Sir Trevor recalls historic TV meeting
crime-ridden urban areas.” Since retiring from News At Ten in 2008, the presenter has continued to travel the world for a number of successful documentaries, including Death Row 2018 with Trevor McDonald.
When asked if he is fearless, he describes himself as “the biggest coward you will ever find”.
He added: “You should have seen me whenever people fired AK47s – I used to run the other way.
“Somebody says, ‘No matter how much you read, nothing prepares you for actually being there’ and so, it is really nice to be there.
“I love that life, I have always liked it. I complain like hell but...” here is one interview Sir Trevor found particularly nerve-racking during his formidable 50-year career. He said: “I was quite exercised about meeting Saddam Hussein. They didn’t make it easy for us.
“They gave us a good run around, so some of the events I would not do again.
“They got us into a car [in Baghdad] one afternoon, without any idea of where we were going.”
Sir Trevor is a great a storyteller. When discussing Hussein, he recalls a crazy coincidence that took place after a dinner in London recently.
He said: “I was going to the Tube and this big burly guy tapped me on the shoulder, and says, ‘You don’t remember me, do you?’
“I said, ‘To be very honest, I have drunk too much today and in any case, I am getting older, my brain is going’.
“I thought it was a humorous thing to say – he didn’t smile at all.
“He said to me, ‘I was one of your interpreters when you saw Saddam Hussein’.
“I saw him after that – he was a diplomat and he got out.
“So, the other thing about meeting these people is that they recur in your life – they never go away.”
The role of a journalist has changed hugely in the decade since Sir Trevor left News At Ten. Asked whether he would go back and do his career all over again in today’s world, he said: “I have always thought interviewing is a great, great, great skill.
“You interview somebody on the presupposition that he has something to say – then, for God sake, let him say it.
“You get more from people if you allow them to talk, and sometimes I feel they overdo the desire to seem to be involved in the interview.” Looking back, Sir Trevor notes “it was very odd for a black reporter to go into apartheid South Africa”.
But as a diplomatic correspondent at the time, the country was his patch and he was determined to cover the story himself. nd being the first person to interview Mandela following his jail sentence is something Sir Trevor has, understandably, always been proud of.
He said: “And I’m even prouder of the fact that I got to know him reasonably well, and we could joke and have some fun.”.
Plus, it’s clear the time he has spent in South Africa has left a huge mark on his own life.
He added: “I remember coming back and saying to friends, ‘Its politics are the most hideous politics I have ever seen’.”
“But it is a stunningly beautiful country.”
Trevor McDonald: Return To South Africa airs on ITV on Tuesday, June 19
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