Listen to Lynn Sweet on the BBC "Americana" show discuss famous U.S. presidential debates--as Britian hold its first ever televised debates with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown facing his major rivals

A primer on why United Kingdom voters will see three debates-- from Foreign Policy magazine--- is here.

excerpt from FP:

Gordon Brown, Britain's embattled prime minister, announced Tuesday that he will hold the country's most hotly contested general election in a generation on May 6, four weeks from now. Before then, the Labour leader will face off in a contest of a very different sort: three televised debates against the heads of the two other major parties, the Liberal Democrats' Nick Clegg and the Tories' David Cameron. The debates -- set for April 15, 22, and 29 -- are the first such events in British history.