Great Lives

Dance and actor Lionel Blair chooses his friend and dancing partner Sammy Davis Jr.Sammy described himself as a 'one-eyed black Jew' - and he was described by others as one of the greatest all-round e...

28 Dec 201027min

Business guru Sir Gerry Robinson was born in Ireland but moved to England in his teens, and he chooses Samuel Beckett, another Irishman who lived away for much of his life - in Paris. Gerry, a late co...

21 Dec 201028min

DH Lawrence was, in the words of Geoff Dyer, a man with thin wrists and thick trousers. He was also the author of Women in Love, Sons and Lovers and Lady Chatterley's Lover. But poet and performer Joh...

14 Dec 201027min

Malcolm McLaren was the great rock'n'roll swindler, who died in April 2010, aged 64. 'I've been called many things,' McLaren wrote as advance publicity for his one man show, 'a charlatan, a con man, o...

7 Dec 201028min

Satirical cartoonist Gerald Scarfe nominates Walt Disney. He joins Matthew Parris to discuss the life of a complex cultural icon.With guest experts Brian Sibley and Richard Williams, creator of Roger ...

28 Sep 201028min

Michel de Montaigne is one of the most influential writers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularising the essay as a literary genre and became famous for his ability to fuse intellectua...

21 Sep 201027min

Winston Churchill's is the Great Life chosen by Lord Digby Jones, former Director General of the CBI. Expert contribution comes from Professor David Reynolds. Both men have vivid memories of the day i...

14 Sep 201027min

Golda Meir was the Iron Lady of Israeli politics, a straight-talking, intransigent leader who once said, "There is a type of woman who does not let her husband narrow her horizons". She is the choice...

7 Sep 201027min