100 Greatest Britons

Template:Distinguish2 100 Greatest Britons was broadcast in 2002 by the BBC. The programme was the result of a vote conducted to determine whom the United Kingdom public considers the greatest British people have been in history.

The poll resulted in some unlikely (if not controversial) candidates including Guy Fawkes, who was executed for trying to blow up the Parliament of England; King Richard III, suspected of murdering his nephews; James Connolly, an Irish nationalist who was executed by the Crown in 1916; and a surprisingly high ranking for former Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em star Michael Crawford in 17th. In addition to the British natives, some notable non-British entrants were listed as well. These include two Irish nationals, (philanthropic musicians Bono and Bob Geldof); former Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, who was born (to British Indian Parsi parents) in Zanzibar when it was a British colony; and both Alfred the Great and Boudica are from an era where "Britishness" was a concept of the future.

The top 19 entries were exclusively of self-declared English origin (though Sir Ernest Shackleton and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, were both born into English families settled in Ireland when that country was still part of the UK.). The highest-placed Scottish entry was Alexander Fleming in 20th place, with the highest Welsh entry, Owain Glyndŵr, at number 23. None were from Northern Ireland. Over half (60) had lived in the twentieth century.

The resulting series, Great Britons, included individual programmes on the top ten, with viewers having further opportunities to vote after each programme. It concluded with a debate. All of the top 10 were deceased by the year of broadcast. The highest-ranked living person was Margaret Thatcher, who placed 16th.

The Greatest Britons List

Due to the nature of the poll used to select and rank the Britons, the results do not pretend to be an objective assessment. They are as follows: (People marked (*) also appeared on the 100 Worst Britons list compiled by Channel 4.)

1. Sir Winston Churchill, (1874–1965), statesman and orator, Prime Minister during Second World War and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature
2. Isambard Kingdom Brunel, (1806–1859), engineer, creator of Great Western Railway and other significant works
3. Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997), first wife of HRH Charles, Prince of Wales (1981–1996) and mother of Princes William and Harry of Wales
4. Charles Darwin (1809–1882), naturalist, originator of the theory of evolution through natural selection and author of On the Origin of Species
5. William Shakespeare (1564–1616), English poet and playwright, thought of by many as the greatest of all writers in the English language
6. Sir Isaac Newton (1643–1727), physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, and alchemist, regarded by many as the greatest figure in the history of science
7. Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603), monarch, (reigned 1558–1603)
8. John Lennon (1940–1980), musician with The Beatles, philanthropist, peace activist, artist
9. Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (1758–1805), naval commander
10. Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), Lord Protector
11. Sir Ernest Shackleton (1874–1922), polar explorer
12. Captain James Cook (1728–1779), explorer
13. Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (1857–1941), founder of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides
14. Alfred the Great (849?–899), King of Wessex, (reigned 871–899)
15. Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769–1852), military commander, statesman and Prime Minister 1828–1830 and 1834
16. Margaret Thatcher (*3) (born 1925), Prime Minister (1979–1990)
17. Michael Crawford (born 1942), actor and singer
18. Queen Victoria (1819–1901), monarch (reigned 1837–1901)
19. Sir Paul McCartney (born 1942), musician with The Beatles, philanthropist, activist
20. Sir Alexander Fleming (1881–1955), pharmaceutical innovator
21. Alan Turing (1912–1954), pioneer of computing
22. Michael Faraday (1791–1867), scientist
23. Owain Glyndŵr (1359–1416), Prince of Wales
24. Queen Elizabeth II (*10) (born 1926), reigning monarch (1952–present)
25. Professor Stephen Hawking (born 1942), theoretical physicist
26. William Tyndale (1494–1536), English translator of the Bible
27. Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928), suffragette
28. William Wilberforce (1759–1833), humanitarian
29. David Bowie (born 1947), musician
30. Guy Fawkes (1570–1606), English revolutionary
31. Leonard Cheshire, Baron Cheshire (1917–1992), aviator and charity organiser
32. Eric Morecambe (1926–1984), comedian
33. David Beckham (*91) (born 1975), footballer
34. Thomas Paine (1737–1809), political philosopher
35. Boudica (died c.60), leader of Celtic resistance to the Roman Empire
36. Sir Steve Redgrave (born 1962), Olympic rower
37. Saint Thomas More (1478–1535), English saint, lawyer and politician
38. William Blake (1757–1827), author/poet, painter and printer
39. John Harrison (1693–1776), clock designer
40. King Henry VIII of England (1491–1547), monarch (reigned 1509–1547)
41. Charles Dickens (1812–1870), author
42. Sir Frank Whittle (1907–1996), jet engine inventor
43. John Peel (1939–2004), broadcaster
44. John Logie Baird (1888–1946), television pioneer
45. Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960), politician
46. Boy George (born 1961), musician with Culture Club
47. Sir Douglas Bader (1910–1982), aviator and charity campaigner
48. Sir William Wallace (c.1270–1305), Guardian of Scotland
49. Sir Francis Drake (c.1540–1596), English naval commander
50. John Wesley (1703–1791), founder of Methodism
51. King Arthur, legendary Celtic monarch
52. Florence Nightingale (1820–1910), nurse and charity campaigner
53. T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) (1888–1935), Arabist and soldier
54. Robert Falcon Scott (1868–1912), polar explorer
55. Enoch Powell (1912–1998), politician
56. Sir Cliff Richard (*29) (born 1940), musician
57. Alexander Graham Bell (1847–1922), telephone pioneer, placed 9th in the Canadian version
58. Freddie Mercury (1946–1991), musician with Queen
59. Dame Julie Andrews (born 1935), actress and singer
60. Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934), composer
61. Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (1900–2002), Queen consort
62. George Harrison (1943–2001), musician with The Beatles
63. Sir David Attenborough (born 1926), broadcaster
64. James Connolly (1868–1916), the Scottish born leader of the Irish 1916 rising
65. George Stephenson (1781–1848), railway pioneer
66. Sir Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), comic actor and film director
67. Tony Blair (*1) (born 1953), Prime Minister (1997–2007)
68. William Caxton (c.1415~1422–c.1492), English printer
69. Bobby Moore (1941–1993), footballer and Captain of England 1966 World Cup winning team
70. Jane Austen (1775–1817), author
71. William Booth (1829–1912), founder of Salvation Army
72. King Henry V of England (1387–1422), monarch (reigned 1413–1422)
73. Aleister Crowley (1875–1947), occultist, writer, and social provocateur; founder of Thelema
74. Robert the Bruce (1274–1329), King of Scots
75. Bob Geldof (born 1951), Irish musician
76. The Unknown Warrior, soldier of the Great War
77. Robbie Williams (*17) (born 1974), musician and former member of Take That
78. Edward Jenner (1749–1823), pioneer of vaccination
79. David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd George (1863–1945), Prime Minister (1916–1922)
80. Charles Babbage (1791–1871), mathematician and pioneer of computing
81. Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1343–1400), English author
82. King Richard III of England (1452–1485), monarch (reigned 1483–1485)
83. J.K. Rowling (born 1965), author
84. James Watt (1736–1819), developer of the steam engine
85. Sir Richard Branson (*86) (born 1950), businessman and adventurer
86. Bono (born 1960), Irish musician - Singer for Rock Band U2, philanthropist
87. John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) (born 1956), musician
88. Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (1887–1976), military commander
89. Donald Campbell (1921–1967), water speed world record challenger
90. King Henry II of England (1133–1189), monarch (reigned 1154–1189)
91. James Clerk Maxwell (1831–1879), physicist
92. J.R.R. Tolkien (1892–1973), author and philologist
93. Sir Walter Raleigh (1552–1618), English explorer
94. King Edward I of England (1239–1307), monarch (reigned 1272–1307)
95. Sir Barnes Wallis (1887–1979), aviation technology pioneer
96. Richard Burton (1925–1984), actor ¹
97. Tony Benn (born 1925), politician
98. David Livingstone (1813–1873), missionary and explorer
99. Sir Tim Berners-Lee (born 1955), Internet pioneer and inventor of the World Wide Web
100. Marie Stopes (1880–1958), promoter of birth control

Several of these also appear in Channel 4's list of 100 Worst Britons (a tongue in cheek response to this show), due to strongly polarised views on their works, lives or legacies - notably this includes Margaret Thatcher and the current monarch, Elizabeth II. Channel 4 refused to take votes for dead figures, with their broadcast considerably lighter in tone.

¹There was some question as to whether the Richard Burton listed is the actor or the explorer. A BBC press release makes it clear that the Burton so honoured is in fact the actor.

Great Britons series

An hour long documentary was filmed on each of the top ten nominees, each of them hosted by a celebrity advocate, who delivered a passionate argument as to why their choice should be voted the greatest Briton of all. The series concluded with a debate on the merits of each selected Briton, bringing all of the advocates together to make a final plea to voters.

Rank	Great Briton	Celebrity Supporter
1	Sir Winston Churchill	Mo Mowlam
2	Isambard Kingdom Brunel	Jeremy Clarkson
3	Diana, Princess of Wales	Rosie Boycott
4	Charles Darwin	Andrew Marr
5	William Shakespeare	Fiona Shaw
6	Sir Isaac Newton	Tristram Hunt
7	Queen Elizabeth I	Michael Portillo
8	John Lennon	Alan Davies
9	Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson	Lucy Moore
10	Oliver Cromwell	Richard Holmes

NB: Although Fiona Shaw championed Shakespeare in the hour-long documentary reviewing his achievements, she was not able to attend the live studio debate, during which he was instead advocated by the writer and newspaper columnist A. A. Gill.

Other editions

Other countries have produced similar shows, see also: Greatest Britons spin-offs

• Germany ran their version on ZDF and called it Unsere Besten (Our Best).
• The CBC ran The Greatest Canadian in 2004.
• KRO (part of the Netherlands Public Broadcasting) ran the De Grootste Nederlander (The Greatest Dutchman).
• The Discovery Channel (in conjunction with AOL) ran The Greatest American in May 2005.
• The South African Broadcasting Corporation ran the Great South Africans.
• In Finland, YLE ran Suuret Suomalaiset (Great Finns).
• In France Le Plus Grand Français (The Greatest Frenchman) ran on France 2.
• In Belgium.: De Grootste Belg and Le plus grand belge.
• A Czech version called The Greatest Czech (Největší Čech) aired in June 2005.
• In Brazil, SBT had a project to do a Spin-off of The Greatest Briton. It's would called O Grande Brasileiro - The Biggest Brazilian.
• 100 Welsh Heroes was the result of an on-line poll carried out in 2003-4.
• A Bulgarian version, The Great Bulgarians (Великите българи), finished in February 2007.
• In Romania, the show called "Mari Români" (Great Romanians) started in May 2006; on 8 July, Televiziunea Română (TVR) presented the 100 Greatest Romanians, and on 21 October the Greatest Romanian of all the times.
• In Portugal, RTP chose dictator António de Oliveira Salazar as the Greatest Portuguese.
• In Spain, Antena 3 chose the current head of state, King Juan Carlos I, as the The Most Important Spaniard in History, on 22 May 2007.
• Russia started their project called The Name of Russia (ru:Имя России) in May 2008.
• Argentina ran their version on Telefe and called it El Gen Argentino (The Argentine Gene). Started on 27 August 2007.
• Ukraine ran their version on Inter (TV channel) and called it Великі українці (The Great Ukrainians). To broadcast 2007-2008 season, 2007.
• New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers aired on Prime TV in 2005.
• In Greece, Skai TV is preparing the Greek version of the programme called Μεγάλοι Έλληνες (Megaloi Ellines, Great Greeks) scheduled to air on January 2009.
• A Chilean version, called "Great Chileans" (Grandes Chilenos), aired in 2008 and the chosen winner was Salvador Allende (former socialist president).

See also

• 100 Worst Britons
• Top 100

External links

• Churchill memorial press release
• BBC Great Britons press release
• BBC Great Britons book and links at National Portrait Gallery
• 100 great British heroes — BBC News article, dated Wednesday, 21 August 2002 (contains the top 100, sorted alphabetically)
• BBC reveals 100 great British heroes — BBC News article, dated Thursday, 22 August 2002
• Ten greatest Britons chosen — BBC News article, dated Sunday, 20 October 2002