Great Lives

Brian Jacques was a docker, sailor, boxer, trucker, milkman, poet and a folk singer too. Then he wrote his Redwall series of children's fantasy novels and became an overnight forty year success. His books were immensely successful, particularly in the United States where President Obama was photographed buying them for his daughters. Choosing this rich and extraordinary life is Ruby Tandoh, baker, columnist and author of Crumb! and All-Consuming: Why We Eat The Way We Eat Now. Her interest in Brian stems from a childhood love of reading his books, particularly the descriptions of the feasts.

In studio with Ruby is Trevor Hyett, formerly of Granada TV and a regular on the folk scene with Brian Jacques; plus there are revealing archive clips of Brian performing, and you'll hear the voice of Mick Ord who worked with Brian at BBC Radio Merseyside, where he had a regular Sunday show.

The presenter is Matthew Parris and the series is produced in Bristol by Miles Warde

Eric Ashby was a quiet pioneer. He lived in the New Forest in the south of England, where he painstakingly filmed the local wildlife, particularly badgers, foxes and deer. His occasional films were introduced by Sir Peter Scott who dubbed him the Silent Watcher. Paying tribute here to Eric Ashby's life and work - in a special programme recorded at Bristol's Natural History Unit - is James Aldred, author of The Man Who Climbed Trees. This is about his adventures filming in the forest canopy. Also contributing to the show is Chris Packham who knew Eric Ashby as a boy. Chris Packham is one of Britain's best known naturalists, presenter of Springwatch and more recently Evolution on the BBC. James Aldred's other publications include A Wagon In The Woods.

A revealing, occasionally contentious episode about a shy yet determined man who made headlines with his clashes with the local hunt.

Presented by Matthew Parris and produced in Bristol by Miles Warde

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 cap. Her attitude, says the lead singer of ska band The Selector, was captivating. Helping tell the story of Poly's tough upbringing, bright career and sadly early death are her daughter, Celeste Bell, plus the writer Zoe Howe. Together they wrote Dayglo - The Poly Styrene story.

"She was an artist, a maverick, an individual, and an eccentric. She marched to the beat of her own drum with little care for societal norms and expectations." Celeste Bell

Pauline Black first came to prominence in the late 1970s with The Selecter, since when she won a best actress award as Billie Holliday in All or Nothing At All, narrated Soul Britannia for BBC TV, and toured with Gorillaz. She still performs across Europe with The Selecter.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

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 Lieberman in The Boys from Brazil. He received twelve Oscar nominations but was in his pomp on stage, particularly in John Osborne's The Entertainer, and in multiple Shakespearean roles. He was also the first director of the National Theatre.

Nominating Olivier is political writer turned playwright Tim Walker, author of When Maggie Met Larry. This is the extraordinary tale of how Olivier, who was known for over the top performances, helped to shape Mrs Thatcher's appearance as she rose to become prime minister. Also joining the discussion is Sir Derek Jacobi, who confirms this story and who was a good friend of Olivier in his later years. Derek Jacobi was one of the founding members of the National Theatre alongside Maggie Smith, Frank Finlay and Joan Plowright, who became Olivier's third and final wife.

"He was a god. To me he was a god. I remember him saying, 'Call me Larry.' I could no more call him Larry than fly to the moon." Sir Derek Jacobi.

Olivier was also famously married to Vivien Leigh, star of Gone with the Wind, and before that to Jill Esmond.

This is presenter Matthew Parris's 61st and final series of Great Lives. He's been the presenter since April 2006. His guests in this final run include Mel Giedroyc, Russell Kane, Ruby Tandoh and Pauline Black of The Selector who has picked singer Poly Styrene of X Ray Spex.

"I adore presenting this show, and believe my series editor and I have done a good job. The programme goes from strength to strength. But I'll be 77 soon. Quit when you're winning." Matthew Parris in The Times, June 2026

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 al-Ali has drawn. He's been picked by the Pulitzer prize winning data journalist Mona Chalabi - but is she picking the artist, or his creation, the observant little boy?

Joining Mona in studio to discuss a life that was cut short is the cartoonist Martin Rowson. Naji al-Ali was assassinated in London in 1987 at just fifty years of age. The case remains unresolved. A powerful programme that includes the voice of Naji al-Ali's son plus news archive from 1987 and 2017, the thirtieth anniversary of his death.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

"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 Kate Williams has come to nominate. She wants to move from the cliches and reclaim her as an astute politician determined to keep Egypt from falling to Rome. The discussion includes Professor of Egyptology Joyce Tyldesley and is presented by Matthew Parris.

The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Ade Edmondson - star of The Young Ones, The Comic Strip Presents, Bottom and much more besides - chooses the singer Sandy Denny.

The producer for BBC Studios is Miles Warde

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, and together with Ken Loach and Roger Smith, Tony produced short, pioneering films that are still famous today. Cathy Come Home was a shocking expose of homelessness, while Up The Junction contained a trip to the abortionist that drew hundreds of complaints. Tony's own mother had died following an illegal backstreet abortion, and his father committed suicide shortly after. Ken Loach reckons that tragedy hung over him his whole life.

Nominating Tony Garnett is Harry Bradbeer, winner of multiple awards for his involvement in series such as Fleabag and Killing Eve. He worked with Tony Garnett on the hit nineties tv series about young lawyers in London, This Life. Also contributing to this special episode of Great Lives are Susanna Capon, who was a trainee script editor on The Wednesday Play; and Ken Loach himself, now almost ninety and interviewed in his current hometown of Bath by producer Miles Warde.

The presenter is Matthew Parris and Great Lives is a BBC Studios production in Bristol.

Peter Cook was at the centre of the satire boom of the early sixties, both on stage with Beyond the Fringe and with his Soho club, The Establishment. Later he became a famous double act with Dudley Moore, and was also less well known as Lord Gnome, the proprietor of Private Eye.

"I can't believe that after 600 episodes of Great Lives, no one has ever nominated him before."

A funny half hour on the life of Peter Cook, featuring archive of him both young and old. Jon Harvey makes the case for this comedy great along with the voices of biographer Harry Thompson, Jonathan Miller, Ian Hislop, Richard Ingrams, and - in an interview from 1993 - Chris Morris. Also includes an extract of The Strange Death of the Establishment from Radio 4 in 2004

The producer for BBC Studios is Miles Warde

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 martial arts so they could defend themselves from arrest. Joining Coco is Dr Naomi Paxton, who brings Edith Garrud to life as a woman who promoted her cause through public performance.

The programme was produced by Hannah Hufford.