Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Gyles Brandreth chooses Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes. With Matthew Parris and Andrew Lycett. From 2013.
Broadcaster and writer Gyles Brandreth nominates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as his "Great Life".
Matthew Parris chairs, assisted by biographer Andrew Lycett.
Conan Doyle is best known as the creator of the pipe smoking, deerstalker wearing, Sherlock Holmes.
Yet this irritated him, and he tried to kill off the great detective, only to bring him back by popular demand.
But Conan Doyle was a footballer, cricketer, skier, a campaigner against the Belgian atrocities in the Congo, and most startlingly, a practising spiritualist who also believed in fairies.
The paradox of Conan Doyle's life was that, having invented the most rational, cerebral fictional character of all time, he himself embraced superstition and behaved in ways that caused even his allies to despair of his credulity.
Producer Jolyon Jenkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2013.
Last on
Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Presenter | Matthew Parris |
| Presenter | Matthew Parris |
| Interviewed Guest | Gyles Brandreth |
| Interviewed Guest | Gyles Brandreth |
| Interviewed Guest | Andrew Lycett |
| Interviewed Guest | Andrew Lycett |
| Producer | Jolyon Jenkins |
| Producer | Jolyon Jenkins |
Broadcasts
Tue 30 Apr 2013 16:30BBC Radio 4- Fri 3 May 2013 23:00BBC Radio 4
- Thu 18 Jul 2019 18:30BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Fri 19 Jul 2019 00:30BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Thu 27 Feb 2025 10:00BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Thu 27 Feb 2025 16:00BBC Radio 4 Extra
- Fri 28 Feb 2025 00:00BBC Radio 4 Extra
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Great Lives
Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.
