The development team at Renegade Pictures found Jackie's story in the Metro - world's youngest transsexual to take on Miss England beauty pageant. They got hold of a number, it arrived on my desk, and from the moment Jackie answered I knew she would be great on camera.

The twelve women waltzed on stage with dazzling smiles and posture, not in Bikinis or mini-skirts but traditional Kurdish dresses. 18-year-old Shene Ako Aziz was crowned as Miss Kurdistan from Slemani, she was selected by a panel of judges that included Professor Shukria Rasoul, Dr. Farhad Pirbal, Dina Hayek, Dr. adder Sa'ab.

When I was seven, the most genuinely important thing in my life was William Brown. The hero of Richmal Crompton's achingly British series of books was, to my mind, like the muddied, bad-ass, rebel alternative to Blyton's nauseatingly saccharine Famous Five.