Brian Hanrahan

As a foreign correspondent, c considers himself lucky to have been sent to many of the major stories in modern times. He covered the Falklands War and published his dispatches in I Counted Them All Out and I Counted Them All Back. As the BBC's Far East, and then Moscow Correspondent, he watched the dramatic changes in China and Russia. And in 1989 he was at the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

Later he became Diplomatic Editor for the BBC news channel and reported on the reshaping of NATO and the European Union, the conflicts in Bosnia, Kosovo and the Middle East, and flew to New York after Sept 11 2001 to present special programmes amid the rescue effort.

He's also been part of the BBC commentary teams for the funerals of Princess Diana and the Queen Mother, and the election of the new Pope.

Brian has compared presenting The World at One to high diving into an empty pool, and hoping it will be filled before you reach the bottom.

He's married, has one daughter, and joined the BBC after getting a degree in Politics at Essex University, and spending a year teaching Science in West Africa with VSO.