Great Lives

This week's Great Life might have become an Afrikaner Nationalist Prime Minister of apartheid South Africa, but instead became its most prominent white opponent. A formidable advocate, he led the defence of Nelson Mandela in the Rivonia Trial. It is no exaggeration to say Bram Fischer saved Mandela's life, and it is said Mandela would have made him his vice-president, had he lived to see Mandela's release. He's nominated by former English High Court Judge Sir Nick Stadlen along with Lord Joffe. Matthew Parris is the presenter. The producer is Perminder Khatkar.

Hannah Rothschild champions the life of the jazz musician Thelonious Monk. Brilliant, eccentric and one of the true giants of jazz, Monk was an incredible pianist, the composer of jazz standards such as 'Round Midnight', the co-creator of bebop and a close friend of Hannah's great-aunt, the Jazz Baroness Nica Rothschild. Matthew Parris chairs as Hannah and music writer Richard Williams chart Monk's progress through the jazz clubs and recording studios of mid-twentieth century New York. Producer: Julia Johnson.

Sir Richard Francis Burton was an explorer, adventurer, soldier, author, poet, sexologist and translator. He brought us the Kama Sutra and spoke 29 languages. The author Monica Ali champions this racy character and tells Matthew Parris why this 19th-century explorer is a Great Life. They are also joined by historian and broadcaster Matthew Ward. Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

George Washington Williams was an incredibly early, mould-breaking, self-made black intellectual who fought in the American civil war and went on to write the first history of African Americans. He met King Leopold of Belgium and exposed that country's treatment of Africans under Belgian colonial rule. Nominating the life of George Washington Williams is television presenter, and former Paralympic medallist, Ade Adepitan. The expert witness is Dr David Brown, Senior Lecturer in American Studies at the University of Manchester. The presenter is Matthew Parris. Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

Matthew Parris meets the former leader of the Conservative Party Michael Howard to discuss the life of Elizabeth I of England. They're joined by Professor Paulina Kewes of Jesus College Oxford. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Vicky Pryce, the Greek born economist who attracted media headlines on her conviction for perverting the course of justice over speeding points incurred by her former husband, Chris Huhne, nominates Melina Mercouri as a great life at a time when Greece is facing huge economic and political pressures. The film star who achieved global fame became a much loved politician in her homeland. As Minister for Culture, she promoted Greece's cultural heritage and fought for the return of the Elgin Marbles. Some consider one her greatest achievements to be the founding of the European Capital of Culture; culture being in her eyes something as important as politics or money, if not more so. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

On May 29 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the summit of Everest. Both men immediately became famous worldwide. The actor Sir Ian McKellen, then a young teenager in Burnley, was clearly struck by the achievement. In later life he met Hillary in New Zealand and has strong memories of a modest man whose first job was beekeeping. "I did a good job on Everest," Hillary once said, "but have always known my limitations and I found being classified as a hero slightly embarrassing." Joining Sir Ian McKellen to discuss the life of this fascinating man - he took a tractor to the South Pole in 1958 and became High Commissioner to India in 1985 - is the author of Everest 1953, Mick Conefrey. He reveals the epic story of the first ascent, plus discusses Hillary's work with the Himalayan Trust. The presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer Miles Warde.

Val McDermid thinks crime writing is most definitely a suitable job for a woman. She believes women are good at observing the minutiae of life and incorporating them into clue development. Despite writing a book entitled 'An Unsuitable Job For A Woman', PD James evidently thought the same. Val McDermid -who knew and loved the writer who died last November - discusses her life with the help of James' friend, the literary critic Peter Kemp. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Matthew Parris hears why David Blunkett has chosen Louis Braille, the 18th century French boy who blinded himself in his father's workshop, as his great life - with the help of guest expert the RNIB's Kevin Carey. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Matthew Parris meets the American Ambassador Matthew Barzun whose choice of great life is his wartime predecessor, John Gil Winant - the man widely held to have helped seal the special relationship between Britain and America and to have brought the US into the war effort. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Marlon Brando - greatest actor of the twentieth century ? Film critic Antonia Quirke definitely thinks he is. But the star of the Godfather, On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire divides opinion in this lively assessment of his life. With contributions from writer Robyn Karney and Joe Queenan in the United States. Matthew Parris presents. The producer is Miles Warde.

"John Clare, I cried last night for you" wrote Wendy Cope in a poem dedicated to the earlier poet, who overcame monumental setbacks - including a poverty-stricken upbringing and a long struggle with mental illness - to write some of the most sensitive poetry in the English language. At one point he was famous as "the English Robert Burns" but his fame dropped away vertiginously and many people now know him solely for his cri de coeur, "I Am." Clare's biographer, Sir Jonathan Bate, joins Wendy in the studio with Matthew Parris to consider how Clare's life is both inspirational and great. Producer Christine Hall.

Matthew Parris's guest is Dame Helen Ghosh, Director General of the National Trust, who chooses as her Great Life James Lees-Milne who worked for the Trust between 1936 and 1966. He was responsible for acquiring many of the Trust's most iconic properties and his particular talent was his ability to persuade the aristocratic owners of the houses into handing them over to the Trust for protection. His other talent was in writing, and it is his deliciously indiscreet diaries for which many people know him. Merlin Waterson, who was a friend of Lees-Milne's, is the expert witness. Producer Christine Hall.

Comedian and actor Kulvinder Ghir nominates the life of the artist Zoran Music. Matthew Parris finds out about Music who sketched corpses during and after he survived the horrors of being held at Dachau- a concentration camp in 1944. They are also joined by art critic, curator Michael Peppiatt who was a friend and an admirer of Zoran Music in this week's Great Life. Producer: Perminder Khatkar .

Rachel Johnson author and journalist champions the life of Ottoline Morrell. The Bloomsbury hostess, a mistress, a dominant figure in the arts without being an artist herself was often mocked and ridiculed. Rachel tells Matthew Parris why her extraordinary life was a great life. They are also joined by author and one of Lady Ottoline's biographers Miranda Seymour. Producer : Perminder Khatkar.

The veteran broadcaster Sir Trevor McDonald chooses the life of Learie Constantine, the Trinidadian cricketer, politician and broadcaster who championed the rights of West Indians in Britain during the war years and afterwards. Producer: Maggie Ayre.

Mervyn King, former Governor of the Bank of England tells Matthew Parris why the life of the Prime Minister of Finland Risto Ryti was so remarkable. They are also joined by expert and biographer Martti Turtola. Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

Former newspaper editor and writer Eve Pollard tells Matthew Parris why Nora Ephron, the screenwriter of hit films such as 'When Harry Met Sally', 'Heartburn', and 'Sleepless in Seattle', is a Great Life. They are joined by Dr Jennifer Smyth, an historian whose teaching includes women in Hollywood at the University of Warwick. Producer: Perminder Khatkar.

Michael Dobbs champions the life of Guy Burgess - journalist, diplomat and spy. Between 1935 and 1951, Guy Burgess worked for a Conservative MP, the BBC, MI6 and the Foreign Office. Brilliant, flamboyant and apparently shambolic, he also shot like an arrow to the heart of the Establishment and secretly and systematically betrayed its secrets to the KGB. Matthew Parris chairs as Michael explains why he believes that Guy Burgess was a Great Life. Burgess's biographer Stewart Purvis, who uncovered the only known audio recording of Guy Burgess, is the expert witness. Producer: Julia Johnson.

When Philippa Langley and other members of the Richard III Society helped to discover the body of the king in a Leicester car park, Richard's life once again became a hotly contested debating point. Philippa joins Matthew Parris to defend Richard III as a Great Life, with expert witness and Richard biographer Annette Carson. Can the man who may have been responsible for the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower really be described as "great"? Or was he the victim of Tudor propaganda and Shakespearian slander? Producer Christine Hall.