Pauline Black of The Selecter on Poly Styrene of X-Ray Spex
Poly Styrene was born Marie Joan Elliot-Said in 1957 and went on to become front woman of X-Ray Spex. When Pauline Black first saw her on Top of the Pops, Poly was wearing a red military jacket and ca...
15 Aug 27min
Actor Laurence Olivier with Derek Jacobi and Tim Walker
Laurence Olivier, Baron Olivier of Brighton, was born in Dorking in 1907. He's best known these days for roles in films ranging from Wuthering Heights to Spartacus to the ageing Nazi hunter Ezra Liebe...
14 Aug 27min
Cartoonist Naji al-Ali
Naji al-Ali was one of the best known cartoonists in the Arab world. His creation, a little boy called Handala, always stands with his back to the viewer, hands behind his back, watching whatever Naji...
2 Jun 27min
Cleopatra picked by Kate Williams
"Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety." She's the most famous character in antiquity, made more famous by Shakespeare and Hollywood films. But this Cleopatra is not the one Kat...
1 Jun 27min
Ade Edmondson on singer Sandy Denny
Ade Edmondson - star of The Young Ones, The Comic Strip Presents, Bottom and much more besides - chooses the singer Sandy Denny. "I think a large part of my Englishness comes from Sandy Denny," he say...
19 Mai 27min
Tony Garnett picked by Harry Bradbeer
Tony Garnett was born in Birmingham and, after a brief career as an actor, found a new role behind the scenes of The Wednesday Play. These rapidly gained a reputation in the sixties for social realism...
19 Mai 27min
Coco Khan picks Edith Garrud, the jujitsu fighting suffragette
Writer and podcaster Coco Khan nominates the little-known but formidable Edith Garrud, a woman who turned Edwardian expectations on their head. A pioneer of ‘Suffrajitsu’, she taught women Japanese ma...
19 Mai 27min
