Great Lives

"I remember seeing him sitting on the bishops' bench, and I went to him and said, George, I believe you are going to make a speech. He replied, yes I am. I said, George, there isn't a soul in this Hou...

2 Apr 201327min

Gardener Carol Klein's great life is a Victorian hero of the wild garden, the writer and horticulturalist William Robinson. Matthew Parris presents, with expert help from Robinson's biographer Richard...

29 Jan 201327min

Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen on the Victorian artist Aubrey Beardsley, whose shocking originality he compares to that of Alexander McQueen. Laurence's first foray into art was copying Beardsley drawings to...

15 Jan 201327min

Max Mosley nominates the philosopher and proponent of personal liberty, John Stuart Mill, as his great life. With presenter Matthew Parris and biographer Richard Reeves.Max Mosley trained as a barrist...

8 Jan 201327min

What was so notable about Grigori Rasputin ? "The hypnotic power shining in his exceptional gaze," said one observer. The photos are indeed remarkable, and so are the myths. This programme begins wit...

1 Jan 201326min

Matthew Parris talks to writer, broadcaster and 6Music presenter Stuart Maconie about the life of Ralph Vaughan Williams. The expert witness is Em Marshall-Luck, chairman of the Ralph Vaughan Williams...

25 Des 201224min

Francesca Simon is a writer, journalist and - most famously - the creator of the "Horrid Henry" series of children's booksShe describes herself as "a giddy fan" of the artist, film-maker and poet Jean...

11 Des 201227min

The date is 1956, Aintree, and Dick Francis is riding the Queen Mother's horse to victory in the Grand National. Except Devon Loch collapses bizarrely to the ground within sight of the finishing post....

4 Des 201227min