Profile

Rick Perry won the seat of Governor of Texas vacated by George W Bush when he was elected President of the United States. Perry has held the post for over ten years, making him the longest serving governor in state history. Now he is seeking nomination as the Republican Party's candidate to oppose Barack Obama in the 2012 Presidential election. Over last few weeks he's become a front runner to succeed, taking part in a series of televised debates within the last few days. In this week's Profile, we hear from his former scouting buddies in the small village of Paint Creek where he was raised that "there are only three things to do in Paint Creek: school, church and scouting". They describe the simple farming background that influenced his life and informed his politics. We also hear from Retired Lt General Joseph Weber Marine, a contemporary of Perry at Texas A+M University. The Governor's father was a B17 Gunner in WW2 and flew missions out of the U.K. "I know Rick visited where he'd been and was very interested in looking at the airfields and the history of the U.S. air force working with the RAF." says Weber.Other contributors to this profile of a possible contender for the next Commander-in-Chief include musician Ted "the Nuge" Nugent who believes Rick Perry is the best hope of making the whole of the United States more like Nugent's adopted home of Texas which has: "the greatest hunting the world, no income tax plus I can carry a machine gun in my trunk". We also hear from Christy Hoppe, Bureau chief of the "Dallas News" who has known Rick Perry for over twenty years about the real story behind the "economic miracle" that some claim Texas has achieved under Perry.Presenter: Chris Bowlby.

Edward Stourton profiles Vanessa Redgrave, the multi-award and Oscar-winning actress and political activist. A leading member of the Redgrave family of actors, she is the daughter, wife, mother and aunt of some of Britain's best known actors and directors. She has hit the headlines just as often for her political and human rights activities, as for her stage, film and theatre work. This week, she is in the news for supporting the travellers currently facing eviction from a site in Basildon. Producers: Arlene Gregorius and Harbinder Minhas.

Mustafa Abdul Jalil is a former Justice Minister for the Gaddafi regime and now head of Libya's National Transitional Council. He publicly challenged Gaddafi's authority and offered his resignation but it was turned down and the dictator preferred to keep Mustafa Abdul Jalil close, apparently encouraged by the leader's son Saif al-islam Gadaffi.Known as a man of integrity and a stickler for the law, he defected in February after visiting the city of Bengazi, and saw peaceful protestors being shot. In May Mr Abdul Jalil did the rounds of European capitals calling on their governments to support the rebel National Transitional Council. But as Nick Ravenscroft reports there are doubts as to whether he has the leadership qualities to manage the disparate groups and steer the country toward democracy. Producer: Rob Cave.

The Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger is credited with turning around the fortunes of his club and forging a new approach to football management. Known as the 'Professor' and lauded as a genius, he now faces criticism from some of his own loyal fans. Andy Denwood profiles the Frenchman at the heart of English football. Producer - Gail Champion.

The Home Secretary, Theresa May, is centre stage as she deals with the aftermath of riots across England which have shocked the country and led to the recall of Parliament. The police are under scrutiny for their tactics and performance in London particularly, with reported tensions arising between the Home Secretary and the Met Commissioner. May is a politician who's not afraid to challenge the existing order - and speak the unspeakable. Last year, she told the police that they need to cut their spending and re-organise the way they work. As the chair of the Conservatives in the early 2000s, she said the party was perceived by the public as the "nasty party." It was a start of the rebranding of the Conservatives.The daughter of a clergyman, she attended an independent convent and a number of state schools before going to Oxford. After graduating, she joined the City - working for a time at the Bank of England. She took the hard route into politics - starting off stuffing envelopes in a constituency office before being elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Merton where she spent the best part of a decade.She has a reputation for being focussed on the job and having a Thatcheresque work ethic with few outside interests. Simon Cox profiles Theresa May, one of only four women to hold the key offices in British politics.

When Iran makes the news it is often that country's flamboyant and provocative president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who finds himself under the spotlight. But the man who wields real power in Iran is not Ahmadinejad, nor was it any of his predecessors as president. Instead it is the man who has served as the head of the country's religious structure since 1989, the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.The Ayatollah owes his rise to power to two men - his predecessor as Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and the previous president, Hashemi Rafsanjani. Ayatollah Khamenei has been a cleric for most of his life, beginning as a religious scholar in the city of Mashhad at the tender age of 11. He served several terms in jail as a result of his religious convictions during the secular dictatorship of the Shah. His rise to power began with the revolution of 1979 that turned Iran into the Islamic Republic. Khamenei became, first president, a post with relatively little power, and his election as Supreme Leader after the death of Khomenei was a surprise to all. Many believe this was engineered by Rafsanjani to allow Rafsanjani himself to remain in control.But Khamenei has gradually made himself the most powerful man in Iran - and he's done so by recruiting the Revolutionary Guard to his side. There are those who say that far from a religious dictatorship, Iran is in fact a military dictatorship. But Ali Khamenei is 72 and with 70 per cent of the Iranian population having been born since the revolution, it's not clear that the post of Supreme Leader will survive his death.Producer TIM MANSEL Presenter JAMES REYNOLDS.

With a year to go until London 2012 Shari Vahl profiles John Armitt CBE, Chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority and charged with delivering the £9bn project on time and budget.

There were cheers and jeers in the House this week when Elizabeth Filkin was named as head of the enquiry to advise on cleaning up the relationship between the Met and the media following the hacking scandal.As former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards she challenged vested interests at Westminster, until she was 'hounded out' by MPs in 2002 after questioning the probity of some of their number. She took on Keith Vaz - who this week chaired the Home Affairs Select Committee's questioning of recently resigned Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson - during her investigation into his links with the Hinduja family and accused him of deliberately trying to thwart her enquiries.Supporters describe her as "fair but firm... someone who cannot be bribed, bought or bullied."Filkin doesn't come with the typical background for a Government-appointed inquisitor. She is a former community worker, having worked in the London Borough of Brent back in the 1970s. She went on to to be an academic, as well as Chief Executive of the Citizens Advice Bureau.Now over 70, in recent years Elizabeth Filkin may have been out of the limelight, but as Shari Vahl reports, her antecedence suggests she's someone who wants to get at the truth - and isn't too concerned who she upsets along the way.

Rupert Murdoch is the head of News Corporation and at the centre of the political and public storm over phone hacking and the payment of police officers. Steve Hewlett profiles the 80 year old whose high risk and audacious business gambles built an empire, but is now seeing the alleged high risk behaviour of some of its former employees threaten to undermine it. Producer: Nicola Dowling.

Jonathan Maitland profiles Nick Davies, the investigative journalist behind the story of the News of the World phone-hacking allegations that are dominating the headlines. Nick Davies decided to become an investigative journalist after he saw the film All the President's Men, about the US journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein who revealed the Watergate story that brought down president Richard Nixon. Thirty-five years later, Nick Davies is considered one of Britain's top investigative journalists. He has broken numerous stories, mostly for the Guardian newspaper. His scoops include the story about the nurse turned serial child murderer, Beverley Allitt, and the recent Wikileaks revelations. He has written several books, including Flat Earth News. In this book he accuses many British newspapers of what he calls "churnalism", churning out stories based entirely on PR, press releases or wire copy, without further fact-checking. This did not make him the most popular man in Fleet Street, but he is one of the most respected. He is a passionate, driven, and obsessive journalist. Where did these traits come from? Jonathan Maitland finds out what makes Nick Davies tick. Producer: Arlene Gregorius.