Great Lives

Diana Athill joins Matthew Parris to explore the life of the Spanish painter, Francisco de Goya, who has been called the last old masters and the first of the moderns.

The literary editor and memoiris…

John Ford had a monumental Hollywood career - over 140 films, Oscars he never turned up to receive, and a blunt way of approaching the business that made him enemies as well as friends. He stood up o…

Edward Said was a man, who, in his own words, lived two quite separate lives. First there was the scholar and literary critic of Columbia University, and then there was the fierce critic of American …

The musician and broadcaster Tom Robinson nominates educationalist George Lyward in this episode of Great Lives.

Aged 15 and struggling with his sexuality, Tom Robinson attempted to take his own life …

Gertude Stein, American poet, writer and art collector, lived most of her life in France.

She was one of the first people to spot the genius of Picasso, Cezanne and Matisse, and she believed she was …

Oscar Wilde, author of The Importance of Being Earnest and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, is proposed by Will Self, a writer once described as a 'high powered satirical weapon'.

In 1895, and at the heigh…

Dylan Thomas, arguably Wales's most famous poet, comes under scrutiny on Great Lives.

A man famous both for his linguistic exuberance and his chaotic, alcohol-fuelled private life, Thomas is proposed…

Co-chairman of the Conservative party, Baroness Warsi recalls her Pakistani-born father during her Yorkshire childhood telling her about the heroic martial deeds conducted by a thirteenth century Ind…

The writer and pacifist Vera Brittain is discussed by her daughter Baroness Shirley Williams and Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of GPs.

Vera Brittain's life was shaped by the grief that f…

Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees tells Matthew Parris why his hero, physicist Joseph Rotblat, lived a "great life".

Rotblat was a brilliant physicist who was the only scientist to resign from the Man…

Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter tells Matthew Parris why skiffle king Lonnie Donegan is his hero.

Lonnie Donegan is probably best remembered for the novelty hits "My Old Man's a Dustman" and "Does Yo…

Brian Sewell on his long-standing love of "Mad" King Ludwig II of Bavaria, who built the ultimate fantasy castle at Neuschwanstein. From his first fateful glimpse of one of Ludwig's palaces, Brian's …

Thomas Hobbes: the writer and psychologist Steven Pinker joins Matthew Parris to discuss the life of the great English philosopher. Noel Malcolm from All Souls College, Oxford provides the expert ana…

Ludwig Wittgenstein, the fascinating and misunderstood genius who changed the course of philosophy, is chosen by writer Raymond Tallis. With biographer Ray Monk, he brings alive this most enigmatic o…

Actor Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon; The Queen; Midnight in Paris) explores the life of Philip K. Dick with Matthew Parris, and explains why he had such a big influence on his recent production of Hamle…

No less a figure than the national bard, William Shakespeare, is nominated for great life status by poetry curator and TV producer, Daisy Goodwin. Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director of the Globe Th…

Former England footballer Graeme le Saux champions the life of writer, broadcaster and conservationist Gerald Durrell.

Graeme and presenter Matthew Parris are joined in the studio by Durrell's widow,…