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Great Lives Episodes

  1.

    Hilary Devey on Gracie Fields

    The life of Dame Gracie Fields is championed by Hilary Devey. From 2016.

  2. Frank Turner on Joseph Grimaldi

    Frank Turner chooses Joseph Grimaldi who changed the face of Clowning forever.

  3. George Fox

    George Fox, founder of the Quakers, nominated by Ann Limb

  4. Charles Moore on Gordon Hamilton-Fairley

    Cancer pioneer Gordon Hamilton-Fairley, killed by an IRA bomb when he was just 45.

  5. Richard the Lionheart

    Timmy Mallett chooses Richard the Lionheart. With Helen Castor and Matthew Parris.

  6. Graeme Lamb on Christine Granville

    Lt-Gen Sir Graeme Lamb champions wartime spy Christine Granville. Matthew Parris chairs

  7. Sudha Bhuchar chooses the life of Zohra Sehgal

    Playwright and actress Sudha Bhuchar nominates the life of actor Zohra Sehgal.

  8. Ray Peacock chooses the life of Lenny Bruce

    Comedian Ray Peacock nominates the controversial life of Lenny Bruce.

  9. Nancy Dell'Olio chooses the life of Lucrezia Borgia

    Nancy Dell'Olio champions the much maligned Lucrezia Borgia.

  10. Alfred Hitchcock

    Anthony Horowitz champions the life of Alfred Hitchcock.

  11. Eliza Manningham-Buller chooses Abraham Lincoln

    Eliza Manningham-Buller on why she regards Abraham Lincoln as a great life.

  12. Nitin Sawhney on Jeff Buckley

    Nitin Sawhney champions the life of American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley

  13. Susan Calman on Molly Weir

    Comedian Susan Calman chooses the life of actress Molly Weir.

  14. Martin Jennings on Charles Sargeant Jagger

    Martin Jennings nominates the British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger.

  15. Precious Lunga chooses Wangari Maathai

    Matthew Parris explores the remarkable life of Professor Wangari Maathai.

  16. Alvin Hall chooses James Baldwin

    Matthew Parris meets financial guru Alvin Hall, whose hero is James Baldwin.

  17. Roger Saul chooses Gertrude Jekyll

    Fashion designer Roger Saul chooses garden designer Gertrude Jekyll

  18. Dickie Bird on the life of Sir Leonard Hutton

    Dickie Bird champions his hero Sir Leonard Hutton.

  19. Ronald Reagan

    Lord Powell nominates former US President Ronald Reagan.

  20. Toyah Willcox on Katharine Hepburn

    Toyah Willcox nominates her hero Katharine Hepburn who she met and worked with.

  21. Nick Stadlen on Bram Fischer

    Nick Stadlen champions the life of the Afrikaner Revolutionary Bram Fischer.

  22. Hannah Rothschild on Thelonious Monk

    Hannah Rothschild looks back at the life of jazz musician Thelonious Monk.

  23. George Sand

    Mary Kenny nominates the 19th-century French novelist, George Sand.

  24. Frances Crook on Barbara Castle

    Frances Crook proposes Labour politician Barbara Castle. Roy Hattersley is witness

  25. Genghis Khan

    American commentator Joe Queenan chooses the Mongol leader Genghis Khan.

  26. Monica Ali chooses Richard Francis Burton

    The author Monica Ali champions the life of the explorer Richard Francis Burton.

  27. Captain Henry Morgan

    Writer and photographer Lucinda Lambton chooses the supposed pirate captain.

  28. George Washington Williams

    Ade Adepitan champions the life of George Washington Williams.

  29. Michael Howard on Elizabeth I

    Michael Howard, Conservative Party former leader, tells Matthew Parris about Elizabeth I.

  30. Michael Collins

    Film producer Lord Puttnam chooses the Irish nationalist leader Michael Collins.

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