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...
Jan 11, 2020•14 min
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
Jan 04, 2020•14 min
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 – i...
Dec 28, 2019•14 min
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
Dec 21, 2019•14 min
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.
Dec 14, 2019•14 min
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.
Dec 07, 2019•14 min
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 ...
Nov 30, 2019•14 min
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. ...
Nov 23, 2019•14 min
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 frie...
Nov 16, 2019•14 min
Mark Coles profiles the new Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, meeting - among others - his pet parrot, Boris.
Nov 09, 2019•14 min
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.
Nov 02, 2019•14 min
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
Oct 26, 2019•14 min
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
Oct 19, 2019•14 min
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?
Oct 12, 2019•14 min
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
Oct 05, 2019•14 min
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
Sep 28, 2019•14 min
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 co...
Sep 21, 2019•14 min
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 journe...
Sep 14, 2019•14 min
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
Sep 07, 2019•14 min
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
Aug 31, 2019•14 min
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 ...
Jul 27, 2019•14 min
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...
Jul 20, 2019•14 min
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
Jul 13, 2019•14 min
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
Jul 06, 2019•14 min
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
Jun 29, 2019•14 min
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.
Jun 22, 2019•14 min
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?
Jun 15, 2019•14 min
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
Jun 08, 2019•14 min
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
Jun 01, 2019•14 min
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
May 25, 2019•14 min
