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Reluctant Revolutionary

Television (Full Length) – 2004

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Reluctant Revolutionary mines a wealth of then new interviews to trace David Lange's rise from pudgy doctor's son to lawyer, to Prime Minister leading the country through radical change. Along the way, writer/director Tom Scott asks how a man as gifted as Lange allowed his government to collapse around him after only five years in office. The film includes rare input from National leader Jim McLay (who praises Lange's wit at university), Rogernomics architect Roger Douglas, and the first television interview with Lange's second wife Margaret Pope.

The trouble with Mr Lange, Mr Prebble offered in more than one compliment he delivered, was that he was so damn smart he was probably bored most of his life, which seemed to hit the mark.
– Jane Bowron, reviewing Reluctant Revolutionary in The Dominion Post, 26 October 2004