Great Britons

Poll

The 2002 BBC television series Great Britons was built around a public poll asking viewers to name the greatest figures in British history. The top ten were each given their own program, with more voting allowed after each episode, and the final ranking was settled in a concluding debate. Though living people appeared in the top 100, all of the top ten were dead. Among the nominees were Guy Fawkes, executed for his alleged part in a supposed plot to blow up Parliament; Oliver Cromwell, who established the republican Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland; Richard III, suspected of murdering his nephews; James Connolly, an Irish nationalist and socialist executed by the Crown for his role in the 1916 Easter Rising; Thomas Paine, who wrote against the British crown around the time of the American Revolution; John Lydon, lead singer of the Sex Pistols; conservative politician Enoch Powell; and actor and singer Michael Crawford, the second-highest-ranked entertainer after John Lennon.

The occultist Aleister Crowley was a controversial inclusion, which Helen Haste attributed to British eccentricity. The poll and advocacy format meant the top ten faced little critical examination, and the result was hagiographic. BBC Two controller Jane Root said she hoped the list would spark debate, but the show left many controversies about its subjects unexplored. Two Irish nationals, Bono and Bob Geldof, made the list.

Sir Ernest Shackleton and the Duke of Wellington were both Anglo-Irish, born in what is now the Republic of Ireland when all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom. Alexander Fleming, ranked 20th, was Scottish. Nine Scots appeared, thirteen women, and sixty people who lived in the 20th century. Only one entry, Freddie Mercury, came from the BAME community.

Four Welsh figures were included: Owain Glyndŵr, Aneurin Bevan, Richard Burton, and David Lloyd George. Two were pre-English: Boudica and King Arthur. The highest-ranked living person was Margaret Thatcher at 16th. Ringo Starr was the only Beatle absent from the list.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel led the polls for some time, largely because students from Brunel University campaigned heavily for him, but a late surge in the final week put Winston Churchill in first place.