BLACKBURN-BORN journalist Ian Aspin can currently be seen presenting This is the Word, a five-part TV series he has written and produced.

Screened on ITV every Thursday at 11.30pm, it takes an alternative look at religion.

Ian, 31, a former pupil of Shadsworth High School, Blackburn, and St Stephen's Infant and Junior Schools in Little Harwood, said: "We have spoken to many people from the North West for the series, including some who have some extreme views on religion.

"I try to ask them the kind of questions an ordinary person would ask. Some believe they are possessed by the devil or think they have a direct line to God. I adopted a sceptical approach to asking them why."

The programme is produced by Ian's company 4-2-1 and networked nationwide.

It is not the first time he has been seen on TV - although it is a long way from his first job as a temporary clerk at Blackburn's Walker Steel.

Ian, a BBC journalist based in the Midlands, said: "We are looking to produce other series about famine in Sudan and a music show with Rick Wakeman and Georgie Fame."

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