Great Lives

An unexpected choice for Great Lives, the Roman Emperor Nero has a reputation for debauchery and murder. He was also surprisingly popular, at least during the early years of his reign, and the writer ...

26 Aug 202427min

Julien Temple, director of The Great Rock n Roll Swindle, Glastonbury and Absolute Beginners, chooses Christopher Marlowe, writer of brilliant plays including Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine the Great....

19 Aug 202427min

Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) was barely known during her lifetime but an exhibition of her work at the Guggenheim Museum in 2018 shattered attendance records. it was called Paintings for the Future, and...

13 Aug 202427min

The great Miriam Margolyes chooses Charles Dickens, author of Oliver Twist and A Christmas Carol."He's the man in my life. He's tugged me into his world and never let me go. He writes better prose tha...

5 Aug 202427min

Dame Anita Roddick started The Body Shop in Brighton as a way to earn a living while her husband was travelling the Americas by horseback. Her idea for ethically-sourced beauty products which were in...

27 Maj 202427min

Lady Rachel MacRobert was born Rachel Workman in Massachusetts in 1884. She was sent to study in the UK where she developed a passion for geology, and attended the Annual General Meeting of the Royal...

13 Maj 202427min

Professor Alice Roberts, best known as the presenter of Digging for Britain, picks the wife of two English kings and the mother of two English kings. Queen Emma was born in Normandy and came to Englan...

7 Maj 202427min

Frank Whittle’s fascination with aeroplanes started as a nine-year-old boy when he was nearly decapitated by one that was taking off from a local common in Coventry where he grew up. From that moment ...

29 Apr 202427min