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GREAT LIVES - GERALD SCARFE ON WALT DISNEY (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 12th February 2026
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 Rabbit.
Gerald spent much of his childhood in his sick bed, so it's not surprising that Disney cartoons and feature films meant so much to him. He can still recall the thrill at the prospect of seeing Pinocchio at the cinema, and then the agony of being led away again in the rain because the tickets were too expensive.
Walt Disney came from a working family. His god-fearing father Elias, said by one writer to have 'hated Capital, and favoured Labour, but really needed to make a buck', found work where he could. So Walt lived a peripatetic childhood, and sought solace in drawing and play acting.
Hard times early on did not make Walt frugal with money in adulthood, and despite the huge successes of the golden era of Disney, it was only with the opening of Disneyland that Walt attained any substantial personal wealth.
You don't have to look far to find myth surrounding Walt Disney.
Even after his death, rumours that his body had been cryogenically frozen spread so widely that they soon slipped into folklore.
He'd actually been cremated, but the readiness with which the cryogenic claim was accepted perhaps bears witness to a man who was terrified of dying, who believed in the white hope of technology and who, some might say, had been searching all his life for an escape into an immortal, fairy-tale world.
A man who was seemingly unpretentious, and did not fit the image of movie mogul with his scruffy tweed jacket and awkward demeanour, yet a man who was accused of being a tyrannical egomaniac.
The son of a socialist who ended up naming names at the House of Un- American Activities committee. Above all else perhaps though, they discuss the life of a man who strove tirelessly for perfection and who changed the cultural landscape of a little boy called Gerald, and arguably of the world, for ever.
Gerald Scarfe himself is best known for his classic images lampooning the great and the good of politics, and also in his iconic animation for Pink Floyd's The Wall. He reveals in this programme that he also spent time working on the Disney production Hercules.
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2010.
GREAT LIVES: SERIES 46 - 1. HANIF KUREISHI ON DAVID BOWIE (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 8th january 2026
"Suddenly this light comes into your life" - says Hanif Kureishi, referring to his hero, his great life, David Bowie.
Hanif, an author, screenwriter and film maker, went on to become friends with Bowie in the 1990's after they worked together when Bowie wrote the soundtrack to Kureishi's TV adaptation 'The Buddha of Suburbia'.
For Hanif it was also Bowie who inspired him to become an author and filmmaker - he says for a "mixed race Pakistani kid living in a crummy terrace bored out of my mind, I wanted to get out - I wanted to explore, I wanted to express myself, I wanted to be free".
Hanif gives his personal insight into the life of David Bowie.
The expert witness is Dylan Jones - author of 'David Bowie A Life' and 'When Ziggy Played Guitar'.
Presenter: Matthew Parris
Producer: Perminder Khatkar
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in July 2018.
GREAT LIVES - GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (320kbs-m4a/63mb/27mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 30th October 2025
Comedian Dr Phil Hammond nominates the playwright, critic and political activist George Bernard Shaw as his great life.
Presented by Matthew Parris.
From the soggy Hay Festival of 2007.
The biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life.
Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2007.
GREAT LIVES - HG WELLS (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 23rd October 2025
Author Fay Weldon proposes the writer and visionary HG Wells
Presented by Humphrey Carpenter.
Expert witness: Biographer, Vincent Brome, who met Wells and many of his mistresses.
Biographical series in which a distinguished guest chooses someone who's inspired their life.
Will their hero stand up to intensive scrutiny and merit the description of having led a great life?
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October 2001.
GREAT LIVES - OLIVER POSTGATE (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 6th October 2025
"Postgate's work is deep inside me and I think that's true for so many of my generation... His work represents nothing less than a touchstone for our national imagination and in that sense it's profoundly important."
Andrew Davenport, writer, composer, and creator of Teletubbies and In the Night Garden, nominates Oliver Postgate, who, along with his Smallfilms business partner, the artist Peter Firmin, invented the children's television shows Ivor the Engine, The Clangers and, perhaps most loved of all, Bagpuss.
Postgate was a late bloomer. Following Dartington school (which he hated) a stint in jail and working the land, several odd jobs and even odder inventions, he eventually discovered a love of stop-motion animation and created some of the most enduring worlds and best-loved characters in television, all from a cowshed in Kent.
Including clips of his programmes, contributions from singer and musician Sandra Kerr, and archive from Postgate's 2007 Desert Island Discs interview.
With cultural historian Matthew Sweet. Produced by Ellie Richold. Presented by Matthew Parris.
GREAT LIVES - COLIN MURRAY CHOOSES FRANK SINATRA (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 31st July 2025
Broadcaster Colin Murray chooses Francis Albert Sinatra in the biographical series in which Matthew Parris asks his guests to choose someone who's inspired their lives.
"Fiercely competitive", "aggressive", "utterly masculine" and "supremely talented". Just some of the words - Matthew Parris says - that might be used to describe one of the greatest entertainers of the 20th century.
Colin calls Frank omnipresent. Enchanted by his songs he says: "It's not about the notes you hit for me, it's about the simplicity and the honesty. And for me he had it in bucket loads"
New York author and music critic Will Friedwald vividly describes the singer's life history, from his early years to the marriages and through his recording and screen career.
Featuring excerpts of many of Sinatra's greatest recordings.
Produced by Beth O'Dea
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.
GREAT LIVES - SIR STIRLING MOSS NOMINATES JUAN MANUEL FANGIO (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 17th July 2025
Sir Stirling Moss nominates as his Great Life the racing drivers' driver, Juan Manuel Fangio.
He was the quiet, home-loving man who made the record books by winning five World racing titles.
Matthew Parris explores the story behind the name.
With expert witness: Gerald Donaldson.
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Producer: Christine Hall
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2008.
GREAT LIVES - ANNIE NIGHTINGALE CBE ON MARTY FELDMAN (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 26th June 2025
BBC Radio 1's legendary DJ Annie Nightingale CBE argues for the genius of the manic, bulbous-eyed comic and writer Marty Feldman.
Annie explains to Francine Stock how Marty's special brand of anarchic humour has been somewhat overlooked in comedy history as one of the greats.
Finding fame on UK radio and TV in the early 1970s, he eventually landed film roles in Hollywood.
Marty Feldman's friend, colleague and associate - Barry Cryer OBE is the expert witness.
Producer John Byrne
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in February 2006.
GREAT LIVES - KEVIN CUMMINS ON RICHEY EDWARDS OF THE MANIC STREET PREACHERS (320kbs-m4a/64mb/27mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 21st April 2025
Richey was, beautiful says Cummins, a natural icon and a gift to photograph. He also believes his writing has been overshadowed by the fact of his disappearance in 1995. "I think nobody has looked beyond that for quite a long time."
Manic Street Preachers biographer, Simon Price, also knew Richey Edwards and says he was "the most intelligent rock star I've ever met".
This programme covers alcoholism, anorexia, and self-harm, but it also celebrates Richey's sensitivity and, as Price says, the fact that he is one of those "icons of alienation" like Ian Curtis and Kurt Cobain who will always be there for people to discover the genius of his work".
Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios by Ellie Richold.
GREAT LIVES - MARK BILLINGHAM CHOOSES GEORGE HARRISON (320kbs-m4a/62mb/27mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 3rd February 2025
George Harrison was a musician, singer and songwriter who became one of the most famous people in the world as one quarter of the Beatles. That alone would merit a place in the Great Lives pantheon, but his work in the decades after the band broke up indicates a man of diverse and arguably underestimated talents.
Erupting onto the pop music scene in the 1960's, the Beatles' success was swift and dizzying; and for the rather private George, sometimes dubbed 'the quiet Beatle', this celebrity and adulation seems to have never quite sat comfortably. Nevertheless, he became a musical icon: responsible for a captivating collection of songs, from those he wrote with the Beatles through to his solo work; collaborating with a host of international artists; popularising Indian music and instruments; and even venturing into the movie-making business. At the same time, like many others thrust into the spotlight, George appears to have struggled with balancing success and the celebrity lifestyle with a more meaningful and spiritual existence.
This tension and how it drove George Harrison as an artist is part of what attracts crime writer, occasional musician and self-professed Beatles fanatic Mark Billingham to his story, and why he's nominated him today. Also in the studio to offer her insights is Dr Holly Tessler, a senior lecturer in music industries at the University of Liverpool, where she leads their MA programme: 'Beatles, Music Industry and Heritage'.
Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios Audio by Lucy Taylor.
GREAT LIVES SERIES 41 - 5. SUZANNAH LIPSCOMB ON CS LEWIS (320kbs-m4a/57mb/24mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 24th June 2021
Step though the wardrobe on Great Lives as CS Lewis - creator of the Narnia Chronicles - is this week's choice. Lewis was a fascinating and extremely complicated man. Born in Northern Ireland, his mother died when he was a child, and his university career interrupted so he could go off and fight in the Great War.
Historian Suzannah Lipscomb, who tweets as sixteenth-century girl, says she finds his writings deeply moving and that they have influenced her faith.
Matthew Parris is less convinced by the religious influence in his work. Malcolm Guite, contributer to the Cambridge Companion to CS Lewis, sits firmly on Suzannah Lipscomb's side.
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.
GREAT LIVES SERIES 26 - 1. MICHAEL SHEEN ON PHILIP K. DICK (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 20th sepotember 2018
Actor Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon; The Queen; Midnight in Paris) explores the life of Philip K. Dick with Matthew Parris, and explains why he had such a big influence on his recent production of Hamlet.
Michael first discovered Philip K. Dick through the film Bladerunner, and moved onto his short stories which got him thinking about science-fiction in a new way. Whilst reading about philosophy, quantum physics, and comparative mythology, it struck him how Dick was intuitively weaving narratives around all the most interesting elements that these fields were throwing up.
He talks about Philip K. Dick's innate interest in multiples realities, and how they overlap with Sheen's own family experiences of mental health issues. In fact the more he found out about him, the more he was drawn to this enigmatic writer.
Producer: Toby Field.
GREAT LIVES SERIES 43 - 2. STEPHEN FRY ON PG WODEHOUSE (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 28th October 2021
Stephen Fry nominates his hero P.G Wodehouse, a writer who he says simply cheers him up like no one else.
Fry wrote to his hero when he was a schoolboy and his most treasured possession is a signed photograph which reads: "To Stephen Fry, All the best, P. G. Wodehouse."
P.G Wodehouse was a self-made man, he began as a bank clerk, married a chorus girl and was interned by the Nazis. He wrote some of the most entertaining novels, stories, plays and lyrics of the twentieth century and created enduring characters; the most popular being Reginald Jeeves and Bertie Wooster.
Stephen Fry makes the case for why P.G Wodehouse is a great life.
To help him he is joined by Dr Sophie Ratcliffe Associate Professor in English, University of Oxford and author of 'PG Wodehouse - A life in Letters'.
The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer is Perminder Khatkar.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.
GREAT LIVES SERIES 42 - 9. IAIN LEE ON ANDY KAUFMAN (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 30th May 2017
There were so many hoaxes in Andy Kaufman's brief career that for years his fans believed that he wasn't really dead. Kaufman's best known as Latka Gravas in the American sitcom Taxi, and his life was undoubtedly weird. Performance artist, Elvis impersonator, wrestler - he's difficult to pin down. Nominator Iain Lee believes he was a genius, while Olly Double of the University of Kent school of arts reckons Kaufman didn't really care if his audience laughed or not. Presenter Matthew Parris draws his own conclusions about Kaufman's extraordinary life, later turned into a film starring Jim Carrey called Man on the Moon.
The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.
GREAT LIVES SERIES 42 - 8. PETER WILLIAMS OF JACK WILLS CHOOSES STEVE JOBS (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 23rd May 2017
Peter Williams, founder of the British retail chain Jack Wills who is nominating Steve Jobs as his great life. For Williams, despite the fact that Steve Jobs was an abrasive and difficult person, it was his ability to predict what people wanted. It was his Apple products that have touched the lives of so many people world wide and for Peter it's his gadgets that have changed our attitudes to technology.
To help Peter Williams make his case, he is joined by Luke Dormehl, technology journalist and author of The Apple Revolution.
The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer is Perminder Khatkar.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2017.
GREAT LIVES SERIES 28 - ALAN JOHNSON ON GEORGE ORWELL (320kbs-m4a/63mb/27mins)
BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast: 26th August 2021
Whilst at school, a young Alan Johnson was given some money by a teacher and told to go and buy four copies of any book for the school library. He headed down the Kings Road in Chelsea, stopping only for a sly cigarette along the way. Having already read 'Animal Farm', he picked 'Keep the Aspidistra Flying' and yearned for the life of lead character Gordon Comstock.
In conversation with Matthew Parris, former Home Secretary Alan Johnson explains why Orwell was crucial to his education and political development. He's surprised to learn that Orwell is not on the National Curriculum, and insists that Orwell would have hated I.D. cards. They're joined by Jean Seaton, Professor of Media History at the University of Westminster and Chair of the Orwell Prize.
Orwell was in the news recently when the outgoing Director-General of the BBC, Mark Thompson, turned down a proposal to erect a statue of George Orwell outside BBC Broadcasting House, reportedly telling Joan Bakewell that it was 'far too Left-wing an idea.'
Producers: Beatrice Fenton and Toby Field.
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2010.
GREAT LIVES - RORY SUTHERLAND ON JOHNNY RAMONE (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 14th December 2021
Johnny Ramone is a founding member of the seminal New York punk band, the Ramones. Famed for their blisteringly short songs played at breakneck speed, the Ramones burst onto the scene in 1976 with tracks like 'Blitzkrieg Bop', 'I Don't Wanna Walk Around With You' and 'Judy is a Punk'. When they played The Roundhouse in London journalist Chris Salewicz was there, and afterwards he said all the British punk bands started to play their songs twice as fast. But, as advertising expert Rory Sutherland reveals, it's Johnny Ramone's contradictions that really form the basis for his choosing him as a great life. Johnny was a staunch Republican at a time when punk was perceived as a largely left-wing movement. In fact, for Rory, anything that aims to disrupt the status quo can be punk - including Brexit! Johnny studied tapes of the Ramones performances to ensure that they looked, sounded and moved in what he felt was the right way, and his aim was to make a million dollars and retire early. Matthew Parris presents, ready to shout "1,2,3,4".
Producer for BBC Audio in Bristol: Toby Field
GREAT LIVES - HENRY NORMAL ON SPIKE MILLIGAN (320kbs-m4a/63mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 25th January 2022
Henry Normal reckons Spike Milligan changed his life, in particular with his 1973 poetry collection, Small Dreams of a Scorpion. Spike's other work - The Goons, the books about the war (Adolf Hitler: My Part in his Downfall and Rommel? Gunner Who?) these were important, but it was the poetry that really made Henry Normal think again.
Spike was born Terence Alan Milligan in India in 1918. His family moved to Catford in south east London in 1931. "It was the first time in life I was deprived of everything in vision ... except the sky," he says. There's a lot of Spike in this episode. "I think I'm a good comedy writer - I think I'm the best." He died in February 2002. His gravestone in Winchelsea - which Henry Normal has visited - reads 'Duirt me leat go raibh me breoite' which is Gaelic for I told you I was ill.
Henry Normal was born in Nottingham, published his first book of poetry aged 19, and co-wrote The Mrs Merton Show and the first series of The Royle Family before setting up Baby Cow with Steve Coogan. The company's productions include Gavin and Stacey, Alan Partridge and the Mighty Boosh.
The presenter is Matthew Parris.
The producer for BBC Audio in Bristol is Miles Warde.
GREAT LIVES: SERIES 46 - 8. MARK CARWARDINE ON DOUGLAS ADAMS (320kbs-m4a/64mb/28mins)
BBC Radio 4 broadcast: 18th September 2018
"Imagine a puddle waking up one morning and thinking, this is an interesting world I find myself in - fits me rather neatly, don't you think?"
Douglas Noel Adams wasn't even fifty when he died in 2001, but his imagination had already roamed far. He created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Meaning of Liff and several episodes of Doctor Who, plus the Dirk Gently character and Last Chance to See.
Nominating him is his co-writer on Last Chance to See, the zoologist Mark Carwardine. Mark's role, Adams said later, was to be the one who knew what he was talking about. "My role was to be an extremely ignorant non-zoologist to whom everything that happened would come as a complete surprise."
Joining Mark Carwardine and Matthew Parris in the bar where this was recorded is Douglas Adams's biographer, Jem Roberts.
With archive of Stephen Fry, John Lloyd, Naomi Alderman, Griff Rhys Jones and Geoffrey Perkins.
Producer: Miles Warde
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2018.