Great Lives

Latest Episodes:

Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, chosen by Tom Holland Apr 16, 2019

Show notes

She's the most influential woman that English history forgot, says Tom Holland - Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians, daughter of Alfred the Great.

Living and ruling at a time when the Anglo-Saxons were fighting back against the Vikings, Aethelflaed became a key figure in the construction of what we know today as England.

But how much do we actually know?

Joining Tom and Matthew Parris in the studio is Sarah Foot, the Regius Professor of Ecclesiastical history.

Together they pick though the life of an astonishing character recently recreated in Bernard Cornwell's series 'The Last Kingdom' and played by Millie Brady; and who also might have inspired Eowyn in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2019.

Shappi Khorsandi on Emma, Lady Hamilton Apr 02, 2019

Show notes

Comedian and author Shappi Khorsandi has been desperate to tell the story of Emma, Lady Hamilton as she’s quite simply one of her greatest fans.

Everyone knows Emma Hamilton as simply the seducer of Admiral Horatio Nelson but according to Shappi she was more than that; history has simply palmed her off as a prostitute, a mistress, without looking at the deeper story of what she suffered and endured.

In this programme Shappi, with help from Professor Kate Williams, author of ‘England’s Mistress’, makes the case for how this woman born into poverty clawed her way up through London’s sordid underworld and became fantastically famous posing for artist George Romney. She also became an ambassador’s wife and mixed in diplomatic circles and became the confidante of both Marie Antoinette and the Queen of Naples.

Will presenter Matthew Parris be convinced and accept Emma, Lady Hamilton as a great life.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Matt Lucas on Freddie Mercury Jan 22, 2019

Show notes

Matt Lucas champions Freddie Mercury of the band, Queen.

To what extent can a troubled childhood contribute to an adult's need to perform?

Farrokh Bulsara was born in Zanzibar, sent to school in India, and fled revolution in Zanzibar to Feltham, Middlesex, aged 18. His family were Parsees and Freddie, as he became better known, was brought up as a Zoroastrian. He also became one of the greatest singer songwriters in British rock history.

Matt Lucas - of Little Britain, Shooting Stars and Doctor Who - was entranced by Freddie from an early age.

In this revealing, funny tribute, Matt explains how Freddie inspired him to perform, and unveils his Montserrat Caballe impression on the world. Lesley-Ann Jones knew the band as a 'young scumbag journalist' and provides an eyewitness account of watching Freddie from the wings.

Matt and presenter Matthew Parris are joined by the author of Bohemian Rhapsody, Lesley-Ann Jones, to dissect a legend.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.

Rohan Silva on Colin Chapman Jan 15, 2019

Show notes

The arrival of Lotus shook up motor sport in 1960s and 70s. In Formula One, Colin Chapman made his cars lighter and quicker than anyone else, often challenging the rules.

But not everything he designed was safe. On the roads, Lotus sports cars are an icon of the era.

To discuss this colourful and controversial life, Matthew Parris is joined by the entrepreneur Rohan Silva and motor racing journalist, Maurice Hamilton.

Producer: Chris Ledgard

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.

Suzanne O'Sullivan on Oliver Sacks Jan 08, 2019

Show notes

Matthew Parris meets Suzanne O'Sullivan to discuss her medical and literary hero, Oliver Sacks.

She first came across his work on a beach in Thailand, reading his famous collection of case studies, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Joining the discussion is Sacks' partner, the writer and photographer Bill Hayes. Together they discuss the career of a gifted medic and writer who also loved motorbikes and wild swimming. Sacks wrote another extraordinary book, Awakenings, which was made into a film starring Robin Williams and Robert de Niro.

Suzanne O'Sullivan is an Irish neurologist and award winning author.

Producer: Chris Ledgard

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

Nikesh Shukla on the Great Gama Jan 01, 2019

Show notes

Ghulam Mohammad, or the Great Gama Pehlwan as he was more commonly known, was a Muslim wrestler born into a Kashmir family in India in 1878.

When writer Nikesh Shukla first came across him in a book at the airport, he thought he must be a fictional character- the stories seemed so far-fetched. Gama reportedly drank 10 litres of milk and ate six chickens every day. He also grappled with 40 wrestlers a day and did 5000 squats.

Surely this was an action hero figure and not a real man?

But Gama was real with a career spanning over 50 years, unbeaten not only in India, but also in England and Europe.

In 1910 he was dubbed the strongest man in the world. And the press feared his strength might inspire rebellion in India, then under British rule.

Joining Nikesh to tell the story of the Great Gama is Dr Majid Sheikh.

Presenter: Matthew Parris

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2019.

Sathnam Sanghera on Alexander Gardner Dec 28, 2018

Show notes

Author and Journalist Sathnam Sanghera nominates a Great Life; a man dismissed as a fantasist and a liar in his own lifetime.

Alexander Gardner was a Scottish-American soldier, a traveller, an explorer and adventurer - a white man with a tartan turban, who ended up in India in a Maharaja's Sikh Army in the 19th Century, just before the British Raj took over.

Possibly a plagiarist and touted as a scoundrel, yet Sathnam claims he's worthy of a bigger place in history. If just a tiny portion of what we think we know about him is true, he is a genuinely remarkable figure.

Historian John Keay is the expert witness to Gardner's life.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in August 2017.

Mark Steel on Charlie Chaplin Dec 25, 2018

Show notes

Mark Steel makes the case for Charlie Chaplin being one of the most radical comedians of his time.

He reckons it's sad that most see Chaplin as that bloke who wore a bowler hat, had a funny walk, waved a cane around and wasn’t even that funny.

Mark argues that the silent film star and his "Tramp" character make sense if you look at the upheavals in society that were occurring alongside his career.

Mark is best known for the Mark Steel Lectures and Mark Steel's in Town. He says that while Chaplin was standing up for the working class, the irony was that he became the richest rebel.

With Simon Louvish - author of ‘Chaplin: The Tramps Odyssey’.

Presented by Matthew Parris.

Producer: Perminder Khatkar

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 on Christmas Day 2018.

Tim Smit on Humphrey Jennings Dec 19, 2018

Show notes

Tim Smit has admired Humphrey Jennings since seeing Danny Boyle’s Olympics Opening Ceremony in 2012.

Jennings was a film maker, artist, and co-founder of the Mass Observation Movement. Many of the scenes in that memorable Olympic ceremony were inspired by his work.

His films about ordinary British life during the Second World War are a poetic testament to the people of the British Isles.

Tim Smit wants to know why Jennings isn’t better known?

Tim Smit is founder of the Eden Project and talks to Matthew Parris.

They're joined by curator Ros Cranston from the British Film Institute, with contributions from Jennings' biographer Kevin Jackson

Producer: Maggie Ayre

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.

Russell Kane on Evelyn Waugh Dec 11, 2018

Show notes

Comedian Russell Kane nominates novelist, Evelyn Waugh.

One of the greatest prose stylists of 20th century literature, not to mention one of the funniest, Waugh also has a reputation for being a snob, a bully, and a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary.

How much of this was a self-parodying pose, and how much the underlying truth?

Russell is supported by literary critic Ann Pasternak Slater. Both are unabashed Waugh fans.

Russell calls him "a ninja master of banter", but series presenter Matthew Parris says he can't stand him...

Producer: Jolyon Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2018.