Stuart Hall

The New Elizabethans

The New Elizabethans: Stuart Hall. To mark the Diamond Jubilee, James Naughtie examines the lives and impact of the men and women who have given the second Elizabethan age its character.

Stuart Hall is a leading thinker on British culture, race and identity. Born and educated in in Jamaica, Hall won a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University and arrived in Britain in 1951, three years after the Empire Windrush carried the first generation of post-war West Indian immigrants to the UK. He went on to become a founding figure in cultural studies through his work at Birmingham University with Richard Hoggart. His writing and ideas have influenced politics and public debate across the Second Elizabethan Age.

The New Elizabethans have been chosen by a panel of leading historians, chaired by Lord (Tony) Hall, Chief Executive of London's Royal Opera House. The panellists were Dominic Sandbrook, Bamber Gascoigne, Sally Alexander, Jonathan Agar, Maria Misra and Sir Max Hastings.

They were asked to choose: "Men and women whose actions during the reign of Elizabeth II have had a significant impact on lives in these islands and/or given the age its character, for better or worse."

Producer: James Cook.