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Marie Curie

Pallab Ghosh explains how Marie Curie achieved fame through her work on radioactivity.

• 30 mins

Billie Holiday

Singer and actress Pauline Black chooses a jazz legend, the singer Billie Holiday.

• 30 mins

Mata Hari

Fiona Bruce chooses the femme fatale, international spy and exotic dancer, Mata Hari.

• 30 mins

Claude McKay

Theatre director, actress and writer Yvonne Brewster nominates poet Claude McKay.

• 30 mins

Julius Caesar

Archaeologist Barry Cunliffe nominates ancient Roman leader Julius Caesar.

• 30 mins

George Bernard Shaw

Dr Phil Hammond chooses the Nobel Prize-winning playwright, George Bernard Shaw.

• 30 mins

Lilian Baylis

Jude Kelly nominates legendary Edwardian theatre producer Lilian Baylis.

• 30 mins

Elvis Presley

Northern Ireland politician Lord David Trimble chooses Elvis Presley.

• 60 mins

Rembrandt

Artist and sculptor Maggi Hambling nominates Rembrandt as her choice of a great life.

• 30 mins

Sir Alec Issigonis

Engineer Alex Moulton and the Earl of Snowdon talk about the life of Alec Issigonis.

• 30 mins

John Cage

Conceptual artist Michael Craig-Martin talks about avant-garde composer John Cage.

• 30 mins

Lord Denning

Blur drummer David Rowntree discusses the life of Lord Denning.

• 30 mins

Brian Clough

John Motson nominates former Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough.

• 30 mins

Elizabeth David

Chef and novelist Prue Leith chooses cookery writer Elizabeth David.

• 30 mins

George Washington

British General Sir Michael Rose selects 'Father of the American Nation' George Washington

• 30 mins

Thora Hird

Impressionist Jan Ravens chooses the award-winning actress, Dame Thora Hird.

• 30 mins

George Cruikshank

Quentin Blake nominates illustrator George Cruikshank.

• 30 mins

Alfred Russel Wallace

Travel writer Redmond O'Hanlon proposes the pioneering naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace.

• 30 mins

Howard Florey

Richard Sykes champions Sir Howard Florey, a forgotten man in the discovery of penicillin.

• 30 mins

Groucho Marx

Roger Graef champions the great comic Groucho Marx.

• 30 mins

Katherine Mansfield

Jacqueline Wilson chooses the writer Katherine Mansfield. With Angela Smith as witness.

• 30 mins

Hermann Buhl

Mountaineer Joe Simpson takes up the cause of the pioneering Austrian climber Hermann Buhl

• 30 mins

Peter Cushing

Actor and writer Mark Gatiss chooses horror film star, Peter Cushing.

• 30 mins

Charles Bukowski

Comedian Rhona Cameron chooses the German-American writer and poet, Charles Bukowski.

• 30 mins

Paavo Nurmi

Former athlete Steve Cram nominates ‘Flying Finn’ Paavo Nurmi. Matthew Parris presents.

• 30 mins

Lord Longford

Jon Snow champions jails reform campaigner and politician, Lord Longford.

• 30 mins

Robert Hooke

David Attenborough nominates the largely forgotten 17th-century inventor and illustrator.

• 28 mins

Alan Freed

Bob Harris nominates Alan Freed, the first ever rock 'n' roll DJ.

• 30 mins

Henry VII

Former chancellor George Osborne nominates Henry VII, founder of the Tudor dynasty.

• 30 mins

David Ervine

Lesley Riddoch nominates former Loyalist paramilitary turned politician David Ervine.

• 30 mins