
Profile
An insight into the character of an influential figure making news headlines
Latest episodes

Dec 4, 2021 • 15min
Lubaina Himid
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

Nov 27, 2021 • 14min
Peppa Pig
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

Nov 20, 2021 • 14min
Jacob Rees-Mogg
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

Nov 13, 2021 • 13min
Kamlesh Patel
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

Nov 6, 2021 • 14min
Feargal Sharkey
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

Oct 30, 2021 • 14min
Amanda Staveley
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

Oct 23, 2021 • 14min
Katharine Birbalsingh
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

Oct 16, 2021 • 14min
Adele
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

Oct 9, 2021 • 14min
Cush Jumbo
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

Oct 2, 2021 • 14min
Olaf Scholz
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.
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