Comedian and columnist Mark Steel returns with more lectures on historic figures that radically changed the political and cultural landscape of the Western world.

A co-production between BBC FOUR and the Open University, The Mark Steel Lectures feature subjects who have a global appeal across the fields of art, literature, science and politics.

Viewers can expect to find out where Sylvia Pankhurst ran a café; how radical reformer Thomas Paine had the best-selling book in the world, twice; why Leonardo Da Vinci could never finish anything; why Mary Shelley kept the Victorian greeting card industry in business; who Beethoven liked to pelt with rotten eggs; and how Einstein got ready for a date.

Mark delves into the lives and works of famous historical figures whose ideas and originality have shaped the world from 200 BC to the present day. But their private lives often contained secrets that would have been tabloid scandals and fodder for gossip columnists in the modern era. Amid the historical debate that surrounds these figures, Mark paints his own provocative picture of these figures of genius, dedication, conviction, oddness and above all, passion.

It’s passion which inspires Mark, and passion which attracts him to his subjects. He reveals the hidden side of these legendary characters and comes to his own unique conclusions about their motivations, ambitions and distinctive contribution to the history of ideas.