Kate Silverton on

Stanley Bard, the enigmatic proprietor of New York's Chelsea Hotel who created a haven for artists, writers and rock stars and presided over one of the greatest experiments in bohemian living in the history of New York

Norma McCorvey, known as Jane Roe, the anonymous plaintiff in the Roe v Wade case by which the US supreme court legalised abortion, who became an unlikely icon for feminism

Michael Ember, the Hungarian émigré who fled his country's uprising to become one of the BBC's most respected radio producers - creating programmes In the Psychiatrist's chair and Stop the Week

And Peter Skellern - the singer, songwriter and pianist who found fame with 'you're a lady' and forged an enduring musical partnership with his colleague and friend Sir Richard Stilgoe.

Producer: Neil George.