BBC
Great Lives
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Great LivesEpisodes
BBC
Great Lives
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Episodes of Great Lives
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Professor Alice Roberts, best known as the presenter of Digging for Britain, picks the wife of two English kings and the mother of two English kings. Queen Emma was born in Normandy and came to England as a diplomatic peaceweaver when she marri
Frank Whittle’s fascination with aeroplanes started as a nine-year-old boy when he was nearly decapitated by one that was taking off from a local common in Coventry where he grew up. From that moment he set his sights on becoming a pilot, and j
Bestselling children's author Katherine Rundell discusses the extraordinary life of E Nesbit who wrote The Railway Children and Five Children And It.Katherine praises her “bold unwillingness to speak down to children” and reflects that “she nev
Baroness Ros Altmann, a Conservative peer and former pensions minister, was “blown away” by the architecture of Antoni Gaudi on a trip to Barcelona in the 1990s. She’s been back several times and her wonder at Gaudi’s use of colour and natural
The political writer and broadcaster Steve Richards remembers the 1970s as a “dark decade.” But one shining light for the teenage Steve was Saturday evening telly, especially the Generation Game on BBC One. He was captivated by the performance
The political writer and broadcaster Steve Richards remembers the 1970s as a “dark decade.” But one shining light for the teenage Steve was Saturday evening telly, especially the Generation Game on BBC One. He was captivated by the performance
Gerard Hoffnung’s life was short. He died in 1959 at the age of 34, but this cartoonist, musician, broadcaster and raconteur achieved a lot in that time. Born in Berlin, he lived most of his life in London. His charming cartoons which often
In 1961 Alan 'Fluff' Freeman took over as the host of the BBC Radio's 'Pick of the Pops' and changed music broadcasting forever. From the opening "Greetings pop pickers" Alan would count down the hottest records of the week punctuating the end
The Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver died in 2019. She was best known for her poetry that reflected her love of the natural world and her famous poem 'Wild Geese' is said to have literally saved people's lives with its message of hope a
Harry Belafonte became the King of Calypso with hits like 'Day-O' and 'Jump in the Line' but he would later describe himself as an activist who became a musician and an actor. Fitness guru Derrick Evans MBE AKA 'Mr Motivator' spent much of the
In 1776 Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, kick-starting the movement against British rule and putting in place the foundations for democracy in what became the United States of America. But he was a man of contradictions
Eartha Kitt was born in South Carolina in 1927. She had a tough upbringing but found her talent whilst in theatre school in New York. She became a star of stage and then screen, most notably as Catwoman in the series 'Batman'. She upset Pres
Philosopher John Gray chooses as his great life the iconic British writer of dystopian and speculative fiction, J.G. Ballard, in conversation with the author's daughter Bea Ballard.Presented by Matthew ParrisProduced in Bristol by Beth Sagar-F
Broadcaster and author Iszi Lawrence chooses the aviator Diana Barnato Walker. Coming from a privileged background, Diana used her pocket money to take flying lessons, flew bombers during World War II, and - aged 45 - became the first British w
Walter Murch picks Mohammad Mossadegh, prime minister following the nationalisation of the Anglo-Iranian oil company in 1951. Mossadegh was ousted in a coup in 1953. Murch became fascinated in Mossadegh's life while working on a Sam Mendes film
The award-winning Sound Recordist and Musician, Chris Watson nominates his hero, Ludwig Koch. In 1889, German-born Koch was the first person ever to record birdsong (at the age of 8) onto a wax cylinder recorder, given to him by his father as a
An aristocrat in an eye patch, a jazz saxophonist, a crime novelist and a pioneering organic farmer.Lady Eve Balfour was born in 1898 into the political elite - her uncle was A J Balfour, who was Prime Minister from 1902-05. But from the age of
Veteran British film director Ken Loach nominates the 17th century radical pamphleteer and and leader of the Diggers, Gerrard Winstanley.Born in Wigan in 1609, Winstanley began writing religious pamphlets after his cloth selling business in Lon
On the 11th June 1988 Jessye Norman performed a spine-tingling rendition of 'Amazing Grace' to a packed Wembley Stadium, bringing to a close a concert marking the seventieth birthday of Nelson Mandela. By this point her career Jessye Norman wa
The Godmother of English - and Irish - ballet, Dame Ninette De Valois or ‘Madam’ as she was known to those around her. She is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of ballet. She established the Royal Ballet Scho
Born in 1922, Hattie Jacques began her career in music hall before graduating onto the radio comedies of the 1950s such as Educating Archie', 'It's That Man Again' and 'Hancock's Half Hour' where she became a star. TV and films followed, most
It's a famous name - there's Raffles Hotel and Raffles Hospital, plus the rafflesia, the largest flowering plant in the world, an ant, a butterflyfish and a woodpecker, as well as the Raffles Cup, a horse race in Singapore. He was born in 1781
Thomas Mann was a German writer whose books explored themes around family, beauty and the creeping threat of fascism in Europe. Mann's best-known 'Death in Venice' revealed the author's attraction to young boys and it was turned into a film in
"It's the complicated ones I enjoy the most." Matthew ParrisTony Benn, MP from 1950 to 2001, packed so much into a long career. He renounced the peerage inherited from his father, served in the Labour governments of both Harold Wilson and Jim C
When Jon Ronson was growing up, he went to see The Specials play in Cardiff. "I went on my own to Sophia Gardens," he says. "The crowd was fantastically wild. There’s a lot to not like about the feral nature of British street culture – i.e. get
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