Melvyn Bragg hasn't taken the Tube since suicidal urge on platform

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Lord Melvyn Bragg has opened up about his struggles with depression, which almost led him to throw himself in front of a Tube train in the 1970s.

Asked if he had ever contemplated suicide by The Times, he replied: "Several times. There was one suicidal moment that scared the living daylights out of me, and I knew it was serious.

"I was with Lise [his first wife Marie-Elisabeth Roche, who killed herself in 1971] and I was getting in trouble with heights.

"I was in Shepherds Bush Tube station, going home from Lime Grove [BBC studios] and I heard the train in the tunnel and I knew I was going to throw myself in front of it. So I pressed myself against the wall as was actually ... to say pouring with sweat is wrong, but sweating very heavily, until it stopped. And I walked up the stairs and have never taken the Tube since."

The 78-year-old broadcaster, author and parliamentarian - best known for hosting The South Bank Show - has previously acknowledged that he suffered two nervous breakdowns, and in The Times' interview said he remains "halfway between tormented and depressed".

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