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Alan Bleasdale, the Liverpudlian screenwriter and playwright, is in the spotlight this week as a stage version of his iconic 1980's TV series 'Boys from the Blackstuff' opened at the National Theatre. Born in Liverpool, an only child who first went into teaching, his first public work was 'Scully' for Radio Merseyside, a kind of Liverpudlian Adrian Mole, which he wrote whilst he was still teaching.

But it was 'Boys from the Blackstuff' that made him a household name with one of the characters, Yosser Hughes' line 'Gissa job' providing a chant on the stands of his beloved Liverpool Football Club.

His work has courted controversy with successive governments, although he says he's not political, only voting for the first time at the age of 38. Now in his late 70's and 40 years on from the original television series, he's back in the spotlight. Stephen Smith talks to friends and colleagues about his work, phobias and how to tell if you're having a heart attack.

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Ann-Marie Powell, is the exuberant and colourful, garden designer, whose' Octavia Hill 'Garden was one of the eight main gardens in competition at the Chelsea Flower Show this year.

After dropping out of college she spent six months travelling in India, Nepal and New Zealand, which inspired her to take up gardening. Attending Capel Manor horticultural college her first job was working in sales for a large nursery. But Ann-Marie's colourful personal style and outgoing personality led her employer to encourage her to apply for a job as a presenter on a TV gardening show. She soon blossomed into a popular gardening show host working with fellow gardeners like Carol Klein, Joe Swift and gardening supremo, Monty Don.

In addition to running her own successful garden design business from the home she shares with her husband and two boys, on the Hampshire borders, she feels it's important that everyone should have access to green spaces, no matter where they live. During lockdown her Instagram page 'My Real Garden' was a big hit broadcasting garden tips and advice everyday.

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You may know her from Play School, Bafta or the House of Lords, Baroness Floella Benjamin doesn’t sit still, she’s even appeared in panto.

Stephen Smith hears about the remarkable life of the Trinidad-born actress, TV presenter and author, who campaigns passionately for children and the Windrush generation.

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After over four decades in the SNP and nearly two in government, John Swinney is finally stepping up to the top job for the first time, becoming Scotland’s new First Minister.

He’s no stranger to big jobs - it’s actually his second stint as SNP leader - but leading his country and his party is looking tougher than ever, as the SNP finds itself facing formidable challenges.

Who is this stalwart of the SNP, and do his life and experiences equip him for the task ahead? Mark Coles talks to friends, colleagues, and those who’ve watched this political operator up close for years.

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Isaac Levido has established a formidable reputation as a election strategist, helping to craft wins both in the UK and Australia. Thought of as a protege of the quasi-legendary election guru Sir Lynton Crosby in his early years, he’s rapidly racked up achievements of his own, propelling both Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson back into office with his brand of data-driven analysis.

Stephen Smith opens the black box that is electoral strategising and sets out to understand the mind of the man who is set to shape the Conservatives’ impending general election campaign.

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Paul Sinton-Hewitt, the founder of parkrun, was born in Zimbabwe and moved to South Africa at the age of five, where he was brought up in care with his two siblings. Always a keen middle distance runner, he was a second for a friend in one of South Africa's most gruelling road races. Eventually he moved to the UK to work in IT and raise a family.

After a perfect storm of redundancy, marriage breakdown and an injury which prevented him from running with his own club, he decided he'd start a time trial in a local park, for his running club pals. The only proviso that they had to have coffee and cake with him afterwards.

Twenty years later, that timed run that he started has outpaced anything he could have envisaged and turned into parkrun. The 5k run around local parks on a Saturday morning, has gone global and the parkrun community has hundreds of thousands of people running or volunteering as stewards every week. Stephen Smith finds out what makes Paul Sinton-Hewitt run.

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Although Simon Harris reportedly describes himself as an 'accidental politician', he has managed to make a career out of it. His interest in politics was sparked at the age of 15 when he set up a support group in his local town to campaign for better secondary education for autistic people after he saw his parents struggle to get help for his younger brother. From then on his path was set. After a brief dalliance with Fianna Fail he joined the youth wing of the Fine Gael party at 17. He gave up his degree studies in year three of a four year course to work as an assistant to the then leader of the opposition in the Irish Parliament. By the age of 24 he was elected to parliament with the nickname 'Baby of the Dail' and was a junior minister by the age of 27. Since then he's held two further ministerial posts.

Now, after the shock resignation of former Taioseach, Leo Varadkar in late March, he was elected unopposed as leader of the Fine Gael party and now is expected to be confirmed as the new Taoiseach when the parliament returns after the Easter break. With a new nickname, 'The Tik Tok Taoiseach' because of his use of social media he's on track to break another record, set by his predecessor as the youngest Taoiseach in history to date.

Kate Lamble finds out what makes him tick outside of Tik Tok and his rapid rise to the top job in Irish politics.

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Rosemarie Mallett’s star has risen quickly in the Church of England. After a career in academia and a period of disenchantment with the institution, she became a priest in 2005, attracting the attention of senior members of the clergy for her engagement with communities and issues of social justice alike.

Bishop Rosemarie was herself born into a situation shaped by slavery, in the then colony Barbados, before coming to the UK as a child. Now a senior cleric, she has co-authored a report on how the Church of England should make amends for its historic financial involvement in the transatlantic slave trade, which has attracted praise from some and criticism from others.

Stephen Smith talks to those who know Mallett best, exploring how her life has shaped her approach to music, ministry, and racial justice.

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Vaughan Gething this week became Wales’ new First Minister, and the leader of Welsh Labour. He’s the fifth person to hold the post and the first black leader of a national government in Europe.

No stranger to breaking barriers, this employment lawyer rose apace to the top of student and trades unions alike, before election to the Welsh Senedd and ministerial office, charged with overseeing first health and then the economy.

Mark Coles looks back at how a cricket-mad schoolboy became First Minister of the land of his father - a journey from Zambia to Cardiff by way of rural Dorset - and finds out what drives him from those who know him best.

The current Secretary for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, first joined the cabinet in 2010 and has remained there for most of the past 14 years in various posts. He’s served four prime ministers.

During that time he has provoked controversy from many areas - from teachers, lawyers, landlords for the policies he has championed. But he has also attracted friends and enemies in his own party due to his decisions over Brexit, leadership bids and party politics.

Presenter: Mark Coles

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