Like John McCarthy, Terry Waite and Brian Keenan before him – and he acknowledges his story is diminished by their much lengthier , darker ordeal – former BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston is composed, erudite and seemingly much better adjusted than you would think he has a right to be.

As seagulls squawked outside the open doors of Chichester's The Venue this softly spoken Scotsman humbled a capacity audience , quietly wrapping up the story of his four month internment at the hands of Fatah extremists as if it were just another matter-of-fact story to file.

Somehow he has held onto a wry sense of humour, no better illustrated than when he opened his talk with the words: "But you all know how this story ends – the bald guy comes home"!

He spoke of his thankfulness to his BBC colleagues who so fiercely campaigned for his release; his overwhelming sadness at the agony he was putting his parents – home on the west coast of Scotland- through; hearing news of his own death on his precious lifeline of a radio and how he thought God might not be amused if, for the first time in his life, he suddenly started praying. He had played the scenario through a million times in his head but it hadn't prepared him for the reality of capture with a totally uncertain outcome.

When it came, it was unexpected, at the hands of Hamas and a chaotic civil war and even hours before his release, he still experienced the horror of being bundled into a car with a Kalashnikov pressed against his head.

Questions came thick and fast from an audience both impressed by his courage and curious at just what "place" a hostage goes to. Fascinating, self-deprecating, Johnston says he hasn't ruled out a return to reporting in countries in crisis. But for now he is happy to be home in a Britain he once found a bit dull, free as the seagulls circling outside.

Through his whole talk, he never once mentioned Kidnapped, the book stacked up on a table at the side of the room. Some things are bigger than plugging.

Jane Brace