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'.
Release Date
April 12, 2010Runtime
60 minDirected by
James GilesLanguage
EnglishBudget
$0Revenue
$0Status
ReleasedCast
Michael Cockerell
Self (Presenter)Neil Kinnock
SelfCharles Kennedy
SelfMichael Dobbs
SelfDon Hewitt
SelfRichard Nixon
Self (Archive Footage)John F. Kennedy
Self (Archive Footage)Robin Day
Self (Archive Footage)Nikita Khrushchev
Self (Archive Footage)Pat Buchanan
SelfPierre Salinger
Self (Archive Footage)Harold Wilson
Self (Archive Footage)Edward Heath
Self (Archive Footage)Jimmy Carter
Self (Archive Footage)David Gergen
SelfGerald Ford
Self (Archive Footage)Harry Reasoner
Self (Archive Footage)James Callaghan
Self (Archive Footage)Margaret Thatcher
Self (Archive Footage)Ronald Reagan
Self (Archive Footage)Nancy Reagan
Self (Archive Footage)Walter Mondale
Self (Archive Footage)John Major
Self (Archive Footage)Bill Clinton
Self (Archive Footage)George H. W. Bush
Self (Archive Footage)Frank Luntz
SelfTony Blair
Self (Archive Footage)Peter Mandelson
SelfLance Price
SelfWilliam Hague
Self (Archive Footage)George W. Bush
SelfAl Gore
Self (Archive Footage)Jim Lehrer
SelfBarack Obama
Self (Archive Footage)John McCain
Self (Archive Footage)David Cameron
Self (Archive Footage)Gordon Brown
Self (Archive Footage)Nick Clegg
Self (Archive Footage)David Davis
Self (Archive Footage)