Great Lives

The biography show where famous guests picks someone they admire or love. Jane Morris was the wife of William Morris and muse of Gabriel Dante Rossetti. Anneka Rice believes her contribution to 19th-Century art and culture has been largely overlooked."I'm not a big fan of needle point," she says, "but we cannot ignore what she brings to art history". Plus she comes from absolutely NOWHERE to marry Morris and have an affair with Rossetti. Joining Anneka in the discussion is Suzanne Fagence Cooper, the author of How We Might Live: At Home with Jane and William Morris. The presenter is Matthew Parris.

The biography show where famous guests pick someone from history they admire or they love. Our only rule is they must be dead. Today neurosurgeon Dr Henry Marsh chooses “the saviour of mothers” Dr Ignaz Semmelweis The Hungarian doctor discovered the link between childbirth and puerperal fever in 19th century Vienna but he was ridiculed, ignored and demoted as his discovery challenged the medical orthodoxy. Post-mortems at the time were carried out by doctors before they practised on wards, with no hygiene step between the two. Semmelweis recommended handwashing for doctors, and gathered statistics to prove his theory.Despite the evidence, the medical establishment was resistant to change and Semmelweis became increasingly traumatised, frustrated and angry. In his final months, he seems to have also developed an organic brain disorder which led to his friends and wife having him restrained and sectioned in a mental asylum where he subsequently died from injuries. Nominator Dr Henry Marsh is the author of Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery. With the playwright Stephen Brown who cowrote Dr Semmelweis with Sir Mark Rylance. Presented by Matthew Parris and produced for BBC Studios Audio by Ellie Richold

An unexpected choice for Great Lives, the Roman Emperor Nero has a reputation for debauchery and murder. He was also surprisingly popular, at least during the early years of his reign, and the writer Conn Iggulden argues he may be a victim of bad press. The Christians decided he was the anti-christ some three centuries after he died, and the three main sources are no more positive about his achievements and life. But a recent exhibition at the British Museum - entitled the man behind the myth - worked hard to soften Nero's terrible reputation. So is there more to Nero than we think?Joining Conn Iggulden in studio is Dr Shushma Malik of Cambridge University. Matthew Parris presents. Conn Iggulden is co-author of The Dangerous Book for Boys and the best-selling historical fiction about Nero with the strapline, "Rome wasn't burned in a day."The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde

Julien Temple, director of The Great Rock n Roll Swindle, Glastonbury and Absolute Beginners, chooses Christopher Marlowe, writer of brilliant plays including Doctor Faustus and Tamburlaine the Great. "I'm excited to talk about him," he says, "because I've known him for more than 50 years." The link? An attempt as a student to summon up Marlowe in his old college cellar room.Christopher Marlowe was born in 1564 - the same year as Shakespeare. He was a spy, a writer, a counterfeiter .. and he famously died in a bar room brawl in Deptford in 1593. Was it an accident, or was he killed deliberately? Helping us negotiate the mythic moments of Marlowe's life is Professor of Shakespeare studies Emma Smith.Julien Temple's film credits include The Filth and the Fury, Pandaemonium, Earth Girls are Easy and Joe Strummer: The Futureis UnwrittenThe presenter is Matthew Parris, the producer in Bristol for BBC Studios is Miles Warde