46 year-old journalist Alan Johnston was just three weeks away from finishing his three year stint as the BBC Gaza correspondent when he was seized by a little known group calling itself The Army of Islam.
The group demanded the release of Muslim prisoners being held in Britain in return for his release, but the British government refused to negotiate such a deal.
In the end, Mr Johnston was freed after the militant group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip and warned the kidnappers of dire consequences unless they freed the journalist.
Although Alan was not beaten or tortured during his detention, his kidnappers had warned him that they had not ruled out killing him if things went wrong and even told him how he would die if that happened (with a knife).
On the day he was released, just minutes before the handover, he was beaten about the face by one of the kidnappers.
Four months after his release, Alan Johnston talked frankly about his ordeal to Richard Crowley on One to One (Watch it now).
He told how he coped with being in solitary confinement in a tiny room, how he attempted, but largely failed, to create a rapport with his kidnappers; how he dealt with the loneliness and fear; and how he felt he had to prepare for the very real possibility that the kidnappers would eventually execute him on camera.
He also discusses what his freedom has meant to him, how the whole ordeal changed his life and how he has been coping since his release.
