Great Lives

The writer and comedian David Baddiel and the novelist Justin Cartwright explain their fascination with one of the great figures of American literature, John Updike

Pioneer of Modern architecture, Le Corbusier, chosen by award winning architect Sir David Chipperfield. Le Corbusier aimed to build a better world through radical buildings and the controversial reshaping of whole cities. Flora Samuel, Professor of Architecture at the University of Sheffield, joins Matthew Parris to unpick the life of a man who considered himself a herioc figure, fighting battles to improve the world. Presenter: Matthew Parris. Producer: Melvin Rickarby

Matthew Parris is joined by Michael Horovitz who nominates fellow poet and founder of the Beat generation Allen Ginsberg as his Great Life. Ginsberg's friend and biographer Barry Miles provides biographical detail of this colourful and controversial writer, who through his battle for free expression inspired American counter culture. Producer: Melvin Rickarby

Deacon Blue singer Ricky Ross nominates the 'Hillbilly Shakespeare' Hank Williams. Matthew Parris presents.

Grace Dent loves Nancy Mitford for her wit, and for the way in which she showed women that it was possible to live your life. Grace Dent is a TV critic, newspaper columnist, author, and broadcaster - and a feared presence on Twitter. Nancy Mitford's greatest success came with the novels The Pursuit of Love (1945) and Love in a Cold Climate (1949). Matthew Parris asks what it is about Nancy that so inspires Grace, with the aid of biographer Lisa Hilton. Producer Beth O'Dea

In defeat, unbeatable; in victory, unbearable" – so said Winston Churchill on this week's Great Live, Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery. Many would argue that he was Britain's greatest field commander since Wellington - arrogant, hard to like but undeniably successful – one of the most, perhaps the most, conspicuously successful British commander of the Second World War. He was a national celebrity. In this edition of Great Lives - Al Murray - comedian and TV personality best known for his character of 'The Pub Landlord' champions Monty – and Al starts off by showing presenter Matthew Parris his action figure doll of the man. Producer : Perminder Khatkar

Matthew Parris is joined by trade unionist Sir Brendan Barber who nominates American author John Steinbeck as his Great Life. The author of The Grapes of Wrath aimed to fight the cause of the common man, was derided by the right as a Communist and by the left as a sell-out for supporting the Vietnam war. Brendan Barber picks through the politics and explains how Steinbeck influenced him as a teenager to look towards joining the trade union movement. Producer: Melvin Rickarby

Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's only legitimate daughter is championed by TV presenter Konnie Huq , who along with Suw Charman Anderson tell Matthew Parris why she is a Great Life.

Matthew Parris is joined by actor Peter Bowles who nominates George Devine, groundbreaking artistic director of the Royal Court Theatre. Devine battled against repressive censorship, enhanced the careers of actors like Lawrence Olivier and Peggy Ashcroft, and by discovering writers like John Osborne and other Angry Young Men changed British theatre forever. Helping guide us through the landscape of Devine's life is Philip Roberts, Emeritus Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Leeds. Produced in Bristol by Melvin Rickarby

TV journalist and writer Paul Mason talks to Matthew Parris about the 19th Century French anarchist, Louise Michel, heroine of the Paris Commune. They're joined by historian Carolyn Eichner who says that Michel "expounded action and aggression with a theatrical, infectious elegance." Producer: Peter Everett

The writer Julie Burchill talks to Matthew Parris about the Hollywood star Ava Gardner. They're joined by Ava's biographer Lee Server. Often described as "the most beautiful woman in the world", Ava Gardner made 65 movies, ranging from ‘Mogambo' (for which she won an Oscar nomination) to ‘Maisie Goes To Reno' (for which she didn't). She had three husbands (Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw and Frank Sinatra) and hundreds of lovers including Howard Hughes, David Niven, Robert Mitchum, John F.Kennedy and various playboys, beach-boys and bullfighters. She was, says Matthew Parris, a "hard-drinking, wisecracking, libidinous vamp – a liberated woman before the phrase was invented.

Playwright Tanika Gupta chooses as her Great Life, a man who is a hero to Bengali speakers across the World, Rabindranath Tagore. Born in 1861, to a wealthy family in Calcutta, Tagore would be the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, his work spanning every genre. He was also a humanist, philanthropist, and thinker, whose friends included Yeats and Gandhi. The producer is Lizz Pearson

Poet, playwright, and critic Gabriel Gbadamosi chooses as his Great Life the political maverick and inventor of Afrobeat, musician Fela Kuti, and tells Matthew Parris why his work deserves to be better known. Whether withstanding ferocious beatings from the Nigerian police, insulting his audiences, or demanding a million pounds in cash upfront from Motown records, his strength and stubbornness were legendary, and his gift for controversy unmatched. Fela had more than 25 wives, some of whom he beat, and was President of his own self proclaimed Republic. He smoked dope and was the scourge of the rulers of a corrupt Nigerian state and was acclaimed as having the best live band on earth. Gabriel Gbadamosi is joined by Stephen Chan, professor of International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, to discuss the musical and political life of this outspoken force of nature. Presenter: Matthew Parris Producer: Melvin Rickarby

Astrologer and performer Russell Grant chooses one of the greatest screen legends of cinema's early years – Ivor Novello. Born in 1893 in Cardiff, he was also a talented writer and composer, and would dominate both screen and stage with his epic romantic fantasies, until his death in 1951. Produced by Lizz Pearson

Dr Lucy Worsley, historian and Chief Curator at the independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, chooses 'The Lady with the Lamp', Florence Nightingale. She's joined by biographer Mark Bostridge. Matthew Parris chairs. Producer: Lizz Pearson