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.

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 weeks before 800 are massacred. Then the cameraman is fired for fiddling his expenses.

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.

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 grog if we can find it.

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.

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 boat.

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.

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.

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 a foreign mercenary.

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.

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 also survive a chicken conflict.

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 get 25 years says a headline in the Daily Mail.

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. We accumulate some nice carpets while we wait.

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 chilling experience.

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 smiles on people’s faces.

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 battle the flames.

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.

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.

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 her only public appearance with Her new husband.

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.