Great Lives
| Genre | discussion |
|---|---|
| Running time | 28 mins |
| Country of origin | Great Britain |
| Language(s) | English |
| Home station | BBC Radio 4 |
| Hosted by | Joan Bakewell Humphrey Carpenter Francine Stock Matthew Parris |
| Produced by | Chris Ledgard |
| Original release | 24 August 2001 – present |
| No. of series | 44 |
| No. of episodes | 282 |
| Website | Website |
| Podcast | Podcast RSS feed |
Great Lives is a BBC Radio 4 biography series, produced in Bristol. It has been presented by Joan Bakewell, Humphrey Carpenter, Francine Stock and currently (since April 2006) Matthew Parris. A distinguished guest is asked to nominate the person they feel is truly deserving of the title "Great Life". The presenter and a recognised expert (a biographer, family member or fellow practitioner) are on hand to discuss the life. The programmes are 28 minutes long, originally broadcast on Fridays at 23:00, more recently at 16:30 on Tuesday with a repeat at 23:00 on Friday.
Programmes[]
Series 0, August – November 2001[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Waterstone, founder of bookshop chain | Clement Attlee former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| Rosie Boycott, journalist | Sir Ernest Shackleton, polar explorer | |
| Terence Conran, food & design entrepreneur | André & Édouard Michelin, French inventors of the detachable pneumatic tyre & the travel guide | |
| Ralph Steadman, cartoonist & caricaturist | Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher | |
| Barbara Castle, Labour politician & former Cabinet Minister | Sylvia Pankhurst, suffragette | |
| Frank Delaney, writer & broadcaster | Henri Matisse, French artist | |
| Jonathan Miller, theatre & opera director, physician | Marshall McLuhan, communication theorist & philosopher | |
| Fay Weldon, writer | H. G. Wells, visionary author | |
| Rabbi Lionel Blue, rabbi & broadcaster | Swami Vivekananda, 19th-century Hindu missionary | |
| Jackie Stewart, racing driver | King Hussein of Jordan | |
| Joan Littlewood, theatre director | Brendan Behan, Irish writer | |
| Lord Tebbit, Conservative politician & former Cabinet Minister | King Alfred the Great, 9th-century King of Wessex |
Series 1, May – August 2002[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Ned Sherrin, broadcaster, television producer & stage director | Sir Donald Wolfit, actor-manager | Humphrey Carpenter |
| Elizabeth Filkin, former Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards | George Eliot, novelist | |
| Steven Isserlis, cellist | Franz Schubert, Austrian composer | |
| Lord Carrington, Conservative politician & former Foreign Secretary | Field Marshal Viscount Slim, military leader | |
| Frederic Raphael, author & screenwriter | Alexander the Great | |
| Janet Street-Porter, journalist & media executive | Marquis de Sade, French philosopher, revolutionary politician & libertine | |
| Chris Barber, jazz trombonist & bandleader | Louis Armstrong, American jazz trumpeter & singer | |
| Sue Limb, writer & broadcaster | Lord Byron, poet | |
| Frank Keating, sports writer | Tom Spring, 19th-century bare-knuckle boxer | |
| Kirsty Young, broadcaster | Katharine Graham, American newspaper publisher |
Series 2, October – December 2002[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Bernard Manning, comedian, | Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Albanian Roman Catholic nun | Humphrey Carpenter |
| Sir Paul Nurse, geneticist & cell biologist, | Erasmus Darwin, 18th century physician | |
| Darcus Howe, writer & broadcaster, | C. L. R. James, Caribbean revolutionary & cricket writer | |
| Bea Campbell, journalist & author | Rachel Carson, marine biologist & conservationist | |
| Muriel Gray, journalist & broadcaster, | M. R. James, writer of ghost stories | |
| Ahdaf Soueif, novelist & cultural commentator, | Umm Kulthum, Egyptian singer, songwriter & actress | |
| Professor Sir Harry Kroto, chemist, | Spinoza, Portuguese philosopher | |
| Steve Bell, political cartoonist, | James Gillray, 18th-century caricaturist | |
| Tam Dalyell, Labour politician, | Richard Crossman, Labour politician & former Cabinet Minister | |
| Greg Dyke, media executive, | Captain James Cook, explorer |
Series 3, April – June 2003[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Beryl Bainbridge, novelist | Robert Falcon Scott, polar explorer | Humphrey Carpenter |
| Leonard Slatkin, conductor & composer | Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian-American composer | |
| John Sergeant, journalist & broadcaster | Arthur Ransome, author & journalist | |
| Benjamin Zephaniah, writer & poet | Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae musician | |
| Steve Jones, geneticist | James Hogg, poet & novelist | |
| Richard Ingrams, journalist & satirist | G. K. Chesterton, writer | |
| Stacey Kent, jazz singer, | Powell & Pressburger, film-makers | |
| Richard Holmes, military historian | the Man in the Iron Mask, mysterious French prisoner in the Bastille | |
| Tanni Grey-Thompson, Welsh athlete & broadcaster, | David Lloyd George, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| Esther Rantzen, journalist & broadcaster, | Queen Elizabeth I, Queen of England & Ireland |
Series 4, October – December 2003[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Bazalgette, television executive | Noël Coward, playwright, composer, director, actor & singer | Humphrey Carpenter |
| Kit Wright, writer | Samuel Johnson, author & lexicographer | |
| Kate Adie, war reporter | Flora Sandes, pioneer female soldier | |
| Jenny Eclair, comedian | Sarah Bernhardt, French actress | |
| Brian Keenan, writer | Bernardo O'Higgins, Chilean independence leader | |
| Brenda Dean, trade unionist & Labour peer | Octavia Hill, co-founder of the National Trust | |
| Clement Freud, broadcaster, writer, politician & chef | Tommy Cooper, comedian & magician | |
| Armando Iannucci, comedian & writer | Charles Dickens, novelist | |
| Linda Smith, comedian | Ian Dury, singer | |
| Ann Leslie, journalist | Mary Kingsley, writer & explorer |
Series 5, April – June 2004[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Lord Alistair McAlpine, Conservative politician | Machiavelli | Humphrey Carpenter |
| Denis Healey, Labour politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer | Ernest Bevin, Labour politician, former Foreign Secretary | |
| Ruth Lea, economist | Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composer | |
| George Monbiot, journalist, environmental activist & writer | Thomas Paine, American author & revolutionary | |
| Benedict Allen, explorer | Horatio Nelson, naval hero | |
| Charles Wheeler, journalist & broadcaster | Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th President of the United States | |
| Kimberley Fortier | Edith Wharton, writer | |
| Richard Eyre, theatre director | Anton Chekhov, Russian dramatist | |
| Kenneth Clarke, Conservative politician, former Chancellor of the Exchequer | Benjamin Disraeli, 19th century Conservative Prime Minister | |
| Lord May, scientist | Joseph Banks, naturalist & botanist |
Series 6, October – December 2004[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Dillie Keane, actress, singer & comedian | Gilbert & Sullivan, librettist & composer of comic operettas 1 | Humphrey Carpenter |
| Baroness Jay, former Labour Leader of the House of Lords | Vice-Admiral Robert FitzRoy RN, captain of HMS Beagle | |
| Christina Gorna, barrister | Vivien Leigh, actress | |
| Jilly Goolden, wine expert | Leonard Woolf, writer, publisher & political thinker | |
| Gerry Anderson, broadcaster | Burt Lancaster, American actor | |
| Tim Marlow, art historian & broadcaster | Marvin Gaye, soul singer | |
| Shami Chakrabarti, civil-rights campaigner | George Orwell, author & journalist | |
| Marjorie Wallace, writer & charity chief executive | Sir Edward Elgar, composer | |
| David Puttnam, film-maker | Michael Collins, Irish nationalist leader (repeat of Programme 1?) | |
| Lucinda Lambton, writer & broadcaster | Captain Henry Morgan, privateer |
- 1The programme originally was scheduled by the guest film-maker David Puttnam who nominated the Michael Collins, Irish nationalist leader) was withdrawn due to "production quality".[1]
Hogmanay Special, 31 December 2004[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Eddi Reader, Scottish singer-songwriter | Robert Burns, Scottish poet | Humphrey Carpenter1 |
- Carpenter died on 4 January 2005, this was his last Great Lives programme 1
Series 7, April – June 2005[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Queenan, humorist, critic & author | Genghis Khan, founder of the Mongol Empire | Francine Stock |
| Mary Kenny, author | George Sand, writer | |
| Valerie Grove, journalist | Charles M. Schulz, the Peanuts cartoonist | |
| Douglas Dunn, poet | Robert Louis Stevenson, writer | |
| Michael Morpurgo, Children's Laureate | Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Austrian composer | |
| Martin Smith, Chairman of English National Opera | John D. Rockefeller, American industrialist, investor & philanthropist | |
| , lawyer | Marcus Garvey, Pan-Africanist leader | |
| Amanda Vickery, historian | Elizabeth Gaskell, novelist | |
| Lord Powell | Ronald Reagan, 40th President of the United States | |
| Frederick Forsyth, novelist | the 1st Duke of Wellington, soldier & statesman |
Series 8, October 2005 – February 2006[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Kathy Lette, writer | Mae West, Hollywood actress | Francine Stock |
| Carole Stone, author & broadcaster | R. D. Laing, psychiatrist | |
| Howard Goodall, composer | Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, composer | |
| Antony Beevor, historian, & Gillian Slovo, novelist | Vasily Grossman, Soviet writer | |
| Robert Thomson, journalist | Zhao Ziyang, Chinese premier | |
| Derek Wilson, historian & author | Thomas Cromwell, 16th century politician | |
| Fiona Reynolds, Director-General of the National Trust | Beatrix Potter, writer | |
| Annie Nightingale, radio broadcaster | Marty Feldman, comedian & actor | |
| Adam Hart-Davis, historian & broadcaster | Nevil Shute, novelist & aeronautical engineer | |
| Helen Lederer, writer & actress | Dorothy Parker, writer & poet |
Series 9, April – June 2006[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Penelope Keith, actress | Morecambe & Wise, comedy double act | Matthew Parris |
| Jeff Randall, journalist | Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist & philanthropist | |
| Julian Clary, comedian | Noël Coward, playwright, composer, director, actor & singer; Coward was previously nominated by Peter Bazalgette in Series 4 Programme 1 | |
| Craig Brown, critic & satirist | Sigmund Freud, Austrian neurologist & psychotherapist | |
| Ivan Massow, entrepreneur | Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singer | |
| Duncan Goodhew, athlete | Johnny Weissmuller, American athlete-turned Tarzan actor | |
| Frances Cairncross, economist, journalist & academic | Ignaz Semmelweis, Hungarian physician & pioneer of antiseptic procedures | |
| Anna Raeburn, broadcaster & agony aunt | Tamara Karsavina, Russian ballerina | |
| Piers Morgan, journalist & broadcaster | W. G. Grace, English cricketer | |
| Krishnan Guru-Murthy, journalist & broadcaster | Robin Day, broadcaster & political interviewer |
Series 10, August – September 2006[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Christopher Hitchens, author & journalist | Leon Trotsky, Russian revolutionary | Matthew Parris |
| Garry Bushell, newspaper columnist | Max Miller, comedian | |
| Helena Kennedy, civil liberties lawyer | Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States | |
| Jeremy Vine, broadcaster & journalist | W. H. Auden, poet | |
| Elaine Showalter, feminist literary critic | Julia Ward Howe, 19th-century American abolitionist, social activist & poet | |
| Lord John Biffen, Conservative politician & former Minister | Stanley Baldwin, Conservative Prime Minister | |
| Joanna MacGregor, pianist | Nina Simone, singer & civil rights activist | |
| Adair Turner, businessman & academic | Charles Darwin, naturalist & evolutionary scientist |
Series 11, December 2006 – January 2007[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Joe Boyd, record producer | John H. Hammond, record producer | Matthew Parris |
| Lesley Abdela, feminist campaigner | Millicent Garrett Fawcett, suffragist | |
| Kathy Sykes, scientist & broadcaster | Albert Einstein, German-American physicist | |
| Victor Spinetti, actor | Joan Littlewood, theatre director | |
| Alan Davies, actor & comedian | Richard Beckinsale, actor | |
| Camilla Wright, journalist | Martha Gellhorn, American war reporter | |
| Anne Fine, author | William Beveridge, economist & social reformer | |
| Ann Widdecombe, former Conservative MP & former government minister | Pope John Paul II |
Series 12, April – May 2007[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Phill Jupitus, comedian | Joe Strummer, frontman of The Clash | Matthew Parris |
| Nick Danziger, photographer | Tintin, fictional Belgian reporter | |
| William Boyd, author | Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright | |
| Pallab Ghosh, BBC science correspondent | Marie Curie, Polish chemist & physicist | |
| Pauline Black, singer & actor | Billie Holiday, American jazz singer | |
| Fiona Bruce, television presenter & newsreader | Mata Hari, Dutch accused spy | |
| Yvonne Brewster, theatre director, actress & writer | Claude McKay, poet | |
| Barry Cunliffe, archaeologist | Julius Caesar, Roman Emperor | |
| Phil Hammond, broadcaster, physician & comedian | George Bernard Shaw, Irish dramatist & Fabian Society pamphleteer |
Series 13, August – October 2007[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Jude Kelly, theatre director & producer | Lilian Baylis, theatrical producer & manager | Matthew Parris |
| David Trimble, politician | Elvis Presley, American singer | |
| Maggi Hambling, painter & sculptor | Rembrandt, Dutch artist | |
| The Earl of Snowdon, photographer & Alex Moulton, engineer | Alec Issigonis, car designer | |
| Michael Craig-Martin, conceptual artist | John Cage, avant-garde composer | |
| David Rowntree, drummer with Blur & political activist | Lord Denning, judge | |
| John Motson, football commentator | Brian Clough, football manager | |
| Prue Leith, restaurateur | Elizabeth David, food writer | |
| General Sir Michael Rose, British Army officer | George Washington, first President of the United States |
Series 14, December 2007 – January 2008[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Jan Ravens, impressionist | Thora Hird, actress | Matthew Parris |
| Quentin Blake, illustrator | George Cruikshank, caricaturist | |
| Redmond O'Hanlon, travel writer | Alfred Russel Wallace, naturalist | |
| Sir Richard Sykes, biochemist | Howard Florey, pharmacologist & pathologist | |
| Roger Graef, documentary maker | Groucho Marx, American comedian & film star | |
| Jacqueline Wilson, author of children's literature | Katherine Mansfield, writer | |
| Joe Simpson, mountaineer | Hermann Buhl, mountaineer |
Series 15, April – May 2008[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Gatiss, actor & writer | Peter Cushing, actor | Matthew Parris |
| Rhona Cameron, comedian | Charles Bukowski, novelist & poet | |
| Steve Cram, former athlete | Paavo Nurmi, Finnish runner | |
| Stirling Moss, racing car driver | Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentine racing car driver | |
| Anna Ford, TV newsreader | Paul Robeson, black singer, actor & civil rights activist | |
| Simon Armitage, poet | Ian Curtis, lead singer with Joy Division | |
| Nicholas Parsons, actor & radio & TV presenter | Edward Lear, painter & poet | |
| Arabella Weir, comedian, actress & writer | Joyce Grenfell, actress, comedian & singer-songwriter | |
| Colin Dexter, crime writer | A. E. Housman, scholar & poet |
Series 16, August – September 2008[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Jon Snow, journalist & broadcaster | Lord Longford, Labour politician & prison reformer | Matthew Parris |
| David Lammy, politician | Richard Pryor, comedian | |
| David Attenborough, zoologist & broadcaster | Robert Hooke, 17th century scientist | |
| Bob Harris, radio presenter | Alan Freed, disc jockey | |
| George Osborne, then shadow chancellor | Henry VII, king | |
| Lesley Riddoch, broadcaster | David Ervine, Northern Ireland politician | |
| Mike Jackson, army general | Bill Slim, second world war Field Marshal | |
| Deborah Meaden, businesswoman | Lady Hester Stanhope, traveller, diplomat & spy | |
| Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye | William Hogarth, painter, engraver & satirist |
Series 17, December 2008 – February 2009[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Harvey Goldsmith, performing arts promoter | Luciano Pavarotti, Italian operatic tenor | Matthew Parris |
| Michael Grade, broadcasting executive | Billy Marsh, theatrical agent | |
| Raymond Briggs, illustrator & writer | Beachcomber, columnist | |
| David Soul, actor | Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian & Resistance figure | |
| Tracy-Ann Oberman, actress | Bette Davis, American film actress | |
| Pam Ayres, poet | Tony Hancock, comedian & actor | |
| Redmond O'Hanlon, travel writer | Alfred Russel Wallace, naturalist | |
| Rachel De Thame, horticulturalist | Margot Fonteyn, ballerina | |
| Ken Livingstone, former Mayor of London | Robert F. Kennedy, American politician & brother of president John F. Kennedy |
Series 18, April – May 2009[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Stuart Hall, broadcaster | Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France | Matthew Parris |
| Polly Toynbee, journalist | Roy Jenkins, Labour politician | |
| David Mellor, politician | Thomas Beecham, conductor | |
| Ruby Wax, American comedian | Carl Jung, Swiss founder of analytical psychology | |
| Colin Murray, broadcaster | Frank Sinatra, American singer | |
| Andy Sheppard, saxophonist | John Coltrane, saxophonist | |
| Michael O'Donnell, broadcaster & physician | Fred Astaire, dancer & actor | |
| Misha Glenny, journalist | Giovanni Falcone, Italian judge & anti-Mafia campaigner |
Series 19, August – September 2009[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate | Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate | Matthew Parris |
| David Miliband, Member of Parliament & (then) Foreign Secretary | Joe Slovo, South African ANC leader | |
| George Galloway, Member of Parliament | John Cornford, poet & activist | |
| Dervla Murphy, travel writer | Freya Stark, travel writer | |
| Rolf Harris, Australian television presenter & artist | Kyffin Williams, Welsh artist | |
| Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London | Samuel Johnson, writer of the great dictionary | |
| Kate Humble, TV presenter | Miriam Makeba, South African singer & anti-apartheid activist | |
| Paul Daniels, magician | Harry Houdini, American escapologist | |
| John Major, former British Prime Minister | Rudyard Kipling, poet & author |
Series 20, December 2009 – February 2010[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Sir Ranulph Fiennes, explorer | Henry V, King of England | Matthew Parris |
| Rich Hall, stand-up comedian | Tennessee Williams, American dramatist | |
| Neil Innes, musician & performer | Vivian Stanshall, musician & comic writer | |
| Munira Mirza, London Mayoral advisor on arts & culture | Hannah Arendt, German-American political philosopher | |
| Christopher Biggins, actor & television presenter | Nero, Roman Emperor | |
| Jenny Agutter, actress | Lise Meitner, Austrian physicist | |
| David Bailey, photographer | Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist | |
| John Williams, composer | Agustin Barrios Mangore, Paraguayan guitarist | |
| Richard Dawkins, ethologist & evolutionary biologist | Bill Hamilton, evolutionary theorist |
Series 21, April – May 2010[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| John Godber, playwright | Bertolt Brecht, writer & theatre director | Matthew Parris |
| Clive Stafford Smith, human rights lawyer | Robin Hood, folklore hero | |
| Peter White, broadcaster | Douglas Jardine, England cricket captain | |
| John Lloyd, comedy writer & television producer | Richard Buckminster Fuller, architect & futurist | |
| Stuart Rose, chairman of Marks & Spencer | Matthew Flinders, cartographer | |
| Baroness Sarah Hogg, economist & journalist | Charlotte Guest, polymath & businesswoman | |
| Brian Cox, physicist | Carl Sagan, astronomer & astrophysicist | |
| Viv Anderson, England footballer | Arthur Wharton, athlete & football player |
Series 22, August – September 2010[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| John Harris, journalist & author | John Lennon, musician | Matthew Parris |
| Bettany Hughes, historian | Sappho, Ancient Greek poet | |
| Dominic Sandbrook, historian | Richard Nixon, 37th President of the United States | |
| Camila Batmanghelidjh, founder of Kids Company | Mary Carpenter, educational & social reformer | |
| Eleanor Bron, actress | Simone Weil, French philosopher & mystic | |
| Edwina Currie, former Member of Parliament & government minister | Golda Meir, former Prime Minister of Israel | |
| Digby Jones, former director of the CBI | Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| Robert Winston, surgeon, scientist, broadcaster and politician | Michel de Montaigne, writers of the French Renaissance | |
| Gerald Scarfe, cartoonist | Walt Disney, animator |
Series 23, November 2010 – January 2011[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Mark Borkowski, public relations | Malcolm McLaren, impresario & talent manager | Matthew Parris |
| John Hegley, poet | D.H. Lawrence, novelist | |
| Gerry Robinson, businessman | Samuel Beckett, Irish playwright | |
| Lionel Blair, dancer & television personality | Sammy Davis Jr, dancer, singer & entertainer | |
| Neil Kinnock, former Leader of the Labour Party | Aneurin Bevan, founder of the NHS & Labour Cabinet Minister | |
| Barry Cryer, comedian | J. B. Priestley, novelist & playwright | |
| Jim Al-Khalili, Iraqi-born physicist | Gertrude Bell, writer, traveller, politician & administrator | |
| Katherine Whitehorn, journalist | Mary Stott, campaigning journalist | |
| Kwame Kwei-Armah, playwright & actor | Marcus Garvey, African-American political leader 1 |
- Garvey was previously nominated by Yvonne Brown in Series 7 Programme 7 1
Series 24, April – May 2011[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Clive Sinclair, British inventor | Thomas Edison, American inventor | Matthew Parris |
| Charles Hazlewood, conductor | Leonard Bernstein, conductor & composer | |
| Diana Quick, actress | Simone de Beauvoir, French philosopher | |
| Sue MacGregor, broadcaster | Kathleen Ferrier, contralto singer | |
| Lynne Truss, writer & journalist | Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland & mathematician | |
| Caroline Lucas, British Green MP | Petra Kelly, German Green politician | |
| Matthew Syed, sports journalist | Jack Johnson, "the Galveston Giant", boxer | |
| Diane Abbott, Member of Parliament | Harold Pinter, playwright |
Series 25, August – September 2011[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Butcher, journalist | Graham Greene, author & critic | Matthew Parris |
| Janice Long, broadcaster | Kirsty MacColl, singer-songwriter | |
| Gwyneth Lewis, poet | Emily Dickinson, American poet | |
| Antonio Carluccio, Italian restaurateur | Eduardo Paolozzi, artist | |
| Daisy Goodwin, broadcaster & poetry curator | William Shakespeare, poet & playwright | |
| Simon Day, comedian & actor | Hans Fallada, German writer | |
| Simon Jenkins, journalist | Edwin Lutyens, architect | |
| Cerys Matthews, musician | Hildegard of Bingen, German mystic | |
| Graeme le Saux, former England footballer | Gerald Durrell, author & conservationist |
Series 26, December 2011 – January 2012[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Sheen, actor | Philip K. Dick, science fiction writer | Matthew Parris |
| Raymond Tallis, philosopher | Ludwig Wittgenstein, German philosopher | |
| Steven Pinker, psychologist & cognitive scientist | Thomas Hobbes, philosopher | |
| Brian Sewell, art critic | Ludwig II of Bavaria | |
| Jim Carter, actor | Lonnie Donegan, skiffle musician | |
| Martin Rees, astrophysicist | Joseph Rotblat, physicist & campaigner against nuclear weapons | |
| Emma Kennedy, actress | Gracie Allen, comedian | |
| Clare Gerada, doctors' leader | Vera Brittain, writer, feminist & pacifist | |
| Baroness Warsi, Conservative politician & former government minister | Razia Sultana, 13th-century Indian princess |
Series 27, April – May 2012[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Owen Sheers, Welsh poet | Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet | Matthew Parris |
| Will Self, journalist & novelist | Oscar Wilde, Irish dramatist & writer | |
| Erin Pizzey, writer & campaigner | Gertrude Stein, writer, philanthropist & art collector | |
| Tom Robinson, singer, broadcaster & activist | George Lyward, educationalist, teacher & psychotherapist who worked at Finchden Manor | |
| Alexei Sayle, comedian | Edward Said, Palestinian-American literary theorist & campaigner for Palestinian rights | |
| Eric Pickles, politician | John Ford, American film director | |
| Diana Athill, British literary editor, novelist & memoirist | Francisco Goya, Spanish painter | |
| Lynn Barber, British journalist & interviewer | Sebastian Walker, founder of Walker Books, a publishing house for children |
Series 28, July – September 2012[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Des Lynam, sports commentator | Henry Cooper, English heavyweight boxer | Matthew Parris |
| Janine di Giovanni, foreign correspondent & author | Josephine Bonaparte, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte | |
| Rory Stewart, Conservative Member of Parliament, author & adventurer | Sir Walter Scott, Scottish novelist | |
| Bill Paterson, actor | Leonard Maguire, Scottish actor | |
| Natalie Haynes, comedian | Juvenal, Roman poet | |
| Ken Dodd, comedian | Stan Laurel, film actor & one half of the duo Laurel and Hardy | |
| Stephen Frears, film director | Karel Reisz, film director | |
| Alan Johnson, politician & former Labour Home Secretary | George Orwell, writer | |
| Naomi Wolf, commentator & author of The Beauty Myth | Edith Wharton, novelist, wit & feminist |
Series 29, December 2012 – January 2013[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Martin Broughton, chairman of British Airways & the British Horse Racing Board | Dick Francis, crime novelist & former jockey | Matthew Parris |
| Francesca Simon, children's writer & author of the Horrid Henry books | Jean Cocteau, French writer, artist & film director | |
| Lemn Sissay, author & broadcaster | Prince Alemayehu, favourite prince of Queen Victoria | |
| Stuart Maconie, radio presenter & music critic | Ralph Vaughan Williams, composer & folk music collector | |
| Richard Herring, comedian | Grigori Rasputin, Russian Orthodox mystic | |
| Max Mosley, former president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) | John Stuart Mill, philosopher | |
| Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, interior designer | Aubrey Beardsley, artist of the Aesthetic movement | |
| Grace Dent, journalist | Nancy Mitford, novelist & biographer | |
| Carol Klein, gardening expert | William Robinson, Irish-born journalist & gardener |
Series 30, April – May 2013[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Hitchens, author & columnist | George Bell, Anglican theologian & bishop | Matthew Parris |
| Bobby Friction, DJ & presenter | Galileo Galilei, Italian pioneer astronomer | |
| Chris Tarrant, television presenter | Kenny Everett, comedian and former disc jockey | |
| John Blashford-Snell, explorer | David Livingstone, explorer | |
| Gyles Brandreth, writer & broadcaster | Arthur Conan Doyle, author | |
| Justine Roberts, founder of Mumsnet, a website for parents | Bill Shankly, football manager | |
| John Cooper Clarke, poet | Salvador Dalí, Spanish surrealist painter | |
| Edmund de Waal, ceramicist & writer | Primo Levi, Italian Holocaust survivor, writer & chemist | |
| Dr Lucy Worsley, Chief Curator at Historic Royal Palaces | Florence Nightingale, nurse, health administrator & statistician |
Series 31, August – October 2013[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Russell Grant, astrologer & broadcaster | Ivor Novello, composer & actor | Matthew Parris |
| Gabriel Gbadamosi, playwright | Fela Kuti, Nigerian musician | |
| Tanika Gupta | Rabindranath Tagore, Indian poet | |
| Julie Burchill, writer | Ava Gardner, American film star | |
| Paul Mason, journalist and broadcaster | Louise Michel, 19th century French anarchist | |
| Peter Bowles, actor | George Devine, theatre director | |
| Konnie Huq, television presenter & writer | Ada Lovelace, computing pioneer | |
| Brendan Barber, trade unionist | John Steinbeck, American novelist | |
| Al Murray, comedian | Bernard Montgomery, WW2 British General |
Series 32, December 2013 – January 2014[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Ricky Ross, singer with Deacon Blue | Hank Williams, singer-songwriter | Matthew Parris |
| Michael Horovitz, poet | Allen Ginsberg, Beat poet | |
| Meg Rosoff, novelist | Isabella Bird, Victorian traveller | |
| David Chipperfield, architect | Le Corbusier, Swiss-French architect | |
| David Baddiel, comedian | John Updike, novelist | |
| Adil Ray, actor & TV personality | Dave Allen, comedian | |
| Mark Constantine, businessman & founder of Lush cosmetics | Kahlil Gibran, poet | |
| Sara Cox, radio presenter | Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes, hip-hop artist |
Series 33, April – May 2014[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Evelyn Glennie, percussionist | Jacqueline du Pré, cellist | Matthew Parris |
| Sarah Vine, newspaper columnist | Dante Alighieri, 12th-13th century Italian poet | |
| Mark Walport, Chief Scientific Adviser | Hans Sloane, art collector & benefactor of the British Museum | |
| Marcus du Sautoy, mathematician | Jorge Luis Borges, Argentinian writer | |
| Deborah Moggach, novelist | Arnold Bennett, 19th-century novelist | |
| Isy Suttie, comedian, musician & actor | Jake Thackray, singer-songwriter | |
| John Craven, journalist & television presenter | Isambard Kingdom Brunel, 19th-century British engineer | |
| Emma Kirkby, soprano singer | Henry Purcell, 17th-century composer | |
| Michael Palin, Python, writer & broadcaster | Ernest Hemingway, American writer |
Series 34, August – October 2014[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan Meades, writer & broadcaster | Edward Burra, artist | Matthew Parris |
| Jazzie B, DJ & music entrepreneur | James Brown, American singer | |
| Oona King, politician | Ida B. Wells, American journalist & civil rights leader | |
| Ray Mears, woodsman & TV presenter | Rommel, German field marshal of World War II | |
| Tom Shakespeare, sociologist | Gramsci, Italian Marxist politician | |
| Labi Siffre, poet & singer-songwriter | Arthur Ransome, author & journalist | |
| Stella Rimington, former Director General of MI5 & writer | Dorothy L. Sayers, crime writer | |
| Andrew Adonis, Baron Adonis, politician & academic | Joseph Bazalgette, Victorian engineer responsible for London's main sewers | |
| Edith Hall, classicist | Lucille Ball, American actress & comedian |
Series 35, December 2014 – January 2015[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Arthur Smith, comedian | Emil Zátopek, Czechoslovak distance runner | Matthew Parris |
| Laura Bates, feminist writer | Louisa May Alcott, 19th century American author of Little Women | |
| Brian Eno, musician | Michael Young, sociologist & politician | |
| Philippa Langley, historian | Richard III, 15th -century King of England | |
| Tom Solomon, neurologist | Roald Dahl, children's writer | |
| Michael Dobbs, politician & novelist | Guy Burgess, spy | |
| Eve Pollard, journalist & former newspaper editor | Nora Ephron, American screenwriter | |
| Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England | Risto Ryti, Governor of Bank of Finland and Prime Minister and President of Finland during World War II |
Series 36, April – May 2015[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Trevor McDonald, news presenter | Learie Constantine, Trinidadian cricketer & politician | Matthew Parris |
| Rachel Johnson, author & journalist | Lady Ottoline Morrell, literary hostess & associate of the Bloomsbury Group | |
| Kulvinder Ghir, comedian & actor | Zoran Mušič, Slovene artist & survivor of Dachau | |
| Helen Ghosh, Director General of the National Trust | James Lees-Milne, writer & expert on country houses | |
| Wendy Cope, poet | John Clare, 19th-century poet | |
| Antonia Quirke, film critic | Marlon Brando, American actor | |
| Matthew Barzun, American ambassador | John Gil Winant, American ambassador to UK 1941-46 | |
| David Blunkett, blind politician | Louis Braille, 18th-century French inventor of Braille | |
| Val McDermid, crime writer | P. D. James, crime writer |
Series 37, August – September 2015[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Ian McKellen, actor | Edmund Hillary, mountaineer & explorer | Matthew Parris |
| Vicky Pryce, Greek-born former British Government economist | Melina Mercouri, Greek actress, singer & politician | |
| Michael Howard, former Conservative Party leader | Queen Elizabeth I, English monarch | |
| Ade Adepitan, television personality & Paralympian | George Washington Williams, American Civil War veteran & historian | |
| Monica Ali, novelist | Richard Francis Burton, explorer & adventurer | |
| Frances Crook, prison reformist | Barbara Castle, Labour Party politician & former Cabinet Minister | |
| Hannah Rothschild, philanthropist & documentary filmmaker | Thelonious Monk, jazz musician | |
| Nick Stadlen, former High Court judge | Bram Fischer, South African lawyer & anti-apartheid activist | |
| Toyah Willcox, singer & actress | Katharine Hepburn, Hollywood actress |
Series 38, December 2015 – January 2016[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Dickie Bird, cricket umpire | Sir Leonard Hutton, English cricketer | Matthew Parris |
| Roger Saul, founder of the Mulberry fashion label | Gertrude Jekyll, garden designer | |
| Alvin Hall, financial journalist | James Baldwin, African American writer | |
| Precious Lunga, epidemiologist | Wangari Maathai, Kenyan environmental and political activist | |
| Martin Jennings, sculptor | Charles Sargeant Jagger, sculptor of British World War One war memorials | |
| Susan Calman, Scottish comedian | Molly Weir, Scottish actress | |
| Nitin Sawhney, musician & producer | Jeff Buckley, singer-songwriter | |
| Eliza Manningham-Buller, former Director General of MI5 | Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States |
Series 39, April – May 2016[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony Horowitz, novelist & screenwriter | Alfred Hitchcock, film director | Matthew Parris |
| Nancy Dell'Olio, lawyer | Lucrezia Borgia, Italian princesses | |
| Ray Peacock, Comedian | Lenny Bruce, Comedian | |
| Sudha Bhuchar, actress | Zohra Sehgal, Indian actress | |
| Graeme Lamb, SAS commando | Christine Granville, spy | |
| Timmy Mallett, TV presenter | Richard the Lionheart, King | |
| Charles Moore, journalist | Gordon Hamilton-Fairley, medical oncology | |
| Ann Limb, chair of the Scout Association | George Fox, founder of the Quaker | |
| Frank Turner, folk singer | Joseph Grimaldi, comedian |
Series 40, August – September 2016[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Hilary Devey, television personality | Gracie Fields, actress | Matthew Parris |
| Alex Salmond, Scottish former First Minister | Thomas Muir, Father of Scottish Democracy. | |
| Sara Pascoe, stand-up comedian | Virginia Woolf, writer | |
| , journalist | Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary General of the United Nations | |
| Tony Hawks, comedian | Marshall Rosenberg, psychologist | |
| Maureen Lipman, actress | Cicely Saunders, nurse | |
| Eliza Carthy, folk musician | Caroline Norton, poet | |
| A. A. Gill, writer | Neville Chamberlain, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom | |
| Cyrus Todiwala, chef | Dadabhai Naoroji, first British Indian MP |
Series 41, December 2016 – January 2017[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Lucy Porter, comedian | Cary Grant, American actor | Matthew Parris |
| Ben Kingsley, actor | Elie Wiesel, Romanian-born, American Jewish Nobel laureate | |
| , food writer | Dinu Lipatti, Romanian pianist | |
| , sports personality | Helen Rollason, sports journalist | |
| Suzannah Lipscomb, historian | C. S. Lewis, novelist | |
| Akram Khan, choreographer | Srinivasa Ramanujan, mathematician | |
| Len Goodman, dancer | Lionel Bart, composer | |
| Chris Patten, Chancellor of the University of Oxford | Pope John XXIII, pope |
Series 42, April – May 2017[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Gary Kemp, songwriter | Edward William Godwin, architect | Matthew Parris |
| Germaine Greer, feminist writer | Dame Elisabeth Frink, sculptor | |
| Ermonela Jaho, soprano | Mother Teresa, nun | |
| Anton du Beke, dancer | Arnold Palmer, golfer | |
| Peaches Golding, consultant | Shirley Chisholm, Member of U.S. Congress (Dem) | |
| Steven Knight, screenwriter | Sitting Bull, Lakota chief | |
| Sue Cameron, columnist | Emma of Normandy, queen consort | |
| Peter Williams, businessman | Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Inc |
Series 43, August – September 2017[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Maxine Peake, actor | Ellen Wilkinson, Labour MP & Cabinet Minister | Matthew Parris |
| Stephen Fry, comedian, actor & writer | P.G. Wodehouse, writer, creator of Jeeves | |
| Sathnam Sanghera, journalist & author | Alexander Gardner, explorer | |
| Don McCullin, photojournalist | Norman Lewis, travel writer | |
| Tracy Chevalier, novelist | Mary Anning, fossil collector & working-class woman from Lyme Regis | |
| Helen Sharman, first British in space | Elsie Widdowson, dietitian | |
| Nicholas Stern, Economist | Muhammad Ali, boxer & civil rights activist | |
| Andrea Catherwood, presenter & journalist | Constance Markievicz, Irish politician & suffragette | |
| Helena Morrissey, City boss | Rachael Heyhoe Flint, cricketer & businesswoman |
Series 44, December 2017[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Will Gregory, musician | Flann O'Brien, novelist | Matthew Parris |
| Cornelia Parker, sculptor | Marcel Duchamp, French painter | |
| Louise Richardson, political scientist | Daniel O'Connell, Barrister | |
| Nazir Afzal, Chief Crown Prosecutor | Mahatma Gandhi, Indian independence leader | |
| Gisela Stuart, Labour MP | Joseph Chamberlain, Labour MP | |
| Helen Arney, presenter | Hertha Ayrton, physicist, and suffragette | |
| Justin Marozzi, historian | Herodotus, Ancient Greek historian | |
| Liza Tarbuck, actress | Nikola Tesla, Serbian inventor | |
| Gisela Stuart, Labour MP | Joseph Chamberlain, Secretary of State |
Series 45, April 2018 – May 2018[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Vic Reeves, comedian, actor and artist | Captain Beefheart, American musician | Matthew Parris |
| Adrian Utley, musician | Miles Davis, American jazz musician | |
| Laura Serrant, professor | Audre Lorde, American poet and activist | |
| Tej Lalvani, businessman | Richard Feynman, American theoretical physicist, | |
| Ayesha Hazarika, comedian and political commentator | Jayaben Desai, trade unionist | |
| Simon Callow, actor | Orson Welles, American actor | |
| Mica Paris, soul singer | Josephine Baker, American Vaudeville performer | |
| Suzy Klein, TV and Radio presentator | Hedy Lamarr, actress | |
| Barbara Stocking, former head of Oxfam | Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia |
Series 46, September 2018 – December 2018[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Hanif Kureishi, writer | David Bowie, musician | Matthew Parris |
| Erica Wagner, former literary editor of The Times | Roald Amundsen, Norwegian polar explorer | |
| Simon Evans, comedian | John Stuart Mill, philosopher | |
| Patricia Greene, actor | Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury | |
| Helen Glover, Olympic rower | Alison Hargreaves, mountaineer | |
| Greg Jenner, historian | Gene Kelly, American dancer | |
| Cherie Blair, barrister | Rose Heilbron, England's first woman judge. | |
| Mark Carwardine, zoologist | Douglas Adams, writer | |
| Christina Lamb, author and correspondent | Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister of Pakistan |
Series 47, December 2018 – January 2019[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Samira Ahmed, freelance journalist, | Laura Ingalls Wilder, American writer | Matthew Parris |
| Russell Kane, writer, comedian | Evelyn Waugh, English writer | |
| Tim Smit, businessman | Humphrey Jennings, English documentary filmmaker | |
| Frank Cottrell Boyce, screenwriter | Tove Jansson, Finnish-Swedish author and creator of the Moomins | |
| Mark Steel, comedian | Charlie Chaplin, actor and comedian | |
| Nikesh Shukla, author | Ghulam Mohammad, Great Gama, Pakistani wrestler | |
| Suzanne O'Sullivan, neurologist | Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author | |
| , entrepreneur, columnist, former policy advisor to David Cameron and George Osborne | Colin Chapman, creator of Lotus Cars | |
| Matt Lucas, comedian, screenwriter, actor | Freddie Mercury, musician, songwriter, lead vocalist of Queen |
Series 48, April 2019 – May 2019[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Shappi Khorsandi, comedian | Emma, Lady Hamilton, spouse of Lord Nelson | Matthew Parris |
| Helen Lewis, journalist | Catherine de' Medici, Queen consort of France | |
| Tom Holland, historian | Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians | |
| Ian McMillan, poet | Malcolm Lowry, writer | |
| Kirill Gerstein, Russian American pianist | Ferruccio Busoni, composer | |
| Caroline Criado-Perez, feminist campaigner | Jane Austen, writer | |
| Jeremy Deller, artist | Brian Epstein, The Beatles' manager | |
| Shirley Collins, folk singer | Alan Lomax, American song-hunter | |
| Kamila Shamsie, writer | Asma Jahangir, human rights lawyer |
Series 49, April 2019 – May 2019[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Lucy Irvine, adventurer and author. | Robinson Crusoe, fictional characters | Matthew Parris |
| Ed Balls, British Labour and Co-operative politician | Herbert Howells, composer | |
| Laura Marling, folk singer-songwriter | Lou Andreas-Salome, first woman psychoanalyst | |
| Caroline Quentin, actress | Sir John Vanbrugh, playwright and architect | |
| Shaun Ley, Broadcaster | Ramsay MacDonald, First UK Labour Prime Minister | |
| Philippa Perry, psychotherapist | Maria Montessori, Italian educator | |
| Fiona Shaw, actress | Eleonora Duse, actress | |
| Sindhu Vee, comedian | Prince Rogers Nelson | |
| Chibundu Onuzo, author | Constance Cummings-John, Sierra Leonean educationist | |
| Jessie Ware, singer | Donna Summer, American singer | |
| Frances O'Grady, trade uninionist | Ernie Bevin, trade uninionist |
Series 50, December 2019 – January 2020[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Peter Oborne, journalist | William Brown and his creator, Richmal Crompton | Matthew Parris |
| Lindsey Hilsum, Channel 4 News reporter | Lee Miller, War photographer and model | |
| Jeremy Paxman, broadcaster | Nicholas Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury, Victorian era politician | |
| Janice Turner, journalist | Enid Blyton, novelist | |
| Bill Bailey, comedian | Alfred Russel Wallace, naturalist | |
| Ken Clarke, politician | Charlie Parker, Jazz sax player | |
| Josie Long, comedian | Kurt Vonnegut, American author | |
| Andi Oliver, chef | Toni Morrison, American Nobel Prize-winning author |
April 2020 - September 2020[]
| Guest | Nominee | Presenter |
|---|---|---|
| Rick Stein, chef | Jim Morrison, rock singer | Matthew Parris |
| Frank Cottrell Boyce, script writer | Tove Jansson, creator of Moomin | |
| Kate Stables, musician | Ursula Le Guin, American author | |
| Olivette Otele, historian | Maya Angelou, African-American writer | |
| Daniel Rigby, TV author | Victoria Wood, comedian | |
| Sally Phillips, comedian | Myrna Loy, American film actress | |
| Anand Menon, political scientist | Billy Bremner, footballer | |
| Sara Wheeler, author | Sybille Bedford, author | |
| Dolly Alderton, author | Doris Day, American actress | |
| Margaret MacMillan, Canadian historian | Benito Mussolini, Italian fascist dictator | |
| Jessie Burton, author | Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter | |
| Peter Frankopan, historian | Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Soviet rocket scientist | |
| Jessie Ware, English singer | Donna Summer, American singer | |
| Frances O'Grady, trade unionist | Ernest Bevin, Labour politician and trade unionist | |
| Tom Allen, comedian | Kenneth Williams, English actor | |
| David Adjaye, Ghanaian-British architect | Okwui Enwezor, Nigerian curator | |
| James Graham, playwright | John Maynard Keynes, economist | |
| Michael Wood, historian | Xuanzang, Chinese monk and traveller | |
| Philippa Gregory, novelist | Katherine Parr, sixth wife of Henry VIII | |
| David Spiegelhalter, professor | Frank Ramsey, mathematician | |
| Diane Morgan, comedian | Hugh Dowding, Air Chief Marshal | |
| Rob Rinder, barrister | Jessica Mitford, civil rights activist and investigative journalist | |
| , actor | Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist | |
| Caroline Catz, actor | Delia Derbyshire, composer | |
| Cori Crider, human rights lawyer | Cesar Chavez, Rights activist |
References[]
- ^ Great Lives at radiolistings.co.uk
External links[]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Great Lives. |
Categories:
- BBC Radio 4 programmes