She failed to trace her birth father John Kelly, or his family from Waterford, despite public appeals, she knows only that he had a brother (her blood uncle) Michael.

[6][7] At university she got to know the BBC presenter Marian Foster, who was president of the Gilbert and Sullivan society in which Adie performed several times.

She was the duty reporter one evening in May 1980 and first on the scene when the Special Air Service (SAS) went in to break up the Iranian Embassy siege.

As smoke bombs exploded in the background and SAS soldiers abseiled in to rescue the hostages, Adie reported live and unscripted to one of the largest news audiences ever while crouched behind a car door.

[14] Adie reported extensively for BBC News, including from the north London crime scenes of serial killer Dennis Nilsen, in 1983.

She was reportedly injured after being grazed by a bullet which had "shaved the skin off her arm", as she ran through Tiananmen Square at the height of the protests.

[23][24] Nearly thirty years later, she said that she and her team were the only crew out in the square, and so were able to witness "the massacre by the Chinese army of its own citizens in Beijing in 1989", which had never been acknowledged by the government nor reported in China.

"[30] Her insistence upon being on the spot elicited the wry adage that "a good decision is getting on a plane at an airport where Kate Adie is getting off".

[36] After being appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2018 Birthday Honours, Adie warned the public that journalism was under attack:[37] We seem to be living through a time where there are threats to journalists everywhere, whether it's repression or censorship, and it's hugely important to recognise that the intention of journalism is to tell it as it is and we need to do that more than ever now.Adie was appointed Chancellor of Bournemouth University on 7 January 2019, succeeding Baron Phillips of Worth Matravers.

[57] Adie's role as a BBC television journalist covering the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in Princes Gate, central London, is included in 6 Days.