Don't shoot my driver!
Join award winning TV foreign correspondent Vernon Mann on the road and listen to his crazy, scary, humorous, irreverent and sometimes sad stories from conflicts around the world in the days before mobile ‘phones and satellite communications. He’ll take you behind the media scenes during the Lebanese wars, the revolutions in Iran and Romania, troubles in Afghanistan and Belfast, unrest in China plus tantalising tales of his travels with the British Royal Family. You can contact him at vernonmannmedia@gmail.com
Episodes
25 episodes
Ep.25 - Sweden’s PM cops it, channel hand glider blows it.
Swedish PM is assassinated and the story dies quickly too. A hang glider fails to cross the channel but we party nevertheless until a British soldier is shot in Antwerp.My role in creating a crime free Saturday night in England.
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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15:22
Ep.24 - Bosnia - West Country correspondent goes to war again.
I am assigned from my caravan in Somerset to report on the Bosnian war. We drive through the snow in an armoured Land-rover and a Lada, commandeer an empty hotel for the night, and talk to starving Muslim refugees from Srebrenitsa week...
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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22:58
Ep.23 - Rhodesia/Zimbabwe - Champagne with Churchill’s grandkids in the last days of white rule.
We dine with the Governor, witness freedom fighters coming in from the bush to vote; almost win a pile at the races and tips on how to scare an accountant. I meet up with the new Boss Robert Mugabe.
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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20:22
Ep.22 - Charles gets bored in New Zealand.
The Prince of Wales, soon to be married, gets mobbed by Lady Di lookalikes but they fail to improve his mood. The UK media ‘ratpack’ are dubbed ‘animals’ by the Kiwi media. We are forced to dine at a ridiculously early hour and bring our own gr...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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10:34
Ep.21 - Caribbean cocktails with the Queen.
On the road with Her Royal Highness. Trouble with the locals in Jamaica. And with Cayman Islanders. We just miss crashing into a mountain in Mexico but discover yards of Pina Colada in Mexico City.
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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17:36
Ep.20 - My role in the Falklands war and the death of Elvis.
Join me, the deputy assistant foreign editor for a day on the foreign desk. Share the madness as programme deadlines approach. Witness the unspeakable behaviour of some of my colleagues.And the sad story of a war reporter who missed the boa...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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21:56
Ep.19 - Wanted - Chasing Britain’s most wanted woman and other ripping yarns.
Chasing Britain’s most wanted woman in Dublin, losing one’s trousers in Belfast, climbing and ballooning with the top guys, Chris Bonnington and Pers Lindstrand in Chamonix, and, finally, Mann overboard off Falmouth.
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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18:14
Ep.18 - Iran-Iraq War - Bird watching in the desert.
Bird watching in the desert. Fighter plane spotting in Baghdad as Israelis bomb a nuclear installation. King Hussain pops into the bar at the Amman Intercontinental Hotel, Jordan.
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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15:20
Ep.17 - Romania - Christmas at the Revolution.
Christmas in Bucharest covering the Revolution. A man with a sword steals my suitcase and camera. Gunmen in helicopters shoot protestors in the main square. A Romanian Army Lieutenant aims his pistol at my head thinking I am...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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19:26
Ep.16 - Kidnaps - Waiting for hostages to be freed. The strange tale of a producer and a poodle in a Porsche.
Holidays in Cyprus, and a trip to Damascus waiting for Terry Waite to be freed. A World scoop in Frankfurt as American hostages freed from Iran talk to us first. Plus the strange tale of a producer and a poodle in a Porsche....
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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12:58
Ep.15 - Afghanistan - Camping with the Mujaheddin; cluster-bombed by the Russians.
Major Kha Kha says goodbye. We join up with a band of Mujahideen fighters in Afghanistan, follow them in their somewhat sporadic battle against occupying Russian forces, have a lucky escape from Russian cluster bombs and als...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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20:22
Ep.14 - Afghanistan - Or bust! Getting to the war to watch Russians withdraw.
Or bust! Getting to the war to watch Russians withdraw. A long wait in Peshawar, as our Pakistan Military Intelligence contact, Major Kha Kha, tries to link us up with Mujahideen fighters the other side of the Khyber Pass. W...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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15:22
Ep.13 - China - More riots after a the Tiananmen Square massacre. I am arrested.
I am sent to China after the Tiananmen Square massacre. The brief is to find evidence of more unrest elsewhere in the country. I do, in Chengdu, Szechuan Province, and get arrested along with my cameraman and guide. Mann could&nb...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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24:16
Ep.12 - Blowout! - I take a big gamble on coverage of a North Sea oil well disaster.
North sea blowout! I take a big gamble on coverage of a Norwegian oil well disaster. If I win my career will blossom, if I lose I’ll be dead wood. Either way, it’s costing a fortune. The legendary Red Adair gets called in to batt...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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8:06
Ep.11 - Iran - Chilling Eye contact with Ayatollah Khomeini as he returns from exile to a biblical welcome.
Limbo In Iran as the country awaits the arrival of Ayatollah Khomeini, the man they believe will change their lives for the better. He returns to a biblical welcome and later looks me in the eye as he makes a speech. It’s a ...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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12:26
Ep.10 - Iran - The Shah flees with a plane load of booty.
From caviar to cold cuts as militants threaten our hotel. All the booze is poured down a drain. The Shah of Iran finally takes the hint and takes off, his plane loaded with booty.For the first time in a while there are smile...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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10:06
Ep.9 - Iran - The revolution hots up.
The revolution hots up, millions protest on the streets, buildings are burned, people shot. There’s a general strike and a curfew. We break the curfew to film Shah’s tanks rumbling through the nighttime streets.
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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20:14
Ep.8 - Iran - Fighter jets lead us to the revolution.
Trying to get to the Revolution: Our Jordanian Airlines plane is turned back by Tehran Air Traffic Control. Our chartered Lear jet gets turned around too. Will we get in? Fighter jets come to our rescue with some gut-wrenching aerobatics.
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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12:50
Ep.7 - Royalty - My travels and travails with the Royal Family.
My travels and travails with the Royal Family. I “shake” hands with the Queen in Mexico, get reprimanded by the Duke of Edinburgh and withering looks from Princess Diana. I cover Fergie’s honeymoon in the Azores, and miss he...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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15:30
Ep.6 - Lebanon - We shoot up a curious coaster on the high seas.
A nighttime voyage from Beirut with the Christian Phalange leader Bashir Jamayel. We escape Syrian snipers and shoot out the lights of a curious coaster on the high seas and return with fresh soldiers and supplies. I share a cab to the hotel wi...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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10:34
Ep.5 - Lebanon - Civil war dining... Reservations not required.
A street battle condemns us to the hotel’s Chinese restaurant all afternoon. Later, we take a chance and drive off to dinner in the Port. Reservations not required. Freshly grenade-stunned fish and guns at every table.
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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7:48
Ep.4 - Lebanon - Please don’t shoot our driver!
Please don’t shoot our driver! We track Israeli troops as they withdraw from Southern Lebanon. The PLO help us out of a rut. Our driver comes close to death at the hands of Christian militiamen.
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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16:16
Ep.3 - Lebanon - A champagne flight to the Civil War.
A fizzy flight to the Civil War. Champagne all the way to Beirut in a near empty plane and landing at an airport under attack. Will we escape the aircraft before it’s hit by a shell?
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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12:14