mr Poots entered political life in 1997 - and, since then, he's slowly but steadily risen to the top. He's held four Ministeries including health and agriculture and is viewed across the sectarian divide as a shrewd political strategist.
A devoutly religious and committed member of the Free Presbyterian church, Mr Poots's ultra-conservative views on issues such as abortion and gay marriage have attracted heavy criticism over the years, as has his strongly held belief that the earth is approx. 6,000 years old.
His supporters, however, insist that his personal beliefs have no bearing on his ability to do his job - and to lead the DUP into a new era.
Via in-depth interviews with family, close personal friends and political commentators, Becky Milligan reveals the character behind the caricature sketched by media, the real person behind the public persona of Edwin Poots.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Researcher: Stefania Okereke Studio manager: Rod Farquhar Programme co-ordinator: Janet Staples Producer: Paul Connolly Editor: Richard Vadon and Alex Lewis
It's been an eventful few weeks for the Labour Party - especially for its deputy leader, Angela Rayner MP. Over the course of a topsy-turvy weekend, leaked plans to sack her from her role as party chair and national campaigns coordinator triggered an outcry, which, in turn, led Keir Starmer to instead offer a major promotion.
Her back-story is, however, unusual for one who has risen so high, so quickly in British politics. Coming from an impoverished background, and leaving school at 16 with no qualifications and a baby on the way, she soon blazed a trail as a formidable union rep with Unison in the North West before being elected as an MP in 2015.
By speaking to close personal friends, well-known public figures and commons commentators, Mark Coles reveals the character, underlying motivations - and even the unexpected musical tastes - of the woman who many believe could be the first ever female leader of the Labour Party.
Presenter: Mark Coles Researcher: Stefania Okereke Studio manager: Neil Churchill Programme co-ordinator: Janet Staples Producer: Paul Connolly Editor: Richard Vadon and Alex Lewis
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is hugely popular, credited with bringing stability and modernisation to his country in his 8 years of leadership. But his critics say lately he has been too absorbed with his political ambitions and not focused enough on protecting the country from the pandemic. Could the disastrous second wave of coronavirus that has engulfed India dent the unassailable rise of Narendra Modi?
Presenter: Mark Coles Researcher: Stefania Okereke Studio manager: Rod Farquhar Programme co-ordinator: Janet Staples Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou Editor: Richard Vadon and Alex Lewis
Brexit, Coronavirus and now ‘Sofagate’. It's been a challenging year for the first female President of the European Commission, who’s been criticised for the EU’s response to Covid-19 and blamed for a delay in getting people jabbed. Now, the organisation she heads is suing vaccine manufacturer, AstraZeneca, over delays in supplying doses. This week, she told the European parliament how she'd been left standing during a recent meeting in Turkey, because she is a woman. Her male counterparts took the only chairs available. Mark Coles profiles the Brussels-born German politician whose passion for the job means she lives, works and sleeps in the office.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sally Abrahams Editor: Alex Lewis
The rags to riches story of the billionaire brothers from Blackburn, Lancashire who have grown their business from a single petrol station in 2001 to a global empire of six thousand garage forecourts in less than twenty years.
Notoriously private, the brothers became national news last year after buying the supermarket giant, Asda. Last week they added the fast-food chain, Leon, to their portfolio. And now they’re rumoured to have their eye on Caffé Nero.
Talking to family, friends and business associates, Mark Coles discovers how different the brothers are, what fuels their passion for petrol stations and how they cope with media attention.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sally Abrahams Editor: Richard Vadon
Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland - who's facing calls to resign over the policing of a republican funeral during the pandemic, sparking violent disorder and protests.
Simon Byrne, who's 57, is a policeman through and through. He joined the Metropolitan police as a teenager, straight out of school. Rising through the ranks, he took on senior roles in Merseyside, Manchester, London and Cheshire. He's now head of police in Northern Ireland, a post which many regard as the most difficult policing job in the UK, if not the world. Less than two years in post, and with the added challenges of Covid-19 and Brexit, Simon Byrne finds himself in a situation where policing and politics have collided.
Becky Milligan talks to friends and colleagues about the man with a reputation for getting things done, a love of steam trains and a commitment to public service.
Researcher: Stefania Okereke Producer: Sally Abrahams Editor: Richard Vadon
The billionaire banker whose finance firm has collapsed and who is now at the centre of a lobbying scandal involving ex-Prime Minister, David Cameron.
Alexander "Lex" Greensill, grew up on his family’s sugar cane and melon farm in Queensland, Australia. After moving to the UK, he went into investment banking, founded a supply chain finance empire - complete with private jets - and, under David Cameron, secured a role in Britain’s Conservative-led Coalition government. After leaving office, the ex-PM became an adviser to the firm – Greensill Capital - which went bust last month, putting at risk 50,000 jobs worldwide.
Mark Coles charts the rise and fall of the farmer’s son who, so the story goes, began his finance company to help small firms get paid more quickly by big businesses.
Researchers: Matt Murphy and Stefania Okereke Producer: Sally Abrahams Editor: Richard Vadon
Emerald Fennell is the first British woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director. The film, that she also wrote - 'Promising Young Woman' - has been called a 'revenge-comedy', a movie for the #MeToo era. Fennell's rise has been meteoric - showrunner for the second series of 'Killing Eve', she's also well-known for her roles in front of the camera, including her portrayal of the Duchess of Cornwall, Camilla Parker Bowles, in 'The Crown'. Becky Milligan tells the story of a prolific and multi-talented young woman.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Researchers: Matt Murphy and Stefania Okereke Studio manager: Rod Farquhar Programme co-ordinator: Janet Staples Producer: Linda Pressly Editor: Richard Vadon
AstraZeneca's CEO faces scrutiny as his company's vaccine, and its roll out, comes under fire. Mark Coles explores the life and career one of big pharma's biggest names. The oldest of four boys, Pascal Soriot grew up in a working class area of Paris. He took the helm at AZ in 2012 after years in top jobs across the world. One of his first challenges was to fight off a takeover from Pfizer. The AZ vaccine, currently not-for-profit, was hailed as a life saver for millions. But with accusations of confusing drug trial data, dishonest dealings with the EU and safety fears, has the AstraZeneca CEO lost his shine? Presenter: Mark Coles Researcher: Matt Murphy Studio manager: Graham Puddifoot Programme co-ordinator: Janet Staples Producer: Linda Pressly Editor: Rosamund Jones
Journalist, controversialist, celebrity - Mark Coles explores the explosive career of Piers Morgan, one of the country's youngest-ever and best-known newspaper editors. In the spotlight, again, this time for storming off the set of ITV's "Good Morning Britain", colleagues, competitors, friends and foes detail a roller-coaster career. If it started with a desire to report from behind the headlines, as years passed he has all too frequently become their subject.
Presenter: Mark Coles Researcher: Matt Murphy Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples Studio manager: Rod Farquhar Editor: Rosamund Jones:
The attorney general of Minnesota is the lead prosecutor in the trial for murder of George Floyd who died in May last year. His death became front page news after a video showed a white police officer kneeling on his neck for nearly nine minutes. It sparked massive civil unrest and forced a wider debate about law enforcement and racial inequality. Keith Ellison's role in the trial which started this week will be closely watched. He was born in Detroit in 1963, one of five brothers to parents with high expectations and a strong sense of social justice. As a young law student he became involved in community activism, a path which led to his election to Congress in 2006, the first muslim to achieve that. Becky Milligan talks to his family and friends. Producer: Sally Abrahams Researchers: Maia Lowerson & Matt Murphy Studio manager: Graham Puddifoot Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples Editor: Rosamund Jones
The former dentist who’s just become the new leader of Scottish Labour. Anas' childhood was infused with politics - his father became the UK's first muslim MP and his mother devoted a great deal of time to activism and campaigning. But that came at a cost. The family endured racist threats while he was growing up. Now a lot rests on his shoulders. With only nine weeks until the Holyrood elections, can he turn round the party's fortunes in Scotland and in so doing change the make-up of Westminster politics too? Mark Coles explores his life and career. Producer: Sally Abrahams Researcher: Maia Lowerson Studio manager: Neil Churchill Editor: Rosamund Jones
Carrie Symonds is Boris Johnson's fiancee and the mother of his baby.
She is a also a former special advisor, committed animal rights activist and Brexit supporter. And, not that long ago, she was director of communications for the Conservative Party.
It's that political experience that has fuelled questions about how much influence she has over decisions made in Downing Street. The Bow Group think tank this week called for an inquiry into her role.
Mark Coles profiles the woman who has been making waves, and headlines, in recent weeks.
Producer: Simon Maybin
Researcher: Maia Lowerson
Editor: Rosamund Jones
Studio manager: Graham Puddifoot
Production co-ordinator: Aretha Holmes
Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's journey to head the World Trade Organisation has been particularly note-worthy. She is the first woman and the first African to hold the position. A trained economist, she was at the World Bank during the financial crisis and, as Nigeria’s finance minister, she faced down corruption.
It's not just her career that sets her apart. As a child she lived through the Biafran War. Years later she faced another crisis: the kidnapping of her elderly mother. But her friends say she does find time for a laugh and the occasional boogie.
Becky Milligan hears about her fascinating life and career from close family, friends and colleagues.
Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Maia Lowerson Studio manager: Rod Farquhar Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples Editor: Rosamund Jones
David Martindale joined Livingston FC as a volunteer six years ago, picking up bibs and cones after training sessions. Now he is managing a team that's about to play in the Scottish League Cup Final.
It has been an unconventional and bumpy rise to the top. Martindale went to jail in 2006, doing time for his involvement in organised crime, Mark Coles talks to his family, friends and football colleagues about his past, his leadership style and what the future may hold. Will his chequered history thwart his ambition?
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton
Researcher: Maia Lowerson
Editor: Rosamund Jones
Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Studio Manager: Rod Farquhar
The first female british chef to win 3 Michelin stars at her own restaurant hails from a farm in County Antrim. Mark Coles talks to those who know Clare Smyth well - at home and in the kitchen - including legendary chefs Alain Ducasse and Angela Hartnett. Clare Smyth left Northern Ireland to train in England at just 16 and has gone her own way ever since. A protegee of some of the world's best known chefs, she ran Gordon Ramsay's flagship restaurant before setting up her own, Core, just three years ago. She says she's now reached the pinnacle of any chef's career - but food critic Jay Rayner questions why this milestone has been so long coming.
Presenter: Mark Coles Researcher: Maia Lowerson Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Editor: Rosamund Jones
Danish billionaire Anders Holch Povlsen is the biggest private landowner in Scotland and the biggest private shareholder in ASOS, the online fashion company that is in talks to buy Topshop.
Having cut his teeth in the family fashion business, Bestseller, and following a series of canny investments, Anders Povlsen has more recently become known for his ambitious plans to ‘rewild’ large areas of Scotland To that end he has bought up hundreds of thousands of acres, now owning more land there than the Queen. He is determined to transform the landscape, turning it back into forest, through sometimes controversial means.
After kidnap attempts and family tragedy he has gained a reputation as a man of extreme privacy. So just who is Anders Holch Povlsen? Mark Coles tries find out the secrets of the eco-conscious online fashion supremo and CEO.
Producer: May Cameron Researchers: Maia Lowerson & Beth Sagar-Fenton Editor: Rosamund Jones Mix: Nigel Appleton Production Co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Welsh screenwriter and television producer Russell T Davies has been entertaining the country for decades. From his ground-breaking series Queer as Folk to the revamped Doctor Who – his new series for Channel 4 - It’s a Sin - focuses on the 1980s AIDS crisis. The son of two teachers, Davies grew up loving drama and drawing cartoons - early indications of creativity that have served him well ever since. Mark Coles speaks to family and friends to find out more about one of the TV industry's most respected, and at times controversial, writers.
Producer: Ben Crighton Researchers: Maia Lowerson and May Cameron Production Coordinator: Janet Staples Studio manager: Rod Farquhar Editor: Rosamund Jones
Nadhim Zahawi began life as a Kurdish refugee, fleeing to the UK when he was nine years old. A businessman with an eclectic portfolio, he co-founded pollsters YouGov in 2000 before becoming a Conservative MP in 2010. Now a Minister with one of the most pressing jobs in Government, who is the man responsible for England’s Covid-19 vaccination programme? Mark Coles speaks to friends and colleagues to find out.
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Researchers: Maia Lowerson and May Cameron Production Coordinator: Janet Staples Mix: Rod Farquhar Editor: Rosamund Jones
The legendary make-up artist has just become the first in her industry to be made a Dame. Growing up in Northampton without industry contacts or formal training, Pat McGrath taught herself the techniques that have made her one of the most in-demand names in fashion. If you can name a designer label, she's probably worked for them, and now runs her own billion-dollar business. Supermodels, colleagues and friends tell Becky Milligan why she's had such a huge impact.
Pat McGrath met Kim Bowen at the Wag Club and not the Blitz Club as is suggested at the beginning of this programme.
Producer: Sharon Hemans Researcher: Beth Sagar-Fenton Production Coordinator: Janet Staples Mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Rosamund Jones
Tennis star Naomi Osaka had a massive year in 2020, becoming the highest earning sportswoman ever, and protesting police violence against black Americans in both her private and professional life. Born in Japan, she's spent most of her life in the US. This year she's set to light up the Tokyo Olympics as one of the stars of the games. What else lies ahead for Naomi Osaka? We hear from those closest to her including her coach and manager, and feature an exclusive interview with campaigner and tennis legend Billie Jean King.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Editor: Rosamund Jones Mix: Rod Farquhar
The creator of Mrs Brown's Boys has had a bumpy ride to stardom. Becky Milligan charts the journey - born the youngest of 11 children in Dublin, he faced bankruptcy and serial disappointments before finding success as the the matriarch of his very own family sitcom. This year it returns - for the 10th consecutive year - to our TV screens over Christmas. Producer: Ben Crighton Editor: Rosamund Jones
The academy award winning actor’s latest film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, is one of the first big budget releases since the pandemic closed cinemas. Viola Davis is the first black actor to win an Oscar, Emmy and Tony award – a triple crown of the most prestigious awards in film, television and theatre. Born on her grandmother’s farm, a former slave plantation in South Carolina. Davis was raised on the East Coast – in Providence, Rhode Island. As a child growing up in poverty, acting became a means of escape.
After a decades-long career as a respected theatre actor, she was propelled to international attention in 2008, when she was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in a single scene; alongside Meryl Streep in the film Doubt. Since then, she’s starred in a great many films and TV series; becoming widely recognised as one of the greatest actors of stage and screen this century.
Becky Milligan explores her life and career and talks to her sister, Deloris, to find out what motivates an actor whose meteoric rise is symbolic of a deeper shift in how the film industry values black artists.
Producers: Tom Wright and Ben Crighton Editor: Rosamund Jones
After a 30 year career of quiet public service, Dr June Raine has found herself in the spotlight when the UK became the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine. As the head of the MHRA she has ultimate responsibility for the process of approving any new Covid-19 vaccines in the UK, and when the eminent American immunologist Dr Anthony Fauci cast doubt over the speed of UK's approval process Dr Raine was forced to make a public response. Becky Milligan finds out more about her life, character and career.
Producers: Viv Jones, Ben Crighton Editor: Rosamund Jones
The British artificial intelligence lab DeepMind have made an astonishing breakthrough in one of biology’s toughest problems. The firm announced this week that it had largely cracked the problem of predicting how proteins folds into unique shapes, a challenge scientists have been working on for 50 years. The discovery is expected to accelerate research into illnesses like cancer and Alzheimer’s, and could even help find solutions to climate change. Behind the project is DeepMind’s co-founder, Demis Hassabis. A former chess prodigy, Hassabis has always been captivated by games and the mental agility needed to play them. This fascination with the human mind inspired his determination to use artificial intelligence to solve the world’s problems.
Producers: Ben Crighton, Viv Jones Editor: Rosamund Jones
This week the political turmoil at Number 10 has made the headlines. One of the prime minister's aides whose star appears to be on the rise is former journalist Allegra Stratton, the government's new press secretary. She'll be fronting televised briefings shortly. Becky Milligan examines her life and her career so far. Producers: Bethan Head and Sally Abrahams.
Early results from the world's first effective coronavirus vaccine showed it could prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19.
The vaccine had been developed by pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech and was one of 11 vaccines that had reached the final stages of testing.
Mark Coles explores the lives and careers of Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci - the little known Turkish-German husband-and-wife team responsible for the development of the vaccine.
First broadcast on Saturday 14th November 2020.
Producers: Sally Abrahams and Ben Carter Editor: Rosamund Jones
As Wales eases its covid restrictions, Profile explores the life and various careers of the country's First Minister. Born and brought up in rural Wales, before entering the world of Labour politics Mark Drakeford worked as a social worker and an academic. And Mark Coles discovers that those are not his only interests. Tending his allotment, playing music and body boarding in all weathers also loom large. Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Luke Radcliff and Ben Carter
The business woman and Great British Bake Off judge now working with the government to improve NHS food - her independent review demanding healthier meals for hospital patients.
Born in South Africa, it was time spent in Paris which sparked Prue Leith's love of food. Transferring to London, she started a food empire in her bedsit, going on to open a catering college and a Michelin star restaurant.
She took on public roles too, becoming the first woman on the board of British Rail, charged with fixing the network's food which had become a laughing stock.
Prue built her media profile alongside roles in the arts, charity sector and education. Then after controversial team-changes in The Great British Bake Off, she's now become a bona fide celebrity, helping the hit programme reach record audiences.
Producers: Richard Fenton-Smith & Ben Crighton Editor: Ros jones
The chief strategic advisor to PM Boris Johnson who thrives on getting things done and who was once regarded as Margaret Thatcher's favourite council leader.
A former alarms company executive, Edward Lister's political career began in the London Borough of Wandsworth which was at the forefront of Thatcherism at the turn of the 1980s.
A council leader for nearly two decades, he made the leap to City Hall when Boris Johnson made him his deputy - and he's been a trusted aide and fixer ever since.
Despite his position, Sir Edward has kept a low public profile, working behind the scenes resolving recent Brexit stalemates.
This week he's been the go-between in the negotiations between the government and city mayors in the North of England in the debate over the financial cost of Covid-19.
Mark Coles profiles the life of the man described as the 'grown-up' at Number 10 who thrives on solving problems.
Producers: Richard Fenton-Smith & Ben Crighton
The former bricklayer steering Liverpool through the latest coronavirus lockdown. Liverpool was the first region to face the toughest restrictions as the second wave of the pandemic takes hold. The man in charge of dealing with this new crisis is the first mayor of the city region, Steve Rotheram. Becky Milligan charts his rise, from a 16-year-old school leaver to prominent politician. Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Luke Radcliff
The man from Indiana who's "a heartbeat away" from the US presidency. Mark Coles tells the story of how a Catholic boy with Democratic Party leanings became a born-again evangelical and a hero of the Republican right. With President Donald Trump's recent bout with Covid-19, there has been more and more attention paid to the man next in line for the Oval Office. But there are doubts about whether a majority of the American public agree with the vice-president's strictly socially conservative views. Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Luke Radcliff
Billionaire Chuck Feeney said he would give away all of his money by 2020 – and he’s done it. An entrepreneur from childhood, he amassed a huge fortune in the duty-free business, before spending it on projects ranging from concert halls in Ireland to AIDS support in South Africa. For many years the money was only given out on condition of secrecy, that his name should never be mentioned in connection with the donations.
Mark Coles finds out what’s driven this unique mission - and what his family think.
Producer: Ben Crighton Researchers: Benita Barden & Beth Sagar-Fenton
Lewis Hamilton could be about to equal Michael Schumacher's incredible record of 91 Grand Prix wins - but can he achieve even more? The first black Formula 1 driver has been a champion since childhood, when he ran rings around the adults with his remote control car. Three decades on he's tipped to equal and even exceed the long standing record - but is he now determined to achieve as much off the track as on it? We hear from those who know Hamilton best, including an exclusive interview with his father, Anthony.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producer: Ben Crighton Researchers: Beth Sagar-Fenton & Benita Barden
The woman who could soon be "a heartbeat away" from the presidency. This week voters in some states started sending in their ballot papers for the US presidential election. If the Democrats win when results are announced in November, it's vice presidential candidate Kamala Harris who'll be second in line to the Oval Office. She would be the first black person, the first woman and the first person of Indian descent to become VP. But what is Kamala Harris really like? Why has she attracted criticism in some circles for her record as a prosecutor and a legislator, while being hailed a hero by others? And is she likely to attract voters to Joe Biden's presidential campaign, or drive them away?
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Beth Sagar-Fenton
Why is the former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott such a controversial choice for trade adviser? Appointed by the Government to help negotiate post-Brexit deals for the UK, his supporters say he's a persuasive political operator and already has three free trade agreements under his belt. But others have been staggered by his appointment, saying he has a track record of sexism and homophobia, and will prove an "embarrassment" to the UK.
Mark Coles speaks to colleagues, critics and even Abbott's sister to find out what drives the so-called "Mad Monk", and whether he'll make a success of the job.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Ben Crighton Researchers: Charlotte McDonald & Beth Sagar-Fenton Editor: Penny Murphy
Those in the know say he's "the ultimate keeper of secrets" - Simon Case was announced this week as the new Cabinet Secretary and head of the Civil Service. Aged just 41 and with a CV that takes him from GCHQ to Kensington Palace, he's now set to take on a role at the heart of government, heading up a workforce of more than 400,000 people. But with Covid an ongoing problem and Brexit on the cards - and without any experience of running a department - has the so-called "Rolls Royce of Sir Humphreys" got what it takes?
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Ben Crighton & Beth Sagar-Fenton Editor: Penny Murphy
Health secretary Matt Hancock announced last week that Public Health England will be replaced with a new National Institute for Health Protection. Baroness Dido Harding, who ran NHS Test and Trace in England, will be heading up this new agency too, for now. Who is she? And why are some cynical about whether she'll be able to handle the new role?
Dido Harding started out on a pig farm in Dorset, and has spent most of her adult life splitting her time between the corporate world and her beloved horses. Married to Conservative MP John Penrose, she's spent the last three years working in the public sector, and recently been a regular feature at Number 10’s daily coronavirus briefings. Mark Coles speaks to her best friend and former boss, amongst others, to find out more.
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Researcher: May Cameron Editor: Kirsty Reid
The no-nonsense scientist whose team is developing a coronavirus vaccine at record speed. Mark Coles discovers the many talents of Oxford University vaccine specialist, Professor Sarah Gilbert.
Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Di Richardson
President Trump calls him a quality guy, others call him a dirty trickster. Mark Coles looks at the life of political strategist Roger Stone, who’s advised Republican politicians since the 1970s and proudly wears a tattoo of President Nixon on his back.
Stone was convicted of lying to congress and witness tampering in 2019 but his sentence was commuted by President Trump, days before he was due to report to prison.
This programme contains clips from Netflix Film Get Me Roger Stone. The writers are Morgan Pehme, Daniel DiMauro and Dylan Bank.
Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Di Richardson
As the UK imposes sanctions on 49 people implicated in the deaths of Sergei Magnitsky and Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, Mark Coles profiles the man whose global anti-corruption campaign has led to the government’s action, financier Bill Browder.
Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Diane Richardson
As theatre bosses across the country warn they face devastation amid the coronavirus pandemic, actor Sir Ian McKellen is preparing to tread the boards in an age-blind interpretation of Hamlet. It will be one of the first major new theatre productions to start rehearsals in the UK since auditoriums went dark in March. The renowned theatre and film actor said he was happy to be working again in the role of the young prince he first played nearly 50 years ago. Becky Milligan speaks to close friends and colleagues, including Dame Judi Dench and Armistead Maupin, to find out what still drives him.
Producer: Viv Jones
Boris Johnson says she’s a ‘brilliant thinker’ who inspires him. Now he has chosen Munira Mirza, the head of the No 10 policy unit, as the person to establish a new government commission on racial inequalities. Her appointment has proved controversial. Mirza has questioned the existence of institutional racism and criticised previous inquiries for fostering a “culture of grievance”. Her critics say her mind is already made up on the issues the commission will seek to investigate. Last weekend, Black Lives Matter demonstrators in London demanded her resignation. Mirza was raised in Oldham, became a supporter of the Revolutionary Communist Party as a student at Oxford, and eventually went to work for Boris Johnson after he was elected Mayor of London. Mark Coles profiles one of the government’s most influential advisers.
The Manchester United forward is credited with forcing a government U-turn this week, following his open letter calling on the government to end child poverty and extend free school meals for children during the summer holidays.
Born in Wythenshawe and raised by a single mum, Marcus Rashford caught the eye of professional clubs at an early age. At first training with both Manchester City and Manchester United, he decided to dedicate himself to the Reds, and rapidly rose through the ranks.
He debuted for the senior squad at 17 years of age, scoring twice, and scored again when he was first called up for England.
A regular fixture for both United and England, he is now gaining attention for his philanthropic work, which is said to be inspired by the struggles he and his family faced when he was growing up.
Producer: Richard Fenton-Smith
Former NASA astronaut Dr Kathy Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space, has made history again by travelling to the deepest known point on earth. Last Sunday, the 68 year-old space-walker and oceanographer travelled seven miles below the surface of the Pacific ocean to reach the Challenger Deep, the ocean's lowest spot, becoming the first woman to do so. Mark Coles talks to her fellow astronauts as he profiles one of the world’s most intrepid explorers.
Producer: Viv Jones Producer: Sally Abrahams Editor: Penny Murphy
America hasn't witnessed civil unrest like this since the late 1960s.
There have been protests and rioting in cities across the US, following the death of a black man, George Floyd, in police custody in Minneapolis.
In Atlanta, at the height of the demonstrations, the rapper Killer Mike - the son of an Atlanta policeman - addressed protesters calling for calm and urging them to go home.
His speech went viral around the world.
On Profile this week, Mark Coles looks at his life and career.
He talks to close friends, community activists and the rapper's manager, to find out what led to his impassioned, and at times tearful, plea for peace.
Producer Smita Patel Research Vivien Jones Editor Kirsty Reid
Suella Braverman is a barrister, MP and Brexiteer. In February 2020 she was appointed to the role of Attorney General for England and Wales and Advocate General for Northern Ireland. This week she found herself in the headlines after sending a tweet in support of Dominic Cummings, a senior government adviser caught travelling across the country during lock down. Edward Stourton profiles the minister for Fareham and government's chief legal adviser.
Producer: Sandra Kanthal, Vivien Jones Editor: Penny Murphy
Mark Coles profiles Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who was the first African to be elected Director-General of the World Health Organisation. Three years on, he finds himself at the centre of a political storm. Some say he has been too soft on China - where the coronavirus began. Others accuse the WHO of being too slow to declare a global public health emergency and US President, Donald Trump, has threatened to withdraw funding. Now one of the most recognisable faces in the world due to the pandemic yet little is known about Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Producer: Jim Frank Researcher: Vivien Jones Editor: Penny Murphy
The coronavirus crisis presents a difficult challenge for opposition MPs seeking to win national support without being accused of opportunistic point scoring. One shadow minister has managed to get the nation’s attention. Dr Rosena Allin-Khan, Shadow Minister for Mental Health, is both an MP and an A&E doctor. During lockdown she has been working shifts at her local hospital and her first-hand experience there led her to accuse the Health Secretary Matt Hancock of manipulating testing figures last week. Their exchange in the commons has been viewed over 5 million times on social media.
Producer: Anna Meisel Researcher: Vivien Jones
Some on the left of his party think he’s too establishment and Washington thinks he’s a rebel out to do his own thing, but Andrew Cuomo has gained widespread support for his handling of the coronavirus crisis. Mark Coles looks at the life of the New York Governor, a son of one of America’s most respected politicians.
Producer: Sandra Kanthal Researcher: May Cameron Editor: Ravin Sampat
Supreme Leader of North Korea had not been seen in public for a number of weeks, setting off a global frenzy regarding his whereabouts and health.
Speculation was rife as to who would succeed him.
The most likely candidate is his closest confidant. A young woman whose always by his side.
Becky Milligan pieces together the mystery of Kim Yo-jong. Politician and sister of Kim Jong-un.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Darin Graham Editor Ravin Sampat
A look at the life of Matt Hancock, Secretary of State for Health & Social Care for England. He has been criticised for promises he's made about testing and supply of personal protective equipment for health workers. According to newspaper reports, unnamed Downing Street sources have been suggesting the targets are "arbitrary" and "irrational". Mark Coles talks to friends, family and his mentor - the former Chancellor George Osborne - to find out more about Matt Hancock. An expedtion to the North Pole, a game of cricket on the Arctic ice, a stint as a sports broadcaster - it's not what you might expect.
Producer Smita Patel Editor Ravin Sampat Researcher Bethan Head
Dame Vera Lynn's story is well known. She's regarded by many as one of Britain's national treasures. Dubbed 'the forces sweetheart' during the Second World War, her songs like 'We'll Meet Again' and 'There'll Always Be An England' became synonymous with hope and survival during dark times.
It's rare for us to profile someone so iconic. But courtesy of a mention by the Queen in her recent address to the nation, at 103 years old Vera Lynn is trending again. She even has a number one single on the UK iTunes chart. Mark Coles talks to her family and close friends to find out what she makes of all the attention. And, perhaps more importantly, why - 80 years on - her best known song 'We'll Meet Again' is striking a chord during the coronavirus crisis.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Bethan Head
On Profile this week, we look at the man who has effectively become Britain’s acting Prime Minister.
The 46-year-old Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, asked to deputise “where necessary” for Boris Johnson while he recovers from coronavirus.
A staunch Brexiteer and a karate black belt, he’s perhaps not the best-known member of the Cabinet.
So, who is he and – more importantly - is he up to the job?
A former lawyer, Raab has experience in international justice – but his hard-line on Brexit as well as past comments about feminism, welfare and Britain’s work ethic have angered his critics.
Mark Coles hears from political colleagues, Westminster journalists – even Dominic Raab’s boxing coach.
Producer Smita Patel Editor Ravin Sampat Researcher Bethan Head
Anthony Fauci Is a doctor, immunologist and director of the USA’s National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases. He’s also a lead member of the White House coronavirus task force. Mark Coles talks to those who know him well.
First broadcast on Saturday 4th April 2020.
Producer: Ben Crighton Researcher: Bethan Head
On Profile this week - it’s a personal one.
In lockdown at home because of the coronavirus, presenter Mark Coles has turned to music to help get him through the past few days…captivated by an album he bought by chance in a London record store a couple of weeks ago.
It’s called‘Esja’- the debut album from a little-known 29 year old Polish pianist, Hania Rani.
The music is sublime and minimalist…solo acoustic piano inspired in part by the mountains and countryside of Iceland where some of it was recorded.
For Mark, it’s become his sanctuary….his headspace - a much needed nightly respite from the cacophony of coronavirus news bulletins and press conferences.
But who is the mystery woman behind the music?
Producer: Smita Patel
Photo of Hania Rani by Kinga Karpati
The Bank of England's new governor started work on Monday amid global turmoil. The world economy is in chaos as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. How will he handle the difficult decisions to come? Edward Stourton profiles Andrew Bailey, from his childhood in Leicester all the way to Threadneedle Street. This is not the first crisis in his long banking career, but it may well be the toughest.
Producers: Eleanor Biggs and Rosamund Jones
The coronavirus epidemic is a growing crisis for England's chief medical officer. He has faced criticism from journalists, politicians and public health specialists. Mark Coles finds out about the life and career of Professor Chris Whitty. He is a physician, a plague expert and an epidemiologist. But that's just for starters. He has also studied law, economics and business. But how will he cope with a role in the bright political spotlight? First broadcast on Saturday 14th March 2020. Producers: Ruth Alexander and Eleanor Biggs.
The Home Secretary Priti Patel has been accused of bullying civil servants.
The Cabinet Office is investigating several allegations about Ms Patel's behaviour, all of which she denies.
Sir Philip Rutnam, the Home Office's most senior official, resigned on 29 February, alleging Ms Patel's conduct towards staff included "swearing, belittling people, making unreasonable and repeated demands". Since then, similar allegations have emerged from the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for International Development.
Mark Coles delves into the life and times of the ambitious daughter of Indian newsagents, who wants to follow in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher.
Producer: Ruth Alexander
The UK’s chief Brexit negotiator is hardly a household name and until very recently this former diplomat had no public profile at all. Now David Frost has arguably one of the most challenging jobs in British politics. How has he made it to the top?
Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producers: Eleanor Biggs, Kate Lamble, Olga Smirnova, and Phoebe Keane
The manager who's put Liverpool Football Club on the path to winning the treble and has lead them to so many victories, their lead at the top of the table is the biggest in premier league history. But he wasn't always this successful. When he was a young footballer at Mainz 05 in Germany, his former team mate Guido Shafer says he 'had no talent'. So what can we learn from his childhood in Germany's Black Forest? How did he become the manager he is today?
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producers: Phoebe Keane and Eleanor Biggs
Thanks to BBC 5 Live podcast: At Home With Colin Murray and SWR.
Appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer within just five years of becoming an MP, Rishi Sunak's rise has been rapid. He was parachuted into a safe seat for the Conservative party during the 2015 election and his trajectory has been skywards ever since. However, he takes office under difficult circumstances, the post only became vacant as former Chancellor Sajid Javid rejected the prime minister's order to fire his team of aides, saying "no self-respecting minister" could accept such a condition. So can Rishi Sunak take the helm and will he stand up to the Prime Minister?
The citizen journalist behind the highly acclaimed film 'For Sama', which tells the story of life, love and motherhood in war-torn Aleppo.
Already the winner of 25 awards, including a BAFTA, the documentary is now in the running for an Oscar.
Mark Coles reveals the extraordinary life of the Syrian student compelled to capture the daily lives of citizens trapped in the terror of civil war.
Producers: Phoebe Keane & Diane Richardson
The US Secretary of State caught up in the Ukraine impeachment scandal.
Mike Pompeo has a lot on his plate. He’s at the centre of the impeachment investigation into US President Donald Trump, who’s accused of breaking the law by pressuring Ukraine's president to dig up damaging information on a political rival. He’s pressuring the UK government to look again at its decision to give Chinese company Huawei a role in its 5G mobile phone network. And he’s facing criticism for refusing an extradition request relating to the death of British teenager Harry Dunn. In the week Mike Pompeo visits both the UK and Ukraine, Edward Stourton investigates the life and record of America’s top diplomat.
Producers: Simon Maybin & Diane Richardson Editor: Penny Murphy
The young, black cellist from Nottingham making chart history.
Sheku Kanneh-Mason was the first ever black winner of the BBC’s Young Musician of the Year. He performed with the eyes of the world looking on at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding. And now he's become the first ever cellist to reach the UK’s top 10 album chart. Who is the 20-year-old making classical accessible? Mark Coles finds out from those who know him best.
Producers: Simon Maybin & Diane Richardson Editor: Penny Murphy
The judge taking up the presidency of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom as tensions with the government simmer.
British judges have been under attack like never before in recent years, described as “enemies of the people” by one newspaper. The Supreme Court was accused by Downing Street of making “a serious mistake” in its ruling on the prorogation of Parliament.
The Conservative Party’s election manifesto promised ominously to look at “the relationship between the Government, Parliament and the courts”.
The role of the country’s most senior judge has arguably never been more important.
So who is Lord Reed? Mark Coles investigates.
Producers: Simon Maybin & Diane Richardson
The Australian prime minister feeling the heat over his response to his country’s bushfire crisis.
Pilloried for holidaying in Hawaii while his homeland burned, then heckled on camera by angry victims, Scott Morrison has been making international headlines for all the wrong reasons. It’s not been good PR for someone with a background in marketing and tourism. Mark Coles unpicks the character of Australia’s man of the moment.
Producers: Simon Maybin & Diane Richardson Editor: Hugh Levinson
Becky Milligan looks at the life of Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest woman in British history. An athlete who's also a keen historian, role model and lover of the glitz. For years she's been winning championships and breaking records. But will the great British hope win gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?
Producer: Smita Patel
On ‘Profile’ this week - one of Britain’s most celebrated storytellers.
Michael Morpurgo has written 180 books over the past half century.
Over Christmas, he narrated a new BBC TV film adaptation of his 2014 children’s story ‘Mimi And The Mountain Dragon’.
Morpurgo is best known for ‘War Horse’ - a book about a horse bought by the British army to serve in the First World War and its young owner’s attempts to bring it home to safety.
Turned into a National Theatre play, then a Hollywood movie – it’s made him a household name.
Mark Coles hears from Morpurgo’s wife, brother, biographer and close friends talk about what inspired his writing - the profound impact war had on him as a child and the father he didn’t know for years.
We hear about his time in the army, the charity he set up to give city children experience of the countryside – and why now in his mid 70s, he’s taken up his love of singing again.
Producer Smita Patel Editor Penny Murphy
The programme contains music from the BBC TV Film, "Mimi & the Mountain Dragon", composed by Rachel Portman
Leopards, aliens and Songs of Praise. Mark Coles explores the life of actor John Boyega, whose talent and dedication brought him to the attention of Hollywood.
Producers: Linda Pressly and Di Richardson
Pink trams, flying squirrels and a taste for rock music. Mark Coles finds out about the life and character of Finland's new Prime Minister, Sanna Marin.
The first to graduate in her family, Sanna Marin entered politics at the age of 20 and rose quickly through the ranks of the Social Democratic (SDP) party becoming an MP in 2015. She now leads a five-party governing coalition.
Mark Coles asks colleagues and friends what drives the world's youngest Prime Minister.
We’re profiling the relatively little known RMT union leader Mick Cash this week.
Train guards have begun what they say will be 27 days of strike action across the entire South Western Railway region in December.
More than 600,000 journeys a day are being affected.
The aim, says 59 year old Mick Cash, is to prevent SWR introducing new driver-only controlled trains next year.
Mark Coles tries to find out more about the man.
In the headlines this week was Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Ephraim Mirvis.
Just weeks before the general election he made it clear that he believed Jeremy Corbyn was unfit to become PM because of his record on dealing with anti-Semitism within the Labour party - though Mr Corbyn said the party had taken "rapid and effective" action.
Edward Stourton traces the Chief Rabbi's story, which begins with a childhood in apartheid South Africa. His tenure as Chief Rabbi has been marked by a few liberalising initiatives, which have ruffled feathers and caused some disquiet within the wider Jewish community.
But observers might wonder if the initiatives have gone far enough. He is used to controversy within his own community, but unused to being in the wider public's gaze.
So what persuaded Ephraim Mirvis to enter the political fray and what does his intervention tell us about the man?
Producer: Rosamund Jones
The American rapper and singer nominated for eight Grammy Awards - more than any other artist this year. A global chart-topping success, Lizzo has captivated audiences across the world this year from the Glastonbury festival to America’s Video and Music Awards. A classically trained flautist, her flute even has 250,000 Instagram followers. But she isn’t just celebrated for her music, she’s known for inspiring self-love and acceptance too, earning her icon status in the body positivity movement.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Phoebe Keane and May Cameron
Did Donald Trump ‘bribe’ a foreign power – Ukraine - to try to discredit a political rival ahead of next year’s US Presidential race ?
On Profile this week, we’re looking at Adam Schiff - the man tasked with finding out.
A leading Democrat Congressman and former lawyer, Schiff chairs the House Intelligence Committee and is leading the impeachment investigation.
President Trump calls him biased…a “pencil neck, low life” who’s conducting a “hoax witch-hunt”.
Mark Coles talks to Schiff’s close friends, critics and former colleagues to find out what he’s really like…and why – before getting into politics - he wanted to be a Hollywood movie writer.
Producer: Smita Patel Researcher: May Cameron
Mark Coles profiles the new Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, meeting - among others - his pet parrot, Boris.
Becky Milligan explores how a teacher from the Sydney suburbs came to lead England into the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher May Cameron.
We explore the life and career of British artist Bridget Riley as a new retrospective of her work opens at London's Hayward Gallery. She found fame in the sixties with a series of challenging black and white abstract works. Now in her eighties, she's still producing new work - perhaps even her best, according to some critics.
Producer: Smita Patel Researcher: May Cameron
Bernardine Evaristo is the first black British woman to win the Booker Prize. Her novel Girl, Woman, Other shared the 2019 award with Margaret Atwood’s The Testaments. Mark Coles has been finding out about Evaristo's life as an activist, actor and writer.
Producer: Smita Patel Researcher: May Cameron
The president of Turkey has controversially sent troops into northern Syria. The decision has been widely condemned by foreign leaders and at home there are signs that his popularity could be fading. But how did Recep Tayyip Erdogan rise to power? How did the son of a sea captain end up in a palace of a thousand rooms?
This week's Profile is the tale of two Rudys: a divisive figure fighting for his - and Donald Trump’s - political life. And a man who united his nation in its darkest hours.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producer: Neal Razzell
Baroness Hale, President of the Supreme Court, was wearing a giant spider brooch as she delivered this week’s bombshell ruling that Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament was unlawful. "Spiderwoman takes down the Hulk" was the headline in one newspaper. Mark Coles looks at the life of the first woman to lead the UK's highest court.
Producers: Smita Patel and Jordan Dundar Researcher: Darin Graham
The former Wales and British Lions captain, Gareth Thomas, has been headline news this week after announcing he’s living with HIV.
In Wales, Thomas is a legend.
In 2005, he led the national team to its first Six Nations grand slam title for 27 years…became the first Welsh player to be capped 100 times for his country.
Mark Coles talks his friends and former colleagues. We hear about his early days as a postman, his success on the field and how he became one of the first sporting superstars to come out as gay.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Darin Graham Editor Penny Murphy
The life story of Commons Speaker John Bercow. He has announced he will stand down at the end of October after ten highly controversial years in the job. In turbulent political times, he’s proved to be a polarizing figure. For some, he is the backbencher’s champion - the most modernising Speaker in parliament’s history. Others accuse him of bias, and deliberately trying to stop Brexit.
Mark Coles talks to friends, colleagues and critics of Speaker Bercow - hearing about his long political journey which started on the far right - and how he wooed his now wife with feats of rhetoric. And with his thunderous shouts of ‘Order Order’ now mimicked and memed around the world, we hear how for some, he has become an unlikely social media superstar.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Darin Graham
This week David Gauke - MP for South West Hertfordshire - shook the government he served as a cabinet minister only a few weeks ago, voting to stop Boris Johnson taking the UK out of the EU without a deal. He's given the Tory rebels their label: the "Gaukeward Squad." Edward Stourton looks at the life of this unlikely rebel.
Producers: Darin Graham and Smita Patel
Peter Navarro is the economist and key White House advisor who’s egged President Trump on in his bitter trade war with China. It’s a conflict some fear threatens the stability of the global economy.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Darin Graham
Arguably the most controversial appointment of new Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s reshuffle was that of 47-year-old Dominic Cummings as his head of Brexit strategy. After serving as Michael Gove’s special adviser in the Department for Education, his role as the mastermind behind Vote Leave changed the course of British history – and now he is back to finish what he started. How did a swotty schoolboy from Durham come to be hailed as a political genius, and the most feared – and revered – man in Whitehall?
Presented by Becky Milligan Produced by Jordan Dunbar Researched by Kirsteen Knight and Eleanor Biggs
Ihlan Omar is the 37-year-old Somali-born US congresswoman - one of only two Muslim women ever elected to Congress - who's become a thorn in President Trump’s side and on the receiving end of his temper. Omar was one of four congresswomen Trump told to “go back” to where they came from. So who is Ilhan Omar, why has she got the President’s back up - and what's he really up to in targeting her? Mark Coles has been finding out.
Thank you to Norah Shapiro for use of clips from her documentary 'Time for Ilhan'.
Researchers: Khadidja Ndiaye and Kirsteen Knight Producer: Phoebe Keane
German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen is likely to replace Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission in November. Mark Coles tells her story so far.
Producer Smita Patel
The US women’s football team has made it to the World Cup final. One American newspaper has described the team's iconic player - Megan Rapinoe - as the most important athlete on the planet right now. But she isn't only a sensation on the pitch. She's a controversial figure off it.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producer: Viv Jones
It's Britain's top civil servant this week: Sir Mark Sedwill, Cabinet Secretary and the UK’s National Security Adviser. He's the first person to juggle both roles at the same time. And - what with Brexit, a new PM, perhaps even a looming constitutional crisis - he's doing it at a time of serious uncertainty. So: who is he?
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Ben Crighton
Joshua Wong has gone from schoolboy protester to the face of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong - a passionate defender of the territory’s right to self determination. He’s been repeatedly arrested and jailed. Now this week - fresh out of prison - the 22-year-old Wong is back in the limelight, putting himself on a collision course with the authorities in mainland China.
Jo Swinson is the bookies favourite to win the Liberal Democrat leadership race and take over from Vince Cable. But can this 'millennial' politician from a suburb of Glasgow, be the woman who takes the Liberal Democrats to election victory?
This week Sadiq Khan was called a "stone cold loser" and mocked for his compact stature by the President of the United States. But London's mayor hit back. He described the President's behaviour as that of an 11 year old. Becky Milligan profiles the first Muslim to become mayor of a European capital.
Producer: Ben Carter
Sonita Alleyne is the jazz-loving businesswoman who's just been appointed Master of a Cambridge College - the first black woman to take on such a role.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Ben Carter
John Bolton is the hawkish and famously moustachioed US national security adviser using the ear of the President to push a hard line on Iran.
Producer: Ben Carter
He's the post-punk storyteller with a taste for panto and The Smiths. Becky Milligan profiles the new poet laureate, Simon Armitage.
Producer: Ben Carter
Penny Mordaunt has just been handed her dream job. This daughter of a former paratrooper has been appointed Britain’s new Defence Secretary following Gavin Williamson’s sacking. She’s the first woman ever to hold the role. A Brexiter, Royal Navy reservist, reality TV contestant and one-time magician’s assistant, some Conservatives apparently see Penny Mordaunt as a potential future leader.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Ben Carter
Andy Evans has been at the forefront of the campaign to secure justice for himself and thousands of others - many who have not survived - affected by what’s been called the worst scandal in NHS history. Next week he’ll give evidence at the Infected Blood Inquiry. He's waited a long time. The group he co-founded, Tainted Blood, takes as its motto words from the philosopher Voltaire: “to the living we owe respect, to the dead we owe only the truth”.
Producer: Smita Patel Researcher: Tural Ahmedzade Editor: Richard Knight
Loyle Carner might not be a household name yet. But in the music world this week he’s the one everyone's talking about; a young British hip hop artist rapping about things the macho world of hip hop usually ignores - like family. His 2017 debut album was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Now the follow up - ‘Not Waving But Drowning’ - is poised in the charts to bring him mainstream success.
Producer: Smita Patel Researcher: Tural Ahmedzade Editor: Richard Knight
As Libya edges towards civil war, Becky Milligan looks at the life of the man behind the most recent conflict, which began with his military assault on the city of Tripoli.
Known as "The Strongman", Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar comes from a family of soldiers and as a young man admired his fellow army student Muammar Gaddafi, who would later denounce him after their disastrous defeat in a war in Chad.
He was given refuge by the Americans and ended up living for twenty years in Langley, Virginia, home of the CIA, before returning to Libya, with the self-proclaimed aim of saving the country from extremists.
Producers Smita Patel & Tural Ahmedzade Editor Andrew Smith
The England and Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose says he’s had enough of being on the end of racist abuse at matches and “can’t wait to leave football behind”.
On Profile this week, Mark Coles tries to find out why.
Friends and colleagues talk about the footballer’s formative years, his remarkable premiership debut against arch-rivals Arsenal and how a knee injury sparked depression and introspection.
But it’s racism that dominates his story.
A black player representing England in international matches, he’s been subjected to racist chanting and abuse.
After last month’s Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro, he said , enough is enough… it’s time for football’s governing bodies to stamp it out.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Tural Ahmedzade Editor Emma Rippon
The primary school teacher at the centre of a row over LGBT rights has said he's received threats. Pupils have been pulled out of Parkfield School in Birmingham and parents have protested outside the school gates, chanting 'Say no to No Outsiders'. No Outsiders is the programme Andrew Moffat designed to teach pupils to be accepting of different types of people - despite their race, religion or sexuality. Some story books he uses feature families with two mothers or two fathers. He says he designed the programme so that no child has to hide who they are as he did when he was young.
Thanks to the Varkey Foundation for footage of the Global Teacher Prize.
Producers: Viv Jones, Phoebe Keane
The Conservative MP Sir Oliver Letwin made headlines this week when he persuaded the Commons to try to agree an alternative plan for Brexit. Mark Coles profiles the member for West Dorset, who has previously been in the news for - among other things - accidentally letting burglars into his home.
The New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has received international attention for her response to the Christchurch attacks. Her call for unity was followed by swift action to tighten the country’s gun laws. Edward Stourton looks at the rise of this young leader.
Producer: Phoebe Keane
(Jacinda Ardern DJing audio courtesy of Marty Duda and The 13th Floor)
The inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, is celebrating 30 years of his creation. He's also issued a warning that the Web could plunge towards a "dysfunctional future". Mark Coles looks at the life of the pioneering computer scientist.
Producer: Phoebe Keane
Nan Goldin is a cultural icon and pioneer of art photography celebrated for her provocative and intimate photos of drag queens, drug addicts and sex. But recently she has been generating headlines not for her art but for her activism. The photographer has been fighting the US opioid epidemic after battling her own addiction to prescription painkillers.
CORRECTION: In this edition of Profile we said Nan Goldin has protested on the steps of the Museum of Modern Art. In fact she has protested on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Producers: Viv Jones and Tural Ahmedzade
Protest audio courtesy of Mike Quinn
CRISPR Cas9 has been described as the greatest biological breakthrough in decades. The hopes resting on this gene editing technology are immense - this week a Swiss drug company announced it is beginning a landmark clinical trial using CRISPR on a patient with a dangerous blood disease. Mark Coles profiles one of the creators of the technology, the American biochemist Jennifer Doudna.
Clarification: In 2018 a federal court confirmed that the patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office to the Broad Institute, MIT and Harvard concerning CRISPR editing of eukaryotic genomes do not interfere with patent claims filed by the University of California, Berkeley where Jennifer Doudna is based. A new decision in February 2019 has granted Jennifer Doudna and her team the patent at the heart of this intellectual property dispute. Jennifer Doudna and her team have been granted several substantial patents for CRISPR technology.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Viv Jones, Tural Ahmedzade
MP Luciana Berger resigned from the Labour Party this week to join the newly-formed Independent Group. For years she has been the target of sustained anti-Semitic abuse, and has criticised the Labour Party's handling of the issue. One of the reasons she gave for leaving the party is that she has come to view it as "institutionally anti-Semitic”. Her resignation comes within days of her facing a vote of no-confidence in her Liverpool Wavertree constituency, which was withdrawn after a bitter row.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producer: Viv Jones, Tural Ahmedzade Editor: Penny Murphy
The transport secretary's critics call him “failing Grayling" - an unkind nickname, perhaps, but one made more likely to stick by his infamous decision to award a valuable contract to a Brexit ferry company with no ferries. He cancelled the contract this week amid much derision in Parliament.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer; Sally Abrahams
We’re talking buildings and monuments on Profile this week – looking at the life and career of Sir David Adjaye. The 52-year-old British-Ghanaian architect shot to fame in the US for his 2016 Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington DC. An exhibition featuring his work has just opened in London.
Producer: Sally Abrahams Presenter: Mark Coles
Juan Guaidó - who recently declared himself Venezuela’s president - was elected to the National Assembly in 2011 and won the seat of his home state in 2016. But he only really came to prominence more recently when he was picked to head Venezuela's parliament, the National Assembly.
US President Donald Trump has recognised Guaidó as the country’s legitimate leader - as has Canada, Brazil, Australia and the European parliament - but, for now, Nicolás Maduro is showing no signs of giving way.
In this edition of Profile Edward Stourton traces Guaidó’s life and hears from his family, friends and those who have followed his career. Guaidó grew up in the beachside state of Vargas where his family survived the horrendous 1999 mudslide tragedy. Juan’s mother, Norka Marquez, tells Edward how her family lost everything in that disaster.
Producer: Darin Graham
Conservative MP Nick Boles has hatched a plan with Labour's Yvette Cooper to reduce the chances of a 'no deal' Brexit. Their amendment - with cross party support - will be put to the Commons next week. Becky Milligan profiles a rebel who has survived cancer twice and has spent a surprising amount of time throwing shapes on Ibiza dance floors.
Researcher: Darin Graham Producer: Smita Patel Editor: Richard Knight
There’s only one story this week. People up and down the country are bitterly divided. Yes, it’s the vegan sausage roll. The latest PR-friendly innovation from bakery-turned-fast food chain Greggs. But the success of this faux meat pastry product is just the latest chapter in what is one of the retail turnaround stories of the past decade. Down in the doldrums five years ago these days Greggs is on a – ahem – roll. And it’s largely down to one man, apparently: Roger Whiteside, our subject this week.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Smita Patel
On Profile this week, Mark Coles looks at the most powerful woman in American politics – the veteran Democratic congresswoman and new Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
It’s a remarkable comeback for her…it puts her third in line to the Presidency itself.
Having first done the job back in 2007 when George W Bush was Commander in Chief – now 78, many thought Pelosi was too old this time round. But only a week into the role, she’s already engaged in a bitter war of words with President Trump over his demand for Congress to fund his Mexico border wall. For many, with the Democrats now controlling Congress, Nancy Pelosi is set to become the face of opposition to the President for the next two years.
We hear from childhood friends, former colleagues and those who’ve followed her career down the decades.
From campaigning for her dad when he was Mayor of Baltimore back in the 1940s to helping President Obama reform American health care, we examine Nancy Pelosi’s life and career and – in these turbulent times – look at the challenges that lie ahead for her.
Producer: Smita Patel Researcher: Darin Graham Editor: Penny Murphy
Grime music's biggest star, Stormzy, says he's from a place "where success doesn't happen". But he's had a remarkable rise to fame. Six years ago Stormzy, real name Michael Omari, was working at an oil refinery in Southampton. Now, he's a millionaire. His success began with his debut album Gang Signs & Prayer, the first grime record to reach number one. It's not just his music that has made him a household name in the UK. During the 2017 General Election, he lent his support to Jeremy Corbyn and at the Brit Awards last year he used his fame to speak out against the Government's response to Grenfell. This summer Stormzy will be the first grime act to headline at Glastonbury, his performance to beamed to million across the world.
Producer: Oliver Jones Presenter: Mark Coles
Melania Trump is the second foreign-born First Lady and Donald Trump’s third wife; an ex-model, 24 years his junior, who once posed pregnant in a gold bikini on the steps of her husband’s jet. It was modelling that took Melania from small-town Slovenia to New York and her fateful encounter with the future President. But despite being one of the most recognisable woman in the world she remains something an enigma. So who is Melania Trump? What does she believe? And what might she do on the global stage which – however improbably, given her origins in far away Slovenia – she now shares with the President of the United States?
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producer: Ben Crighton
Photo by Stane Jerko
The founder of Netflix, the streaming service that’s turned us all into binge watchers.
It's Christmas and for many that means settling in to watch seasonal TV. But traditional broadcasters have a big rival: Netflix. With 125 million subscribers worldwide it's changed television. So who is Reed Hastings, the man behind the seismic shift in broadcasting, and how did he do it?
Thanks to CBS/60 Minutes for audio of Reed Hastings.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Phoebe Keane
Gail Bradbrook is one of the founders of a radical and rapidly-growing environmental protest group called Extinction Rebellion. Its aim: using non-violent direct action to force governments to tackle climate change. It’s energised a lot of people who’re fed up with what they see as the slow pace of change. And it’s won support from the great and good of the environmental world. One hundred leading academics, authors, politicians and religious leaders have endorsed it. But critics have likened the group to a watermelon; green on the outside, red on the inside. So who is Gail Bradbrook? And where is she leading Extinction Rebellion?
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Arlene Gregorius
Photo Credit: Martin Lever/Core Periphery
He's the Attorney General who this week told MPs to 'grow up' and 'get real.' Becky Milligan profiles Geoffrey Cox QC, whose rousing Parliamentary performance lost the argument but won admirers. Becky meets a former teacher who recollects a young poet, colleagues who recall flamboyant courtroom appearances and a clerk whose mission was to deliver forbidden treats.
Producers: Phoebe Keane and Diane Richardson Editor: Richard Knight
It's almost crunch time for Theresa May as she prepares for the Commons vote on her Brexit withdrawal agreement. The numbers do not appear to be on her side. It's thought as many 100 Conservative MPs are planning to vote against it. The government's chief whip is Julian Smith. It's his rather daunting job to persuade rebel Tory MPs to vote with the PM. Can he do it? We look for clues in his life story so far.
Producer: Oliver Jones Presenter: Mark Coles
The new chair of the Parole Board, the body that decides when and if the most serious prisoners can be released into the community.
The Parole Board was thrust into the spotlight when it ruled that John Worboys, the "black cab rapist," could be released from jail. Worboys' victims launched a legal challenge and The High Court ruled in their favour, forcing the parole board to perform a u-turn. The head stepped down and the new chair of the Parole Board is Caroline Corby. She'll have to oversee major changes, but she hasn't had a traditional route into criminal justice. She's written children's books and worked in the city. Mark Coles finds out how she travelled this unusual path.
There were extraordinary scenes in New York this week when the Brooklyn Bridge was closed to all traffic apart from a motorcade of heavily-armored cars. They were taking Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán to court. For the US authorities, this moment was a long time coming. And they had every reason to expect trouble. El Chapo - the infamous Mexican drug lord - is one of the most brutal, feared and powerful men in the world. He has slipped through the fingers of justice several times before. Becky Milligan tells the remarkable story of El Chapo's improbable life. The programme contains reference to some violent and distressing acts.
Producer: Phoebe Keane
The story of the youngest woman ever elected to the US congress. Five months ago, nobody knew who Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was. Now she’s been dubbed the future of the Democratic Party. When she dared to challenge a long standing Democratic congressman in June’s primaries, she had no money and no experience. But against all odds she won by a staggering 15 points. She was catapulted into the spotlight and in this week's mid term elections she won a place in the House of Representatives, breaking records to become the youngest woman ever to be voted into Congress.
She grew up in the Bronx but her parents worked hard to send her to a good school in the suburbs. Her father died when she was in her twenties, leaving her working at a taco restaurant to help her Puerto Rican mother pay the bills. She didn't let that stop her and campaigned for Bernie Sanders while waiting tables and serving Margaritas. Fast forward a year, this waitress is now billed as the future of the Democratic Party.
Mark Coles follows Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s journey to Congress, speaking to her friends, supporters, critics and those she’s inspired.
Thank you to New York One TV news for the footage of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez winning the Primary.
Brazil's new President-elect has a reputation for speaking his mind regardless of who he offends, earning him the nickname 'Trump of the Tropics'. He's suggested gay neighbours would decrease the value of his home, told a female politician "I would never rape you, because you don't deserve it" and declared his support for torture.
Jair Bolsonaro grew up in a poor village in Sao Paolo and came of age during Brazil's long military dictatorship. He paid his way through school by selling fish he caught with friends in the local river then joined the army, where he made a name for himself as a campaigner for better pay. After leaving the military, he entered politics, winning a seat in Congress. There, he moved between nine different political parties before standing as a candidate for the Presidency.
Edward Stourton traces Jair Bolsonaro's journey to the top of Brazilian politics, speaking to his supporters, to those who have studied his rise and to one of his many critics.
Producer: Oliver Jones Research and translation: Laura Gozzi Editor: Richard Vadon
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, is at the centre of a storm over the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
This week the Crown Prince broke his silence and denounced the killing. But with Donald Trump calling it “the worst cover up ever” and Western leaders threatening sanctions, will his path to the Saudi throne be blocked?
Helen Grady finds out how the young prince – now aged 33 – came to power so quickly.
A Washington-based analyst tells us why he’d argue the Crown Prince is a reformer, but not the kind the West thought he’d be.
And we talk to a Middle East expert about whether she thinks the Khashoggi killing has damaged Mohammed bin Salman’s reputation.
Producers Smita Patel & Oliver Jones Editor Penny Murphy
Government minister Esther McVey has become a lightening rod for anger about benefit cuts and welfare reform.
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions knows all about financial struggle, starting out in life as a foster child.
Mark Coles finds out how the former presenter has gone from a breakfast TV sofa to the front benches of the House of Commons.
In a rare interview, Esther’s father Jim tells us why he decided to put his daughter into care, and how he helped kick-start her on-screen career.
We find out what a former producer really thinks of her, and her partner Conservative MP Philip Davies reveals what made him fall for Esther.
British blogger Eliot Higgins and his investigative website Bellingcat have been making headlines around the world this week with claims that they’ve uncovered the true identities of two Russian men suspected of carrying out a nerve agent attack in Salisbury. Not tourists as the Kremlin maintains – but highly decorated members of Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU.
Higgins – isn’t your typical journalist. A former video gamer, in the past he’s worked for a bank, an oil rig company even a lingerie firm.
Unlike old-school foreign correspondents, he uses ‘armchair analytics’ – what he calls ‘open source’ materials like Facebook, twitter and Google earth to try to uncover what’s really going on in far away conflicts.
Chemical weapons in Syria, the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over Ukraine and most recently the attempted poisoning of Sergei and Julia Skripal in Salisbury, he’s had one scoop after another.
On Profile this week, Mark Coles tries to discover more about the man.
His brother Ross Higgins, gives us his first ever broadcast interview.
Guardian journalist Luke Harding explains why he thinks Higgins is a pioneer, in digital investigative journalism.
And we hear from those who suspect Eliot Higgins is being used as a front
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Oliver Jones Editor Emma Rippon
As the new series of Dr Who launches, Mark Coles profiles the life of new Dr Who script writer and distinguished children's author Malorie Blackman.
The former Children's Laureate has been called a “phenomenal author and a childhood hero” by rapper Stormzy and name checked on Tiny Tempah's hit Written In The Stars.
She has written over 60 books for children and young adults, plays the drums, speaks several languages and apparently Klingon.
Producers: Diane Richardson, Smita Patel and Jade Thompson. Editor: Emma Rippon
“One of the greatest comebacks in sporting history”.
That’s how US journalists reacted to golfer Tiger Woods winning the PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta last weekend.
Having struggled with injury and the fall-out from marital infidelity, Woods hadn’t won for five years.
Many thought he was finished.
This weekend, as the comeback kid joins the US Ryder Cup team in Paris, Mark Coles looks back on Tiger Woods’ life and career.
We hear from former friends and associates, his first ever golf coach as well as the man who taught him to dive.
There’s archive of the young Tiger Woods making his first ever TV appearance age two and his late father, Earl – the man credited with turning his son into one of golf’s greatest ever players.
And ‘the Voice of Golf’ - the veteran BBC commentator and player Peter Alliss gives us his unique take on the man many call the greatest athlete of the early twenty first century.
Producers Smita Patel & Darin Graham Editor Emma Rippon
BBC TV’s ‘Killing Eve’ is all the rage this week - a new drama about an MI5 officer trying to catch a Russian assassin which has earned near unanimous rave reviews .
On Profile, Mark Coles examines the life of the show’s creator – the actor and writer Phoebe Waller-Bridge.
From childhood poetry about frogs to mooning on stage and ‘Fleabag’ - her award winning TV show about a sex obsessed singleton, we find out why Waller-Bridge seems determined to shock her audience.
We hear from her close friend & writing partner, her former English teacher and the author of the book ‘Killing Eve’is based on.
America is bitterly divided.
Should conservative Judge Brett Kavanaugh be given a seat on the US Supreme Court ?
Opponents fear his appointment - if confirmed later this month - will shift the country's most powerful legislative body further right and turn the clock back on decades of civil and human rights reforms. Others argue he's only been nominated by President Trump to ensure he can't be prosecuted for any perceived wrongdoing in the Russia collusion investigation. Nonsense, say his supporters. Kavanaugh, they insist, is a fair and decent man driven by law rather than politics.
On Profile this week, Mark Coles looks at Kavanaugh's life and career. .
We hear from former college friends, colleagues who worked with him trying to get President Clinton impeached in the 1990s as well as young law students he mentors today.
From abortion to gun ownership, basketball, rap and spaghetti with ketchup... we get the lowdown on why Brett Kavanaugh is such a polarising figure.
Producers Smita Patel & Darin Graham Editor Penny Murphy.
As political rebrands go, it's an unlikely one - say his critics.
The shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell - former hard man of the left this week playing peacemaker in a row between Jewish groups and Labour over the party's stance on anti-Semitism.
On Profile this week, Mark Coles goes in search of the real John McDonnell.
A journey which takes us from his working class Liverpudlian roots, his time fighting Thatcher at the GLC and into parliament where his hard left politics reviled New Labour and where two decades on he's got his revenge...reshaping the party in his own image after he helped elect Jeremy Corbyn as leader.
From bingo to making marmalade....we get the lowdown on John McDonnell.
Producers Smita Patel & Darin Graham Editor Emma Rippon.
It's been a long time coming.
A sticker on the cover of Jamaican born writer Victor Headley's 1992 novel 'Yardie' said "soon to be made into a major movie". A quarter of a century on, it finally has.
Directed by British actor Idris Elba, the film - about violent Jamaican drug gangs operating in London in the 1980s - opens this weekend.
On Profile this week, Mark Coles finds out more about the man who wrote the original story. Described by a friend, as an 'enigma wrapped in a mystery'. We hear from friends who grew up with him in Jamaica, from his daughter Sol - who was just eight when her father wrote the book. And we find out why at the height of his success he fled to Africa for ten years. And what he makes of the new movie.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Darin Graham.
In 2014, one of the oldest financial institutions in the City of London, Lloyd's, appointed its first ever female chief executive, Inga Beale. Next year, she will step down from the role.
A champion for diversity in the workplace, Beale has overseen big cultural and technological changes at the insurance market - some controversial. A drinking ban for Lloyd's employees during working hours made the headlines in 2017, as did a loosening of the famously conservative dress code.
She has faced other challenges during her leadership, notably Brexit and a "disastrous" 2017, which was one of the worst ever years for natural disasters globally. Big insurance pay-outs led to Lloyd's reporting a £2bn loss that year.
Inga Beale, one of the UK's few openly bisexual senior business leaders, did not follow a typical route to the top. She dropped out of financial services for a year to go back-packing in Asia and Australia, and is a former competitive rugby player.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Clare Spencer, Elisabeth Mahy and Bethan Head.
The vocalist, multi-instrumentalist and YouTube star Jacob Collier has some very famous fans.
Music industry titan Quincy Jones described him as an absolute genius and asked to work with him.
But Jacob declined his invitation and suggested instead if they could just be friends.
He wanted to make his first album on his own terms. The gamble paid off as he went on to win two Grammy awards.
And now, at just 23 years old, he is performing his own Prom at the Royal Albert Hall.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Ben Crighton and Clare Spencer.
Dominic Raab has been thrust into the key government role of Brexit secretary following the resignation David Davis.
The 44-year-old was tipped for high office from the moment he was elected to the safe Conservative seat of Esher and Walton in 2010.
His rise through the ministerial ranks has not been without controversy, with Theresa May accusing him of fuelling gender warfare by describing some feminists as "obnoxious bigots".
With just months to go to broker a deal with EU negotiators, not to mention steering Brexit through a divided Commons, the amateur boxer and karate black belt has got a real fight on his hands.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Ben Crighton, Clare Spencer.
Serena Williams has dominated the tennis scene since 1999 with 23 grand slam titles to her name. Last year she added marriage and motherhood to her achievements.
In September 2017, Serena Williams nearly died in childbirth. Ten months on she's back on Wimbledon's Centre Court hoping for her 8th title at the All England Club.
Becky Milligan speaks to Serena's first tennis coach and hears how tennis has been in her blood since a young age.
But this Williams sister doesn't just put on a performance on the court, as you'll hear she's partial to karaoke.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producer: Clare Spencer Researcher: Bethan Head.
Since Matteo Salvini was sworn in as Italy's Interior Minister, his controversial stance on immigration, Roma people and the European Union has made the headlines.
The press have dubbed him the European Donald Trump and commentators say he could pose a threat to the existence of the European Union as we know it.
This week he was in the news again, for refusing to allow another migrant rescue ship to dock in Italy and for his radical proposals to crack down on migration.
But his perfect day would be a much quieter one, in the Italian mountains with his TV host partner and a fishing rod in hand.
Presenter: Helen Grady Producer: Clare Spencer Researchers: Bethan Head and Francesca Marchese Editor: Emma Rippon.
Labelled 'the rebel who forgot to rebel', who is Dominic Grieve? Some political commentators thought the Conservative MP, and former Attorney General, could inflict a significant parliamentary defeat on the government. He wanted the Commons to have more of a say over the final outcome of Brexit negotiations. But he called off his own rebellion on Wednesday.
Grieve was called the modern day grand old Duke of York - accused of marching the troops to the top of the hill, only to march them down again.
His wife Caroline tells Mark Coles he has been misunderstood, and describes how he agonised over this week's vote. She also outlines some of the quirkier aspects of her husband's character.
Producer: Smita Patel and Clare Spencer Researcher: Bethan Head Editor: Penny Murphy.
Footballer Gareth Southgate's career has been haunted by a decisive penalty he missed against Germany in the semi-final of Euro '96.
Even when he went on honeymoon to Bali a Buddhist monk reminded him of that miss.
Now he has a chance to make amends - this time as England manager at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
His path to the top job has not followed the conventional route, being sacked from his only other management role.
But commentators say he has the attributes of a great leader.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Smita Patel and Clare Spencer Editor: Emma Rippon.
Characterised as both a benevolent philanthropist and as a meddling influence, George Soros has been present at some of the most defining moments in modern history.
Soros was born into a Hungarian Jewish family, and later took on a false identity to survive the Nazi occupation in 1944. It was an experience that shaped his life and his outlook and he went on to escape to the West via his knowledge of the international language Esperanto.
Beginning his career as a tobacco salesman, Soros went on to fund one of the most successful hedge funds in US history. Known for his high risk and brazen approach, he is infamous for his involvement in the devaluation of the British pound, known as Black Wednesday.
But his career as a financial investor was not limited to the markets - he went on to use his money to promote non-violent democratisation in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. More recently he has proved a controversial figure, providing funding for the pro-Remain campaign in the UK Brexit debate and is now the subject of vilification by the leaders of his native Hungary.
Presenter: Ed Stourton
Producer: Clare Spencer and Serena Tarling.
The leader of Sinn Féin, Mary Lou McDonald has been a face of the campaign to scrap a ban on abortions.
In a referendum, voters in the Republic of Ireland voted overwhelmingly to overturn the abortion ban.
The campaign also increased the profile of Ms McDonald who took over as the leader of Sinn Féin in February.
Her personal story is very different from other leading Sinn Féin politicians.
Growing up in a middle class suburb of Dublin - a world away from the tough areas of Northern Ireland most Sinn Féin leaders knew during the years of the Troubles - insiders asked whether her untypical background would work for or against her.
Presenter: Ed Stourton Producers: Estelle Doyle, Clare Spencer.
Few Italians had heard of Giuseppe Conte when they found out he would most probably become their new prime minister.
President Sergio Mattarella approved his nomination as prime minister after a deadlock which had seen Italy without a government for 11 weeks.
The surprise candidate is a law professor in Florence and has no political experience. Even people close to him said he had never mentioned politics.
In the first few days of new-found fame he was accused of embellishing his CV, which he denied.
But as PM he could now become a key player influencing the future of the European Union.
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Estelle Doyle, Clare Spencer
Editor: Emma Rippon.
You may know him as Childish Gambino, the creator of viral video hit 'This is America' or as the Emmy award winning actor and director of comedy drama Atlanta.
Mark Coles profiles Donald Glover, the multi-talented American comedian, record producer, songwriter, rapper and DJ who is forcing the world to confront racism, violence and societies contradictions.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Estelle Doyle and Diane Richardson Editor: Emma Rippon.
Donald Trump's choice for CIA director, Gina Haspel. Mark Coles profiles the controversial figure whose nomination has forced her out of the shadows to face difficult questions.
Gina Haspel describes herself as a typical middle-class American but the testimony of former colleagues reveals a skilled intelligence operative with an empirical mind, a taste for adventure and a talent for infiltrating terrorist cells.
At her confirmation hearing this week she was commended as an intelligence professional with unwavering honesty but was also grilled about the use of "enhanced interrogation" techniques, the waterboarding of terrorist suspects at a CIA base she ran and the subsequent destruction of evidence. The interrogation issue could block her confirmation by the Senate.
Mark Coles talks to former colleagues and security experts about the agent who's spent 30 years trying not to be noticed but who now needs to convince US Senators that she's right for the top job.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Estelle Doyle and Diane Richardson Editor: Helen Grady.
Born in Rochdale to Pakistani parents, the new Home Secretary Sajid Javid had a modest start in life. His father worked as a bus driver before moving to Bristol to open a women's clothes shop - the family of seven squeezing into a two-bed flat above it.
Despite these humble beginnings, Javid quickly achieved success, wealth and power. After studying at Exeter University, where he gained a reputation as a committed Thatcherite, he became an investment banker and a multi-millionaire. Javid then moved into politics, becoming a Minister in just four years.
His journey to the top of British politics has not always been smooth - as Business Secretary he was criticised for appearing to be caught unawares by Tata Steel's plans to close its Port Talbot plant at the cost of thousands of jobs.
He now faces his biggest challenge yet as, in the wake of the Windrush controversy, he takes over a Home Office that has been accused of institutional racism.
Mark Coles speaks to friends, colleagues and opponents to find out more about this driven high-flyer.
Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Diane Richardson Editor: Helen Grady.
Tottenham MP David Lammy has been leading the parliamentary charge for the Windrush generation as they fight for their residency rights. Mark Coles charts the life and career of one of parliament's most formidable campaigners.
Born in North London to Guyanese parents, Lammy grew up in Tottenham but moved to Peterborough aged 11 after winning a council scholarship to the city's cathedral boarding school. He went on to study law in London and at Harvard. Then, after a brief spell as a barrister, he became MP for his home borough of Tottenham at the age of just 27. His political career soon took off, with Tony Blair making him a minister in the New Labour government and Lammy was quickly hailed as 'the Black Blair' or 'Britain's Obama'. But not everything went smoothly for the junior minister.
Since Labour went into opposition, Lammy has spent his time on the back benches. There, he's found his political voice and passion as a defender of those he feels have been failed by the system - from the Grenfell fire victims, to working-class young people struggling to get into top universities, and now the Windrush immigrants. Alastair Campbell calls him "a good old-fashioned class warrior, in the best possible sense".
Mark Coles meets some of the people who know Lammy best - from childhood friends, former teachers and his beloved 'Aunty May' who firmly believes that, one day, her godson will be Britain's first black Prime Minister.
Presenter: Mark Coles. Producers: Diane Richardson and Arlene Gregorius Editor: Helen Grady.
Mark Coles profiles Pulitzer Prize winning rapper Kendrick Lamar, whose concepts and ideas are changing hip-hop culture.
Lamar won the award for his latest album Damn, which also collected five Grammy awards in January and is praised for lyrics which reveal the complexity of modern African-American life.
Growing up in the deprived city of Compton, California, Lamar credits his father with keeping him on the right path and providing the balance that some of his peers were missing. His album good kid, m.A.A.d city tells the stories of young black men trying to escape the negative influences surrounding them.
Lamar's lyrical journey explores violence, depression, religion and also the limits of fame and fortune, he's the rapper who says that helping the next generation find positivity and God is where it's at.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Diane Richardson Editor: Emma Rippon.
Karen Pierce is the UK's new Permanent Representative at the UN in New York, Britain's most senior ambassadorial post. She only started in the role three weeks ago and has been thrown in at the deep end with the chemical weapons attack in Syria. Friends and colleagues alike are struck by her glamorous and colourful sense of style. This includes high heels, to the dismay of her security detail in places like Afghanistan, who fear her footwear could impede a swift exit. We hear how she tackles meetings fearlessly, and has been known to reduce a roomful of shouting men to silence, without raising her voice.
Becky Milligan looks at the life of an unusual diplomat, who may now be facing her biggest challenge yet.
Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Ros Jones.
Daniel Ek, co-founder and CEO of music streaming service Spotify. Mark Coles tracks the life of the shy Swede transforming the music industry.
This week 35-year-old Daniel Ek became very, very rich when his company Spotify floated on the New York Stock Exchange - with an initial value of more than $26 billion.
It's a long way from his home in a working-class suburb of Stockholm where Daniel's interest in both music and computers was piqued at an early age.
He started his first businesses while a teenager, in between starring in school musicals, and earned his first fortune in his early 20s.
He launched Spotify in 2006 with business partner Martin Lorentzon, with a goal to 'save the music industry' at a time when illegal downloads were eating into profits.
Today Spotify has revolutionised the way we listen to music and last year Daniel Ek was named the most-powerful person in the music industry by Billboard magazine - but what does the future hold in store for the tech industry's latest billionaire?
CONTRIBUTORS
Tony Kinberg, Daniel Ek's former music teacher
Kina Zeidler, journalist and author of Det Svenska Techundret (The Swedish Tech Miracle)
Jonas Nordlander, co-founder & CEO of Avito and founder and former owner of Tradera.
Pelle Lidell, founder of EKKO Music Rights Europe and former executive at Universal Music
D.A. Wallach - musician, tech investor and former artists services lead at Spotify
Diego Planas, former Spotify employee.
Taking on Trump, horse trials and dancing dogs. Presenter Mark Coles explores the life of Stormy Daniels, the award winning adult film actress who's revolutionising the porn industry and has previously considered a career in politics.
Presenter Mark Coles Producers: Jordan Dunbar and Diane Richardson.
Nigel Oakes was a pioneer of 'behaviour dynamics', the art of influencing people. He set up a successful company, Strategic Communications Limited, which boasts clients from NATO to the UK government. But now he finds himself caught up in the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
He was born in 1962 into a world of privilege. Schooled at Eton, his father was a Major in the Irish Guards and once captained the British Ski Team at the Winter Olympics. Once Nigel hit London he began a music career even releasing a single.
But it was the move into marketing that set him on the path to success, we hear how mobile discos, the Royal Family and the smell of golf all played a part in the story of the man who can allegedly help win elections and end wars.
As RT's editor-in-chief, Margarita Simonyan runs a news network described by US intelligence as "the Kremlin's principal international propaganda outlet". Formerly known as Russia Today, RT risks being stripped of its UK broadcast licence in the wake of the Salisbury spy poisoning. So who is the woman at its helm?
Born into an Armenian family in Krasnodar in Southern Russia, Simonyan grew up in poverty, but her academic achievements helped her win a place on a prestigious exchange program to the United States. Arriving in New Hampshire just four years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the experience changed her life. Initially shocked by the excesses of Western capitalism, Simonyan soon found her feet and was even crowned 'Carnival Queen' of her All-American high school.
After returning to Russia, Simonyan started a career in journalism, becoming a household name after reporting from the carnage of the Beslan school siege. Shortly after, when she was just 25, she was handpicked to create the new Kremlin-funded international news network Russia Today. Controversy has dogged the channel, with allegations of pro-Kremlin propaganda and biased reporting, but all agree that under Simonyan's leadership the channel has given Russia a far bigger - and stronger - voice abroad.
Married with two children, Simonyan is known by her friends for her love of disco, Cossack folk music and traditional cooking - including boiled beaver's head. Mark Coles asks some of those who know her best what drives her - including her best friend and the American woman who offered to adopt her as a teenager.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Beth Sagar-Fenton & Jordan Dunbar Researcher: Sylvie Carlos.
Cycling hero Bradley Wiggins was accused by MPs this week of "crossing an ethical line" by taking medication that could have enhanced his race performance. Rising from a rocky start to become Great Britain's most decorated Olympian, Wiggins has lived a fascinating life including murder, mods and music. Can his reputation survive this?
Presented by Mark Coles
Produced by Jordan Dunbar and Beth Sagar-Fenton.
As the United Nations' Special Envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura is said to have one of the toughest jobs in the world. Edward Stourton talks to the people who know him best to find out what drives him and how he is navigating one of the most complex conflicts in recent history.
Born in Stockholm to a Swedish mother and an Italian father, de Mistura went to primary school on the island of Capri, where he was taught by Catholic nuns who instilled in him a strong faith and a desire to help other people.
Growing up in a privileged and aristocratic family, he went on to attend a prestigious Catholic secondary school in Rome, where friends say he knew from an early age that he wanted to work for the United Nations.
His diplomatic career includes stints in some of the world's trickiest war zones - from Sudan to Kosovo, Iraq to Afghanistan, and now Syria. He has a distinctive sense of style and is known for his charm and love of the finer things of life. We also hear about the 'linguistic acrobatics' and the wry sense of humour that have helped him survive in hostile situations.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.
Black Panther star Daniel Kaluuya has already won BAFTA's Rising Star award and now he's been nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. The 28-year-old Londoner is up against acting giants Daniel Day-Lewis, Gary Oldman and Denzel Washington, having been shortlisted for his role in the satirical horror movie Get Out.
Raised by his Ugandan mother, who remains an inspiration, Kaluuya grew up on a council estate in North London. He first came to public attention as a teenager, when he wrote and performed in the hit television series, Skins. But he's been acting and writing from an early age, having won a play-writing competition when he was nine and impressed talent spotters when he was still at school.
Mark Coles talks to those who recognised and nurtured the young Kaluuya's talents, including his A level drama teacher Jo Fenton, the co-creator of Skins Bryan Elsley, playwright Roy Williams and the director of his forthcoming film Widows, Steve McQueen.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.
Becky Milligan looks back at the extraordinary life of South Africa's new president. From humble beginnings, he became a lawyer, established the country's most powerful trade union organisation and was a key player in negotiating the end of apartheid. After losing out at an earlier attempt to become president, he turned to business and rapidly became one of South Africa's richest men - while also attracting controversy over allegations about his role during the Marikana massacre of striking miners. As he takes power, what really makes him tick?
Producer: Smita Patel Researcher: Darin Graham Editor Hugh Levinson.
He's been called the government's "real Mr Brexit", but is little known outside Whitehall. Mark Coles asks who is Oliver Robbins, the Prime Minister's right hand man for the Brexit negotiations? In the last few months Robbins' role has grown, taking the lead on negotiations with Brussels often without the Brexit Secretary, David Davis. This has led some to question whether a senior civil servant should be given so much power.
He had a meteoric rise, becoming Tony Blair's Principal Private Secretary, the most senior civil servant at Number 10, aged only 31. He is almost universally admired by those who've come across him for being able to distil huge amounts of information quickly, keeping calm under pressure, and having a sense of humour. He is popular in Brussels, where his interlocutors appreciate that he is straight with them, and that he "doesn't lie". The consummate mandarin and public servant, not even long-term friends know where he actually stands on politics or Brexit. And he's managed to keep a low profile, despite his role.
Producer: Arlene Gregorius.
This week the Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced that Sara Khan will lead the newly created Commission for Countering Extremism - an appointment which was not welcomed with blanket approval, with some sections of the Muslim community calling on her to quit.
Sara Khan is the co-founder of Inspire - a counter-extremism and human rights organisation engaging with Muslim women, which has also engaged with the government's Prevent scheme. The counter-extremism programme has proved controversial, with critics claiming it unfairly 'spies' on the Muslim community - but Sara Khan has been a vocal supporter, saying it is vital tool in tackling terrorism at its root.
This has put her at odds with some British Muslim organisations, and has also led to vicious online abuse and accusations that she is a 'house Muslim' and a government stooge.
This criticism has re-emerged in light of her new appointment, with questions about her experience and whether she really qualifies for the role.
Becky Milligan charts Sara Khan's life growing up in Bradford, speaking to old friends who worked alongside her in her early advocacy work as a leader in a prominent British Muslim youth group and charts the road which has taken her to a prominent role in central government.
The remarkable story of George Weah, footballing legend turned politician, on his journey from the slums of Monrovia to inauguration this week as president of Liberia. Spotted by Arsene Wenger at a young age, Weah became a star striker in the '90s for Paris St Germain, AC Milan and Chelsea. In 1995 he won the Ballon d'Or as the world's best player, the only African ever to win the honour. Back home, Weah became an inspiration to a generation of Liberians. When he retired from football, he returned to a country devastated by two civil wars and the outbreak of Ebola, with the aim of becoming president. Two decades and two attempts later he has made it. But has he got the experience to succeed in government? Edward Stourton talks to his cousin, Arsenal legend Chris Wreh, along with friends and colleagues about his extraordinary determination and asks whether he can meet the expectations of a generation. Producer: Ben Carter Researcher: Siobhan O'Connell.
Earlier this week Jon Lansman, founder and leader of left-wing political group Momentum, was elected to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee.
A 60-year-old veteran of the hard left, Lansman has been credited with helping get Jeremy Corbyn elected as Labour leader and to successfully rallying thousands of activists behind the Momentum movement.
But his critics say he can be a dogmatic, even bullying, leader, quick to crush dissent.
On this week's 'Profile', Mark Coles speaks to relatives, friends, colleagues and analysts about Lansman's triumphs and tragedies.
Producer: Ben Carter Editor: Emma Rippon.
Following her barn-storming speech about sexual harassment at the Golden Globe awards, Mark Coles charts the rise of talk show host, philanthropist, media proprietor and actress Oprah Winfrey.
With calls urging Winfrey to run for President, close friends and former colleagues recount their favourite moments with her on-set and at home. We learn about the woman behind the screen and her remarkable tale of rags to riches, from clothes made out of potato sacks to one of the richest black women in the world.
Producer: Ben Carter Editor: Emma Rippon.
It's been a tumultuous week in Iran.
Thousands of protestors in more than twenty towns and cities taking to the streets to demand economic and political change.
On the programme this week, we update a profile we did of Hassan Rouhani when he first became President of Iran back in 2013.
Regarded as more liberal than some of his predecessors - and now in his second term as President - he faces the unenviable task of trying to balance the demands of the Iranian people who want better living conditions with the religious establishment which still wields ultimate power.
Meanwhile, lurking in the wings, is US President Donald Trump - threatening to tear up a 2015 deal that waived sanctions in return for Iran reigning in its nuclear programme.
Mark Coles hears from Iranian journalists, political analysts and some of the President's former colleagues as we get to grips with where he's come from and what his future may be.
Producer Smita Patel Editor Emma Rippon.
A hunch about Online gambling has made Denise Coates from Bet365 Britain's best paid boss. Chris Bowlby discovers how this elusive figure from Stoke masterminded a global betting revolution. We follow her career from the tough world of 1990s betting shops to today's lucrative round the clock business. But why has hardly anyone - even in her home town - ever heard of her?
Producer: Smita Patel Editor: Emma Rippon.
Sarah Mullally, appointed this week as the first woman Bishop of London, the third most senior position in the Anglican Church. A former nurse and senior civil servant, she was ordained in 2001. Her surprise appointment followed a brief spell as Bishop of Devon in Crediton. She's expected to attract criticism from more conservative elements of the Anglo-Catholic and Evangelical elements of the church. Mark Coles profiles the most senior woman in the Anglican Church.
Produced by Helen Grady and Siobhan O'Connell.
The Winklevoss twins - Cameron and Tyler - became famous for suing Mark Zuckerberg, claiming he stole their idea for Facebook. This week it was announced they'd made a fortune from Bitcoin. They're former Olympic rowers, and also rowed for Oxford in the 2010 Boat Race. Becky Milligan explores their early life, including talking to their Dad, to discover what drives their ambition.
Producers: Smita Patel and Beth Sagar-Fenton.
First Secretary of State, Damian Green, is under mounting pressure this week due to allegations of improper behaviour, and claims that pornography was found on a computer in his office back in 2008 - allegations he staunchly denies. Sue Gray, Head of Propriety and Ethics at the Cabinet Office, is leading the inquiry into whether he broke any rules.
Gray has been described as "the most powerful person you've never heard of". Mark Coles finds out more about the woman who joined the civil service straight from school, and has risen to occupy a pivotal position right at the heart of government.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.
At the Lord Mayors banquet a couple of weeks ago the Prime Minister Theresa May didn't mince her words when she waded into the alleged Russian interference in western countries accusing them of sowing disinformation she declared "We know what you are doing and you will not succeed."
This week on Profile we look at the man accused of funding the St Petersburg troll factory which has produced so much pro-Russian material online. Yevgeny Prigozhin has moved from jail to restaurateur and close friend of President Putin, but precious little is known about his personal life.
After the Zimbabwean army moved against Robert Mugabe this week, one man has been hotly tipped to succeed him. The former Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa, portrays himself to the west as a free-market enthusiast who could change the fortunes of Zimbabwe. But 'The Crocodile', as Mnangagwa is nicknamed, has been at Mugabe's side since the independence struggle, and is associated with some of the regime's most notorious actions.
Presenter: Edward Stourton Producers: Kate Lamble and Beth Sagar-Fenton.
Priti Patel was forced to resign as International Development Secretary this week after holding extra curricular holiday meetings in Israel. Luke Jones profiles this passionate Leave campaigner, the ambitious daughter of Indian newsagents, who wants to follow in the footsteps of Margaret Thatcher.
Presenter: Luke Jones Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Producer: Siobhan O'Connell.
He's worked with almost every US President since Gerald Ford. Paul Manafort, a political lobbyist and Trump's former campaign manager, is under house arrest charged with money laundering and fraud, his lavish lifestyle of luxurious mansions, fast cars and antique rugs laid bare by the FBI. Mark Coles profiles this powerbroker who some say may become a key witness for the investigation into Russia's alleged meddling in the US election.
Producers: Beth Sagar-Fenton & Siobhan O'Connell.
The Football Association's chairman, Greg Clarke, said this week that the FA had "lost the trust of the public" over its handling of discrimination claims against former England women's manager Mark Sampson. Mark Coles profiles England and Chelsea Ladies player - and whistleblower - Eniola Aluko, who made the claims.
Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton Researcher: Nick Raikes.
As the EU commission meets to discuss the progress of Brexit negotiations, Mark Coles profiles the man some say really runs Europe, Martin Selmayr - right hand man to the President of the European Commission.
Just what impact is the passionate European having on the process of Britain leaving the EU? And does he deserve his reputation as the 'Monster at the Berlaymont'?
Edward Stourton profiles former minister, and mistress of the deadpan one-liner, Baroness Trumpington, who this week announced she will retire from the House of Lords at the age of 95. He talks to Ian Hislop, Viscount Astor, friends and family about her extraordinary life, which took her from riches, through the Wall Street Crash, code-breaking at Bletchley Park, into politics and finally to unexpected celebrity status after giving a two finger salute to a fellow peer. One of few politicians with the guts to stand up to Margaret Thatcher, some have even called her an unlikely feminist icon. Producer: Beth Sagar-Fenton.
It's Barcelona versus Madrid...and we're not talking football.
Spain is facing its biggest political crisis for years....the autonomous region of Catalonia considering breaking away from the rest of the country.
Mark Coles profiles Spain's right wing Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, as he goes head to head with the Catalan President to try to stop it happening.
The programme examines his Galician roots and his grandfather's role in wresting power from the Spanish state back in the 1930s.
We follow Rajoy's rise to power, hear about the setbacks - two accidents that nearly that nearly claimed his life - and why the 2004 Madrid terror attacks came close to ending his political career.
Producer Smita Patel. Researcher Beth Sagar-Fenton Editor Penny Murphy.
This week the Chief Whip will deliver a major speech at the Tory party conference, just before the Prime Minister takes the stage. But who is Gavin Williamson? Mark Coles looks at the life and career of the Yorkshire man who knows about pottery, loves hedgehogs and keeps an eight legged pet on his desk in parliament. And some say, has his sights set on higher political office.
On Profile this week, we look at the life and career of the world's top diplomat - the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.
When he opened the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, the 68 year old former Portuguese Prime Minister warned the world was in danger, "in pieces" and needed putting back together again.
So, who is he and how does he plan to go about it ?
Mark Coles talks to childhood friends, political colleagues past and present - even Portugal's President - who help explain the events and personal tragedies that have shaped Guterres and led him to take on arguably the most difficult job on the planet.
Floods, cancer, Catholicism, chocolate and cheese...everything you need to know about new UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, on Profile this week.
Edward Stourton looks at Jake Wood, founder of Team Rubicon, the international disaster relief group staffed by veterans as it works in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. He finds out what motivates the former marine and talks to General David Petraeus and General Sir Nick Parker, former UN worker Ben Parker and friends, family and colleagues.
Nikki Haley is US ambassador to the UN and one of the most intriguing figures in the Trump administration. Chris Bowlby discovers how an Indian family background and life in the US deep South shaped her. How has she mixed Sikh heritage with a meteoric rise in South Carolina conservative politics? What's her relationship with Donald Trump really like? Is she aiming for the presidency?
Producers: Smita Patel & Bob Howard Editor: Emma Rippon.
Profile this week looks at the life and a career of a politician at the centre of political deadlock in Northern Ireland.
40 year old Michelle O'Neill is Sinn Fein's new leader in the north. She was appointed in January after Martin McGuinness stood down, but has yet to make her debut leading her party in the Northern Ireland Assembly because power sharing has been suspended. This week, Sinn Fein and the rival DUP both blamed each other for the impasse - rejecting each others terms for getting talks re-started.
Mark Coles hears from Michelle O'Neill's friends, colleagues and the occasional political foe to try to understand what makes her tick.
And discovers why, in a new play about her and DUP leader Arlene Foster, they're really good friends who enjoy clubbing and drinking in Ibiza.
Producers Smita Patel & Sandie Kanthal Editor Richard Vadon.
Mark Coles profiles Crawford Falconer, the New Zealander who could prove key to Britain's post-Brexit future. Falconer is a 63 year old former Kiwi trade negotiator. This week, he started a new job at the Department for International Trade....in charge of negotiating UK trade deals with the rest of the world once Britain leaves the EU. Friends and former colleagues shed light on his government career in New Zealand as well as his time chairing talks at the World Trade Organisation. We also hear why he can't drive, loves running, rugby and rummaging for cardoons in French fields. And why he once tried to sell his younger sister to some South Korean fishermen.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Beth Sagar-Fenton Editor Emma Rippon.
Becky Milligan profiles the pop superstar, Taylor Swift who has recently won a case against an ex-DJ over her claim that she was sexually assaulted when he groped her during a pre-concert photo opportunity in 2013. Taylor Swift is a multi award winning, platinum selling American singer-songwriter. Born and raised in Pennsylvania, before moving to Nashville, Tennessee at age 14 to pursue a career in country music. There, she was signed by an independent record label. Her second album released in 2008 when she was just 19 years of age, became the best-selling album of 2009 in the United States. The album won four Grammy Awards, cementing Taylor Swift's success which continues to go from strength to strength. Produced by Nina Robinson and Beth Sagar-Fenton.
This summer, Moeen Ali has broken several cricketing records. He's become the first player ever to score more than 250 runs and take 25 wickets in a four match Test Series
Mark Coles profiles the spin-bowler and batsman - who grew up in the Midlands, started playing the sport at a young age, and who has inspired today's England fans to chant about his facial hair.
Producers: Nina Robinson and Hannah Sander.
General John Kelly is the man they hope can bring order to Trump's office. We follow his journey from a working class Boston neighbourhood to the White House.
A decorated Marine General, an Iraq war veteran, who is adored by his troops and known for making tough decisions, General John Francis Kelly has come a long way from his beginnings born to an Irish Catholic family in the working class Brighton neighbourhood of Boston.
From his first mission delivering 10'000 tonnes of beer to troops in Vietnam to overseeing President Trump's controversial immigration policies as head of Homeland Security, he's described as being a straight talker who isn't afraid to 'speak truth to power'.
Mark Coles talks to friends and colleagues about about his distinguished career - and how he might fare in Trump's White House.
Lady Brenda Hale has been announced as the new president of the UK Supreme Court - the first woman to hold the post. Lady Hale has a long track record as a female pioneer in the legal profession and has been critical of the lack of diversity within the judicial system.
Born in Yorkshire, she was an outstanding student, passing the 11 plus exam a year early. She took a different route into the judiciary, having pursued a career as a legal academic first, rather than spend years working as a barrister.
After becoming a part time judge while working for the Law Commission - the body which promotes law reform - she then went quickly through the ranks sitting in the Court of Appeal and then the House of Lords. She became the first female justice at the Supreme Court and then its first female deputy president - and will take on role of President in October.
Mark Coles talks to friends, family and colleagues about about her distinguished career - and early love for Cliff Richard.
Producer: Jordan Dunbar.
Mark Coles profiles the broadcaster Chris Evans, who this week made headlines after his 2.2 million pound salary was revealed in the BBC's Annual Report.
Mark Coles profiles Rob Goldstone, the man at the centre of the Donald Trump junior/Russia saga. This week it emerged that Rob Goldstone fixed a meeting between Donald Trump junior and a Russian lawyer. Goldstone had reportedly sent an email to Trump junior before the meeting saying that the Russian lawyer could offer damaging information about Hillary Clinton - and that the material was part of a Russian government attempt to boost his father's presidential campaign. So how did this tabloid journalist turned music PR from Manchester gain access to the inner circle of the Trump family and the Russians?
Producers: Smita Patel and Kate Lamble.
The Gulf region is in crisis this weekend after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt condemned Qatar's response to a series of demands they've made. Qatar's four Arab neighbours broke links with the Gulf emirate a month ago accusing it of supporting terrorism. On this week's Profile, Mark Coles looks at one of the key players in the dispute....Saudi Arabia's new Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Kate Lamble Editor Richard Vadon.
Mark Coles profiles Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the retired judge leading the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire
Sir Martin was born in Wales and educated at Cambridge. His career has spanned nearly five decades after being called to the Bar in 1969. As a lawyer, he specialised in commercial law which involved dealing with disputes relating to maritime and land transport of goods. He was a judge for more than twenty years in the Commercial Court and Court of Appeal until his retirement in 2016.
Producers: Smita Patel and Jordan Dunbar.
Emmanuel Macron has become France's youngest-ever President at the age of 39. He created a new political movement out of nothing and defeated the populist Marine Le Pen of the Front National. But who is the former banker and civil servant and how did he rise so far so fast? The BBC's Paris Correspondent Lucy Williamson speaks to his old friends, his biographer, his voice coach and his political colleagues to find out how this son of two provincial doctors - who once dreamed of being a novelist or actor - has made it to the top of French politics.
Mark Coles looks at the life of Leo Varadkar, head of Fine Gail, the country's governing centre right party and the newly appointed Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland.
Varadkar has made history in Irish politics. The country's first openly gay leader and at 38, its youngest ever. He's the son of an Indian GP and Irish nurse, who followed in family footsteps to become a doctor. Aged just eight, he expressed his desire to become health minister, a position he would come to hold in his early political career.
Interviews include: his oldest friend Andy Garvey, close friend Nollaig Crowley, former teacher John Rafter, Noel Whelan, a political columnist with the Irish Times & the Irish politician Paschal Donohoe.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Sarah Shebbeare Editor Penny Murphy.
Arlene Foster's Democratic Unionist Party now holds the balance of power, after elections this week. Some people have suggested that all the parties lost - but across the Irish Sea one party definitely won. Only with their votes can the Conservatives get things through the House of Commons. Which makes Arlene Foster possibly the most powerful woman in Britain. Mark Coles takes an updated look at the former first minister of Northern Ireland.
Producer Smita Patel Editor Richard Vadon Researcher Jordan Dunbar.
Mark Coles profiles sculptor and installation artist Cornelia Parker, this year's official election artist. Parker's work has involved spectacular acts of destruction, from flattening brass band instruments, to dismantling old barns and blowing up sheds. As Parker roams the country observing the election campaign, Coles speaks to her friends and peers about how she went from a childhood spent in rural Cheshire where she struggled to fit in, to Turner Prize-nominated artist.
Mark Coles profiles the director David Lynch, whose classic TV series Twin Peaks has just returned to the screen after 25 years.
Obsessed with drawing and painting from an early age, Lynch's mother didn't even allow him colouring books in case they halted his artistic development. Despite dropping out of art school, Lynch first made his name with surreal short films before directing the cult hit Eraserhead. There was further success with The Elephant Man and Blue Velvet before Twin Peaks brought his work to a mainstream TV audience.
Alongside his film work, Lynch has also produced paintings, photographs of abandoned factories, musical collaborations, and even designed nightclubs. A continual stream of creative output fuelled by Transcendental Meditation.
Mark Coles profiles Robert Mueller who's just been appointed as special counsel to oversee the investigation into Russian interference in the US election. Mueller retired as director of the FBI four years ago, but now finds himself centre stage again.
The squared-jawed Princeton graduate was decorated for bravery during the Vietnam War before training as a lawyer. Dissatisfied with private practice, he found a government job as assistant US attorney in San Francisco - a move which marked the beginning of a steady climb to the top of law enforcement in America.
Robert Mueller became FBI director one week before the 2001 World Trade Center attacks and over the next twelve years transformed the organisation, moving thousands of staff from criminal investigations into counter terrorism and security. Yet surprisingly little is known about him personally.
Former editor and columnist of The Sun Kelvin MacKenzie is to leave the paper after comparing Everton footballer Ross Barkley to a gorilla. It's not the first time MacKenzie has attracted controversy. In 1989, under his editorship, The Sun published a story claiming that Liverpool fans urinated on police, pick-pocketed the dead and prevented policemen giving the kiss of life to some of the victims at Hillsborough. It proved to be, as the paper later admitted, the "most terrible blunder" in The Sun's history and one for which Kelvin Mackenzie would be personally blamed. There have been allegations of bullying in the workplace and humiliating colleagues. But, as Becky Milligan hears, he's also considered to be a brilliant editor with an instinct for knowing exactly what his readers want. So is there a softer, more sensitive side to the abrasive newspaper man?
The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, has been called 'the chief Eurocrat' by the British press and accused of looking to bully Britain during the Brexit negotiations. But what do we know about the man Theresa May has promised to be 'a bloody difficult woman' to?
One of the longest serving democratically elected leaders in the world, Juncker was Prime Minister of Luxembourg for eighteen years. A workaholic, with a famously informal greeting style that sometimes involves affectionately slapping world leaders, Juncker has developed a political reputation as a negotiator, skilled at finding compromises between two sides.
But in his spare time, he's a pinball wizard.
Aretha Franklin has won hearts - and 18 Grammy awards - with her astonishing voice. But this week a bust up with another iconic singer revealed her spikier side. Always a sensation on stage, there have been struggles off it. Mark Coles talks to people who grew up with and have worked with the Queen of Soul.
Welsh rugby union star Sam Warburton has been given perhaps the game's most prestigious role - captain of the British & Irish Lions - for a second time. Mark Coles talks to those who know him, as he prepares to lead the team against the mighty All Blacks.
On Profile this week, we look at the life and career of new US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson.
He flew to Moscow this week to urge Russia to abandon its support for Syria's President Assad following the chemical weapons on a town in northern Syria earlier this month.
It seems he came away empty handed, with Donald Trump warning that relations between Russia and the US were now at "an all-time low".
So who is Rex Tillerson ?
Mark Coles gets to grips with Tillerson's past : his formative years in the Scouts, his time as a drummer at university, the four decades spent at oil and gas giant ExxonMobil where he ended up as CEO and his controversial business ties with Russia which now hang over his new role as America's top diplomat.
Becky Milligan profiles Gibraltar, the tiny British Overseas Territory on the southern tip of the Iberian coast which made headlines this week. First, Spain raised its 300-year-old claim on the territory in draft guidelines for Brexit negotiations. Then Michael Howard, a former Conservative Party leader, appeared to suggest Britain would go to war to keep it. So what is the story of 'the rock'?
Producer: Smita Patel.
University Challenge contestant Eric Monkman has become a social media sensation thanks to his intense delivery and incredible general knowledge, with "Monkmania" sweeping the nation. But just how did he come to know so much? And do we - in an age when we're supposedly sick of experts - need a hero like Monkman? Mark Coles finds out.
Catherine Corless has made headlines around the world for exposing the horrifying story of a mass grave of almost 800 infants at a former institution for unmarried mothers run by nuns. Corless has been described as "Ireland's Erin Brockovich"; an ordinary woman and amateur historian who, in her dogged pursuit of the truth, took on the Catholic Church, the Irish government and members of her own community - and won. The case has shaken Ireland and provoked very difficult questions about how women and children were treated at Catholic institutions in the past.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producer: Ben Crighton.
The Chancellor, Philip Hammond, made a U-turn on his Budget this week. Just seven days after announcing a rise in National Insurance Contributions for some self-employed people, the policy was reversed. It's been portrayed as a huge political setback for the man nicknamed 'spreadsheet Phil' But who is the man behind the headlines? Mark Coles finds out.
Producer: China Collins.
Who is Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador at the heart of a massive global controversy?
Sergey Kislyak - Russia's convivial Ambassador to Washington - has been in the eye of a media storm since it emerged that members of the Trump administration had undisclosed meetings with him in the run up to the 2016 US election. Kislyak is a career diplomat, having spent 35 years working for the Soviet and Russian governments.
He has previously kept a low profile, favouring lavish dinners over media appearances to get his message across. But the recent controversy over the Trump administration's relationship with Russia has forced him into the spotlight.
Mark Coles speaks to people who have worked with him and followed his career to get under his skin and find out where his career might go now that he's become such a controversial figure.
Producer: Ben Crighton.
Cressida Dick - the newly-appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police - is the first woman to lead the force in its 188-year history. Dick's career has been exceptional, but not without controversy. She was gold commander in the control room in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings and was at the helm when the innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by police at Stockwell tube station. Her appointment as Commissioner is a comeback of sorts; in 2014 she quit the police to take up a job at the Foreign Office.
Producer: Ben Carter.
Brought up by a single mum in Finsbury Park, North London, Naomie Harris now finds herself nominated for an Oscar for her role in Moonlight and this week received an OBE from the Queen. She's had a career playing strong, tough women; killing zombies in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later and playing a modern, kick-ass Moneypenny in the latest James Bond films. She's not new to fame, she started acting at a young age and first appeared on TV at the age of nine but, as you'll hear, that lead to her being bullied at school. Guests include her drama teacher Anna Scher and theatre director Simon Godwin.
The Speaker of the House of Commons - John Bercow - stunned MPs this week when he announced he was "strongly opposed" to US President Donald Trump addressing Parliament when he visits Britain.
It's already led one Conservative backbencher to table a motion of no confidence in him.
John Bercow is no stranger to controversy. His brutal put downs of MPs and ministers in the Commons have often grabbed the headlines.
Bullied at school because he was short, he began his political career on the far right - a member of the notorious Monday Club.
But over the years, in his own words, his political views have "mellowed" - to the point where many Tories now regard him as a traitor and plot to unseat him.
On Profile this week, Mark Coles examines the highs and lows of Speaker Bercow's life and career.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Beth Sagar-Fenton.
Mark Coles profiles the man who runs NHS England. He oversees a workforce of one and a half million people, a budget of over £100 billion. According to some he's the fourth most powerful person in England.
Producers: Beth Sagar-Fenton and Joe Kent.
Becky Milligan profiles the man who could be the next President of America. Mild mannered, disciplined and a seasoned politician, Mike Pence was largely unknown until he was selected by Donald Trump to serve as his Vice-President.
PRODUCERS: Beth Sagar Fenton and Joe Kent EDITOR Penny Murphy.
Arlene Foster had been hoping to celebrate her first twelve months in charge of Northern Ireland this week.
Instead, she's found herself forced out of office.
It's got little to do with religion, constitution or the almost four THOUSAND people who've lost their lives during political conflict over the decades.
The DUP leader and Northern Ireland First Minister has had to step down in a bitter row over renewable energy subsidies.
On Profile, Mark Coles looks back at Arlene Foster's life and career and the reasons behind this week's political upheavals.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Jordan Dunbar.
It's the end of an era.
Dippy the dinosaur has left the building.
Gifted to King Edward VII in 1905, a 70 foot long cast of a fossilised dinosaur skeleton discovered in America has been on display at London's Natural History Museum for more than a century.
It's become the country's most recognisable museum exhibit - seen by an estimated 90 million people.
Now it's being replaced by the real skeleton of a giant blue whale...Dippy's 292 plaster cast bones setting off instead on a nationwide tour.
On Profile this week, Mark Coles examines how Dippy the replica Diplodocus has become a national treasure.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Beth Sagar-Fenton.
David Davis will be a major figure in the coming year as minister in charge of Brexit. In this week's Profile, Chris Bowlby hears how he was was shaped by a council house upbringing, SAS training, a turbulent political career and a significant love of sugar.
Producer: Smita Patel Researchers: Sarah Shebbeare & Serena Tarling Editor: Penny Murphy.
On Profile this week we explore the life and career of one of the world's best loved children's illustrators. Over the last half century - much to his horror - Raymond Briggs has become a part of Christmas. Two books about a grumpy Father Christmas have become bestsellers. The film adaptation of his 1978 picture book 'The Snowman' has been shown on TV every Christmas for the past three decades. And now, this Christmas, the BBC is screening 'Ethel And Ernest' - a new film of Briggs' 1998 book about his parents. Mark Coles talks to Raymond Briggs' family and friends to find out what his books are really about.
Producer: Smita Patel Researcher Sarah Shebbeare Editor: Richard Knight.
Skinny dipping with Nigel Farage, punching a business partner, and bankrolling Brexit - Edward Stourton tells the story of Arron Banks.
What next for the man who spent more than £7 million campaigning for Britain to leave the EU?
Producers: Ed Davey and Joe Kent.
On Profile this week Mark Coles looks at the life and career of Sharon White.
The daughter of immigrant parents who came to Britain from Jamaica in the 1950s, she rose rapidly through the ranks of the civil service to become one of the most powerful women in Whitehall.
In March 2015, she became chief executive of the communications regulator, Ofcom.
The watchdog is in the news this week for trying to force BT to legally separate from Open Reach which runs the country's broadband network.
Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK are months away. And - as we keep hearing - there will be no discussion before notification (of the now infamous Article 50).
But we do know who will represent the EU in those negotiations: the French politician Michel Barnier, who met his counterpart David Davis this week.
Born in the Savoie region in south-east France, Barnier has been a committed Gaullist since he was a teenager. At 27 he made history in France by becoming the youngest MP ever elected. And in 1992 he took great pride in bringing the Winter Olympics to his region.
His allies say he is a reasonable, sensitive negotiator. His critics tell us he can be self-important and cold. Everyone agrees he will be fiercely committed to defending the EU's interests in the complex Brexit negotiations ahead.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producers: Smita Patel and Alex Burton.
On Profile this week, Mark Coles, examines the life and career of Stephen Bannon - dubbed by some as the 'most powerful, most dangerous political operative in America today'.
A former US Navy engineer, investment banker and Hollywood producer, for the past four years he's been the driving force behind Breitbart News - a populist, at times deliberately provocative right wing news website.
In August, he was drafted in to oversee Donald Trump's then faltering presidential campaign.
Now, with Trump heading to the White House, he's been appointed the President Elect's new Chief Strategist.
Democrats and civil rights groups are appalled. They accuse Bannon of creating a platform for far right views, fostering racism and anti-semitism.
Nonsense, say his supporters. He's simply a patriot, fed up with the way his country has been governed in the past by progressive liberal elites.
To some, she is a saboteur of democracy, a woman using her massive wealth and friends in high places to subvert the judgement of 17.4 million voters in the European Union referendum. To others, this is a woman of unimpeachable principle, fighting to protect a cornerstone of the unwritten British constitution. With the Supreme Court now set to decide on whether Article 50 can be invoked without a vote in Parliament - thus setting Brexit into motion - we ask, who is Gina Miller, the woman behind the legal bid?
Well, she has certainly had an interesting life. Born in Guyana, this thrice-married 51-year-old now runs an investment firm, by way of modelling and plentiful philanthropy. Never one to duck a scrap, she has picked fights in the lofty world of high finance and the altogether milder waters of the third sector.
At the end of a week that has seen her become the target of both fulminating newspaper headlines and online abuse, we learn about the formative years that thickened up Gina Miller's skin before the onslaught. School friends, Britain's richest plumber and husbands number two and three are among our witnesses; the future of the country is at stake. Mark Coles profiles Gina Miller.
An entrepreneur who helped found Britain's first online bank. A philanthropist who fled Idi Amin's Ugana and is now on a mission to track down the undiscovered Albert Einsteins of Africa. He embarked on a search to find a long-lost sister in Uganda after thirty years; he once rocked an 'impressive' Afro; his backers number a former head of MI6, and during his honeymoon in Mexico he sneaked away from his wife to attend a maths conference. Oh, and he's hell-bent on making it into space. You've possibly never heard him, but he's just been named the most influential black person in the UK. Becky Milligan profiles Tom Ilube.
As Glenda Jackson returns to the West End stage, Mark Coles profiles the Oscar-winning actor and former Labour MP, with contributions from her son Dan Hodges, Hollywood actor George Segal and legendary theatre director Peter Brook.
Producer Smita Patel Researcher Sarah Shebbeare.
As jobs go, it's a daunting one. Three predecessors have already resigned. On Profile this week Mark Coles profiles Professor Alexis Jay, the fourth and latest person appointed to chair the independent inquiry into institutional child sex abuse in England and Wales.
Researcher Kirsteen Knight Producer Smita Patel.
Samsung started out as a tiny exporter of dried fish. Today it's one of the world's biggest tech giants; the family-run business accounts for about a quarter of South Korea's entire GDP.
This week Samsung was forced to stop production of its new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after a number of them apparently exploded or caught fire.
Samsung's chairman Lee Kun-Hee - son of the firm's founder - saw the value of his company plummet. You'd think he'd be fuming. But he hasn't been seen since he suffered a heart attack in 2014. Some in South Korea think he could be dead.
Mark Coles tells the story of Lee Kun-Hee - one of the world's most enigmatic and fascinating business leaders.
Researcher: Kirsteen Knight Producer: Smita Patel.
British Professor David Thouless won this year's Nobel Prize for contributions to the field of topology. Two other British physicists, Professor J. Michael Kosterlitz and Professor Duncan Haldane shared the award. Of course the physics is rather complicated, you don't win a Nobel prize for discovering something obvious, but put simply, David Thouless worked out a way of predicting how a material will behave using maths.
In this programme, though, we'll focus on the man himself. Who is David Thouless and how did he spend his time when he wasn't thinking about equations? We'll hear about the treats he liked as a school boy during the war, about family holidays from his son, Michael Thouless, himself a Professor of Engineering and we'll also hear that things in the real world didn't often go as smoothly as planned...
Audio from the Hubbard Theory Consortium 50th Anniversary Lecture used, with thanks.
Producer Smita Patel & Researcher Phoebe Keane.
When Theresa May became Prime Minister she appointed Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy as her joint Chiefs of Staff. It's a role first imported from the US by Tony Blair, when he brought in Jonathan Powell to help oversee the day-to-day running of government. The position puts Timothy and Hill at the heart of decision-making inside Number 10. So who are they? And how much influence do they really have? Mark Coles reports.
Producer: Ben Crighton.
Emma Walmsley will be one of just seven female bosses in the country's top 100 companies when she takes the helm of GSK next year. The pharmaceutical giant is worth £80bn, making it the most valuable company with a woman CEO. But how did Emma Walmsley get to where she is today? Mark Coles looks back over her school days and her rise up the corporate career ladder at L'Oreal. We hear from her father, retired vice admiral Sir Robert Walmsley, her school friend and her business associate Sir Martin Sorrell, CEO of advertising firm WPP. Who is Emma Walmsley and what impact will she have on one of Britain's biggest companies?
The new President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, is in the news this week because he's threatening to send home some of America's troops and "re-orientate" his country's foreign policy away from its traditional ally, America. And last week he was reported to have called President Obama a "son of a whore". Not surprisingly, perhaps, he has caught the attention of the world's media. But human rights organisations have been paying close attention to Mr Duterte for other reasons: he is alleged to have been complicit in the killing of drug dealers and criminals by vigilante ‘death squads’.
Presenter: Edward Stourton
Producer: Phoebe Keane and Micaela Papa
Elon Musk is the billionaire owner of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, and the co-founder of Paypal. He plans to colonise Mars. Last week that dream might have been scuppered as his SpaceX rocket exploded on the Launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida. This is the first time a rocket has exploded at launch since 1960. It was carrying a satellite Facebook wanted to use to provide internet access to Africa. While investigations continue into what caused last week's explosion, this week Mark Coles explores the life of the man who also wants to make the travel time from London to Manchester 18 minutes and to counter global warming.
Producers: Charlotte Pritchard and Phoebe Keane.
Amber Rudd has risen rapidly through British politics, becoming Home Secretary only six years after being elected an MP in 2010. It's a rise unmatched by any other politician since World War Two. Becky Milligan profiles the woman who has made this leap and stepped into Theresa May's shoes. In an exclusive interview for Profile her sister, Melissa Dunford Wood talks candidly about their childhood, parents and friends, and how her sister was "on the floor" after the unexpected and painful divorce from her ex husband AA Gill.
Last October Seumas Milne, a Winchester- and Oxford-educated left-winger, was granted unpaid leave from his position at The Guardian to enter the world of political spin as executive director of strategy and communications in Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party.
The appointment wasn't without controversy. Milne has been labelled a Stalinist by David Cameron and caused division at The Guardian for chairing an event with President Putin. Jeremy Corbyn has chosen a hard-left thinker as his right-hand man.
As the Labour Party hustings come to a close this week, Adam Fleming speaks to friends and colleagues to find out about the man who's at the heart of the Corbyn project.
Producer: Smita Patel.
Mark Coles speaks to family, friends and colleagues of cyclist Laura Trott - the first British woman to win four Olympic golds - to find out how, after winning her first bike race at the age of eight, she has carried on winning ever since.
Producer: Smita Patel.
Poet, painter and virtuoso pianist, Stephen Hough has been described as a polymath. He learned to play on a piano that cost £5 from a local antique shop and went on to become a virtuoso to astonish the world. Becky Milligan speaks to lifelong friends and some of the world's leading names in classical music to profile a man who plays like a dream.
Producers Smita Patel & Ed Davey.
You may not have heard of Sonia Friedman, but she's one of the most important people in British theatre. She's produced many of the biggest stage hits of the past 15 years - including Jerusalem and The Book of Mormon - and is a multiple award winner. This week, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opened in London. It was produced by Sonia Friedman. Her first job interview was with Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright in their kitchen. She got the job. She's a consummate deal-maker and is able to persuade writers and performers from JK Rowling to Mark Rylance and Benedict Cumberbatch to work with her. Mark Coles talks to family, friends and colleagues to discover more about her life and career.
Producers: Charlotte Prichard and Sarah Shebbeare.
Edward Stourton profiles the Labour leadership contender, Owen Smith. MP for Pontypridd since 2010, Mr Smith is challenging Jeremy Corbyn, saying that he's not up to the job. A former colleague at BBC Wales - where Mr Smith worked as a journalist - describes him as bright and ambitious, sometimes exasperating, and someone who 'didn't know their place'. And an old family friend tells us his character is firmly rooted in the culture of the South Wales valleys.
Producers: Charlotte Pritchard and Laura Gray.
With no leadership campaign - during which the public might have got to know her better - Theresa May has entered Downing Street with a remarkably low profile. Mark Coles has been talking to people who know her well - including new Cabinet appointees Justine Greening and Chris Grayling - to try to find out who she really is, and what she believes in.
Producer: Smita Patel and Laura Gray.
Andrea Leadsom and Theresa May are vying to be the next Conservative leader and Britain's second ever female prime minister. Mark Coles explores how a little-known junior energy minister was propelled into the limelight by the televised referendum debates and now stands a chance of leading not only her party but also her country. She is a relative newcomer to politics, having been elected to Parliament in 2010 when she won her seat in South Northamptonshire. She cooks an excellent roast dinner and has strong family values. Before becoming an MP she had a long career in the city but this has come under scrutiny this week with some claiming she has exaggerated past roles. We take a closer look at her CV and ask - does it stack up?
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Laura Gray and Sarah Shebbeare.
Synonymous with Glastonbury Festival, Michael Eavis is the bearded impresario of one of the biggest parties on earth. But this is no hedonistic figure: in reality, Eavis is a near-teetotal Method-ist who happily admits that his beloved herd of cows comes before the celebrities, rock and roll... or even the show itself. As more than 100,000 revellers descend upon Worthy Farm in Somerset, Mark Coles profiles this complex individual. Through his early battles with authority, financial setbacks and personal tragedy, we learn what drove Eavis to turn the land his family have owned for 150 years into the home of an iconic music festival. We hear from his GP son, the best man at his wedding and a host of famous DJs and musicians who have known him. From naked morning swims on the farm - every day of the year - to a ferociously competitive table tennis tournaments, we get beneath this skin of this individual and learn what makes him tick. World famous bands have graced his property and David Bowie's stayed in his farmhouse; yet at home Eavis is more likely to listen to Methodist Hymns or Elvis Presley (the latter for his gospel songs) than the many household names to have played Glastonbury. We speak as well to one of Mr Eavis's opponents over the years. We hear how his politics and commitment to unilateral nuclear disarmament have shaped both his life and the festival itself. And at 81 years old - with Glastonbury Festival still going strong - we learn whether this driven workaholic is likely to retire any time soon.
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan has announced Amanda Spielman is set to take over as chief inspector of schools in England. But the decision has provoked some controversy. Teaching unions have pointed out that Amanda Spielman has never been a teacher herself. But others have defended her, saying her experience setting up a successful academies chain - and most recently at exams regulator Ofqual - mean she's well-placed to take on this important role. Mark Coles has been finding out what makes Amanda Spielman tick.
This week the Sports Direct founder Mike Ashley gave evidence to a Business Select Committee inquiry into working conditions at his firm. In a rare public appearance, he admitted that the company had been paying employees less than the minimum wage. But how much do we really know about this secretive billionaire? He is one of the most intriguing characters in British business but also one of the most elusive. He is the driving force behind the Sports Direct empire, entrepreneur, owner of Newcastle United and once a possible saviour of BHS. In this programme Edward Stourton searches for the secret behind Mike Ashley's huge retail success and asks how much control he really has over his business.
This programme contains material from a previous episode of Profile about Mike Ashley first broadcast on Saturday 23 Feb 2013.
Producer: Laura Gray.
The Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, has vowed to keep alive the defiant revolution begun by Hugo Chavez. And that revolution has global radical support. But with growing economic chaos and street protests, it's feared that Venezuela is descending into chaos. Maduro has maintained the cult of Chavez, blamed his problems on CIA plots, and told the women of Venezuela to stop using hair driers as the oil-rich country faces constant power cuts. So what has shaped Maduro in his defiance? Can he hold the country together? Chris Bowlby explores his life and career.
Producer: Alex Burton.
To many, including himself, Jose Mourinho is the most successful football manager in the world - the 'special one'.
He has won league titles in all of the countries he's worked in. But he is also divisive; famous for igniting rows with opponents and provoking referees.
Mourinho was born into football. His father was a goalkeeper who once played for Portugal. The young Jose wanted to be a player too but after short spells in minor clubs he realised coaching offered him a brighter future.
Fast forward 25 years and this week Mourinho has been named Manchester United's new manager.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Wesley Stephenson.
Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, is credited with detoxifying the Tory brand in Scotland. A kick-boxing, Territorial Army-trained, gay Christian with working-class roots, she's not your typical Tory.
This month she's led a Conservative resurgence in Scotland. The Scottish Conservatives are now the largest opposition party in Holyrood, kicking Labour into third place. David Cameron has tipped her as a potential successor.
At just 37 her rise has been meteoric. She joined the Conservative Party only 7 years ago after a career in broadcasting. How has she done it? Mark Coles finds out.
Producer: Ben Crighton.
Chief executive of Easyjet, Dame Carolyn McCall, is one of the UK's most successful businesswomen. Initially seen as an outsider, she has won over staff and investors, piloting the airline into the FTSE 100.
Over the past three decades, she's also run the Guardian Media Group, and brought her wisdom to the boardrooms of Lloyds TSB, Tesco, Burberry and New Look. Last year she was voted Britain's most admired business leader.
An only child, Dame Carolyn was brought up in Bangalore and Singapore, before moving to boarding school in Derbyshire, and later meeting her husband at Kent University.
Mark Coles finds out more about this high flyer from her school roommate, former colleagues Alan Rusbridger and Sir Michael Rake, and Easyjet pilot Captain Angus Hogg.
Presenter: Mark Coles
Producers: Ruth Alexander and Sarah Shebbeare.
Mark Coles profiles the life of the Labour politician, Lord Dubs.
Born in 1932, Alfred Dubs came to the UK as a 6 year old, from Czechoslovakia on the 'Kindertransport'. He studied at the London School of Economics and had a career in marketing, before working as a local councillor. He was elected as an MP in 1979. This spring he introduced an amendment, in the House of Lords, to the government's immigration bill. He called on David Cameron to allow 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children into the UK from Europe. This week, the Prime Minister agreed to allow some children to enter.
Friends and political opponents describe Lord Dubs as persuasive and determined. The programme speaks to friends, tennis partners and those who've been dragged up mountains by him.
Produced by Ruth Alexander and Sarah Shebbeare.
She's been described as a swearing, chain-smoking version of Mother Teresa. Mother-of-two Liz Clegg was once a firefighter in Devon who hung out at music festivals. These days she spends most of her time in France, raising funds and caring round the clock for hundreds of young unaccompanied children in the so-called Jungle in Calais.
Her efforts have attracted international attention, with Clegg being invited to discuss her work in the US. Her admirers in the UK include the actress Juliet Stevenson.
Becky Milligan speaks to Liz Clegg's daughter Inca, her childhood friend Rufus Norris and others to reveal how she became a surrogate mother to so many.
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producer: Ben Crighton.
Sir Martin Sorrell has spent the last three decades transforming a maker of wire shopping baskets into the world's largest advertising firm. The self-proclaimed workaholic bought a stake in Wire and Plastic Products plc in 1985 and has since taken the advertising world by storm with a string of major acquisitions.
His meteoric rise is not without controversy. He is known for his relentless work ethic, punishing schedule, and ruthless approach to business. He has engaged in bitterly hostile takeovers, falling out with his competitors along the way.
The business has made Sorrell a wealthy man. This year his salary is expected to hit £70m, a sum which he has no qualms defending. Sir Martin believes he is "worth every penny".
Mark Coles speaks to Sir Martin Sorrell's childhood friend Simon Schama, his wife Cristiana Falcone and his colleagues and competitors, to reveal how he became the world's most powerful ad man.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Ben Crighton.
Mark Coles looks at the life and career of footballer Jamie Vardy. In just four years Vardy has gone from being a relative unknown, being paid a few hundred pounds a week at a non-league club, to one of the biggest names in European football. As well as playing for England, Vardy is Leicester City's star player - the team are now hotly tipped to win the Premier League.
Rejected by Sheffield Wednesday while a member of their youth team for being too short, Vardy spent years working in a factory in Sheffield, his recent success nothing short of a Hollywood fairy-tale. Indeed, a Hollywood film is in the pipeline. But his rise hasn't been problem free - in 2007 he was convicted of assault after an altercation outside a pub, and last year he was fined £40,000, by his own club, for reportedly making a racist comment in a casino.
Mark Coles speaks to Vardy's childhood friend Liam Muirhead, his former teacher Dr Chris Wall and one of his first football coaches Gary Marrow, about what has made him the player he is today.
Producer: Smita Patel.
Mark Coles profiles Sanjeev Gupta who this week met the Business Secretary Sajid Javid to discuss a possible deal to buy Britain's biggest steelworks at Port Talbot. In recent months he's invested significantly in British steel but before all that, in his earlier life, Gupta also bought and sold bicycles, sugar - even frozen chicken feet and fish heads. We ask his wife Nicola, sister Angeli and colleague Douglas Dawson what makes this entrepreneur tick - and why he thinks he can succeed in Port Talbot where previous owners have failed.
Producer: Smita Patel.
Mark Coles profiles the actress, Sophie Okonedo, star of the new Sunday night drama, Undercover. She plays a successful barrister who discovers her life is based on a series of lies.
Okonedo has a career encompassing stage, screeen and television, with parts as diverse as a future Queen Elizabeth (Liz Ten) in Doctor Who, to playing Winne Mandela. She was nominated for an Oscar for her role in Hotel Rwanda.
Director Dominic Cooke, fellow actor Adjoa Andoh and writer Peter Moffat tell us why they describe Okonedo as a trailblazer.
Producers: Smita Patel and Phoebe Keane.
n 2002 the British journalist Nick Denton created Gawker in the US, a website which made its name breaking news and celebrity gossip.
Last week a US court ordered the site to pay Hulk Hogan $140 million in damages, after Gawker ran a clip from a sex tape involving the wrestling star.
Mark Coles profiles the man friends describe as being "ahead of his time" and a "visionary".
But Mark also discovers how, as a journalist, Nick Denton reveals other people's secrets, while carefully guarding his own.
Producers: Katie Inman and David Rhodes.
"Ambitious", "cold-hearted" and "calculating"; just some of the words used to describe Frauke Petry, leader of Germany's Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) party. She has suggested German border police should be allowed to use firearms to deter illegal immigrants.
The populist, right-wing AfD has, under her controversial leadership, jumped from winning just a few percent of the vote at the 2013 federal elections, to more than 20 percent in some parts of Germany in last weekend's regional elections. The results surprised many.
But is her brand of politics sincere, or - as some say - pure opportunism? And how far could she take the AfD? Ed Stourton finds out.
Producer: Wesley Stephenson.
Senator Ted Cruz is a hardliner, even by the standards of his native Texas: anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, in favour of the death penalty and fiercely opposed to gun control. But in the race to be the next US president, some believe he has the best chance of beating Donald Trump to the Republican nomination. Son of a Cuban immigrant - and a virtual unknown three years ago - the 'anyone-but-Trump' candidate's ascent through Republican ranks has been as stratospheric as his style is divisive. With the 2016 American election looming, we profile a man who, as a teenager, used to tour the Deep South reciting the US Constitution by heart. Making his name as a hot shot young lawyer, Senator Cruz helped George W. Bush reach the White House by winning a court battle over the infamous Florida election recount. And as a rookie politician, he made headlines with a marathon 21-hour filibuster featuring children's stories by Dr Seuss.
We hear from early backers and political opponents, those who shared Ted Cruz's school days and witnessed his early legal triumphs. With make-or-break Republican primaries coming thick and fast - and Super Tuesday having transformed the competition - how has a politician with almost as many enemies on his own side as among the Democrats come within sight of the White House? What impact has his Christian faith had on his politics? And can Senator Cruz become - as he dreamed as a teenager - the most powerful man in the world?
For more than 30 years Jenny Beavan has been designing beautiful and historically accurate costumes, for film and stage. But though she cares intensely how the costumes look on the actors and on screen, she has little interest in fashion or dressing up herself. So despite being called a bag lady at the Baftas she went along to collect her second Oscar in comfortable clothes.
Presenter - Becky Milligan Producer- Shabnam Grewal and Elizabeth Cassin.
Chris Bowlby profiles the German art historian and curator Dr Hartwig Fischer, who this year takes over one of the most important jobs in UK culture: director of the British Museum. What can the museum's visitors - and its staff - expect from the new man in charge?
Producer: Smita Patel.
Millions will miss Lady Violet's withering one-liners now that Downton Abbey is over. Chris Bowlby profiles one of Britain's most successful actors: Maggie Smith. Her extraordinary career has spanned Shakespeare on stage, Hollywood films and, of course, popular televison drama.
Producer: Smita Patel
Photo credit: "Downton Abbey" / Carnival Films.
Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of SpaceX and Tesla Motors, has a plan to stop computers from taking over the world. The co-founder of Paypal - who made his first fortune in his twenties - has joined other tech giants to fund a not-for-profit company called OpenAI. Its aim is to develop the most advanced forms of artificial intelligence and then to share the results. Musk is among a group of thinkers - including Stephen Hawking - who have warned that AI could eventually lead to the end of the human race. His idea is that by making AI 'open source', powerful corporate interests will be kept in check. Mark Coles explores the life of a man with a passion for rockets, cars and a plan to retire to Mars.
Producers: Smita Patel and Sally Abrahams.
Mark Clarke was once a rising star in the Conservative Party. He was a prominent figure who started and led 'RoadTrip2015', a project to bus young Conservatives into marginal seats to campaign door-to-door. Clarke was dubbed the 'Tatler Tory' after the magazine tipped him as a future minister. But he was recently expelled from the party following lurid allegations of blackmail and bullying, and the tragic suicide of one fellow activist.
Presenter: Mark Coles Producer: Sonia Rothwell.
Online hacking collective Anonymous declared "total war" on IS after the attacks in Paris. Their tactics have often been controversial, sometimes illegal, and don't always win them support. As so-called Islamic State vows to fight back, what is Anonymous likely to achieve and will its strategy help or hinder the fight against extremism?
Presenter: Becky Milligan Producer: Ben Crighton.
Known by many in her country as 'The Lady', Aung San Suu Kyi has become one of the world's most famous female politicians. And yet she has never exercised any power in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. Under the country's current constitution, she is forbidden from becoming president. Will she find a way of ruling the country if, as is expected, her party The National League for Democracy wins this weekend's elections?
Aung San Suu Kyi's political career, which began dramatically with the failed uprising of 1988, has been shaped by the memory of her father, General Aung San, who is regarded as the founder of modern Burma. Her life has been marked by loss: her father was assassinated when she was two, her older brother died six years later and her British husband, Michael Aris, died when she was under house arrest. How has Aung San Suu Kyi remained committed to her struggle to bring democracy to the country?
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Katie Inman and Peter Snowdon.
She's the self-proclaimed Beyoncé of the House of Lords, calling herself a 'single lady' and an 'independent woman'. Baroness Tina Stowell is the Leader of the Upper House. She was in the spotlight this week after the Lords defeated the government over tax credits.
After leaving school at 16, Baroness Stowell's journey to this position has been a discreet one. How will she negotiate the potentially testing times ahead as the government contemplates reform of the House of Lords?
Presenter: Edward Stourton. Producers: Charlotte Pritchard and Peter Snowdon.
He's been a boxer, a bouncer and a bungee jumping coach. Now he's the Prime Minister of Canada. Justin Trudeau is going back to his childhood home, 24 Sussex Drive, the PM's residence in Ottawa. His father, Pierre Trudeau, was a previous resident. Justin Trudeau is young and charismatic. He might even be the world's first tattooed national leader. But who is he? What does he stand for? And can he live up to his famous name?
Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Charlotte Pritchard and David Rhodes.
Saudi Arabia's human rights record is firmly back in the spotlight. A teenage boy on death row for protesting. A British pensioner expecting to be lashed. Britain no longer willing to help train those running the Kingdom's jails.
Our subject this week - Saudi interior minister Prince Mohammad Bin Nayef - is right in the thick of it. Mark Coles profiles the man who is a crucial counter-terrorism partner for Britain and United States, and a hardliner who is next in line to the Saudi throne.
Producers: Chloe Hadjimatheou and Katie Inman.
Bernie Sanders is a socialist and a grump. But is he also a future US president?
Some 20,000 people recently turned out to hear Sanders speak - the sort of crowd Barack Obama would have been proud of in 2008. He is, it seems, an increasingly viable contender for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Sanders has spent the last forty years attacking inequality and he is known for giving loud and impassioned speeches. But he can also be prickly with the media and he doesn't do small talk.
So could Bernie Sanders, the self-styled socialist and "grumpy old guy", beat Hillary Clinton - and the Republicans - to become the next President of the United States? Chris Bowlby reports.
Producers: Keith Moore and Ben Crighton
The song "Feel the Bern", used in this programme, was performed by Tony Tig and produced Corbett.
Gina Rinehart - one the world's richest women - is about to realise a lifelong dream: to own and operate her very own iron-ore mine. Rinehart's life has been defined by huge success and the staggering speed at which she has accumulated her enormous wealth - but also by family feuds which have pitted generations of her family against each other. Mark Coles profiles the controversial Australian billionaire.
Producers: Ben Crighton and Chloe Hadjimatheou.