David Frost's Nixon interview helped end 'age of deference',
says Lord Birt  Former producer describes process leading up to
ex-president's apology and emphasises late presenter's impact on
British TV David Frost interviews Richard Nixon David Frost
interviews Richard Nixon Photograph: AP  Lord Birt, the former
BBC director general and producer of the late Sir David Frost's
celebrated interview with Richard Nixon, has told how the
veteran broadcaster ended "the age of deference" and ushered in
a new era that made programmes like Newsnight and the Today
programme possible.  Birt, speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today
programme on Monday following Frost's death at the weekend,
spoke of the lengths he went to get the Nixon interview and how
after months of preparation they thought they would never
extract the famous Watergate confession in which the disgraced
president told the American people he had let them and the
country down.  After two months of interviews in which Nixon
persisted with his line that he had done