1. Eric and Ernest

From Eric Morecambe to Ernest Shackleton.

In the first of three programmes, Matthew Parris and original producer Miles Warde reveal how the BBC Radio 4's Great Lives series was born, as they recall the rows, revelations and rank incompetence behind 400 editions.

Deep in the summer of 2001, a new programme tiptoed out onto the airwaves.

The concept was simple – book someone famous to talk about someone dead. Except there was a problem; famous people don’t talk much about someone else.

In a world of the celebrity plug, getting voices to commit to a show where they couldn’t talk about themselves proved tough. 12 slots to fill, and nobody signed up.

400 episodes later… Barbara Castle, Beryl Bainbridge, Bernard Manning, eventually everyone says yes.

In this episode, Christopher Hitchens was so incensed presenter Matthew Parris that he walked out. “You’re a bleeding Tory,” he said, “and always have been. Have you done? I have to be somewhere at one.”

Featuring material never previously played - nominators and experts about their hopes and fears.

Plus archive of original presenters Joan Bakewell and Humphrey Carpenter; plus a special selection of the very best of Great Lives.

“There’s a joy in judging people by their choice of hero. It’s one reason Matthew Parris’s Great Lives series has run for 40 series.” Ben Preston, Radio Times editor, 2016.

Programme extracts include:

* Penelope Keith on Morecambe and Wise
* Piers Morgan on WG Grace
* Bernard Manning on Mother Teresa

Rosie Boycott on Ernest Shackleton.

Produced at BBC Bristol by Miles Warde.

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra and first broadcast in December 2017.