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
FeatureKultur & Gesellschaft
Great Lives Folgen
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
Folgen von Great Lives
406 Folgen
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Folge vom 19.05.2026Ade Edmondson on singer Sandy Denny
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Folge vom 19.05.2026Tony Garnett picked by Harry BradbeerTony Garnett was born in Birmingham and, after a brief career as an actor, found a new role behind the scenes of The Wednesday Play. These rapidly gained a reputation in the sixties for social realism, and together with Ken Loach and Roger Smith, Tony produced short, pioneering films that are still famous today. Cathy Come Home was a shocking expose of homelessness, while Up The Junction contained a trip to the abortionist that drew hundreds of complaints. Tony's own mother had died following an illegal backstreet abortion, and his father committed suicide shortly after. Ken Loach reckons that tragedy hung over him his whole life.Nominating Tony Garnett is Harry Bradbeer, winner of multiple awards for his involvement in series such as Fleabag and Killing Eve. He worked with Tony Garnett on the hit nineties tv series about young lawyers in London, This Life. Also contributing to this special episode of Great Lives are Susanna Capon, who was a trainee script editor on The Wednesday Play; and Ken Loach himself, now almost ninety and interviewed in his current hometown of Bath by producer Miles Warde. The presenter is Matthew Parris and Great Lives is a BBC Studios production in Bristol.
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Folge vom 19.05.2026Peter Cook picked by Jon Harvey aka Count BinfacePeter Cook was at the centre of the satire boom of the early sixties, both on stage with Beyond the Fringe and with his Soho club, The Establishment. Later he became a famous double act with Dudley Moore, and was also less well known as Lord Gnome, the proprietor of Private Eye."I can't believe that after 600 episodes of Great Lives, no one has ever nominated him before."A funny half hour on the life of Peter Cook, featuring archive of him both young and old. Jon Harvey makes the case for this comedy great along with the voices of biographer Harry Thompson, Jonathan Miller, Ian Hislop, Richard Ingrams, and - in an interview from 1993 - Chris Morris. Also includes an extract of The Strange Death of the Establishment from Radio 4 in 2004The producer for BBC Studios is Miles Warde
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Folge vom 19.05.2026Coco Khan picks Edith Garrud, the jujitsu fighting suffragetteWriter and podcaster Coco Khan nominates the little-known but formidable Edith Garrud, a woman who turned Edwardian expectations on their head. A pioneer of ‘Suffrajitsu’, she taught women Japanese martial arts so they could defend themselves from arrest. Joining Coco is Dr Naomi Paxton, who brings Edith Garrud to life as a woman who promoted her cause through public performance.The programme was produced by Hannah Hufford.