Great Lives

BBC Radio 4

Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

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408 episodes
Updated June 2

Episodes408

Newest first

May 17, 2016 · 27 min
Charles Moore on Gordon Hamilton-Fairley
Cancer pioneer Gordon Hamilton-Fairley, killed by an IRA bomb when he was just 45.
May 16, 2016 · 27 min
Richard the Lionheart
Timmy Mallett chooses Richard the Lionheart. With Helen Castor and Matthew Parris.
May 3, 2016 · 27 min
Graeme Lamb on Christine Granville
Lt-Gen Sir Graeme Lamb champions wartime spy Christine Granville. Matthew Parris chairs
Apr 26, 2016 · 27 min
Sudha Bhuchar chooses the life of Zohra Sehgal
Playwright and actress Sudha Bhuchar nominates the life of actor Zohra Sehgal.
Apr 21, 2016 · 27 min
Ray Peacock chooses the life of Lenny Bruce
Comedian Ray Peacock nominates the controversial life of Lenny Bruce.
Apr 21, 2016 · 27 min
Nancy Dell'Olio chooses the life of Lucrezia Borgia
Nancy Dell'Olio champions the much maligned Lucrezia Borgia.
Apr 7, 2016 · 27 min
Alfred Hitchcock
Anthony Horowitz champions the life of Alfred Hitchcock.
Jan 26, 2016 · 27 min
Eliza Manningham-Buller chooses Abraham Lincoln
Eliza Manningham-Buller on why she regards Abraham Lincoln as a great life.
Jan 20, 2016 · 27 min
Nitin Sawhney on Jeff Buckley
Nitin Sawhney champions the life of American singer-songwriter Jeff Buckley
Jan 13, 2016 · 27 min
Susan Calman on Molly Weir
Comedian Susan Calman chooses the life of actress Molly Weir.
Jan 5, 2016 · 27 min
Martin Jennings on Charles Sargeant Jagger
Martin Jennings nominates the British sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger.
Jan 4, 2016 · 27 min
Precious Lunga chooses Wangari Maathai
Matthew Parris explores the remarkable life of Professor Wangari Maathai.
Dec 22, 2015 · 27 min
Alvin Hall chooses James Baldwin
Matthew Parris meets financial guru Alvin Hall, whose hero is James Baldwin.
Dec 16, 2015 · 28 min
Roger Saul chooses Gertrude Jekyll
Fashion designer Roger Saul chooses garden designer Gertrude Jekyll
Dec 8, 2015 · 27 min
Dickie Bird on the life of Sir Leonard Hutton
Dickie Bird champions his hero Sir Leonard Hutton.
Sep 29, 2015 · 27 min
Toyah Willcox on Katharine Hepburn
Toyah Willcox nominates her hero Katharine Hepburn who she met and worked with.
Sep 22, 2015 · 27 min
Nick Stadlen on Bram Fischer
Nick Stadlen champions the life of the Afrikaner Revolutionary Bram Fischer.
Sep 15, 2015 · 27 min
Hannah Rothschild on Thelonious Monk
Hannah Rothschild looks back at the life of jazz musician Thelonious Monk.
Sep 1, 2015 · 27 min
Monica Ali chooses Richard Francis Burton
The author Monica Ali champions the life of the explorer Richard Francis Burton.
Aug 25, 2015 · 27 min
George Washington Williams
Ade Adepitan champions the life of George Washington Williams.