As 2012 dawns, it is nigh on 10 years since the BBC did their 100 greatest Britons list. I was fascinated by this at the time, not so much by the order but by who made it onto the list in the first place. The order did bother me a bit. I can't find it now but I think Robbie williams placed above someone like william Caxton. I'm not doing this to stir up **** because of all the Irish on your list, but rather from the number of figures from popular culture that appear. who would you boot off and who would you add in? The 2002 list. Alfred the Great Julie Andrews King Arthur David Attenborough Jane Austen Charles Babbage Lord Baden Powell Douglas Bader David Beckham Alexander Graham Bell Tony Benn Tim Berners Lee Aneurin Bevan Tony Blair William Blake William Booth Boudicca David Bowie Sir Richard Branson Robert Bruce Isambard Kingdom Brunel Richard Burton Donald Campbell William Caxton Charlie Chaplin Geoffrey Chaucer Leonard Cheshire Winston Churchill James Connolly Captain James Cook Michael Crawford Oliver Cromwell Aleister Crowley Charles Darwin Diana, Princess of Wales Charles Dickens Francis Drake Edward I Edward Elgar Elizabeth I Elizabeth II Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother Michael Faraday Guy Fawkes Alexander Fleming Bob Geldof Owain Glyndwr George Harrison John Harrison Stephen Hawking Henry II Henry V Henry VIII Paul Hewson (Bono) Edward Jenner TE Lawrence John Lennon David Livingstone David Lloyd George John Logie Baird John Lydon (Johnny Rotten) James Clerk Maxwell Sir Paul McCartney Freddie Mercury Montgomery Bobby Moore Thomas More Eric Morecambe Horatio Nelson Isaac Newton Florence Nightingale George O'Dowd (Boy George) Thomas Paine Emmeline Pankhurst John Peel Enoch Powell Walter Raleigh Sir Steve Redgrave Richard III Sir Cliff Richard JK Rowling Captain Robert Falcon Scott Ernest Shackleton William Shakespeare George Stephenson Marie Stopes Margaret Thatcher William Tindale JRR Tolkien Alan Turing The Unknown Soldier (Queen) Victoria. William Wallace Barnes Wallis James Watt Duke of Wellington. John Wesley Frank Whittle William Wilberforce Robbie Williams
I would pick these Lord Baden Powell Douglas Bader Alexander Graham Bell Charlie Chaplin Geoffrey Chaucer Winston Churchill Captain James Cook Oliver Cromwell Charles Dickens Francis Drake Elizabeth I Alexander Fleming Henry VIII TE Lawrence David Lloyd George John Logie Baird Freddie Mercury Montgomery Bobby Moore Thomas More Horatio Nelson Isaac Newton Florence Nightingale Emmeline Pankhurst John Peel Enoch Powell Walter Raleigh William Shakespeare Marie Stopes Margaret Thatcher JRR Tolkien Alan Turing The Unknown Soldier (Queen) Victoria. James Watt Duke of Wellington. William Wilberforce And add Anthony Eden (was right about Munich and Suez only to be let down by appeasing idiots Neville Chamberlin and Dwight Eisenhower)
[video=youtube;wukfdjJv340]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wukfdjJv340[/video] I'd replace Robbie williams with Jim Larkin for starters.
100 is a bloody long list. Here's my top 12 William Blake William Shakespeare Peter Cook Lester Piggot AP McCoy General Bernard Montgomery Anueran Bevan Johny Rotten Wat Tyler Elizabeth I Jane Austen Henry VIII It's quite hard to stop at 12, but there you are. Tell you what, I'll throw Barry Humphries in there as an honorary Brit at No 13, just for cyclonic.
Can't believe I didn't make the list!!! [video=youtube;IQP0A9wJq3A]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQP0A9wJq3A[/video] [video=youtube;_4nsifplvpk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4nsifplvpk[/video] [video=youtube;jtTORXmZmU4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtTORXmZmU4[/video]
Princess Di was third if I recall. That alone undermines any claim to value that list ever had. My top ten Shakespeare Burns Newton Dickens Churchill Richard Francis Burton Drake Wellington Nelson Spike Milligan
