Boris Johnson: The Irresistible Rise
BBC2, Mon 25th March 9pm - 9:59pm
Repeat: BBC HD 11:20pm“This programme was such a bad idea!” splutters the London Mayor as interviewer Michael Cockerell puts him on the spot. It’s typical Boris — pretending to flounder, throwing up chaff, while trying to deflect a serious question.
But he’s up against a master here: Cockerell is the king of these TV profiles and his Boris-ography gets behind the clown mask, with probing questions about the serial affairs and driving ambition.
It’s a joy to watch, too — love him or hate him. Boris’s mother speaks touchingly about his childhood. There are telling home-movie clips of the young Johnson flexing his muscles or running races, and lethal summings-up from other interviewees. “A sly fox disguised as a teddy bear,” growls Conrad Black. “He’s our Berlusconi, but somehow funnier,” suggests Ian Hislop.
Boris’s former foe Ken Livingstone may be shrewdest: “Boris makes people feel good about themselves... He therefore can get away with a lot.”
Mayor of London Boris Johnson is one of the most popular and immediately recognisable politicians in Britain, yet few people know what he is really like. In a series of interviews with Johnson and those closest to him, Michael Cockerell charts the Conservative politician's rise and tracks his relationship with David Cameron - from their schooldays together at Eton, to their time in the notorious Bullingdon club at Oxford, to their often edgy dealings behind the scenes today. Including contributions by his mother Charlotte, his sister Rachel, Ian Hislop, Conrad Black and Ken Livingstone.
Presenter Michael CockerellCrew
Director Adam Grimley
Executive Producer Darren Kemp
Producer Adam Grimley
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