David Frost vs... - Episode Guide

The first season of unique documentaries charting 50 years of dizzying social, political, and cultural change through the eyes and interviews of the man who had a front-row seat to it all: Sir David Frost. With unfettered access to interviews he conducted with The Beatles, Muhammad Ali and Jane Fonda, these first three films reveal, in their own words, the intricacies of their lives and driving passions. With Sir David's own story woven into the those of his guests, David Frost vs… shows the power of his incomparable style. Over the decades, Sir David built deep bonds with the most famous people of his times, teasing out their deepest truths - no matter how shocking. 

Our opening episode explores David's fifteen interviews with members of The Beatles, starting in 1964 with Paul McCartney. Through the prism of these encounters, the episode dives into what inspired The Beatles at the peak of their fame, with highlights including an exceptional performance of Hey Jude and David acting as a peerless ringmaster when John Lennon went toe-to-toe with a studio audience in a heated debate.

The second episode shows the depths of David's friendship with legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, from their first fiery encounter in 1968 to their final televised meeting in 2002. Through these interviews, we see the course of these tumultuous years for Ali, and for African American civil rights in general.

David interviews Jane Fonda during the Vietnam War, when she becomes one of the most reviled women in America: a leading activist against the war and the presidency of Richard Nixon .

The inside story of the most watched and one of the most important political interviews of all time. Frost conducted a titanic battle of wits over 28 hours with disgraced Former President Richard Nixon, speaking for the first time since the humiliation of his resignation over the Watergate scandal. The episode includes unseen footage, contributions from Nixon insiders Frank Gannon and Ken Khachigian, Frost's inner circle, film director Ron Howard and actor Michael Sheen.  

Sir David's 40-year friendship with Sir Elton John, and 10 on-screen interviews show their conversations are deeply personal, with revealing insights into the rockstar's rise, fall and rise again. Sir Elton repeatedly chose David as the person to open up to at the rawest moments of his life and career and contributed to this episode with an extensive modern-day interview to set the scene, alongside Sarah Duchess of York, Lulu and Lady Carina Frost. 

Frost's first Middle East interview was in his 20s with Moshe Dayan in 1968 after the Six Day War, his last was with President Shimon Peres in 2012 shortly before he died. In between he interviewed Yasser Arafat, Yitzhak Rabin, and Benjamin Netanyahu multiple times, and Western leaders about the topic too. Two of them - Tony Blair and Bill Clinton - contribute to the episode to reflect upon Frost's skill as an interviewer, and his unique ability to bring both sides together.