100 Greatest Britons is a television series that was broadcast by the BBC in 2002. It was based on a television poll conducted to determine who the British people at that time considered the greatest Britons in history.^[1][2] The series included individual programmes featuring the top ten, with viewers having further opportunity to vote after each programme.^[3] It concluded with a debate and final determination of the ranking of the top ten. Although many living people were included among the top 100, all of the top ten were deceased.

The poll resulted in nominees including Guy Fawkes, who was executed because of his role in the plot to blow up the Parliament of England; Oliver Cromwell, who created a republican British state (the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland); Richard III, suspected of murdering his nephews; James Connolly, an Irish nationalist and socialist who was executed by the Crown due to his part in the 1916 Easter Rising; Thomas Paine, who wrote against the British crown before and during the American Revolution; John Lydon, the lead vocalist of the Sex Pistols; Enoch Powell, a conservative politician;^[4][5] and a surprisingly high ranking of 17th for actor and singer Michael Crawford, the second-highest-ranked entertainer, after John Lennon. Diana, Princess of Wales, was judged to be a greater historical figure than Isaac Newton, William Shakespeare, and Charles Darwin by BBC respondents to the survey.

One of the more controversial figures to be included on the list was the occultist Aleister Crowley. His works had a direct influence on the rise in popular occultism and some forms of Neopaganism in the 20th century. In addition to the Britons, some notable non-British entrants were listed, including two Irish nationals, the philanthropic musicians Bono and Bob Geldof. Of the top 20 entries 16 were people of English origin. Elizabeth I was part of a Welsh royal house, Sir Ernest Shackleton and Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, were both Irish (Wellington being Anglo-Irish) in what is now the Republic of Ireland when all of Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, and Alexander Fleming in 20th place was Scottish. ^[6]

Only 13 of the 100 are women. Sixty had lived in the 20th century. The highest-ranked living person was Margaret Thatcher, placed 16th.^[7] Ringo Starr was the only member of the Beatles not on the list. Isambard Kingdom Brunel occupied the top spot in the polls for some time thanks largely to "students from Brunel University who have been campaigning vigorously for the engineer for weeks." However, a late surge in the final week of voting put Churchill into first place.^[8]

Although the BBC's original ranked list has been removed from their web server and what remains is only an alphabetical list of the Top 100,^[9] several other sources have preserved the original ranked list.^[10][11][5]

There was some question as to whether the Richard Burton listed at No. 96 was the actor or the explorer.^{[citation needed]} A BBC press release makes clear that the actor was intended.^[12]

• Greatest Britons spin-offs
• Historical rankings of prime ministers of the United Kingdom