Susie Boyt picks Judy Garland, the child star who became one of the most famous entertainers of the twentieth century. June 2022 will be the centenary of her birth. "All people ever said to me was, ‘You have got to toughen up,'" Susie told us. "You cannot go round nursing these wild cascades of feelings, or you’re never going to have a happy life. Then one day my mother took me to see The Wizard of Oz. It was the first film I ever saw at the cinema, and when I heard Dorothy singing Over the Rainbow, I thought, here is someone whose feelings seem to run as high as my own and she’s not hiding it, she’s not embarrassed by it, she’s not ashamed. She was leading with her feelings as though they were the best thing life contains." Joining Susie Boyt is John Fricke, leading Judy Garland expert who put her ability to thrill her audiences far ahead of the many tabloid accounts of her life. The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde
Joan Rhodes picked by Anna Maxwell Martin, star of Line of Duty and Motherland. Her choice is a lovely surprise, a strongwoman who could rip up phone books and bend nails. There's archive of her holding up 14 stone cricket commentator Brian 'Johnners' Johnstone in 1949 as well as the voice of the woman who knew her well - Triona Holden, author of An Iron Girl in a Velvet Glove. Abandoned by both her parents as a child, Joan Rhodes is an inspiring character who utterly merits her selection here. Anna Maxwell Martin is the double BAFTA winning actress who has starred in Bleak House, Poppy Shakespeare and Motherland. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.
Comedian and writer Rob Newman is a long-time fan of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who "saved the United States, just in time for the United States to save the world". When FDR came into office in 1933, at the height of the Great Depression, unemployment stood at more than 25% and drought in the Dust Bowl had decimated American agriculture across the Great Plains. While known for his folksy charm, Roosevelt was a shrewd and determined politician, who transformed federal government, the US financial system and the relationship between the American people and their president forever. His raft of early interventions, known as the New Deal, have become the benchmark for US presidents' first 100 days in office ever since. As 'Forester in Chief', FDR's administration initiated mass tree planting and soil conservation - all while providing employment for 3 million young men. Rob talks to Matthew Parris about how FDR's radical and ambitious environmentalism continues to inspire him, and ...
He was a broadcaster, music mogul, social activist, local celebrity, publicity seeker, loud mouth, surreal politician, showman and, according to Paul Morley, "a great resourceful man of the north." Now Terry Christian provides a passionate account of why he was also a great life. This was certainly an extraordinary life, and by the end even presenter Matthew Parris is won round. Produced by Miles Warde
Described by those who knew him as a 'Revolutionary Man of Peace' Gil Scott-Heron transformed the musical landscape of the 1970's. In 2021 he was posthumously inaugurated into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, honoured with an Early Influencer Award. Today, Garden Designer Joe Swift - who witnessed Gil's legendary concerts - shares his passion for the artist who 'spoke truth' and educated a generation through his music. Joe is joined by Malik Al Nasir who worked with Gil and became his protégé, developing a life long friendship following a chance encounter at a concert. Malik is author of 'Letters To Gil' a memoir of his own life and the time he spent with Gil Scott-Heron. Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Nicola Humphries
Award-winning playwright and actor Lolita Chakrabarti celebrates the life of Ira Aldridge, an icon of theatre who rose to fame at the height of the movement to abolish slavery and brought Shakespeare to audiences across the world. He made his career on the London stage before touring Europe where, along with rapturous applause, he received top honours from heads of state. He is the only actor of African-American descent among the 33 actors of the English stage to be honoured with a Bronze Plaque at The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-upon-Avon and a Blue Plaque at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre - which he managed in 1828 - also celebrates his contribution to theatre. Lolita Chakrabarti shares her deep passion and knowledge of this fascinating actor alongside historian Stephen Bourne, author of 'Deep Are The Roots -Trailblazers Who Changed Black British Theatre'. Presented by Matthew Parris Produced by Nicola Humphries
Writer, broadcaster and Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis champions the life of Kaye Webb, who burst on to the children's publishing scene in 1961 and changed the industry forever. With no publishing experience whatsoever, Kaye persuaded renowned authors like Roald Dahl and Nina Bawden to publish their hardback bestsellers as pocket-sized paperbacks that children could buy themselves. Hundreds of thousands flocked to join her Puffin Club with its riotous exhibitions, trips and competitions. Janet shares her memories of growing up abroad with her "portable kingdom" of Puffin books, and explains why Puffin and Blue Peter have a lot in common. Janet is joined in the studio by Kaye's biographer, the writer Valerie Grove. They talk about Kaye's three marriages, especially the last, to cartoonist Ronald Searle, then one of the most famous men in the country. We also hear personal memories of Kaye from Clare Morpurgo, daughter of Penguin founder, Sir Allen Lane. With thanks to Puffin Club e...
What does it take to be a great news editor? Tom Hopkinson was sacked by the proprietor of Picture Post for trying to run a true story during the 1950 Korean War. Later he also sent a photographer - Ian Berry - to cover the Sharpeville Massacre in South Africa for Drum .... in time he fell out with the proprietor of that magazine as well. "To affect the world you've got to get into a position to affect it," he said, "and that means you've got to be very patient and fight your way in." Nominating Tom Hopkinson is Donald Macintyre, former correspondent in the Middle East and one of the very first students on the Cardiff journalism course Tom Hopkinson set up. Also in studio is his daughter, Professor Amanda Hopkinson. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the producer is Miles Warde
Actor Brian Cox chooses his one-time mentor and fellow Scot, Lindsay Anderson. "His effect is still on me to this day, and I can't throw him off. He taught me how to think. He triggered something off in me that nobody else had previously done." A critic, an outsider, a provocateur, Anderson founded the Free Cinema movement in the 1950s with fellow documentary makers Tony Richardson, Karel Reisz and Lorenza Mazzetti. His films include This Sporting Life and If… which won the Palm d’or in 1969 and helped launch the career of Malcolm MacDowell. Lindsay Anderson’s international reputation surpassed his fame in Britain, where his uncompromisingly anti-establishment stance failed to win him mainstream admirers, but he made several more provocative films and is remembered fondly by his friends and collaborators as an extremely funny, loyal and principled man. Brian Cox, star of Rushmore, The Bourne Identity and Succession, is joined by Karl Magee from the Lindsay Anderson Archive at the...
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 Ba...