Escape

Alan Dein crosses the world via Facebook and Skype, hearing the real life dramas of random strangers as Don't Log Off comes to Saturday mornings for the first time. And in this first programme, Alan speaks to a range of people looking for escape - in a range of honest and moving encounters which take him right around the globe. He hears from a female human rights activist in Saudi Arabia trying to flee the country after hearing her life is in danger - and a Marilyn Manson fan yearning to escape Russia. There are lighter moments, too, as Alan speaks to a Japanese man about his dashed hopes of a career singing love songs and a Ugandan hoping for a happy ending to his romance with a woman in Finland. Hooked up to a computer into the early hours of the morning, Alan crosses continents online - inviting anyone and everyone to talk to him. He never knows who he will be speaking to next or what secrets they will reveal. Producer: Laurence Grissell.