Show Notes
Matthew Parris invites a fellow Radio 4 presenter into the studio to nominate a Great Life. Dr Sian Williams, who as well as a broadcaster is a counselling psychologist chooses Anna Freud, daughter of Sigmund and considered by many to be the founder of psychoanalytic child psychology. Anna Freud was born in Vienna in 1895, the youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She was brought up in a city alive with pioneering culture and with a father at the forefront of new work in psychoanalysis. Although the youngest of the family, Anna had a close relationship with her father, sitting in on his psychoanalysis meetings from a young age before the conservative limitations of the time lead her into teaching. After the trauma of the 1st World War she started a nursery in VIenna that sought to help the young children of the poorest members of society. With the Anschluss of Austria in 1938 she was arrested by the Gestapo but freed. It was enough to persuade her father, who was dying of cancer, to take the family out of the country. They settled in London but Sigmund died soon after. With the onset of war, and in a completely new environment, Anna rekindled her work with the launch of the Hampstead Nurseries. Again the aim was to provide support and help for very young children who's parents had either been killed or were away in the armed forces. The nurseries pioneered a supportive, observational system, giving children the space to express themselves in play and without the threat of punishment. Her reputation survives her in the form of the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families. Matthew and Sian are joined by Nick Midgley, Professor of Psychological Therapies for Children and Young People in the Research Department of Clinical, Educational, and Health Psychology at University College London as well as working at Anna Freud. Producer; Tom Alban
More from Great Lives
Caroline Aherne was born in London on Christmas eve, but her family moved north when she was a toddler.
Edward Osborne Wilson was a pioneer across several fields of biology, from entomology to biodiversity. He is best known for his expertise on ants, his work developing the field of Sociobiology and for his 'Half-Earth' goal. Born in Alabama in 1929, a fishing accident at the age of 7 left him blind in one eye and he turned his attention to the little things that could be held between finger and thumb. Ed Wilson recorded several hundred species of ants and was the first to discover how they communicated through pheromones. Nominating him is the Ecologist, and Chair of Natural England, Dr Tony Juniper. The expert is Dr Paula Ehrlich, President and CEO of the EO Wilson Biodiversity Foundation. Paula knew Ed well and joins the discussion from North Carolina. Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios by Ellie Richold
Iris Murdoch was born in Ireland in 1919, grew up in London and was educated in Bristol and Oxford. She's famous both as a novelist and a philosopher, and she won the Booker Prize in 1978 for The Sea, The Sea. Her nominator is Russell Kane, who is full of admiration for her work. This compelling discussion of what makes Iris great includes contributions from her friend and biographer, Peter Conradi; and from Miles Leeson, Director of the Iris Murdoch Research Centre in Chichester. Great Lives is presented by Matthew Parris and produced by Miles Warde. Other guests in this final series of Great Lives include Ruby Tandoh on children's author Brian Jacques; Pauline Black of The Selector on Poly Styrene of X Ray Spex; and Mel Giedroyc on her ancestor, Russia's first female military surgeon, Princess Vera Gedroits.
Brian Jacques was a docker, sailor, boxer, trucker, milkman, poet and a folk singer too. Then he wrote his Redwall series of children's fantasy novels and became an overnight forty year success. His books were immensely successful, particularly in the United States where President Obama was photographed buying them for his daughters. Choosing this rich and extraordinary life is Ruby Tandoh, baker, columnist and author of Crumb! and All-Consuming: Why We Eat The Way We Eat Now. Her interest in Brian stems from a childhood love of reading his books, particularly the descriptions of the feasts. In studio with Ruby is Trevor Hyett, formerly of Granada TV and a regular on the folk scene with Brian Jacques; plus there are revealing archive clips of Brian performing, and you'll hear the voice of Mick Ord who worked with Brian at BBC Radio Merseyside, where he had a regular Sunday show. The presenter is Matthew Parris and the series is produced in Bristol by Miles Warde
Eric Ashby was a quiet pioneer. He lived in the New Forest in the south of England, where he painstakingly filmed the local wildlife, particularly badgers, foxes and deer. His occasional films were introduced by Sir Peter Scott who dubbed him the Silent Watcher. Paying tribute here to Eric Ashby's life and work - in a special programme recorded at Bristol's Natural History Unit - is James Aldred, author of The Man Who Climbed Trees. This is about his adventures filming in the forest canopy. Also contributing to the show is Chris Packham who knew Eric Ashby as a boy. Chris Packham is one of Britain's best known naturalists, presenter of Springwatch and more recently Evolution on the BBC. James Aldred's other publications include A Wagon In The Woods. A revealing, occasionally contentious episode about a shy yet determined man who made headlines with his clashes with the local hunt. Presented by Matthew Parris and produced in Bristol by Miles Warde