The Untold

38-year-old entrepreneur Simon fights to become his teenage niece's legal guardian after she was placed in care.

Until last year, Simon was a highly successful businessman with a city lifestyle to match. Then his business went under - and with it his sense of purpose in life. At around the same time his 13-year-old niece was placed into local authority care because of her mother's drug use. Simon resolves to get his niece out of care and become her legal guardian - but it involves a fraught legal process and a massive life change.

Presenter: Grace Dent

From this week, you can find brand new episodes of The Untold first on the BBC Sounds app

On a busy street in Reading - at the front of the shopping centre - you might catch the distinctive smell of peri peri chicken. This is Fernando's. Opened in Autumn 2017, it's a halal restaurant, belonging to Asam Aziz.

A huge fan of the ITV dating show, Take Me Out, Asam says he named his restaurant after the fictional island where couples are sent : "the isle of Fernando's". Some customers did wonder whether Nando's might take issue with the name - but "I just couldn't see that. Why would Nando's have a problem with that?", he says.

This is Asam's first venture of his own. His Dad arrived in Reading in 1965 from Pakistan "with nothing but 50p in his pocket and the trousers he was wearing", and Asam moved here in the 70s when he was one. His Dad saved and saved until he could afford their first convenience store in 2000 and now, with Fernando's, Asam is branching out on his own.

200 people came to their opening in September, as the local Imam blessed the restaurant. The restaurant was a huge success in the community. Busy all the time, Asam seemed to be succeeding in his first year in business. But then, in March, a letter arrived from Nandos' lawyers - it stated that Fernando's was in breach of the company's copyright. Not only with the name, but with the Portuguese Chicken Barcelos symbol he'd chosen as his logo, and other branding inside. Now he faces a dilemma that could bring him down: should he totally re-brand, or refuse to make changes and be taken to court. Clearly, as a small business, the risk in fighting a huge global chain is enormous, but there's a problem - Asam isn't the sort of person who backs down easily: "I can't just hang my gloves up".

But, it's still early days in the life of his restaurant. What choice does he have?

Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.

Lloyd Grant came to the UK when he was eleven, joining his parents, who had found jobs and set up home here. As a victim of the unfolding Windrush scandal he has suffered greatly.

Having worked for London Transport and had four children here, Lloyd was completely unprepared to find himself on the wrong side of what was to become an unfolding immigration nightmare. Within weeks he lost his job, was told that he was ineligible for benefits or even health care: eventually he was forced out of his home through mounting debt and started sleeping in hospital waiting rooms and in the foyer of the local YMCA. He feared that he would be deported back to Jamaica - a country he left at eleven, when he came to join parents who had made a new life in London.

The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, last week announced the launch of a consultation so that people can have their say on how compensation for victims like Lloyd should work. The process is being overseen by Martin Forde, QC, who is himself the son of Windrush parents and in the programme he meets Lloyd and considers some of the aspects raised by his story. He is keen to understand both the financial and the psychological impact on the 5,000 or so victims of the scandal and although he is unable to put a figure on likely payments, he thinks there will be a cap on the amount people receive.

Lloyd is one of many who have suffered through the Government's 'hostile environment policy,' which requires employers and other bodies to demand evidence of citizenship. Although he had held a British passport, he had lost it and his original landing card proving his legitimate entry into the country had been destroyed. The result was that he could not even return to the Caribbean for his mother's funeral and he has lost everything he built up in this country. Now he is starting from scratch, with a temporary place in a hotel and a promise that he will be given citizenship. The Untold follows his efforts to rebuild his life.

Produced by Sue Mitchell and Viv Jones.

Grace Dent follows Jade, a games designer with autism. She's heading to a world famous games festival in New York. Can she navigate her condition and make the trip a success?

Coming to the end of University, Jade is determined to build herself a career in the gaming industry. In the games she designs, players are immersed in a simulation of Jade's experience, they must manage some of the effects of autism to advance to the next level.

An opportunity has arisen for her that might be the opportunity she is looking for... a major convention in New York and a platform to share her work so far. It's a chance she just can't miss, so Jade has spent her savings on a ticket to the Big Apple. Jade's autism presents challenges to her daily life. It sometimes makes busy spaces problematic, and can create a lot of anxiety in social situations. A bustling convention, in the middle of one of the world's busiest cities, could present a lot of difficulty for Jade, and she will be travelling there alone.

As the flight draws closer, Jade must manage her nerves and prepare for what could be the trip of a lifetime. She will need to face an environment she has never encountered before in order to follow her dream.

Producer: Sara Parker.

One man believes the Isle of Sheppey needs a new town council, but there are many who disagree. Grace Dent follows his campaign to restore an island identity, beyond the mainland.

Brian is a retired businessman and coastguard. He's dedicated his life to improving the town of Sheerness, his home for 40 years. He's felt the town he loves had become neglected, and wanted to breathe new life back into the community. So he began a campaign to get a new voice for Sheerness, a Town Council elected separately from the Borough Council across the water.

It's a divisive issue however, and there are many who disagree that a new council is the answer to the problems of an old Kent seaside town. The tension is heating up on both sides of the debate, ahead of a decisive Borough Council vote: whether to give more control to an island community, or to keep power on the mainland.

Produced by Sam Peach.

Beth has vision in just one eye. Gary is her driving instructor. Can she pass her test?

Gary is a former medical rep turned driving instructor who became bored teaching 'ordinary' pupils. He now specialises in lessons for people with particular challenges, whether they have autism, or a missing limb, or - in Beth's case - just one useful eye.

Beth's in her early 20s and has Stickler syndrome, a condition which led to the retina in her right eye detaching when she was 11 years old. That eye has almost no useful vision, certainly nothing that helps when it comes to driving. Beth first took lessons when she was 18, but her instructor made her feeling too nervous to continue. She thought she would never drive. But then she found Gary. With his vast well of patience, not to mention his car which is kitted out with all kinds of accessories including a huge panoramic mirror, her confidence has improved to the point where she can take her test. Beth's life is about to completely change: she's starting university in a new city and her partner works away from home, so she needs the independence that driving bring. But will she pass?

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Down a side street in Weston-super-Mare, a tailor is working at his sewing machine. This is Vaughan. "I'm alright, it's everyone else that's the problem." Born in Lancashire, he doesn't mince his words. And he's the go-to for any alteration you might need - particularly prom dresses. He works with the dress shop across the road, making any dress work for any girl. Last year he altered and modified 130 dresses for prom season - but it landed him in hospital with a heart attack, so this year he's afraid of the sequin busts as they start to come through the door.

He's disparaging of many of the dresses on the rail - "females have no taste" - except one. The black dress. "That... Is this season's challenge. It'll take a brave girl to carry that off."

As prom fast approaches, no one has chosen the black dress. Until Carmen walks in...

Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.

On 22nd March 2017, 25 year old Will Dyson was walking along Westminster Bridge, when a vehicle mounted the pavement and hit him from behind. The Terror Attack left 5 people dead and more than 50 injured. Will was one of the injured. In the lead up to the year anniversary, Will faces up to his changing views of the incident.

The Untold follows an international child custody case which has caused enormous stress and pain to the Bradford born mother, Tracy, who has not seen her daughter for sixteen months.

Grace Dent follows what happens as Tracy seeks access to her little girl, who was taken to the Czech Republic by her former partner during an access visit. He was within his rights to petition the courts there under the Hague Convention, which considers residency based on the length of time spent in an area and the roots put down there.

The recordings follow Tracy's fight to see her daughter and the legal obstacles in her way, from language barriers in proceedings to the contested factors at the heart of the relationship break-down. She has enlisted the help of her MP, Philip Davies, who wants the Foreign Office to consider helping the increasing number of parents in similar situations.

Tracy is heartbroken without her daughter and wonders how she will cope - they last saw each other as she kissed the little girl goodbye. That was over a year ago and just before her ex-partner took her for what was meant to be a sleep-over in Bradford. The next day he phoned from his village in the Czech Republic to say they were there and wouldn't be returning as planned.

"It was the worst moment of my life, I think I collapsed and can't really remember what happened next. It was like everything collapsed and the nightmare that's been my life since had begun. I want to be with my daughter and know that she feels the same, to separate us like this is cruel beyond belief."

Producer: Sue Mitchell.