One to One

For his One to One series, Sir Trevor McDonald explores the idea of redemption, talking to two very different people with very different ideas on what it means.

This week a former maximum security prisoner talks about finding redemption through sport. Former armed robber John McAvoy once shared a wing with convicted terrorist Abu Hamza in Belmarsh Prison. His life was going nowhere but then he discovered rowing in the prison gym and went on to break the world record for indoor rowing. Now he's a semi professional tri-athlete seeking to inspire other young people who risk becoming offenders.

Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Unexpected educational journeys: the journalist Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to the first female head teacher in the 500 year history of Magdalen College School in Oxford.

The journalist Datshiane Navanayagam had a challenging childhood punctuated by periods of homelessness but she was always expected to achieve academically. She won a bursary to a private school which led her onto Cambridge University. As a result she's fascinated by the transformative role education can have. For One to One she's speaking to three people who have been on unexpected educational journeys.

Today she meets Helen Pike. Born in Preston and educated entirely in the state sector, Helen Pike has almost exclusively worked in private schools and has just been appointed as the first female head teacher in the 500 year history of the independent Magdalen College School. At one stage she was the head teacher of the school that Datshiane attended (although not while Datshiane was there). They speak about background, confidence and breaking boundaries.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Unexpected stories of education: The journalist Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to the crime writer, Val McDermid, about an unusual educational experiment she was part of in the 1960s.

Datshiane Navanayagam had a difficult childhood punctuated by periods of homelessness, but she was always expected to achieve educationally and won a bursary to a private school which led her onto Cambridge University. As a result she's fascinated by the transformative role of education and for three editions of One to One is speaking to people who went on an unexpected educational journey.

Today she meets the crime writer, Val McDermid, who was part of an educational experiment in the 1960s which separated her from her peers and pushed her forward by a year.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Unexpected stories of education: Datshiane Navanayagam speaks to the musician and broadcaster Soweto Kinch about his experience as an inner-city child of going to a private school.

The journalist Datshiane Navanayagam had a challenging childhood which involved periods of homelessness. But her parents always had high expectations of her and what she could achieve educationally. She was awarded a bursary to a private school, and went onto Cambridge University. As a result she's fascinated by the transformative role of education and for three editions of One to One is speaking to people who went on unexpected educational journeys.

Today she meets the musician and broadcaster Soweto Kinch. Soweto was brought up in inner city Birmingham, but from the age of nine was educated in private schools. On a daily basis he found himself crossing cultural boundaries and confounding expectations. He discusses this experience with Datshiane in terms of the confidence it gave him, and in the context of his West Indian heritage.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Tim Samuels goes in search of alternative relationships and meets women who have ditched traditional monogamy. He meets those making their own rules in a world less constrained by religion and gender norms and where we are evolving and adapting to changing times.

For the second of his three programmes for One to One, Tim travels to Birmingham to meet Salma (not her real name) who chose to become the second wife in a polygamous relationship. She tells Tim why she wanted to share a husband and talks about the benefits.

However, there are downsides to every relationship.

The producer is Perminder Khatkar.

Tim Samuels goes in search of alternative relationships and meets women who have ditched traditional monogamy in favour of part-time, polygamous and pragmatic love.

Tim recently wrote about the challenges of being a 21st century man, including how monogamy can be a struggle. He's not the first man to feel it could run counter to men's biological make-up. And these days, in heterosexual couple break ups, female infidelity is just as likely to be cited as a cause for divorce as the male half of the partnership straying.

Tim says we are now living in a world where religion has lost its grip, women are freer than ever before to express their sexuality without male diktats, and we are continually evolving and adapting to changing times. He's long been interested in alternatives to monogamy, and now he wants to hear about some actual examples.

In the first of his three programmes for One to One, Tim meets Helen who has ripped up the relationship rules to find a model that works for her. She is a mother of two, but partner of none.

The producer is Perminder Khatkar.

What does it take to be a successful runner of extreme distance and why do people do it?

David Greig is the Artistic Director of the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and an internationally successful playwright. He's also an ultra-marathon runner who has twice completed the punishing 96 mile West Highland Way as well as many other long-distance races. He took up running fifteen years ago when he stopped smoking and running has since become an endorphin-fuelled obsession.

For One to One, David is speaking to two fellow runners. Today he meets former world hill running champion, Angela Mudge. Born with birth defects that affected her feet, Angela spent the first two and half years of life almost continually with her lower legs and feet in plaster. Despite this, she went onto be a hugely successful long-distance runner. Her most memorable race was when she became the first woman to break three hours when she won the Sierre-Zinal - 'the race of the 4000m peaks'.

But why do they do it?

Producer: Karen Gregor.

What does it take to be a successful runner of extreme distance, and why do people do it?

David Greig is the Artistic Director of the Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh and an internationally successful playwright. He's also an ultra-marathon runner who has twice completed the punishing 96 mile West Highland Way amongst many other long-distance races. He took up running fifteen years ago when he stopped smoking and running has since become an endorphin-fuelled obsession.

For One to One, David speaks to two fellow runners. Today, he meets Ben Smith who - at the time of their conversation - was attempting to set a world record by running 401 marathons on 401 consecutive days. Following a difficult childhood and a challenging time during his 20s, Ben discovered running and it became a form of confidence building and healing. Out of this new sense of confidence, Ben decided to set himself an outlandish challenge, and the 401 was the result.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Sathnam Sanghera feels he has come a long way from his working class Wolverhampton background and now regards himself as firmly middle class.

Sathnam Sanghera explores class. As the son of an illiterate factory worker who ended up going to Cambridge and working for The Times, he now regards himself as firmly middle class.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.