John Freeman was a celebrated soldier, politician, TV journalist and diplomat but a most private of men. This was symbolised by the famous BBC TV interview series of the 1960s Face to Face where he sat with his back to the camera. Hugh Purcell spent years trying to solve the enigma of this ‘Very Private Celebrity’ and in conversation with Sue Cook he shows extracts of the TV interviews with Edith Sitwell, Tony Hancock and others, discusses the art of the TV interview and reveals the truth about one of the great Britons in the second half of the last century.
“A fascinating biography of a remarkable – and mysterious – man.” Daily Mail
“Hugh Purcell unravels the enigma of a truly complex and charismatic man.” New Statesman
“The old ways of biography can still be the best.” The Independent
Hugh Purcell is now a biographer and journalist but his main career was with the BBC, radio and television, where he produced many documentary and debate programmes, becoming Managing Editor of the TV Documentary Department.
Sue Cook is well known as a BBC presenter of the 1980s and 90s – Nationwide, Breakfast Time, Crimewatch and Children in Need on TV; You and Yours and Making History on Radio 4. She is now a writer
http://suecook.com
@SueC00K