Dr. Annie Gray

He really was in a total class of his own.

That's an emotional topic.

I'm sure he would have been in the eight or nine world championship victories window that Lewis and Schumacher have achieved.

I'm sure Etten would have achieved the same thing.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to witness any of that.

So we're left with his memories, his victories, his personality.

In 2005, people in Afghanistan were introduced to a phenomenon that was gripping the Western world, singing competitions on TV that the public could vote for.

The show was called Afghan Star and was inspired by programmes like Britain's Pop Idol or France's Nouvelle Star.

Jahid Mohseni was the development producer.

I think pretty early on, we sensed that it was going to be pretty big.

Throughout the whole process, people were ringing up and complaining about why we're letting these untalented people on air and letting them sing, etc.

A lot of complaints.

And then somewhere around the top five, it moved from people ringing to complaining to people saying, hey, you should make sure this guy wins because he's very good.

I was like, yes, it's hooking in.

People are kind of understanding it.

The thing that made Afghanistan impressive was that it was made in a country that was recovering from years of turmoil.

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, leading to 10 years of war against militant Islamic forces called the Mujahideen.

After the Soviets left, the country collapsed into civil war.

The Taliban gained control of the capital Kabul and the majority of the country in 1996 and enforced a strict interpretation of Islamic shahiya law.

The Taliban's political and social grip over the areas they control is absolute.