Profile

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 p...

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, a...

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 hus...

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 loo...

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....

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 Cit...

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: B...

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...

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 connect...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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, an...

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...

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...

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 sa...

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 Manch...

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...

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...

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 minist...

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...