Fifty Years before the Masthead - Escape to Washington

Political journalist Anthony Howard takes an autobiographical journey through 50 years in the newspaper industry. Howard becomes Whitehall Correspondent for The Sunday Times but discovers no one will talk to him because of a memo written by prime minister Harold Wilson forbidding ministers from doing so. He escapes to Washington where he covers one of the most momentous periods in American political history. Broadcaster Sue McGregor recalls Howard's broadcasts from the other side of the Atlantic for the fledgling World at One and former correspondent Charles Wheeler reveals how the BBC went virtually unrecognised on Capitol Hill until the popular mini series The Forsyte Saga was screened on American television. Howard returns to London to edit The New Statesman, recruiting novelists Julian Barnes and Martin Amis, who remember their days at the magazine with great fondness.