Great Lives

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 Selecter, 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.
"I think a large part of my Englishness comes from Sandy Denny," he says of the singer perhaps best known for her work with Fairport Convention.
The programme includes archive of Richard Thompson, Mick Houghton and Sandy herself, plus help from Patrick Humphries, who interviewed Sandy Denny shortly before her early death aged just 31.
The producer for BBC Studios is Miles Warde