Frost-Nixon tapes begin on Monday

Press, 24 May 1977, Page 17

Frost-Nixon tapes begin on Monday

The much-talked-about Nixon interviews with David Frost will begin on TVI on Monday. Four one-hour interviews, at present the talking point in America, were recorded in a rented house in Monarch Bay, a highclass housing estate in California. Secret service agents, who guard Mr Nixon round the clock and still address him as “Mr President,” checked every flower-pot and bookcase in the house, and sealed off the rooms not required. Frost and his producer. John Birt, used a small production team for the interviews, and each member had to sign a letter of confidentiality, in addition to the blackout Frost himself imposed. Frost has repeatedly emphasised that Mr Nixon “does not have, nor did he seek, any editorial control.” Nor were questions submitted to him in advance, for Frost acknow-

ledges that “this is the most important interview in my life.” News reports have indicated that Frost’s questions troubled the former President at times, and Frost freely admits that the main judgment of the programmes will be on the depth of his questioning. Mr Nixon clearly saw’ the interviews as an opportunity to brighten up his reputation. Mr Nixon is recognised as a skilled user of television, as his various denial speeches amply demonstrated. The series does not deal only with Watergate, however, but looks at Mr Nixon’s views on Vietnam, Cambodia, his extraordinary China initiative, and his relationships with Mr Kosygin and Mr Brezhnev. The role of former Secretarj’ of State, Dr Henry Kissinger, and his “shuttle Diplomacy” is also examined with a view to finding out who really was in charge.