Explore every episode of the podcast The Untold

The Jago is one of the few black-owned clubs left in Dalston, East London. When Kwame took it over in 2018 his idea was to make it a space for community – whether giving grassroots musicians and DJs a place to start nights or providing a food bank for local residents. But as the cost of living starts to bite, a noise complaint that could cost thousands to resolve makes Kwame wonder whether he can afford to keep the club open while staying true to his values.

Produced and presented by Emily Dicks

Zoe’s not entirely sure how to make sense of the last couple of years. But she’s going to give it a go.

This is her story of the good, the bad and the ugly everydayness of life with Long Covid. Via life-saving phone calls, cloud-gazing park walks, homeschooling squabbles, summer holidays that don't feel like summer holidays, and lots of lying in bed.

And now it's December 2022, over two and a half years after Zoe first got ill. Life is not all Christmas chocolate boxes and Ding Dong Merrily on High. It’s still really hard sometimes. But it is getting easier. There is singing and music-making again. There is hope.

Programme image by Zoe's daughter Clara, age 9. Produced by Becky Ripley.

When P&O Ferries suddenly fired its staff on the spot on 17th March, there was an outcry from politicians, unions and the press with widespread scathing condemnation of the company.

P&O claimed it had made huge losses during the pandemic and that its current business model was unsustainable.

It offered severance packages but the nearly 800 staff who accepted them also needed to agree not to make any legal claims against P&O or talk to the media.

Sous chef John Lansdown was the only staff member to reject the redundancy offer and to fight P&O, and their Dubai-based parent company DP World, in the courts for 'Unfair Dismissal'.

As the only person speaking out, John was quickly thrown into the media spotlight for a rollercoaster ride he wasn't prepared for. He's also been navigating his legal options and coming to terms with the abrupt end of a relationship with P&O - which he joined as a 16 year old an apprentice chef - and a crew which was his second family.

Untold producer Neil McCarthy follows John through the ups and downs of these turbulent 8 weeks as he prepares for a lengthy battle.

With additional recording by Sara Parker

This is Rob's story - a man who lost his voice and is trying to get it back.

Rob is a warm and charismatic man who says he's an extrovert. He's a successful business-coach - a people-centred job he loves. But two years ago he lost his voice. At first he thought he'd shouted too much at the rugby, but then he discovered he'd developed the rare neurological condition, Spasmodic Dysphonia, which has severely affected his ability to speak. It's having a serious impact on both his social and working life.

Producer, Karen Gregor, follows Rob for six months as he tries to improve his voice: he gets treatment at the QE hospital in Birmingham with Consultant ENT surgeon, Declan Costello; he seeks out voice coaching with Christina Shewell in Bristol; and he meets a woman with the same very rare condition who might, just might, shed some light on what on earth he should do.

Grace Dent tells the story. Karen Gregor produces.

Grace Dent returns with a new series of untold stories from modern Britain.

The new series opens with the story of former care home manager Rachel Burns who was sacked after posting a photo of one of her residents on Facebook.

Though Rachel Burns admitted she'd made a number of mistakes in her use of social media, she felt that dismissal was too draconian after 21 years working for her employer, the local council. The Untold follows Rachel over a twelve month period as she pursues an unfair dismissal claim.

The odds seem stacked against her in the employment tribunal. While the council is represented by a barrister, she has no formal legal representation.

And as the case drags on, Rachel's debts mount and the experience starts to take a severe emotional toll.

Will the employment tribunal rule in her favour - or dismiss her claim?

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

17-year-old Maya is struggling with anorexia. Her life at home is volatile and her A levels are looming. It will mean the world to her if she can do well in these exams, but she can't concentrate to revise.

Anorexia has been explosive within the family and Maya captures, with a raw honesty, the agonising rows they have. Combining extremely candid audio diaries with behind-the-scenes confrontation, Maya gives us an extraordinary insight into the life of a family living with an eating disorder. No one shies away from explaining the deceptive, manipulative and painful nature of this illness.

Maya was a loving, fun and happy teenager, surrounded by friends and with a world of opportunity ahead of her. But at 16 her life changed and when admitted to hospital, she was so unwell, she was told she was lucky to be alive.

Now doing well in the A levels this summer has become crucial, "The exams are the key to going to university, proving to myself that I can beat this illness. I just get so scared because, if I fail the exams how am I going to get better, how am I going to succeed in life?"

She needs to get to AAB to read Zoology at Bristol University, but the disease is all consuming: "I think it's more than just starving yourself of food, it's starving yourself of everything because everything becomes about using as much energy as possible. So I starve myself of friends, I starve myself of family, I starve myself of education because I can't dedicate any time to sit down and work because the thought of sitting down and not constantly moving and constantly using energy is too stressful."

With 6 weeks to go, will Maya be well enough to sit the exams and get the grades she needs?

Narrated by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen.

One day, when Alice was 15, she discovered Japanese Rock music - and discovered a post from a girl called Mimei about an obscure J Rock band. They started talking online - and over the years the relationship developed as the world's online platforms developed - through blogging, online messenger services, social media and video calls.

Alice tells Mimei everything and says she's been one of the biggest influences on her life. As they grew up, Mimei moved to Japan, became a professional youtuber with hundreds of thousands of followers, and got married - Alice became an accountant, moved to London, and took up ice hockey.

But they've never met...until now. Mimei is flying to London and together they're going travelling round Europe. Four countries, ten days, and two friends who know everything about each other, but have never met before.

This is the story of what happens when best friends meet for the first time.

Produced by Polly Weston in Bristol.

Neil Francis loves the outdoors. There's nowhere else he'd rather be than stretched out in a field gazing at the sky, with his dog Bouncer by his side. From his front room he can see the hills that he used to play in as a child. But for now, he can't get up them.

25 years ago, an accident left Neil paralysed from the chest down and since then he's had to rely on 24hr care at home. His wheelchair gives him some freedom but it can only take him so far. Uneven paths, muddy fields and steep hills are out of bounds and being trapped in the same position day after day, for over two decades, is taking its toll. His spine is curving and he endures debilitating seizures.

Neil needs to find a way out of pain and back into the landscape that he loves. He discovers there's a wheelchair that could help him, but it costs a lot of money - too much money. It doesn't look like he can get it. But then, enter two guardian angels....

Presenter Grace Dent. Producer Nicola Humphries.

Further information

SSAFA - The Armed Forces Charity www.ssafa.org.uk

Southern Spinal Injuries Trust www.ssit.org.

Grace Dent revisits four of the most intriguing Untold stories from the past few months to discover what happened next. This includes 'Missing', the story of Zack and Kirsty in the wake of Zack's disappearance.

Amir is twenty five and can't work - he has a rare neurological condition and is waiting for surgery to correct foot deformities. His doctors agree, but the Government does not and he has six weeks to appeal the decision denying him disability related payments.

It was all a far cry from the life Amir imagined when he left school and set out to follow his Dad's advice: get a job, start saving and put together enough money to buy a house. He started down that path, working for Morrison's and later for Next. But as his health deteriorated he was forced to give up his job and last October he claimed disability related support.

He has Charcot Marie Tooth disease, a progressive condition which he hopes will be alleviated by reconstructive surgery on his feet. His GP, Dr Anne-Marie Killeen, agrees that he is too ill to work and has supplied medical evidence showing that he can't walk far and frequently falls. His GP says he should qualify for the additional payments that would help him with his mobility and give him the support he needs.

The Department of Work and Pensions says that during a period of sickness it tailors work-related activity to specific circumstances and Amir is on an extended sick note until August 8th. This means he does not have to apply for, or take up, work. For his part, Amir thinks this is not good enough and he can not cope without the money he and his GP believe his disability should entitle him to.

Gubs and Gary are getting married. They've been preparing for this day for over a year.

Gubs is Sikh and Gary is white. Gubs has already told his dad he is gay, and his father managed to accept it. But it looks like a wedding is just one step too far. Now, there are only weeks to go. Final preparations are being made for the outfits, the photography, the food. But Gubs wonders if his Dad will change his mind before the big day. And if he does relent, how will Gubs feel about it?

Producer in Bristol: Sara Conkey.

Isobel is a much longed for baby for Catherine and James, who want to spend as much time as possible with her on Bradford Infirmary's neo-natal unit. Being born at just 26 weeks old means she needs a good deal of mechanical intervention to survive and she has a dedicated nursing team to closely monitor her progress.

As Grace Dent hears, her chances of survival are good, but there is vigilance about possible longer term complications and in the early weeks she is very closely monitored. As tests continue, there is an added burden for her parents, who both work: Catherine's job takes her round West Yorkshire collecting and cremating dead animals and helping owners overcome their grief at losing much loved pets. She also runs a busy service putting down sick and dying horses.

Leaving Isobel on the unit whilst she works is hard to do, but all seems to be going well - and then there is a change. It is a testing time for Catherine, James and their Consultant, Dr Chris Day. He knows how difficult it is to predict who will do well and although girls born early tend to do better than boys, Isobel still faces challenges as she learns to breath and feed on her own. He and his team are dedicated to doing all they can to improve the chances of these very premature babies.

Producer: Sue Mitchell.

Mary is 86 and facing an eye test to decide if she can continue to drive. Will the test put an end to her 65 year driving career - or can she carry on?

She's been diagnosed with several eye conditions including glaucoma, cataracts and macula degeneration, and now she faces the field of vision test - the test which will decide whether she's fit to continue to drive.

She lives in rural Somerset, where public transport is scarce. For 40 years she had the same Morris Traveller and now she drives a Fiat. Although she says, "a car is only necessary in that it has four wheels. And a roof is quite useful." If she has to stop driving, she'll have to depend on her daughter - this is not what she wants. "It's absolutely typical of my age - we fear that if we once give way, the flood gates will open, and we will become dependent."

This is more than a story about driving - it's about independence and the possible loss of it. But is there something else in Mary's life that could pose a greater threat to her driving than any eye test?

Produced in Bristol by Polly Weston.

The covid-19 lockdowns were brutal for small businesses. They were particularly tough for barbers. In an industry when getting up-close and personal is the only way to get the job done, the business of hair-cutting was simply unworkable.

Phil, a barber in Pudsey, West Yorkshire, knows that the gentleman's shaves, haircuts, skin-fades and beard-trims he offers can be so much more than just personal grooming - they can be a much needed self-esteem boost, a chance to chat to a sympathetic ear, or a moment of peace on a tough day. In March 2020, finding himself shut down like the rest of the industry, Phil was keen to find a way to stay connected to his customers, haircuts or no haircuts. He took to facebook and - reluctantly at first - started hosting live chat sessions... just a chance to connect, chill out and have a chat. As the world went in, then out, then back in to successive waves of lockdowns, Phil felt he was making it work. Weathering the storm, and making the best of a bad situation.

But June 2021 was to bring a shock that no-one could have predicted, and which might just be the final straw.

Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight

One day Ray finds out he's the father of a newborn baby who has been taken into care. He's now in another relationship with girlfriend Cally. Together they begin the the fight for custody of his daughter otherwise she'll be given up for adoption. Ray spent his own childhood in care and is determined to avoid that fate for his daughter. The process has been arduous and the outcome - in the weeks before the final hearing - is far from certain. Grace Dent presents.

Producer Neil McCarthy.

This is Nick's story; and it's a story of grit and determination; of ambition and limitations; of one young man's struggle to get his life back, after a car accident that's left him with a brain injury.

Nick was 23 when his life changed forever. He's lucky to be alive. He was driving home late one night when his car came off the road. He thinks he fell asleep at the wheel. Luckily no one else was involved, but the consequences for Nick and his family have been immense. He was in hospital for months. At first Nick was wheelchair bound. Slowly, slowly, he's getting his independence back. He's now up and about - walking and talking and cracking jokes, but his injuries were serious - apart from the ones to his body, his brain injury means his short term memory is impaired.

Before the accident, Nick was a bar manager, and independence for him means getting back his old job. That's what keeps him going. But will he manage it?

From brain injury rehab unit, to sheltered accommodation and then back to living with his mum, his greatest champion - he's a man on a mission: to get his life back. But the road of progress is long and winding and Nick is impatient.

Produced in Bristol, by Jo Dwyer.

Grace Dent follows 23 year old Koye as he weighs up whether to abandon his homegrown fashion label for a corporate job in the City of London.

Koye's Nigerian parents - who've spent a fortune on his education - are desperately keen for him to get a job in the City. But Koye himself is torn. He's also the sole force behind successful African street wear brand Mojo Kojo. This is where his heart truly lies.

We follow him as he goes through the gruelling process of applying for City graduate schemes and confronts the possibility of leaving behind the business he's worked so hard to establish.

Producer: Mariana Des Forges

Original music by Mina.

A local radio journalist is celebrating her silver wedding anniversary when she picks up her microphone and starts to record. The police have decided they have enough evidence to take the entertainer Rolf Harris to court and they want her to testify. Can she do it, should she do it, would she be believed?

As a child, Karen Gardner was a huge Rolf Harris fan. And at 16, she volunteers to help look after him during the recording of an ITV show, Star Games. It is then that she says he assaulted her.

But if this goes to trial how will she prove it? Assault cases are often very difficult to prove and hang on one person's word against another. Although Karen has experience with the court process, she is totally unprepared for the year ahead. Friends don't want to talk about it, it is difficult at work, and then family say they don't believe her.

This is not a re-examination of the evidence, but one woman's story as she heads towards the court. The programme culminates in the trial of May 2017 when Rolf Harris is cleared of all the four sex assault charges.

Narrated by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen.

Corpus Christi Church in Oldham and its parish priest Father Heakin face an uncertain future. The Diocese of Salford proposes to close a quarter of its churches and Corpus Christi is on the shortlist. Due to a shortage of priests and lack of attendance in certain parishes, the Bishop calls it "pruning for growth". The parishioners are fighting the decision.

Father Dermot Heakin (also a windsurfer and a musician) leads a busy parish life. We follow him around the community on his pastoral activities. But as Christmas approaches, apprehension grows as both priest and congregation await the Bishop's final verdict about the future of their church. Grace Dent presents

Producer Neil McCarthy.

Grace Dent follows Miguel Marcus Almeida who has always dreamed of making luxury, British designer shoes and selling them to global markets like Japan and the US. But with no financial backing and no family lineage, he's a tiny fish in a massive pond. Can he really pull this off?

He's always loved shoes, a passion he's had since childhood. Growing up on a council estate in London, he said he didn't have much but it was his grandfather who instilled in him his love of shoes and told him that a man is "measured by his shoes".

Miguel has now been given his biggest break. He has been asked to design some men's shoes by an agent in Japan, the world's biggest consumer of British luxury brands. But he's under pressure. At the same time, he's getting a collection of shoes ready to showcase in Florence, at one of the most prestigious international men's fashion shows.

Here, he'll have the opportunity to meet buyers from around the world and there's a chance he might even meet his prospective Japanese buyers who could take a chance and invest in this little known shoemaker.

Can this dreamer who dreams big really crack this?

Producer in Bristol: Perminder Khatkar.

A father faces eviction after the house he's lived in for 20 years becomes the final marriage asset to be divided in his daughter's divorce settlement. He's 81 and frail; he suffers from emphysema. But he's independent and wants to die in the place he knows as home.

His daughter has decided she won't tell him - she worries the news would kill him. Instead she must find a way to secure the house and his future in it. She hopes he'll never know how close he was to losing it.

Grace Dent follows Doncaster businessman Eddie Todd in his colourful campaign to be the town's Mayor. Rejecting traditional politics, Eddie's standing as an independent - but without a party machine behind him can he convince enough voters to put a cross next to his name?

Eddie starts his campaign with high hopes but as 4 May approaches he realises he's got a mountain to climb.

We're with Eddie from the moment he unpacks his megaphones right through to the nail biting tension of election night and those all important results.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Can Duncan and Sian, a doctor husband and wife team, save their surgery from closure?

Duncan and Sian Shaw are both GPs. They live in Bournemouth with their young family and, for fourteen years, have been based at the same surgery, working hard for the thousands of patients on their list. But, like the situation facing many GP surgeries in the country, things have become critical: in the last three years, several doctors have resigned and Duncan and Sian have not been able to recruit new ones.

When they started at the surgery it had eight doctors; now it has five, and soon there will be just three. It's no longer viable. They are at crisis point. Can they save the surgery? Or will they have to sell up and walk away, leaving 10,000 patients to find another GP?

Producer in Bristol: Karen Gregor.

At the beginning of November, an advert appeared on the lost and found section of a well-known website. Amongst the pictures of misplaced iPads, recovered wedding rings and lost drones, was a photo of a smiling young man, holding a new-born baby. 'Father and partner missing', it said.

Zack's in his late 20s. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. On medication, he has it mostly under control. He and his girlfriend Kirsty had just moved into a new flat and become proud parents of their first child together. Life, they thought, was good.

But one day in early November, on their five year anniversary and when the baby was just 5 weeks old, Zack left for work and never came home.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

If you look out to the horizon from the coast of South Wales or North Somerset, you see two bumps on the horizon - one tall and one flat. These are the islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm - the former is English, the latter Welsh.

Since 2018, Mat Brown has been the warden of Flat Holm - an island of just 500m across, mainly populated by gulls. He is responsible for the island's nature reserve, its buildings (which include a lighthouse, a foghorn cottage, a Victorian barracks and a ruined cholera hospital), its tiny museum and its tinier pub. With the help of a team of volunteers, he welcomes daytrippers and conservationists to the island and maintains the natural and built environment.

After four years of island life, he's decided that it's time to return to the mainland. Who will take on this very unique job and how will they fare?

Produced by Mair Bosworth for BBC Audio

At the beginning of November, an advert appeared on the lost and found section of a well-known website. Amongst the pictures of misplaced iPads, recovered wedding rings and lost drones, was a photo of a smiling young man, holding a new-born baby. 'Father and partner missing', it said.

Zack's in his late 20s. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. On medication, he has it mostly under control. He and his girlfriend Kirsty had just moved into a new flat and become proud parents of their first child together. Life, they thought, was good.

But one day in early November, on their five year anniversary and when the baby was just 5 weeks old, Zack left for work and never came home.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

At the beginning of November, an advert appeared on the lost and found section of a well-known website. Amongst the pictures of misplaced iPads, recovered wedding rings and lost drones, was a photo of a smiling young man, holding a new-born baby. 'Father and partner missing', it said.

Zack's in his late 20s. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. On medication, he has it mostly under control. He and his girlfriend Kirsty had just moved into a new flat and become proud parents of their first child together. Life, they thought, was good.

But one day in early November, on their five year anniversary and when the baby was just 5 weeks old, Zack left for work and never came home.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

At the beginning of November, an advert appeared on the lost and found section of a well-known website. Amongst the pictures of misplaced iPads, recovered wedding rings and lost drones, was a photo of a smiling young man, holding a new-born baby. 'Father and partner missing', it said.

Zack's in his late 20s. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. On medication, he has it mostly under control. He and his girlfriend Kirsty had just moved into a new flat and become proud parents of their first child together. Life, they thought, was good.

But one day in early November, on their five year anniversary and when the baby was just 5 weeks old, Zack left for work and never came home.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

At the beginning of November, an advert appeared on the lost and found section of a well-known website. Amongst the pictures of misplaced iPads, recovered wedding rings and lost drones, was a photo of a smiling young man, holding a new-born baby. 'Father and partner missing', it said.

Zack's in his late 20s. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. On medication, he has it mostly under control. He and his girlfriend Kirsty had just moved into a new flat and become proud parents of their first child together. Life, they thought, was good.

But one day in early November, on their five year anniversary and when the baby was just 5 weeks old, Zack left for work and never came home.

Producer: Georgia Catt.

Irene is 73. She has severe kidney failure. She is frail, and walks with a stick. And she may be about to be deported.

Grace Dent gets inside the complex deportation process with a family stuck right in the middle of it, through the highs and the lows, the emotional turmoil, the applications and appeals and the long monotonous waiting.

Grandmother Irene first came to the UK 4 years ago, in 2012, to visit her family. She travelled from South Africa on a 6 month tourist visa and settled in at the family home in North Bristol. Soon after arriving however she fell ill, was rushed to hospital, and was put on emergency dialysis for acute renal failure. This treatment is keeping her alive, and it is all being provided by the NHS. Her family are British. But Irene is not. So she is here illegally, and there's no guarantee she can stay.

This is the story of a short drive to a police station and a meeting with immigration officers, in which the future of a family hangs in the balance.

Produced in Bristol by Emily Knight.

David is a hoarder and lives alone in a house in south Belfast that's reached gridlock. Rooms are filled with his accumulated belongings and doors won't open against piles of furniture and random possessions. He hasn't dusted for years, hasn't had any form of central heating for longer and won't let anyone come round for a visit - not even members of his own family.

Now David has discovered the house has a potentially devastating case of dry rot. Floors and ceilings may be in danger of collapsing but with all his piles of stuff, dealing with it is a far from straight-forward process.

Will the dry-rot be the catalyst that lets David break the hoarding habit of a lifetime? And will he be able to invite his daughter Ruth into the house for the first time in years?

Presenter: Grace Dent

Producer: Conor Garrett.

Charlotte and husband Ian really want a baby, but she has epilepsy and pregnancy is likely to be fraught with difficulties. There is a balancing act between drugs that will keep Charlotte seizure-free but can pose risks to her unborn child. And if all goes well, then even after the birth, Charlotte has been advised that she will need to be careful: she's been told it's best she doesn't hold her baby when she's alone. For example, she should feed the baby on the floor and when she needs to go upstairs, carry her baby up and down in a secure car-seat. Even the pram she's going to use has a dead-man's brake, in case she has a seizure while out and about.

Charlotte has had epilepsy since she was eleven years old, and her seizures meant she had to leave University and has been unable to hold down a job. But Charlotte is determined to have a baby, and says: ' I won't let epilepsy take away my chance to be a mother.'

Producer in Bristol: Sara Conkey.

With unique access to Craig and the team working with him in Forest Bank, Producer Sue Mitchell records for six months before the October release date. Drug worker Paul Curran helps Craig navigate some of the issues behind his heroin and cocaine use and equips him with new ways of coping with the pressures he might face when he's free. He is now 36 and has been in and out of custody for most of his life, starting with an eight year sentence when he was just seventeen.

Forest Bank, on the outskirts of Manchester, prides itself on the close links between the drug unit in the prison and the community team ready to take over on release. Craig's partner has had enough of raising three children on her own and wants him to finally get settled: some of the work involves family meetings as the couple discuss what life might be like. Another strong element rests with two former prisoners, themselves ex-addicts, who now work mentoring Craig and others as they detox on the wing and embark on therapy and group work.

The recordings reveal the struggle Craig faced following the murder of his older brother and how drugs became his way of coping with the pain. On his last release he was doing well until he lost his job and after that things quickly deteriorated. This time round he feels better able to cope with knock-backs and is working on his temper, his expectations and how his hopes for a normal life can be realised. As his release date draws near listeners are taken into his cell as he packs and waits: will this be the time he finally manages to start his life in earnest.

A mobile food van takes on a catering giant at a Wiltshire army base.

Linda and Jacqui Clark have been serving bacon baps to the soldiers of Larkhill Barracks in Wiltshire for 27 years. Now they've been given their marching orders as the army's official caterers launch their own van.

8000 soldiers have signed a petition in support of Katie's Kitchen - but will top brass take notice and grant Katie's Kitchen a last minute reprieve?

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Grace Dent follows BHS worker Anthony as he hunts for a new job - one of 11,000 BHS staff made redundant in 2016.

The story starts in August as BHS Cardiff Bay closes its doors for the last time. Furniture sales consultant Anthony resolves to leave retail and find a job with more sociable hours.

But the 50 year old finds changing direction is more difficult than he'd hoped.

Producer: Laurence Grissell.

Will a woman be elected to the all-male Western Isles Council? Catrìona Murray on the Isle of Lewis is going to try. Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) is the local authority governing the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. 5 May 2022 will see local elections across the UK and local government is particularly important to life on the islands. The council is traditionally male dominated and currently there are no female members, but Catrìona Murray wants to change that. This year she is running as an independent in her ward of Loch A Tuath. There are only a handful of women running across the whole of the islands and only time will tell if one of them will be elected. Catrìona, a university lecturer, already juggles her job with community leadership. Now, she is campaigning on a range of issues to bring a different voice to the council, hoping to make it truly representative of the people it serves. Produced and Presented by Sam Peach

At a garden centre in Derbyshire, marketing manager Ben needs six Santas and two dozen elves to staff his Christmas grotto. Plus two Mrs Clauses. He's spent a fortune on what he hopes is the biggest, best garden centre grotto in the region, and needs the customers to have a satisfying 90 minute Santa experience. But good Santas are hard to come by. He's had to offer a Santa finder's fee and even approach Santa agencies. Will he pull it off?

Presenter: Grace Dent Producer: Jolyon Jenkins.

As you drive into Bridgwater, a sign reads "The home of Carnival". The town prides itself on being the oldest and biggest carnival in Europe, and it's the biggest event of the year. For hundreds of years they've held a carnival here. This is an industrial town - a town full of engineers and tradesmen - and this is their creative outlet. Every November, thousands of people flock to see the show of carts come through the town centre. Enormous moving feats of electrical engineering, which are covered in lights and animatronics.

At the end of it, one cart will be crowned winner of the Ker Cup - the most prestigious prize at the carnival.

Alan Windsor, or Winds, is our guide. Born and bred in Bridgwater, Alan is captain of the Marketeers carnival club. All year round they fundraise and build towards the big night. They're known as the Bridesmaids - the club that always come second.

Across the industrial estate are their arch rivals - if you want to win, you have to beat the Gremlins. They've won 23 of the last 31 carnivals - and for those 31 years, the Marketeers have consistently been on their tails.

This year, the Marketeers are building something special: a 100ft space machine, covered in 250,000 LED lights - "nothing like this has ever been seen on the streets of Bridgwater before."

Could this year be the year that the Marketeers’ luck changes and they beat the Gremlins to the Ker Cup?

This is a story of dedication, loyalty - and never giving up.

Producer: Polly Weston

Grace Dent tells the story of a maverick lawyer and his attempt to win asylum for a Pakistani man who says that - because he's gay - he will be persecuted if returned to Pakistan.

Mike McGarvey is the lawyer: He's eccentric, disorganised and very dyslexic; he failed at school and didn't pursue education until his adult years. He runs his own business which is based in a small suite of offices near the main station in Cardiff. One wall in his office has a distinctive collage of pictures from Disney, Star Wars and the Blues Brothers: things that are 'designed to cheer me up' because 'nearly everyone who comes here tells you they're going to be killed'.

We follow Mike for five months as he tries to find ways to prove that his client is indeed gay. This involves mining his phone for evidence of activity on gay dating sites, and seeking witnesses who will be prepared to say in court that they had a relationship with him.

Producer: Karen Gregor.

Kira is an 18 year old Gloucester teenager who has just got her A level grades. The only girl from her school to be offered a place at Cambridge University, Kira is meant to be off to read history at the end of September.

But she is a carer for Rachel, her mum.

Rachel is bipolar, diabetic and arthritic. Virtually bedroom bound, she is heavily dependent upon Kira. Although hugely proud of her daughter, Rachel is not sure how she will cope if her daughter leaves.

Kira is keen for a new start. Perceived to be the poor kid at school, her teenage years were not particularly happy. And caring each evening for her mum, means parties, sleepovers and teenage freedoms have somewhat passed her by.

But Kira is consumed by worry and guilt.

Can she find a way to leave her mother and if she did, would she actually enjoy life as a Cambridge undergraduate?

Narrated by Grace Dent and produced by Sarah Bowen.

17-year old Rachel Carstairs speaks and sings in Doric. It's a dialect not commonly used outside Rachel's native north-east Scotland, but she has grown up unusually steeped in local folk traditions.

She started singing the area's unique traditional farm-worker's songs, known as 'Bothy Ballads', aged just 4, when she entered a music festival competition.

This is why her music teachers now see her as an exciting 'tradition bearer'; with the potential to be a leading voice in the Scottish folk scene's next generation.

But before that can happen, she has just 15-minutes to impress an audition panel at the world renowned Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Will she take her place at Scottish traditional music's top table?

Producer: Dave Howard.

Rob Lawrie first met four year old Bru and her father when he volunteered at the Calais jungle. He ended up on trial in a French court after being arrested trying to get the girl to her relatives in Leeds. With the jungle demolished his search to find out what's happened to them takes him to the streets of Paris.

There are thousands of refugees sleeping rough in Paris and as the police step up their efforts to clear the makeshift camps from the streets, Rob Lawrie focuses on the Afghan refugees, finding out what's been happening to them and also whether they know where Bru and her Dad have ended up.

The Untold first reported on Rob Lawrie's work with the refugees earlier this year, with listeners alongside him as he awaited trial in France. He was given a suspended sentence following his attempt to smuggle Bru across the border in his van. He had been taking donations of clothes to the Calais jungle and her father had begged him to take the little girl to relatives living close to his own home in Leeds.

Listeners moved by the story sent in money and letters of support for Bru and her Dad, who described their long trek to safety after fleeing Afghanistan. In Paris Rob hears from many others who have made that same journey, including Ali, who lost his leg in a Taliban bomb blast. He describes being wedged into a small gap under a lorry and travelling for 36 hours just inches from the ground. He, along with so many others, are now waiting to see what happens next as Europe wrestles with the growing refugee crisis.

Twenty three year old May Brown needs a bone marrow transplant to survive: her sister's a perfect match but she lives in Nigeria and has been refused a visitors visa to enter the UK. For May and her husband, Mike, the Home Office decision is a huge set-back. They had their hopes resting on the transplant and fear what will happen next. There are no other matches for May on the register kept by the African and Caribbean Leukaemia Trust, where staff have mounted a social media campaign to challenge the Government's decision.

The Home Office reasoning is that May's sister, Martha, doesn't meet the income threshold for a visitor's visa - as a teacher her wages are only around £200 a month. For Orin Lewis, from the ACLT, this overlooks the compassionate grounds which he is urging the Minister to take into account. Grace Dent tracks May's private fight against acute myeloid leukaemia alongside the public pressure for a reversal of the decision

May is in an isolation unit in the hospital at the start of the recordings and hasn't seen her two year old daughter, Selina, for three months. With her chemotherapy underway she is discharged to be seen as an outpatient and goes back to Weymouth to be with Mike and Selina. The couple's marriage was investigated for more than two years before immigration officers were satisfied that it was genuine. Now it's another waiting game as the case for allowing Martha in is reconsidered: Grace Dent tracks what happens next.

Grace Dent follows Untold listener Shirley as she tries to find out the exact circumstances of her estranged son's death from drinks and drugs.

Shirley had just arrived at work when she got a phone call which changed her life - the student finance company wanted her son's death certificate for their records. Six months previously Ben, who was sleeping rough, had disappeared - but Shirley had no idea he'd died.

Shirley needs to know more about her son's death. Three years on, she hopes to meet the rough sleeper who was with him when he died - and visit the drop-in centre which tried to help him.

Producer: Sara Parker.

Mark Godwin has a problem. "A lot of the animals don't really like me. I'm usually the bad news person - if something bad's going to happen, I turn up." Head keeper at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, he wears sunglasses to avoid upsetting the wolverines, the zebras and the giraffes he sometimes has to dart. There's one lioness who would love to have him for lunch.

The rhinos do seem to like him, but now he has to move one of them on the back of lorry around the M25. Astrid is a celebrity rhino, a bit of a diva they say. When she was born even the Prime Minister came to pay his respects. But now Astrid is three years old she has to be moved, or her dad Monty could try to mount her. But Astrid won't even go in her crate.

Grace Dent introduces a zoo tale with a difference, featuring a blunt speaking keeper just trying to do his job.

The producer is Miles Warde.

With Grace Dent.

Since leaving the army, John’s never slept in his bed. He barely sleeps at all, but when he does, it’s on the floor of the living room in the sheltered accommodation for army veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder - PTSD.

Now it’s closing. And John has no idea what to do. He fears he could end up on the streets.

John left school at 16 and trained as a bricklayer, but after a fortnight of work being rained off and his girlfriend breaking up with him, he headed to the army careers office to sign up. He was 18 and went on to serve in Northern Ireland and both Gulf wars. It’s been 20 years since he left, but he hasn’t been able to move on.

Like the other war veterans in the house in Wolverhampton where he lives, PTSD has scarred his life. In the past decade he has shut out friends and family. Panic attacks, injuries sustained in service and drug addiction have left him unable to work, and he has served prison sentences. And now he is about to lose his home – purpose-built accommodation for army veterans with mental health issues. He fears he’ll end up on the streets.

Grace Dent follows John as he tries to arrange somewhere to live, and as he makes the first tentative steps towards reconnecting with old friends and family, seeking help, and starting to live again.

Producer Georgia Catt

In 2019 Abhi Gotadki came to the United Kingdom from New Zealand to pursue his dream of becoming a GP. This meant leaving behind his wife and daughter but they decided it was best for all of them for Abhi to complete his training. In March 2020 with the Covid pandemic gathering pace New Zealand introduced some of the strictest border controls anywhere in the world leaving Abhi in the UK with no means of seeing his family. Now with New Zealand's borders open once again Abhi has booked his flight home. It will be the first time he's seen his wife and daughter in over two years. Producer Toby Field follows Abhi during his final weeks in the UK and finds out how he turned this situation around and put his energy into helping others.

Produced for BBC Audio in Bristol by Toby Field.

In the Northumberland fishing village of Newbiggin by the Sea, local ice cream van owner Tommy Brash has lost the prime spot in the car park for selling ice creams. The council put it out to tender, and the tender was won by 'foreigners'. Variously described as Polish and then Iraqi, it seems no one actually knows who they are, and they've kept a low profile since winning the tender, even though the news made the headlines.

A local petition is launched to get Tommy's patch back, a march is held, but the newcomers are staying.

Tracking them down for this programme, we discover who the new ice cream sellers really are and follow them over the summer as they battle local hostility, rain, Brexit and health issues.

As they prepare for Newbiggin's big annual event, the Lifeboat fund-raiser - a sure-fire money-spinner, will they finally make their new business a success and will they get the welcome they're looking for?

Grace Dent presents.

Producer: Alice Lloyd.

Sherrie Smith, a florist and Romany Gypsy from Hertford, wants to take the first ever UK Gypsy and Traveller group to an annual Holocaust memorial event at Auschwitz-Birkenau. She sees it as vital for getting up to half a million Roma deaths more widely acknowledged, and - by extension - improving the lives of modern day Gypsies and Travellers. But the cost of flights has tripled and Sherrie's meagre budget means it might no longer be possible. Can she raise the extra funds to get the trip back on track? Grace Dent follows her story.

Producer Dave Howard.

Paddy Davison is 77 years old and possibly the oldest rowing coxswain in the country. He's also never rowed a stroke in his life, and only discovered the sport five years ago. Despite the late start, he commands a crew of eight ladies at the City of Bristol Rowing Club and is desperately hoping for success at this year's Henley Women's Regatta. But this isn't really a story of a rowing race. This is a tale of recovery from grief, and how teamwork and friendship can be a powerful salve. Paddy lost his wife, Jules, nearly two years ago in sudden and unexpected circumstances. It knocked him for six. But his 'rowing girls' have been there for him, and are helping him get his life back on track.

Grace Dent presents.

Producer: Karen Gregor.