Profile

It's 40 years since the National Theatre was led by someone who wasn't a Cambridge graduate, but this week it was announced that Rufus Norris - who spent his late teens as a painter and decorator - would succeed Sir Nicholas Hytner as the theatre's director. So why is Norris such a popular choice for British theatre's top job? Mary Ann Sieghart looks at the making of a director whose work includes...

This week saw the surprising exit from the English Defence League of its leaders Tommy Robinson and Kevin Carroll. Instrumental in their decision to leave was Essex-born Maajid Nawaz, a former activist for the Islamist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir. Arrested in 2001 for attempting to revive the group in Egypt, he served four years in a Cairo jail. Today, he has renounced his old beliefs and now runs...

A gifted journalist with his finger on the pulse of Middle England? Or 'the most dangerous man in Britain' as the Guardian newspaper has described him? Mark Coles profiles the powerful and influential Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre. Producers: Ben Crighton and Simon Maybin.

Iran's new president Hassan Rouhani has been centre of attention at the UN this week. He's promising a new approach to talks with the West over his country's nuclear programme. He is certainly a change from his abrasive anti-Western predecessor. Rouhani studied in Britain, loves Bogart films and Thomas Hardy novels and is fond of designer clerical robes. So, Mary Ann Sieghart asks, is all that mer...

Comedian Billy Connolly has announced new film and touring plans despite facing ill health. Mark Coles explores how Connolly has long used humour to defy serious adversity. Childhood abuse and alcoholism have been countered by a rich musical, comedy and acting career. In this profile of the Glasgow welder who became a global star, Connolly's own performances and voice are mixed with the thoughts o...

Mark Coles profiles Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a key figure in the Syria crisis. Has this chain-smoking, vodka-loving diplomat managed to restore Russian power? Those who've dealt with him tell us just why he's such a formidable opponent, and how he survived the collapse of the Soviet Union to put Russian diplomacy back at the centre of world affairs. Producers: Chris Bowlby and Smita...

Chris Bowlby profiles German Chancellor Angela Merkel - always underestimated, physicist and ruthless politician, the woman at the centre of the eurozone crisis. What has shaped a figure who grew up under East German communism, came to dominate united German politics and proclaims her love of football and opera? And as her friendship with David Cameron deepens, might she be key to Britain's EU fut...

Mark Coles explores the life of US Secretary of State, John Kerry, who is taking a global leadership role over Syria. As President Obama said when he nominated him for Secretary of State, "Kerry's entire life prepared him for this role." One of his childhood friends tells us that Secretary Kerry has kept the same principles he held as a young man at Yale. But others see him as a man of contradicti...

Edward Stourton profiles the Commander of Egypt's Armed Forces, General Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, now the most powerful man in Egypt. General al-Sisi was appointed Defence Minister and Head of the Army by President Morsi in August 2012, and he was thought by many to be sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood. But he was instrumental in Morsi's downfall in July and oversaw the subsequent violent suppress...

Jane Deith profiles Mo Farah. This week he became the first British man - and only second man ever - to hold the Olympic and World 10,000m and 5,000m titles. He was born in Somalia and moved to Britain as a young boy, where his athletic journey began. But it was an unusual one for such a successful athlete - he needed cajoling, ran the wrong way in cross-country races and enjoyed playing to the cr...

Chris Bowlby profiles the new governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, who unveiled his economic strategy this week. Heralded as 'the outstanding central banker of his generation' by George Osborne, Mr Carney now faces the task of guiding the UK's economy towards full recovery. Since arriving in London he has caused a stir by arriving to work on his first day by tube and unveiling Jane Austen...

Mary Ann Sieghart profiles Haifaa Al-Mansour, Saudi Arabia's first female film director. Haifaa Al-Mansour directed the recently-released Wadjda, the first film entirely shot in Saudi Arabia. The film follows the dreams of an 11-year-old girl who is desperate to own a bike, and was partly inspired by Al-Mansour's early years, growing up in a small town near Riyadh. After working for an oil company...

Helen Grady profiles Professor Sir Andre Geim who is one of the most unusual scientists working in Britain - perhaps the world - today. This week he was awarded the Royal Society's Copley Medal, believed to be the world's oldest science prize, for his ground-breaking experiments using graphene - thought by many to be the miracle material of the 21st century. He is also a winner of both the Ig Nobe...

Edward Stourton profiles Samantha Cameron. There's been debate this week about the degree to which her views influence government policy. But what do we actually know about the Prime Minister's wife? The daughter of a baronet with a family estate in Lincolnshire, Samantha Cameron was born Samantha Sheffield. She grew up in Oxfordshire but moved to Marlborough College in Wiltshire, where she took h...

With the Ashes underway, Mark Coles profiles the England cricket captain Alastair Cook. Born on Christmas Day in 1984, Cook's first career was as a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral. A talented musician, he also studied the clarinet and the saxophone but cricket soon took over and he made his England Test debut at 21, scoring a century. He's hit more Test centuries for England than any other player...

This week the football world ascended dizzying heights of breathlessness over the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson. But as one footballing titan steps down, another - a man who is, in some ways, the antithesis of Sir Alex - is about to step up to take on one of the highest-profile jobs in world football. Tim Franks profiles Pep Guardiola, and asks whether he could be Sir Alex's successor as perhaps...

As she wages war against tax avoidance, Margaret Hodge - Chair of the Public Accounts Committee - is enjoying a blazing Indian summer in her political life. As Edward Stourton discovers, her political journey is set against the background of a turbulent personal life that began as the daughter of Jewish refugees in Egypt.

Alisher Usmanov has just been named the richest man in Britain. Born in Uzbekistan, Usmanov made his fortune in the collapsing Soviet Union. His empire has stretched from plastic bags to minerals, telecoms, Facebook and Arsenal Football Club. But, as Mark Coles reports, Usmanov's rise has not been straightforward, nor free of controversy.

Mark Coles profiles the long-serving and influential head of the FBI, Robert Mueller. Mueller took on the job one week before the 2001 World Trade Center attacks. Now, as he approaches retirement, the FBI is again dealing with the aftermath of an attack on American soil. The squared-jawed Princeton graduate was decorated for bravery during the Vietnam War before training as a lawyer. Dissatisfied...

Mary Ann Seighart profiles Elizabeth Llewellyn, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, who had an obvious talent for singing from an early age. Her school-teachers in south London encouraged her to take lessons and go to concerts, and she won a place at the Royal Northern College of Music. But ill-health forced her to drop out. She then pursued an alternative career in IT recruitment, her talent lyi...

Amazon first became the world's biggest bookshop and then went on to revolutionise shopping as we know it. What began in 1994 as a small start-up in a Seattle suburb has become arguably the most significant technology company on the planet. Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder, is now a billionaire many times over. Bezos rarely makes public pronouncements and avoids media interviews. Those who have worked...

Mary Ann Sieghart profiles the Reverend Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James's Piccadilly, and a former Canon of St Paul's Cathedral in London. Many inside the Church see her as favourite to become the first female bishop of the Church of England, if the rules change. Lucy Winkett read history at Cambridge before studying theology, and then trained as a soprano at the Royal College of Music for a year...

Chris Bowlby looks at the 22-year old Norwegian chess player Magnus Carlsen. He has the highest rating in the world ever and has been called the Mozart of chess. He is currently in London playing the tournament that will determine which top player gets to challenge the reigning world champion, Vishy Anand, for that title. Carlsen has been amazing the world of chess since he was a child. He became...

Chris Bowlby profiles the British-educated Chinese property billionaire Zhang Xin, one of the most powerful women in business. She is in advanced talks to buy 40 per cent of Manhattan's iconic General Motors building. Zhang Xin stands out as the high-profile CEO of the prominent, upmarket property developer SoHoChina, which she founded with her husband. Unusually for Chinese billionaires, she is a...

Justin Bieber, the 19-year-old Canadian pop star, is an internet phenomenon with 35 million Twitter followers. His first hit is the most-watched video in YouTube history. He has upset fans on his UK tour by keeping them waiting before taking the stage, prompting some to suggest that the pressure of such extraordinary fame, experienced at such a young age, is beginning to show. Although Justin Bieb...