Wilfred Frost is poised to unveil a significant portion of his family’s business to the world.
Wilfred Frost, best recognized for his anchoring roles on CNBC in the U.S. and Sky News, also holds the position of CEO at Paradine Productions. This production company was established in 1961 by his father, the illustrious journalist and interviewer Sir David Frost. Beginning on Sunday, April 27, MSNBC is set to broadcast “David Frost Vs,” a six-part documentary series that delves into significant cultural shifts through the lens of Sir David Frost’s historic interviews with figures ranging from The Beatles to Muhammad Ali.
“These represent historical moments where he was in the center of the action,” Wilfred Frost shares during a recent interview. “This is more than just an archival show.”
The series will explore topics such as civil rights, college demonstrations, and cultural revolutions, utilizing Frost’s archive of over 10,000 interviews with both celebrated and contentious figures. Some of this footage has been out of the public eye for years, and some have never been seen before. In the U.S., Sir David Frost is perhaps most famous for his 1977 interviews with former President Richard Nixon, which later inspired a play and the 2008 film, “Frost/Nixon.” However, throughout his career, he conducted numerous interviews with a variety of notable individuals, including top-ranking athletes, musicians, and heads of state.
Wilfred Frost assumed the role of leading his father’s production company after his father’s death in 2013. The younger Frost reveals that he has spent a significant amount of time striving to consolidate most of his father’s work under one production umbrella. This recent project, he states, “has taken a considerable amount of time. The initial half of that period was dedicated to rebuilding the archive, repurchasing rights, and then restoring and cataloging much of the older footage, particularly from the 60s and 70s that he did in America. I reclaimed this footage and rights from CBS, and then had to digitize and restore it all. By 2018, I was ready to pitch ideas.”
Each hour-long episode of “David Frost Vs.” is centered around interviews with a key personality conducted over several decades, including figures such as Ali, Jane Fonda, Elton John, and naturally, Nixon. The footage is enhanced by interviews with contributors like Michael Sheen, Liam Neeson, Joanna Lumley, and Khalilah Ali, all of whom provide context to Frost’s work and life. President Bill Clinton and U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair both recently provided commentary for an episode that will delve into the Middle East conflict, featuring Frost’s interviews with Yasser Arafat, Menachem Begin, Benjamin Netanyahu, among other key figures.
What’s remarkable about the interviews is Frost’s ability to engage with these high-profile personalities numerous times over an extended period. This means audiences will witness Muhammad Ali and Beatles members at various points in their careers, providing insights that may not be possible with journalists who haven’t maintained regular contact with their subjects.
The new series is part of a more extensive initiative launched by MSNBC in 2020 to create a lineup of long-form documentaries and non-fiction series that resonate with its audience. As the traditional TV audience becomes increasingly challenging to attract, many media companies are diversifying into documentaries, which they can broadcast as “event” programming. CNN was an early adopter of this space, launching series from Anthony Bourdain and films exploring topics like animals in captivity and the life of Linda Ronstadt. In 2019, ABC News converted “20/20” into a platform for in-depth two-hour investigations into a wide range of topics, from the life of actor Robert Blake to the downfall of televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Fox News Channel has also developed documentary series for its Fox Nation streaming service, examining topics like U.S. monuments, national parks, and history.
Audiences can look forward to some extraordinary moments in the new series, according to Wilfred Frost. One such moment includes the Beatles’ first-ever performance of “Hey Jude” in 1968 during “Frost on Sunday.” “It’s an exhilarating moment right in the episode’s center, and it’s somewhat extraordinary,” he shares. This performance also happens to be the group’s final TV appearance.
There is also footage of a deeply emotional interview with Elton John from the early 1990s when the musician was newly out of rehab after many years of battling addiction. “It is incredibly raw,” Frost says. “I believe at times, my father served as a sort of confession booth for some of his friends and contacts.”
“David Frost Vs” is a co-production of MSNBC Films, Sky Studios, Paradine Productions, and White Horse Pictures for Sky Documentaries and will be broadcast on Sky as well as MSNBC.
Wilfred Frost suggests that he could have utilized the hours of his father’s interviews to create longer episodes, and believes there’s material that could have been used to produce more programs. “I could make all sorts of extended versions,” he says. “But, you know, I think you want to leave people wanting more.”
Credit: variety.com
