Profile

Douglas Carswell has become UKIP's first elected MP in Westminster. A free-thinking Eurosceptic Conservative, Carswell was never shy to criticise "our supine, spineless Parliament". Nonetheless his surprise defection in the summer shocked his friends and supporters. Ed Stourton asks what made him leave now and whether there's more to Douglas Carswell than jam-making and politics.

In January 2014 Benefits Street aired for the first time on Channel 4. The reality TV series, which documented the lives of residents of James Turner Street in Birmingham, was controversial right from the start. Ofcom and Channel 4 received hundreds of complaints.

One straight-talking resident - Deirdre Kelly, also known as 'White Dee' - became the standout star of the show. Many of the headlines were negative and the mother-of-two found herself vilified, accused of being a scrounger and worse.

But she received a warmer welcome on Celebrity Big Brother this summer and more recently this week at the Conservative Party Conference where she spoke at a fringe event hosted by a think-tank.

So how did an ordinary woman from Birmingham, who has spent the last several years living off benefits, become so famous - and, potentially, influential? Mark Coles travels to Birmingham to find out.

Presenter Mark Coles

Ricky Tomlinson is a top TV actor with starring roles including Brookside and The Royle Family. But he has a controversial trade union past, and was once imprisoned for picketing during a strike. A new play about him has just opened. Mary Ann Sieghart discovers a powerful mix of politics and personal drama in his life and career.

Producer: Ben Crighton.

How did Shane Smith - a hard-partying, tattooed former Ottawa punk rocker - turn a community magazine into an international multi-media empire?

Mark Coles looks at the life of one of the founders of Vice, a man whose motto is: "We like our stories to punch you in the face."

His company is the fast-growing enfant terrible of digital media. Renowned for its often controversial reports aimed at a young audience disillusioned with mainstream media, it seems that no subject is taboo.

Scoops include an interview with a former Liberian warlord and cannibal, as well as a trip to North Korea with former basketball player Dennis Rodman to meet Kim Jong-un.

Among Vice's often controversial documentaries from war zones was this summer's eye-opening report from inside the Islamic State.

Vice may have been accused of 'daredevil' journalism but that hasn't stopped the likes of Rupert Murdoch heralding Vice a "global success" and buying a 5% stake in the company. Could Vice become the next CNN, as Shane Smith hopes?

Presenter: Mark Coles

How did Jack Ma, a teacher with no business training, become one of China's - indeed, the world's - most successful entrepreneurs?

The BBC's business editor Kamal Ahmed looks at the man behind the online retail giant Alibaba Group - a company described as a mix between Amazon and Ebay - which is due to list on the New York Stock Exchange later this month, making Alibaba one of the most valuable internet companies in the world.

Jack Ma is no ordinary business leader. How many other global tycoons like to fill a stadium with their employees only to step on stage, be-wigged, to deliver not bland corporate messages, but Lion King songs?

Producer: Ben Crighton

Archive clips from the film 'Crocodile in the Yangtze: The Alibaba Story' (by Porter Erisman).

Edward Stourton profiles Rona Fairhead, the woman nominated to replace Lord Patten as chair of the BBC Trust. She's a high achiever who excelled at school and in the world of business, but her nomination caught many by surprise. So who is she, and how will she fare in one of the BBC's toughest jobs?

There is every sign this weekend that Russia's proxy war with Ukraine could become a full-blown conflict between states.

The crisis now coming to a head has been in the making ever since Ukraine declared its independence from Moscow in the summer of 1990.

Edward Stourton profiles the Ukrainian leader, Petro Poroshenko, who must now face the challenge of war - and who came of age and flourished during his country's first turbulent two and a half decades as a modern independent nation.

Producer: Bob Howard.

Sir Nicholas Macpherson, largely unknown outside Whitehall, has become a key figure in the Scottish independence debate. And as head of the Treasury since 2005, he's been at the centre of Britain's response to the global financial crisis. Chris Bowlby explains why he's so influential, and how his involvement in the Scottish debate is informed by personal links as well as policy considerations.

As Iraq's divisive Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki steps down, hopes are now pinned on his likely successor, Haider al-Abadi to restore trust with the Kurdish and Sunni communities and fight off the advance of the self-styled Islamic State's jihadist fighters. But what do we know about him?

Mary Ann Sieghart charts the rise of the doctor's son from Baghdad, who gained a doctorate in electrical engineering in the UK, leading to him forming a company servicing lifts for clients including the BBC. She talks to fellow Shiite Dawa Party members, a member of the Sunni opposition and a former US diplomat to ask whether Dr al-Abadi has the qualities to fix his country's problems.

Jo Fidgen explores the life and times of Karren Brady, successful in business, TV star in The Apprentice and now a rising political star in the Conservative party. How did she succeed in the male-dominated business of football, and where might her career now take her?

Producer: Chris Bowlby