100 Greatest Britons

In 2002, the BBC conducted a vote to discover the 100 Greatest Britons of all time. The poll resulted in some unlikely candidates including Guy Fawkes, Aleister Crowley, Johnny Rotten, and King Richard III. It represents a snapshot of popular opinion at a particular point in time and should not be taken too seriously.

Some notable non British-born entrants include two Irish nationals (Bono and Bob Geldof) and Freddie Mercury, who was born in Zanzibar to Western Indian Parsi parents.

The top 19 entries were exclusively of English origin (though Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington was not of English birth). The highest-placed Scottish entry was Alexander Fleming in 20th place, with the highest Welsh entry Owain Glyndŵr in 23rd.

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.

Other editions

Other countries produced similar shows locally, 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 Publieke Omroep) ran the De Grootste Nederlander (The Greatest Dutchman).
• The Discovery Channel (in conjunction with AOL) ran The Greatest American in May 2005 [1].
• The South African Broadcasting Corporation ran the Great South Africans.
• In Finland, YLE ran Suuret Suomalaiset (Great Finns).[2].
• In France Le Plus Grand Français (The Greatest Frenchman) ran on France 2
• In Belgium there were two versions: De Grootste Belg and Le plus grand belge.
• A Czech version called The Greatest Czech (Největší Čech) aired in June 2005.
• 100 Welsh Heroes was the result of an on-line poll carried out in 2003-4.
• A Bulgarian version, The Great Bulgarians (Velikite Balgari), started in June 2006.
• In Romania, the show called "Mari Români" (Great Romanians) started in May 2006; on July 8, Televiziunea Română (TVR) presented the 100 Greatest Romanians, and on October 21 the Greatest Romanian of all the times.
• In Portugal, RTP is currently promoting the election of the Greatest Portuguese.

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.)

1. Sir Winston Churchill (1874–1965), Prime Minister during World War II
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 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
7. Queen Elizabeth I of England (1533–1603), monarch, (reigned 1558–1603)
8. John Lennon (1940–1980), musician with The Beatles
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 the 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 and statesman
16. Margaret Thatcher (*3) (born 1925), Prime Minister (1979–1990)
17. Michael Crawford (born 1942), actor
18. Queen Victoria (1819–1901), monarch (reigned 1837–1901)
19. Sir Paul McCartney (born 1942), musician with The Beatles
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. Sir Thomas More (1478–1535), English lawyer and politician
38. William Blake (1757–1827), author 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), Methodist leader
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. Sir 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
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), Irish revolutionary
65. George Stephenson (1781–1848), railway pioneer
66. Sir Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), comic actor
67. Tony Blair (*1) (born 1953), Prime Minister (1997-present)
68. William Caxton(c.1415~1422–c.1492), English printer
69. Bobby Moore (1941–1993), footballer
70. Jane Austen (1775–1817), author
71. William Booth (1829–1912), founder of the 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 I (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), musician, philanthropist - Actually Irish.
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[Born in South Africa]
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
97. Tony Benn (born 1925) , politician
98. David Livingstone (1813–1873) , missionary and explorer
99. Sir Tim Berners-Lee (born 1955), internet pioneer
100. Marie Stopes (1880–1958), promoter of birth control

Several of these also appear in the list of 100 worst Britons, due to strongly polarised views on their works, lives or legacies.

Great Britons series

British television personality Anne Robinson hosted the ten Great Britons documentaries. Each show reviewed the life of one of the top ten Britons, concluding with a debate on the merits of each selected Briton, with another British celebrity supporting their "candidate":

No.	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

See also

• 100 Worst Britons
• Top 100

External links

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