Michael Cockerell

Michael Roger Lewis Cockerell (born 26 August 1940) is a British broadcaster and journalist. He is the BBC's most established political documentary maker, with a long, Emmy award-winning career of political programmes spanning television and radio.

Early life and education

Michael Roger Lewis Cockerell was born on 26 August 1940. His father was Professor Hugh Anthony Lewis Cockerell, OBE, Secretary General of the Chartered Insurance Institute, a professor who was an expert on insurance law, and his mother, Fanny Cockerell (née Jochelman), was an author and playwright, and daughter of Dr. David Solomon Jochelman, a prominent leader of the British Jewish community. He was educated at Kilburn Grammar School, Heidelberg University and Corpus Christi College, Oxford where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics (receiving a BA in 1962, and an MA in 1968). This was followed by the 2011 series The Secret World of Whitehall. He also made the four-part series Inside the Commons for the BBC, broadcast in 2015, for which had sought permission for six years.

In the run-up to the May 2010 election, Cockerell was responsible for a documentary entitled How to Win the TV Debate, in which he discussed the importance of Britain's first television debates in the outcome of the general election. The programme featured candid interviews with US presidents and their advisers on debate strategy.

Cockerell has interviewed eight Prime Ministers – more than any other reporter in British political broadcasting. Prior to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, he interviewed Tony Blair for a documentary on Britain's relationship with the United States, Hotline to the President. That interview was widely reported on the front pages of British newspapers when Blair accepted that the need to sustain the transatlantic 'special relationship' meant a willingness to 'pay the blood price'. Cockerell has contributed shorter profiles to Newsnight, such as Who is Ed Miliband? and Theresa May's legacy.

Alongside his television work, Cockerell has also been responsible for several BBC Radio 4 documentaries, including The Trial of David Irving, about the court case involving Holocaust denier David Irving (2004) and Tales from the Cutting Room (2006). Cockerell contributed Profile episodes on Conrad Black (2007, 2010) and Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin (2008).

Personal life Cockerell has been married three times and has seven children. He first married Anne Christine Adriane Faber (1944–28 November 2002) in 1970; they divorced in 1980. .

Michel Cockerell lists his recreations in Who's Who as cricket, tennis and "merry-making". He is a playing member of the Marylebone Cricket Club, as well being a member of the Lord’s Taverners and the Bushmen Cricket Club. Cockerell has also been awarded the Royal Television Society's Best Documentary Award (1982), the Golden Nymph Award in Monte Carlo (1988), the Judges' Award for Special Contribution to Politics at the Political Studies Association (2008), and the James Cameron Special Award (2010). Producer 12 July 1973 Midweek Special: "Our Oldest Ally" BBC1 45 mins On the 600th anniversary of Britain's alliance with Portugal, Prime Minister Marcelo Caetano visits next week. Michael Cockerell reports on Portugal now. Reporter 9 January 1974 Midweek: "The Great Oil Rush" BBC2 30 mins During Britain's energy crisis, Michael Cockerell reports on the men getting the North Sea oil. He profiles exploration manager Matt Linning and the oil men who are working in the winter. Correspondent 9 April 1974 Midweek BBC1 45 mins A year on from a Swiss mountain air crash in which 100 women from three Somerset villages died, Michael Cockerell reports on how their families have managed. Correspondent 30 January 1975 Midweek BBC1 25 mins A report by Michael Cockerell on the campaign for the Conservative Party leadership election, in which the candidates are Edward Heath, Margaret Thatcher and Hugh Fraser. Reporter 6 February 1975 Midweek Special: "The Detectives" BBC1 50 mins Michael Cockerell speaks to Scotland Yard detectives about the work they do. He also talks to Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Robert Mark. Correspondent 15 May 1975 Midweek at the Market: "Law Unto Ourselves?" BBC1 53 mins Those in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg are making decisions and issuing directives which affect daily life in Britain in "fundamental ways". The programme asks if this is the end of sovereignty for Parliament, or Britain's chance for influence on the world. Other questions explored are how the European Union works, and whether Britain's institutions can shield us from Eurocrat bureaucracy. Reporter 18 October 1976 Panorama: "Hungary Calling, Hungary Calling" BBC1 50 mins On the 20th anniversary of the uprising, Michael Cockerell reports on the legacy of the Hungarian revolution in November 1956. Panorama goes back to Budapest to speak to people who stayed in Hungary, discussing their recollection of 1956 and how they live now. Reporter 13 June 1977 Panorama: "Under Surveillance" BBC1 50 mins Authorities in Czechoslovakia, as well as much of Eastern Europe, are trying to suppress the few "dissidents" willing to publicly criticise their regimes. Michael Cockerell secretly filmed in Prague for a report on the men behind Charter 77, a call for more human rights, and how the Czech secret police are trying to silence them. Interrupted and cut short by technical problems; first broadcast complete on World of Panorama (6 August 1979). Reporter 3 October 1977 Panorama: "Mr Ambassador Jay" BBC1 50 mins Michael Cockerell reports on Peter Jay, the Prime Minister's son-in-law, who controversially became Ambassador to Washington. Reporter 6 March 1978 Panorama: "Who Really Killed Kennedy?" BBC1 50 mins "Sensational new evidence" about the assassination of President Kennedy has recently surfaced. This report by Michael Cockerell report gathers "all the new facts together for the first time", including previously unseen television interviews with Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, and Jack Ruby, who killed Oswald. Reporter 10 April 1978 Panorama BBC1 50 mins In "Mr Cut Price", Michael Cockerell reports on Prices Minister Roy Hattersley, the man heading up the battle against inflation. Reporter 19 June 1978 Panorama: "Chile's Watergate" BBC1 50 mins Five years after General Augusto Pinochet took over Chile in a military coup, his government has become "one of the most controversial in the world". Michael Cockerell reports on "Chile's own Watergate", a major political scandal, from Santiago. Reporter 20 November 1978 Panorama: "The Battle of Printing House Square: Behind The Times" BBC1 50 mins Britain's oldest newspaper, The Times, and its sister paper, The Sunday Times, is set to disappear next week. The management has threatened to shut down if it cannot come to an agreement with the print unions. Michael Cockerell has been filming the clash between the two sides, going behind the scenes at Printing House Square. Reporter 9 April 1979 Panorama: "Who Killed Georgi Markov?" BBC1 50 mins Those responsible for the death of the exiled Bulgarian broadcaster Georgi Markov are still being sought by Scotland Yard's Anti-Terrorist Squad. An investigation by Panorama into the "poisoned umbrella murder" has found "startling new evidence". Reporter 12 November 1979 Panorama: "The Kennedy Challenge" BBC1 50 mins As Ted Kennedy seems likely to seek the American presidency, Michael Cockerell looks at Kennedy's style and political record, including the Chappaquiddick incident. Reporter

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