
Acting
Harold Wilson
Born — Died
1916-03-11 — 1995-05-24
Place of birth
Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, UK
Known for
Acting
Credits
46 titles
James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, KG, OBE, PC, FRS, FSS (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British statesman and politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He was the Leader of the Labour Party from 1963 to 1976, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1945 to 1983. Wilson is the only Labour leader to have formed administrations following four general elections.
Known for
6.8German daily news program, the oldest still existing program on German television.
Tagesschau
1952
6.3Current affairs programme, featuring interviews and investigative reports on a wide variety of subjects.
Panorama
1953
7.2Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. Voted by leading TV executives in Broadcast as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, it has run since 1 October 1975 with over five hundred episodes made, directed by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Alan Yentob, Roly Keating, Frederick Baker, Volker Schlondorff and Vikram Jayanti. Arena's subjects are a roll-call of the world's best known cultural figures from the 20th and 21st centuries, from singers Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse to academics Edward Said and Eric Hobsbawm, from writers Jean Genet and V S Naipaul to artists Francis Bacon and Louise Bourgeois. The current series editor is Anthony Wall.
Arena
1975
4.6Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program airing on NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. Meet the Press is the highest-rated of the American television Sunday morning talk shows. It has been hosted by 11 moderators, beginning with Martha Rountree. Meet the Press and similar shows specialize in interviewing national leaders on issues of politics, economics, foreign policy and other public affairs.
Meet the Press
1947
7.0World in Action was Granada Television’s flagship ITV current affairs series, running from 7 Jan 1963 to 7 Dec 1998, and built a reputation for film-led investigative reporting and a forceful editorial stance. Its journalism produced major public and political repercussions—including investigations associated with miscarriages of justice such as the Birmingham Six—and it also served as a platform for landmark documentary projects, including the first broadcast of “Seven Up!” as part of the strand in 1964.
World in Action
1963
6.7This is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American show of the same name. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964, and then from 1969 until his death in 1987 aged 64. Michael Aspel then took up the role of host until the show ended in 2003. It returned in 2007 as a one-off special presented by Trevor McDonald, which to date was its most recent airing. In the show the host surprises a special guest, before taking them through their life with the assistance of the 'big red book'. Both celebrities and non-celebrities have been 'victims' of the show. The show was originally broadcast live, and over its run it has alternated between being broadcast on the BBC and on ITV.
This Is Your Life
1955
Film credits
2020s · 2 titles
5.8Queen Elizabeth has worked with 14 Prime Ministers, including holding confidential weekly meetings. It is not known whether she has influenced her Prime Ministers, or what happens when they clash.
The Queen and Her Prime Ministers
2022
6.0An examination of the Black Power movement in the late 1960s in the UK, surveying both the individuals and the cultural forces that defined the era. At the heart of the documentary is a series of astonishing interviews with past activists, many of whom are speaking for the first time about what it was really like to be involved in the British Black Power movement, bringing to life one of the key cultural revolutions in the history of the nation.
Black Power: A British Story of Resistance
2021
2010s · 6 titles
6.7A dramatization of the 1968 strike at the Ford Dagenham car plant, where female workers walked out in protest against sexual discrimination.
Made in Dagenham
2010
6.4A dramatisation that follows Tony Blair's journey from political understudy waiting in the wings of the world arena to accomplished prime minister standing confidently in the spotlight of centre stage. It is a story about relationships, between two powerful men (Blair and Bill Clinton), two powerful couples, and husbands and wives.
The Special Relationship
2010
NRWith 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'.
How to Win the TV Debate
2010
Channel 4 documentary Britain's Racist Election follows the controversial 1964 Smethwick election battle between Peter Griffiths and Gordon Walker, fought on grounds of racial denomination
Britain's Racist Election
2015
NREvery second Saturday in July, since 1871, the city of Durham has been taken over by miners, trade-unions and the general public for one of the biggest annual gatherings in Europe, the Durham Miners' Gala - known locally as "The Big Meeting".
The Big Meeting
2019
NRHarold Wilson and Edward Heath are two very different men equally overlooked by history, but they were the political titans of the era in which Britain changed for ever. For ten years they faced each other in the House of Commons, and swapped in and out of Number Ten. They fought four general elections, three of which were amongst the most exciting of the century.
Heath vs Wilson: The 10-Year Duel
2011
2000s · 6 titles
NRMichael Cockerell tells the story of how prime ministers have coped with life after Number Ten, after Tony Blair became the youngest member of the ex-PMs' club for a hundred years. The film reveals who left office bankrupt, who did TV commercials for Cheshire cheese, who had his own chat show and who has never had a single happy day since leaving Number Ten. Cockerell, who met the eight PMs prior to Blair, looks at what Tony planned do next and just how many millions he could make from being an ex-PM.
How to Be an Ex-Prime Minister
2007
NRWhen Harold Wilson suddenly resigned as Labour prime minister resigned in 1976, most assumed there was a scandalous explanation. Eventually, rumours began to surface that powerful sections of the Establishment. This eye-opening drama documentary can now reveal how Britain was nearly brought to the brink of a military coup.
The Plot Against Harold Wilson
2006
NRMichael Cockerell presents this documentary on the health problems of Britain's Prime Ministers.
The Downing Street Patient
2004
NRA revealing one-off documentary that provides an inside view of how Tony Blair and former prime ministers - including Harold Wilson, Margaret Thatcher and John Major - have run their cabinet, the highest decision-making body in the land. Through candid interviews, rare archive footage and filming inside No 10, presenter Michael Cockerell opens the door to the Government's own chamber of secrets as he seeks the answer to the question: is the notion of cabinet government an obsolete concept?
Cabinet Confidential
2001
NRBP's centenary celebration film. The film includes archive footage, dramatic reconstruction and interviews with BP employees.
Centenary: The BP Story
2009
NRBritish espionage historian Christopher Andrew joins MI5 to examine their historical archives as part of his research on the Service's 100 years of existence.
Inside MI5: The Real Spooks
2009
1990s · 2 titles
NRBBC obituary documentary written and presented by Anthony Howard. Broadcast on the day of the death of Harold Wilson, May 24th 1995.
Harold Wilson: A Life
1995
NRIt begins with cheers but almost always ends in tears. Yet, as the election looms, competition for the top job grows ever more intense. Why? The hours are terrible, money so-so, job security non-existent. On the plus side, there's free accommodation in central London and probably more power over your country than any other leader in the western world. With the help of the present and previous incumbents, Michael Cockerell offers the first "how to" guide to the job of prime minister.
How to Be Prime Minister
1996
1980s · 2 titles
1970s · 3 titles
NRA documentary illustrating the black community's understanding of, and response to, racism in Britain. It presents from a black working class perspective, an analysis of racism within the context of British history and the post-war crisis of the British economy. At the same time the film reflects the increasingly militant response within the black community to the continuing attacks upon it, both by organised fascist elements on the streets, and by the state itself.
Blacks Britannica
1978
4.7Original archival footage of the opening of the Albert R. Broccoli 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, England.
007 Stage Dedication
1977
A 1976 BBC Panorama report on British Army operations in South Armagh
Bandit Country
1976
Series credits
6.8German daily news program, the oldest still existing program on German television.
Tagesschau
1952
6.3Current affairs programme, featuring interviews and investigative reports on a wide variety of subjects.
Panorama
1953
7.2Arena is a British television documentary series, made and broadcast by the BBC. Voted by leading TV executives in Broadcast as one of the top 50 most influential programmes of all time, it has run since 1 October 1975 with over five hundred episodes made, directed by the likes of Martin Scorsese, Alan Yentob, Roly Keating, Frederick Baker, Volker Schlondorff and Vikram Jayanti. Arena's subjects are a roll-call of the world's best known cultural figures from the 20th and 21st centuries, from singers Bob Dylan and Amy Winehouse to academics Edward Said and Eric Hobsbawm, from writers Jean Genet and V S Naipaul to artists Francis Bacon and Louise Bourgeois. The current series editor is Anthony Wall.
Arena
1975
4.6Meet the Press is a weekly American television news/interview program airing on NBC. It is the longest-running television series in American broadcasting history, despite bearing little resemblance to the original format of the program seen in its television debut on November 6, 1947. Meet the Press is the highest-rated of the American television Sunday morning talk shows. It has been hosted by 11 moderators, beginning with Martha Rountree. Meet the Press and similar shows specialize in interviewing national leaders on issues of politics, economics, foreign policy and other public affairs.
Meet the Press
1947
7.0World in Action was Granada Television’s flagship ITV current affairs series, running from 7 Jan 1963 to 7 Dec 1998, and built a reputation for film-led investigative reporting and a forceful editorial stance. Its journalism produced major public and political repercussions—including investigations associated with miscarriages of justice such as the Birmingham Six—and it also served as a platform for landmark documentary projects, including the first broadcast of “Seven Up!” as part of the strand in 1964.
World in Action
1963
6.7This is Your Life is a British biographical television documentary, based on the 1952 American show of the same name. It was hosted by Eamonn Andrews from 1955 until 1964, and then from 1969 until his death in 1987 aged 64. Michael Aspel then took up the role of host until the show ended in 2003. It returned in 2007 as a one-off special presented by Trevor McDonald, which to date was its most recent airing. In the show the host surprises a special guest, before taking them through their life with the assistance of the 'big red book'. Both celebrities and non-celebrities have been 'victims' of the show. The show was originally broadcast live, and over its run it has alternated between being broadcast on the BBC and on ITV.
This Is Your Life
1955
6.6Fast-moving game show meets talk show, which sees Frank Skinner refereeing three celebrities each week as they compete to banish their top peeve or worst nightmare to the depths of Room 101.
Room 101
1994
V.I.P.-Schaukel is a 45 minute documentary-family-news-talk show starring Margret Dünser as Host. The series premiered on Sun May 09, 1971 on ZDF and Folge 37 - Final Show last aired on Fri May 09, 1980.
V.I.P. Schaukel
1971
6.5Parkinson (1971) is a British television Interview show that was presented by Michael Parkinson.
Parkinson
1971
8.0Exhaustive 13-part survey of the television medium from its hesitant beginnings in the 1920s to the multi-million dollar extravaganzas of today and the cable and satellite technologies of the future [relative to 1985]. Tackling the medium as a worldwide phenomenon, the series examines each of the principal areas of programming - news, drama, documentaries, and light entertainment - and the unique impact of "live" coverage.
Television
1985
7.5Friday Night, Saturday Morning was a television chat show with a revolving guest host. It ran on BBC2 from 28 September 1979 to 2 April 1982, broadcast live from the Greenwood Theatre, a part of Guy's Hospital. It was most notable for being the only television show to be hosted by a former British Prime Minister and for an argument about the blasphemy claims surrounding the movie Monty Python's Life of Brian. The programme was the idea of Iain Johnstone and Will Wyatt, who insisted on a changing presenter every fortnight. Another innovation was that the presenters chose the guests they were to interview.
Friday Night, Saturday Morning
1979
7.7A definitive look at how the new challenges facing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia could change our world. This investigative series takes an in-depth look at one of the most important international stories of our generation, examining a crucial moment in Saudi Arabia's history - one that could impact the future of the world at large.
House of Saud: A Family at War
2018
8.5Secret History was a long-running British television documentary series. Shown on Channel 4, the Secret History brandname was used as a banner title in the UK, but many of the individual documentaries can still be found on US cable channels without the branding. It can be seen as Channel 4's answer to the BBC's Timewatch.
Secret History
1991
NRWeekend World was a British television political series, made by London Weekend Television and broadcast from 1972 to 1988. Created by John Birt not long after he moved to LWT, the series was broadcast on the ITV network at lunchtimes on Sundays. Produced by Nick Elliott and David Elstein, it began by mirroring CBS's "60 Minutes" featuring several stories each week but gradually devolved into a show that featured a forensic interview with a major political figure each week. It was presented by Peter Jay initially when first broadcast in 1972, but was best-remembered for being anchored by former Labour MP Brian Walden between 1977 and 1986. Conservative MP Matthew Parris took over in 1986, resigning his seat, and presented the programme until the series ended in 1988.
Weekend World
1972
7.5Drawing on newly available evidence, this epic series explores the Windsor dynasty's gripping family saga, providing fresh insights into how our royal family have survived four generations of crisis.
The Royal House of Windsor
2017
7.3In a landmark 7-part series, Spotlight - Northern Ireland’s leading team of investigative journalists - reveal important new discoveries about the conflict known as the Troubles, in the 50th anniversary of the deployment of British troops to Northern Ireland.
The Troubles: A Secret History
2019
This Week was a weekly current affairs series first produced for ITV in January 1956 by Associated-Rediffusion, running until 1978, when it was replaced by TV Eye. In 1986, the earlier name was revived and This Week continued until Thames lost its franchise at the end of 1992.
This Week
—
7.0CBS Reports is a long-form documentary television series launched by CBS News in 1959, designed as a platform for in-depth investigative reporting and international documentary journalism. Distinct from later programs of the same name, the original series presented feature-length nonfiction reports on Cold War geopolitics, science and technology, war, social change, and global political systems, using on-location filming and extended narrative structures rather than studio news formats. It established a model for serious broadcast documentary journalism that influenced subsequent public-affairs and investigative television programming.
CBS Reports
1959
A six-part story of the staff and the owner, an unscrupulous media magnate, of Sunday Register, a fictional newspaper company located on London's Fleet Street where most British national newspaper companies were located until the 1980s.
Inside Story
1986
7.5The globe-spanning story of the oil industry from the first strikes of the 19th century through the Gulf War. The industry's colorful characters and oil's key role in 20th century history are brought to life by participants and historians.
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power
1992
American show featuring the popular British talk show host.
The David Frost Show
1969
3.8This two-part series profiles Princess Margaret, whose life and loves reflected the social and sexual revolution that transformed Britain during the 20th century.
Princess Margaret: The Rebel Royal
2018
9.5Each episode looks back at the news and events of a particular year, using news archive footage, along with subtitles as the means of narration, to recount notable Irish and international events of the time.
Reeling in the Years
1999
6.8Series linking the events of the year with music via newsreels, headlines, films, broadcasts and rock performance footage.
The Rock 'n' Roll Years
1985



