Well Hello: The Release of John McCarthy

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Archive on 4: Well Hello:  The Release of John McCarthy

Well Hello:  The Release of John McCarthy

BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, Well Hello:  The Release of John McCarthy

30 years on, ex-hostage John McCarthy reflects on the day of his release.

Held hostage for five and a half years, John McCarthy reflects on the day of his release.

It's 30 years since the end of the Lebanon hostage crisis and the moment when Brian Keenan, John McCarthy, Terry Waite and American hostage Terry Anderson were freed from captivity. 

August 8th, 1991 was the day John McCarthy was released after five and a half years. He remembers it vividly - bundled blindfolded from his cell, taken in a car to the Syrian border and handed over to a man from the British Embassy who lent him a clean shirt. Then a meeting with his father and brother, and a hastily arranged press conference at which his first words were, "Well hello". 

That night he flew home, with a full RAF medical team on board and, with his arrival timed for the News at Ten, he landed and emerged at the top of the flight steps, a little dazed and embarrassed by the whole thing.

For much of the last 30 years, John has been approached by complete strangers who want to wish him well, and tell him where they were when they heard about his release. "I've heard there were announcements on the Tube. 'The next train for Cockfosters will depart in 3 minutes. John McCarthy has been released in Lebanon, stand clear of the doors and mind the gap!'" 

He once described it as the best day of his life. Now, as he rummages through a box of memories of that time, meets those involved in his release day, and reflects on archive recordings, he's not so sure.

Producer: Ruth Abrahams
Executive Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4

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