Gordon Brown: Where Did It All Go Wrong?

In the first account of its kind on television, Andrew Rawnsley, the award-winning broadcaster, who presented last year's widely acclaimed The Rise and Fall of Tony Blair, assesses Gordon Brown's first year as Prime Minister.

The programme features exclusive interviews with Cabinet Ministers, politicians, intimates and opponents who reveal how Gordon Brown reacted to the challenges of moving from No 11 to No 10.

He examines the pivotal moments of Brown's year, showing how his confident response to the summer emergencies of terror attacks, floods and foot-and-mouth resulted in high personal ratings, renewed optimism in his party and a perception throughout the country that he was - after initial scepticism - up to the job. Those who were by his side as these events unfolded recall how he was calm in the face of unexpected challenges.

The film documents how the mood has since changed and how Brown has lost the political initiative. He was seen to do nothing to quell persistent rumours of an autumn general election. A close intimate reveals how the 'non-election' was a "watershed" moment from which he would never politically recover. A former Cabinet minister confides that it was a 'fiasco' which did the Government 'a lot of damage'. Cabinet members admit that they were spilt over the holding of an election. Another Brown intimate claims that Brown never intended to hold a 'snap' election.

Andrew Rawnsley reveals how Brown increasingly struggled to cope with the never-ending demands of the job. His trip to Iraq in an attempt to overshadow the Conservative Party conference and the 'stealing' of the Tories' inheritance tax plans leads a colleague to accuse Brown of "playing fast and loose with the electorate". And, for the first time, the programme reveals the reaction inside both No 10 and No 11 to the missing data discs.

Andrew Rawnsley explores the personal characteristics of Gordon Brown and the reasons for his apparent inability to communicate a coherent vision to the electorate. A close family friend reveals that in private, Brown is relaxed and charming, but regrets his "austere public persona".

Andrew Rawnsley examines why Gordon Brown took so long to decide to nationalise Northern Rock. A confidante and respected economist reveals how the officials at the Bank of England witnessed "a kind of paralysis at the Government level".

This was the first economic crisis that Brown had to face - it was not of his making. But the programme goes on to reveal how Brown's decision as Chancellor to abolish the 10p tax rate returned to haunt him as Prime Minister. Andrew Rawnsley asks Cabinet ministers and friends about how the Prime Minister could have misjudged a policy so badly.

After the loss of the Crewe by-election, Andrew Rawnsley examines what the future holds for Prime Minister Brown.

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