Alan Whicker is, undoubtedly, one of the most recognizable faces on television. He has worked his own brand of quiet, incisive television journalism for both the BBC and ITV for the last six decades. The programme that most people associate him with is Whicker's World, which ran from 1959 to 1988 and was a runaway critical and commercial success, with new programmes being avidly anticipated and always pulling in high ratings figures. To mark ITV's 50th anniversary, Network are presenting 8 of the best editions, chosen by Alan Whicker himself, in a double DVD set.
Brave enough to enter some of the world's most hostile environments - and gaining access to a variety of ruthless despots, eccentric characters and countless 'Ordinary Joes', Alan Whicker put his life on the line to bring us the most incredible stories from around the globe. Network re-visits some of his fantastic voyages - on DVD for the first time - with the release of Whickers World: Volume 1, on October 24th.
This DVD contains two prize-winning episodes of the acclaimed documentary series; 'Papa Doc - The Black Sheep' won the 2000 Dumont International Journalism Award at the University of California, LA in 1971, and 'Harold Robbins - I'm The Worlds Best Writer' won the Best Interview Programme Award at the Hollywood festival of World Television in 1972.
Whicker's World: Volume 1 brings together eight classic episodes from the journalist's travels, with Whicker finding himself in places as disparate as the remote Penang in Asia and the notorious New York district of Hells Kitchen. Whicker also witnesses a tribal coconut smashing spree, he talks to Butch Cassidy's little sister and he watches Kerala Snake Boats competing for the Alan Whicker trophy!
But it's not all fun and games for the explorer, as he prowls the beat with LA's undercover female police unit, he visits the last of the old-style South American dictators, Paraguay's Don Alfredo Stroessner (where sixty percent of the nation's budget goes on defence and a country with a population the size of Birmingham has more generals than the United States) and he travels through the precarious Haiti in a bullet-proof car with "President For Life" Dr Francis Duvalier - or Papa Doc.
The DVD runs to approximately 400 minutes and is priced £19.99.
Episode Listing:
Papa Doc -The Black Sheep (17/06/1969)
Whicker In Stroessner's Paraguay - The Last Dictator (07/04/1970)
Harold Robbins - I'm The World's Greatest Writer (13/12/1971)
I'd Like To Think I'm Nearer To God Than Frankenstein (03/10/1973)
I Haven't Taken My Own Shoes Off For 45 Years (14/09/1976)
He's Been Hunted All His Life - Now He's Going To Rest In Peace (05/10/1977)
Elephants Go Into All The Gardens - They're Just Like Rabbits (17/10/1978)
I Wear A Uniform And Pack A Gun But I'm Still A Woman (16/04/1980)