How to Win the TV Debate
How to Win the TV Debate
With Britain's first-ever political leaders' television debate imminent, award-winning reporter Michael Cockerell uncovers what it's like to take part in these contests and how leaders try to win them. He tells the inside story of why it has taken so long for such debates to arrive in the UK. The programme features candid interviews with US Presidents and their advisers on the tricks of the debate trade. Blending new film and behind-the-scenes footage, some never seen before, it's a tragicomic tale of high politics and low cunning. From John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon through to Barack Obama, candidates are seen being prepared for their debates, then in the sometimes funny, sometimes disastrous results on live television. Cockerell shows why for our would-be next Prime Ministers - Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg - the three debate stages across Britain will be what one former US President calls 'Tension City'.
Production Countries
Production Companies
Cast
David Cameron
as Self (archive footage)
Don Hewitt
as Self
Pat Buchanan
as Self
Pierre Salinger
as Self (archive footage)
David Gergen
as Self
Harry Reasoner
as Self (archive footage)
William Hague
as Self (archive footage)
Bill Clinton
as Self (archive footage)
George H. W. Bush
as Self (archive footage)
Al Gore
as Self (archive footage)
Barack Obama
as Self (archive footage)
John McCain
as Self (archive footage)
Neil Kinnock
as Self
Charles Kennedy
as Self
Lance Price
as Self
George W. Bush
as Self
Michael Cockerell
as Self - Presenter
Gerald Ford
as Self (archive footage)
Robin Day
as Self (archive footage)
Harold Wilson
as Self (archive footage)
Edward Heath
as Self (archive footage)
Nancy Reagan
as Self (archive footage)
Jimmy Carter
as Self (archive footage)
Ronald Reagan
as Self (archive footage)
Walter Mondale
as Self (archive footage)
John Major
as Self (archive footage)
Gordon Brown
as Self (archive footage)
Nick Clegg
as Self (archive footage)
John F. Kennedy
as Self (archive footage)
Margaret Thatcher
as Self (archive footage)
Frank Luntz
as Self
Jim Lehrer
as Self
David Davis
as Self (archive footage)
Michael Dobbs
as Self
Richard Nixon
as Self (archive footage)
Nikita Khrushchev
as Self (archive footage)
Tony Blair
as Self (archive footage)
Peter Mandelson
as Self