Q&A: Martin Stanford

WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN?

Didcot, near Oxford, on 2 May 1958

WHERE WERE YOU EDUCATED?

Chichester High School, Wood Green School, Brunel University

WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST JOB IN THE MEDIA?

BBC Radio Oxford - as the Saturday tea boy!

WHAT WERE YOUR IMPORTANT CAREER MOVES?

Leaving local radio to move to Southampton to start work on the regional TV show.

When Sky swallowed BSB (remember the Squarial company?) and that led me to apply to work at Sky News.

WHO HAS BEEN THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR CAREER?

The station manager at Radio Oxford who told me I would "never make it as a presenter or programme host". That was kind of motivating.

WHAT ARE YOUR OUTSIDE INTERESTS?

My wife and our three sons and all they get up to. Theatre, watching or doing it, and boats - as in "mucking about in".

HOW MUCH WOULD YOU SPEND ON A BOTTLE OF WINE?

Normally? Under a tenner. But I think I unwittingly ordered a red in one posh restaurant that was 78.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE WORST EXPERIENCE OF YOUR LIFE SO FAR?

Professionally, having rockets land a few hundred yards away in Haifa, Israel, while covering the conflict with Lebanon last summer was a little uncomfortable.

Off the air: missing out three pages of plot while acting in a Shakespeare play and then trying to figure out how to put them back without causing even more alarm amongst my fellow actors.

WHAT HAS BEEN THE BEST EXPERIENCE SO FAR?

Strange but true: news is at its most remarkable and challenging for the newscaster when the news itself is at its most shocking or tragic.

I remember telling the world that Princess Diana had died: I remember being lost for words for a moment as her coffin with the flowers and the simple label "Mummy" appeared during our coverage of her funeral.

But it's not all been gloomy: I remember being part of the Election 97 team when Tony Blair turned history upside down, and being in the studio when London won the Olympics.

But the best? Probably commentating on the wedding celebrations of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, right, - and seeing my eldest son Freddie take part in the service as part of the St George's Chapel Choir.

IF YOU COULD BE IN SOMEONE ELSE'S SHOES, WHOSE WOULD THEY BE AND WHY?

Frank Sinatra in his heyday, full house, big orchestra, audience in the palm of his hand.

Oh you meant on TV? David Dimbleby on election night.

WHAT ARE YOUR AMBITIONS?

Keep getting better at what I do; mastering new challenges

WHAT IS YOUR AMBITION FOR SCOTLAND?

To see more of it! To climb to the top of those fantastic mountains.