Gordon Carrera

So we'd left these American diplomats on the run, shuttling from safe house to safe house, until they finally turned to their rescuers, the Canadians.

The Canadians.

Because I think Ken Taylor, it is worth just saying, I think...

We'll come to who the CIA say is the hero of this story.

I think Ken Taylor is the hero of the story, the Canadian ambassador.

I think he is such an interesting character.

He's been only in Tehran for a few years.

He's relatively young.

See this picture of him?

He's got this kind of crazy curly hair, kind of mop of hair and kind of big glasses.

And he'd been sent over as a trade rep, effectively.

He had a background in trade to sell stuff to the Iranians.

And now suddenly he's being plunged into a high political drama.

And he is the one who's going to have to guide this process over the coming, as we'll see, months and to oversee it.

And he's going to do some really, really interesting things.

So I just think it's worth introducing Ken Taylor.

And you're right, the fact he agrees on the spot is also really interesting because he basically says, let's do this.

And he does the smart thing, which some people in bureaucracies understand, which is that it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

Because once he's basically said, yes, we're going to do this, he then sends a flash cable to Ottawa.

And this actually has to go first to the foreign minister, who then has to grab the prime minister who's in parliament and say, is this OK?