How to Win the TV Debate
James Giles2010-04-12
0
60 min
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'.
Cast
| Name | Character | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Michael Cockerell | Self - Presenter | Unowned |
 |
Neil Kinnock | Self | Unowned |
 |
Charles Kennedy | Self | Unowned |
 |
Michael Dobbs | Self | Unowned |
 |
Don Hewitt | Self | Unowned |
 |
Richard Nixon | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
John F. Kennedy | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Robin Day | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Nikita Khrushchev | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Ted Sorensen | Self | Unowned |
|
Ted Rogers | Self | Unowned |
|
Bill Wilson | Self | Unowned |
 |
Pat Buchanan | Self | Unowned |
 |
Pierre Salinger | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Harold Wilson | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
|
Alec Douglas-Home | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Edward Heath | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
|
Lady Falkender | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Jimmy Carter | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
David Gergen | Self | Unowned |
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Gerald Ford | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Harry Reasoner | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
James Callaghan | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
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Margaret Thatcher | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Ronald Reagan | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Nancy Reagan | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
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Walter Mondale | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
|
Mike Pengra | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
|
Mark Goode | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
|
Harry Trewitt | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
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John Major | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
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Bill Clinton | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
George H. W. Bush | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Frank Luntz | Self | Unowned |
|
Alan Schroeder | Self | Unowned |
 |
Tony Blair | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Peter Mandelson | Self | Unowned |
 |
Lance Price | Self | Unowned |
 |
William Hague | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
George W. Bush | Self | Unowned |
 |
Al Gore | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Jim Lehrer | Self | Unowned |
 |
Barack Obama | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
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John McCain | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
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David Cameron | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Gordon Brown | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
Nick Clegg | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
|
Sue Inglish | Self | Unowned |
|
Andy Coulson | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |
 |
David Davis | Self (archive footage) | Unowned |