October 20, 2002	Sunday	Sha'aban 13, 1423

LONDON, Oct 19: Winston Churchill, Princess Diana and John Lennon made it — but Tony Blair, Queen Elizabeth II, and Paul McCartney failed to register in the list of top 10 Britons of all time, the BBC said on Saturday.

The 10, selected from a BBC phone and Internet poll involving more than 30,000 Britons, hail from the 16th century to the modern day.

Some of the names on the list — such as William Shakespeare — were unsurprising, but the choice of Princess Diana and Beatles legend Lennon would probably raise eyebrows.

Over the next five weeks, different presenters will deliver an hour-long argument on why each Briton should be named the greatest in TV programmes to be screened on BBC Two.

Viewers will then vote for the overall winner.

“I think the top ten is a really interesting mix of contenders. We’re in for a really exciting competition,” Jane Root, BBC Two controller, said.—Reuters