It sounds deluded to talk about stress from the comfort of an air-conditioned office, a relatively good salary and without a performance league table in sight. Nevertheless, journalism is pretty stressful.

There is often a sense of insecurity. I have only ever had a one-year contract, although I have worked for the BBC for over a decade. There is also inconsistency: news does not answer to a timetable, and it is therefore difficult to plan things. For the past three years I have been absent on our nine-year-old son Samuel’s birthday: November 1995, interview with the Princess of Wales; November 1996, The Ridings School; November 1997, Karen Roche, the surrogate who refused to give up her baby.

Handling the stress is tricky. I try to follow an exercise routine - running, using a gym. The routine usually collapses once a work project takes over. On a daily basis, I find clearing up at home is a great stress buster. The vacuum cleaner does wonders for me when I’m making the transition between work and home.

Martin Bashir is a reporter for ‘Panorama’, for whom he famously interviewed the late Diana, Princess of Wales. He also presents the Radio 4 sports programme, ‘Late Tackle’, and with Carol Vorderman was presenter of the education series, ‘Just One Chance’ for BBC1. He was talking to Pamela Coleman