Of the ten finalists who had programmes championing their cause, eight were more or less credible: Brunel, Churchill, Cromwell, Darwin, Elizabeth I, Nelson, Newton, and Shakespeare. Princess Diana and John Lennon got into the list only, I suggest, due to their tragic deaths.
When the series was broadcast I video taped Churchill, Cromwell, and Elizabeth. At the time of writing the only one I can find online is Jeremy Clarkson's vigorous advocacy of Brunel. I was intensely interested in the contest because I had bet £50 on Churchill. There were rumours of an attempted betting coup by Brunel University students, who allegedly put their money on Brunel and tirelessly urged friends and family to vote for him.
The Churchill programme was a rather laid-back effort by the late, widely liked Labour politician Mo Mowlem. Elizabeth I had a strong claim, but all Michael Portillo showed us was what looked like a cardboard cut out. I thought the best one was Richard Holmes on Cromwell, which included enactments of the civil war.
For me it had to be Churchill: whatever his faults he was the right man at the right time, at a time when Britain most needed the right man. Others would have built ships and bridges and made scientific discoveries had Brunel, Darwin, and Newton not existed.
As I recall, there weren't any claims of foul play when Churchill won, but it was before the 21st century zeitgeist had fully taken hold. Today there would doubtless be conspiracy theories that the Royal Family or the deep state had made the BBC fiddle the figures to prevent a less establishment figure from winning.
