Friday, February 17, 2012

The New Elizabethans



During a long, dull drive to Mortlake Crematorium yesterday, I listened to a podcast of Radio Four's excellent Start the Week, in which Andrew Marr and his guests discussed a quest to find 60 'New Elizabethans'.

I'll let this extract from the Radio Four website explain things further:

"To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie will be profiling the 60 public figures who have made the greatest impact in these islands during The Queen's reign - men and women who have defined the era and whose deeds will stand the test of time.

But who are the great achievers of the past six decades? Who will stamp their names in the history books just as Shakespeare, Drake and Raleigh did before them? Who will be remembered down the years for changing the way we live and think, for entertaining and amazing us?

We'd like your help to find The New Elizabethans. They can come from any walk of life. Their impact must have been on these islands between 1952 and the present day but that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be British.

You can suggest your New Elizabethans up to 5pm on March 9th 2012. All the names put forward will be passed to our panel of leading historians who will debate and decide on the final list of 60. Radio 4 will broadcast profiles of each of the chosen New Elizabethans during the summer this year."

I know that polls like these are a lot of nonsense, but I can't resist the allure of lists.

It's a relief to see that Radio Four aren't putting it to a popular vote (although I trust their listeners more than most people). Let's leave it to the experts. Democracy may work in the polling booth, but it's a lousy arbiter of quality.

However, the criteria are a little confusing.

The extract above includes anyone who has influenced British culture during the last 60 years, irrespective of nationality. But another Radio Four web page suggests that it should simply be a list of 'Great Britons'.

To confuse things further, what do we mean by 'Britons'? In 1953, citizens of Australia, New Zealand and Canada were widely regarded as de facto Britons, which is why Edmund Hillary's conquest of Everest was regarded as a British achievement. Where do we draw the line?

Driving home along the M25, I had a long time to think about this and started to come up with some names. I decided to limit my selection to individuals who were either born in Britain or have lived here for a number of years, as an international list would be far too difficult to narrow down to 60 people (mine would have to include figures as diverse as Elvis Presley, Bill Gates, Mikhail Gorbachev, the person who invented the Sony Walkman, Aaron Spelling, Milton Friedman and President Kennedy).

If I'd had more time, the list might have been very different. But for the moment these are the people who, for better or worse, seem to capture the spirit of the age:

David Attenborough

Margaret Thatcher

Rupert Murdoch

Charles Saatchi

Tim Berners-Lee

Germaine Greer

Paul McCartney

John Lennon

Malcolm McClaren

Delia Smith

Verity Lambert

Jack Cohen

David Beckham

Jacqueline Wilson

Richard Dawkins

Spike Milligan

Richard Branson

Stelios Haji-Ioannou

David Hockney

Mary Quant

Peter Cook

Shirley Williams

Richard Rogers

Andrew Lloyd-Webber

Robert Maxwell

Lew Grade

George Best

Bruce Forsyth

Lawrence Olivier

Diana Rigg

Simon Cowell

George Martin

Ian Fleming

Morrissey

Chris Evans

Princess Diana

Tony Blair

Enid Blyton

Alan Bennett

J K Rowling

Anita Roddick

Vivien Westwood

Patrick Steptoe

Doris Lessing

Michael Caine

Francis Crick

James Watson

Terence Conran

David Bowie

Elton John

Doreen Lawrence

Norman Foster

Mike Leigh

Terry Wogan

Magdi Yacoub

Judi Dench

Prince Charles

David Steel

Arthur Scargill

Tony Hancock

There are quite a few names I'd like to remove - Rupert Murdoch, for example - but their influence is undeniable. Each person on this list has either changed or defined the time they lived in.

It's certainly not a 'greatest' list - that would look very different. On mine, writers, artists and poets are thin on the ground because in the age of mass media, I think they've become eclipsed by entertainers and celebrities. Perhaps I should have included figures from reality television too.

There are three weeks left until the poll is closed and the great and the good make their decision.

I wonder if it's too late for me to put in a bid for Sid James?

19 comments:

Canadian Chickadee said...

What a fascinating subject. I think my list would have to include:
Bill Gates
Steve Jobs
Watson & Crick
Stephen Hawking
Dolly the sheep & the scientists who cloned her
Germaine Greer
Lennon & McCartney
Andrew Lloyd Weber

Art is more difficult. So much of what we see as important and beautiful is totally subjective.

But what a great thing to think about while doing mindless household tasks!

Canadian Chickadee said...

Oh shoot - typo.

That should be Andrew Lloyd Webber, of Phantom fame, not his much lesser known cousin Andrew Lloyd Weber!!

Steerforth said...

Stephen Hawking! How could I forget him?

Perhaps you were thinking of Carl Maria von Weber - a much better composer than Andrew.

David said...

As you've got Watson and Crick I think we should have Rosalind Franklin, who actually did the experimental work - she was at least as important as the two men (arguably more so).

Roget said...

What a wonderful way to waste time!Here's my list, which includes the odd multiple where I don't think those involved can be separated. A pity I think that it's in the hands of the chilly Presbyterian Naughtie. Not many examples of popular culture will get past him...

Jennie Lee
Margaret Thatcher
Ernest Marples
John Osborne
Christine Keeler
Morecambe and Wise
Laurence Olivier
Tim Waterstone
Anthony Wedgwood Benn
Kenneth Tynan
David Frost
Diana Spencer
J K Rowling
Stirling Moss
Salman Rushdie
Mary Whitehouse
Richard Beeching
Ian Fleming
Arthur Lowe
Tony Blair
Cliff Richard
David Beckham
Hugh Carleton-Greene
Rupert Murdoch
Richard Dimbleby
Spike Milligan
Jack Jones
Billy Butlin
Malcolm Muggeridge
Tony Hancock
Louise Brown
Bob Geldof
The Beatles
Roger Bannister
Arthur Scargill
Richard Ingrams
Kenneth Branagh
Philip Larkin
Matt Busby
David English
Bruce Forsyth
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Kenneth Williams
John Betjeman
Henry Cooper
Kate Winslett
David Hockney
Tony Warren
Robin Day
Benjamin Britten
Ian Botham
Sheila Cassidy
Alan Bennett
Neville and Doreen Lawrence
Shirley Bassey
Freddie Laker
Daley Thompson
George Melly
Barbara Windsor
Alan Clark

Steerforth said...

David - Fair point. I should have adopted Roget's approach and bent the rules to include groups.

Roget - An excellent choice, with some interesting names. I particularly liked Beeching, Tony Warren, Keneth Williams, Robin Day Mary Whitehouse and Billy Butlin. You included groups and pairs and if I'd done this I might have put Galton and Simpson instead of Tony Hancock.

You also quite rightly included people from sport. I didn't, as I don't like sport, but I suppose I should have done.

I'm not sure about Kate Winslett or Roger Bannister - he was a bit of a flash in the pan wasn't he? But overall I take my hat off to you - an excellent list!

Annabel (gaskella) said...

What fun! I was trying to think of a couple more sports people to suggest, but couldn't really (Sir Alf Ramsey, Bobby Charlton?)

I'd add Dennis Potter, Eric Morecambe and Biddy Baxter for Blue Peter, plus Ken Livingstone, and Dame Edna. I'd support inclusion of Sid James - my 11yr old daughter knows his laugh anywhere...

Roget said...

You're probably right about Kate Winslett, Steerforth. I did debate whether she or Jennie Agutter (for the combination of red knickers and "Daddy,my Daddy")should have a place. Having thought about it more and under your gentle chiding, I was wrong about both. So out goes Kate and in comes Jimmy Hill. He did more than any other single person, in bravely seeking to abolish the minimum wage of £20 pw in football to create for good or ill the modern game. But Bannister must stay. You can, after all, only break the 4-minute mile once, so a bit harsh to label the Good Doctor a flash-in-the-pan I think.I am a bit concerned (though I'm not sure why) that a huge proportion of my list is men.

Steerforth said...

Roget - Please don't mention Jenny Agutter and red knickers this early in the day - I shall have to take a pill now.

I've no objection to Jimmy Hill. He influenced an entire generation of schoolchildren. Is he still alive?

Annabel - An interesting choice. I think Dennis Potter's star has waned since his death, but he did kame a huge difference to television drama. I love Dame Edna (and Barry Humphries). As for Red Ken, he deserves inclusion for being a constant thorn in the side of Thatcher and Blair. Not sure about Biddy Baxter - my vote would go to the people who vandalised the Blue Peter garden.

Foxesatdawn said...

Verity Lambert?! No, for the same reasons Jenny Agguter escapes the list

Canadian Chickadee said...

No, I wasn't thinking of Carl Maria Von Weber -- I was thinking of Andrew Lloyd Webber's lesser known cousin, the tailor! :0)

zmkc said...

I heard that podcast too, while walking up Mount Ainslie in Canberra. I got distracted from compiling a list of my own by wondering whether the people on the prog were right about the influence of D Beckham - who I see is also on your list - which I think (or is it hope?) will not be profound or remembered beyond next Wednesday. That is probably just hope though.

zmkc said...

Harold Pinter, for good or ill?

Steerforth said...

Beckham's only on the list because he neatly encapsulates many things (all of them lamentable) about British society during the last 15 years. Every time I see a hideous tattoo or hear someone summoning their child with a ridiculous name, I remember David Beckham's status as a 'role model'.

Pinter? I'd pick Tony Warren before him.

Anne said...

Kaye Webb of Puffin books

Nigel Smith said...

Billy Butlin is an interesting choice. This is where you can send your nominations >>

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/the-new-elizabethans/

Steerforth said...

I voted for David Attenborough - a predictable, dull choice, I suppose, but I can't think of anyone more appropriate. His career began at the same time that the Queen's reign began and he has both influenced and reflected the changing times: from the dawn of television to setting up BBC2, then his documentaries and now 3D.

JO said...

You probably haven't heard of Celia Brackenridge - who has spent forty years working to protect children in sport. When she began, it was funny when the coach oggled little boys in the shower, or the teacher stroked the leg of a girl doing handstands. Now we have systems in place to protect these children -all because she braved ridicule in the early days, and has worked tirelessly to keep children safe.

She's my cousin, so of course I'm biased. But she's still a brave woman.

Steerforth said...

I'd vote for her. One of the best things that has happened during the last 50 years is the growing awareness of child abuse - all too often by people in positions of trust, rather than the stranger in a dirty mac.