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Don't shoot my driver! - Podcast

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 [email protected]

Documentary Society & Culture
Update frequency
every 3 days
Average duration
15 minutes
Episodes
25
Years Active
2022
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Ep.25 - Sweden’s PM cops it, channel hand glider blows it.

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 fr…

00:15:22  |   Sun 29 May 2022
Ep.24 - Bosnia - West Country correspondent goes to war again.

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 M…

00:22:58  |   Sun 22 May 2022
Ep.23 - Rhodesia/Zimbabwe - Champagne with Churchill’s grandkids in the last days of white rule.

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.

00:20:22  |   Sun 15 May 2022
Ep.22 - Charles gets bored in New Zealand.

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…

00:10:34  |   Sun 08 May 2022
Ep.21 - Caribbean cocktails with the Queen.

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.

00:17:36  |   Sun 01 May 2022
Ep.20 - My role in the Falklands war and the death of Elvis.

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 s…

00:21:56  |   Sun 24 Apr 2022
Ep.19 - Wanted - Chasing Britain’s most wanted woman and other ripping yarns.

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 overbo…

00:18:14  |   Sun 06 Mar 2022
Ep.17 - Romania - Christmas at the Revolution.

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…

00:19:26  |   Sun 27 Feb 2022
Ep.18 - Iran-Iraq War - Bird watching in the desert.

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.

00:15:20  |   Sun 27 Feb 2022
Ep.16 - Kidnaps - Waiting for hostages to be freed. The strange tale of a producer and a poodle in a Porsche.

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 a…

00:12:58  |   Sun 27 Feb 2022
Ep.15 - Afghanistan - Camping with the Mujaheddin; cluster-bombed by the Russians.

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 Russ…

00:20:22  |   Sun 20 Feb 2022
Ep.13 - China - More riots after a the Tiananmen Square massacre. I am arrested.

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 came…

00:24:16  |   Sun 20 Feb 2022
Ep.14 - Afghanistan - Or bust! Getting to the war to watch Russians withdraw.

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 s…

00:15:22  |   Sun 20 Feb 2022
Ep.12 - Blowout! - I take a big gamble on coverage of a North Sea oil well disaster.

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 Re…

00:08:06  |   Sun 13 Feb 2022
Ep.10 - Iran - The Shah flees with a plane load of booty.

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 i…

00:10:06  |   Sun 13 Feb 2022
Ep.11 - Iran - Chilling Eye contact with Ayatollah Khomeini as he returns from exile to a biblical welcome.

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 h…

00:12:26  |   Sun 13 Feb 2022
Ep.8 - Iran - Fighter jets lead us to the revolution.

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 res…

00:12:50  |   Wed 09 Feb 2022
Ep.9 - Iran - The revolution hots up.

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 nightt…

00:20:14  |   Wed 09 Feb 2022
Ep.7 - Royalty - My travels and travails with the Royal Family.

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 i…

00:15:30  |   Wed 09 Feb 2022
Ep.5 - Lebanon - Civil war dining... Reservations not required.

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 g…

00:07:48  |   Sun 30 Jan 2022
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