Great Lives is a History Documentary programme.

Picture: BBC

Next Show Times

• United Kingdom

Seasons in Detail

• All Seasons
• Season 1
• Season 2
• Season 3
• Season 4
• Season 5
• Season 6
• Season 7
• Season 8
• Season 9
• Season 10
• Season 11
• Season 12
• Season 13
• Season 14
• Season 15
• Season 16
• Season 17
• Season 18
• Season 19
• Season 20
• Season 21
• Season 22
• Season 23
• Season 24
• Season 25
• Season 26
• Season 27
• Season 28
• Season 29
• Season 30
• Season 31
• Season 32
• Season 33
• Season 34
• Season 35
• Season 36
• Season 37
• Season 38
• Season 39
• Season 40
• Season 41
• Season 42
• Season 43
• Season 44
• Season 45
• Season 46
• Season 47
• Season 48
• Season 49
• Season 50
• Season 51
• Season 52
• Season 53
• Season 54
• Season 55
• Season 56
• Season 57
• Season 58
• Season 59
• Season 60

Great Lives

Below is a list of all of the Season 1 Episodes of Great Lives

Season 1

• 0. John H Hammond
• 0. Richard Beckinsale
• 0. Albert Einstein
• 0. Millicent Fawcett
• 0. Joan Littlewood
• 0. Martha Gellhorn
• 0. William Beveridge
• 0. Pope John Paul II
• 0. Tintin
• 0. Anton Chekhov
• 0. Julius Caesar
• 0. Brian Clough
• 0. George Washington for greatness
• 0. Dame Thora Hird
• 0. Alfred Russel Wallace
• 0. Howard Florey
• 0. Groucho Marx
• 0. Paul Robeson
• 0. AE Housman
• 0. Lord Longford
• 0. Richard Pryor
• 0. Robert Hooke
• 0. Bill Slim
• 0. Robert Kennedy
• 0. Tennyson
• 0. Sir Kyffin Williams
• 0. Picasso
• 0. Douglas Jardine
• 0. Charlotte Guest
• 0. Carl Sagan
• 0. Sappho
• 0. Richard Nixon
• 0. Winston Churchill
• 0. De Sade
• 0. John Hegley Chooses Writer DH Lawrence
• 0. 3: Sir Geoffrey Robinson Chooses Playwright Samuel Beckett
• 0. 1: Sir Clive Sinclair Nominates Fellow Inventor Thomas Edison
• 0. 6: Green Mp Caroline Lucas Nominates German Green Politician Petra Kelly
• 0. Molly Parkin
• 0. 8: Harold Pinter
• 0. 6: Former Editor of the Times Simon Jenkins Proposes Edwin Lutyens, Architect of New Delhi and the Cenotaph
• 0. 7: Former Editor of the Times Simon Jenkins Proposes Edwin Lutyens, Architect of New Delhi and the Cenotaph
• 0. 7: Gracie Allen
• 0. 8: Vera Brittain
• 0. 9: Razia Sultana
• 0. 1: Dylan Thomas
• 0. 2: Will Self Nominates Oscar Wilde
• 0. 4: Musician and Broadcaster Tom Robinson Proposes George Lyward
• 0. 6: John Ford
• 0. 7: Goya
• 0. Edward Lear
• 0. 8: Sebastian Walker
• 0. Victor Spinetti
• 0. 4: Leonard Maguire
• 0. 5: Juvenal
• 0. 6: Stan Laurel
• 0. 7: Karel Reisz
• 0. 8: George Orwell
• 0. 1: Dick Francis
• 0. 3: A Royal Prince Rescued From a Savage Fate - Or a Child Prisoner of War?
• 0. 6: Max Mosely Nominates Philosopher John Stuart Mill
• 0. 3: Musician and performer Neil Innes discusses the life of his Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band colleague and friend Vivian Stanshall
• 0. 3: Chris Tarrant Chooses Kenny Everett
• 0. 5: Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth Nominates Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Creator of Sherlock Holmes
• 0. 8: Primo Levi
• 0. 9: Florence Nightingale
• 0. 6: Max Mosley Nominates Philosopher John Stuart Mill
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 1 of 9)
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 1 of 9)
• 0. Biographical series presented by Matthew Parris. (Part 1 of 9)
• 0. Biographical Series with Matthew Parris.. (Part 3 of 9)
• 0. 4: Writer Julie Burchill Talks to Matthew About Hollywood Star Ava Gardner
• 0. 5: Paul Mason Talks to Matthew About French Anarchist Louise Michel
• 0. 5: Louise Michel
• 0. 8: Trade Unionist Brendan Barber Nominates American Author John Steinbeck
• 0. 9: Comedian Al Murray Champions the Life of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery
• 0. 8: Trade Unionist Sir Brendan Barber Nominates American Author John Steinbeck
• 0. Biographical Series with Matthew Parris.. (Part 2 of 8)
• 0. 1: Deacon Blue Singer Ricky Ross Nominates the 'Hillbilly Shakespeare' Hank Williams
• 0. Biographical Series with Matthew Parris.. (Part 4 of 8)
• 0. Biographical Series with Matthew Parris.. (Part 3 of 8)
• 0. Biographical series with Matthew Parris. (Part 2 of 8)
• 0. 3: Isabella Bird
• 0. Biographical Series with Matthew Parris.. (Part 7 of 8)
• 0. 5: John Updike
• 0. Biographical Series with Matthew Parris (Part 7 of 8)
• 0. Biographical Series with Matthew Parris.. (Part 8 of 8)
• 0. Biographical Series with Matthew Parris (Part 8 of 8)
• 0. Biographical series with Matthew Parris. (Part 8 of 8)
• 0. 8: Sara Cox Nominates Hip Hop Artist and Rapper Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 3 of 9)
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 3 of 9)
• 0. 3: Mathematician Marcus Du Sautoy Chooses the Blind Argentinian Writer Borges
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 5 of 9)
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 5 of 9)
• 0. 4: Mathematician Marcus Du Sautoy Chooses the Blind Argentinian Writer Borges
• 0. 6: Isy Suttie Chooses Yorkshire-Born Singer Songwriter Jake Thackray
• 0. 5: Deborah Moggach on Arnold Bennett
• 0. 7: John Craven on Brunel
• 0. HG Wells
• 0. Sir Ernest Shackleton
• 0. 8: Soprano Emma Kirkby Discusses the Life of English Composer Henry Purcell
• 0. 7: John Craven Proposes Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel
• 0. Marshall McLuhan
• 0. Clement Attlee
• 0. Vivekananda
• 0. Vivekananda: 4 Extra Debut
• 0. King Hussein
• 0. Sir Donald Wolfit
• 0. George Eliot
• 0. Franz Schubert
• 0. Viscount Slim
• 0. 3: Actress Nina Wadia Chooses the Life of Indira Ghandi
• 0. Alexander the Great
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 4 of 8)
• 0. 3: Actor Ray Peacock Chooses the Life of Lenny Bruce
• 0. Louis Armstrong
• 0. 4: Ray Mears on Rommel
• 0. 3: Ray Peacock on Lenny Bruce
• 0. 5: Tom Shakespeare on Gramsci
• 0. Gracie Allen
• 0. 6: Labi Siffre on Arthur Ransome
• 0. 7: Stella Rimington on Dorothy L Sayers
• 0. Lord Byron
• 0. Tom Spring
• 0. 8: Lord Andrew Adonis on Joseph Bazalgette
• 0. 6: Singer-Songwriter Labi Siffre Chooses Author Arthur Ransome
• 0. 9: Professor Edith Hall on Lucille Ball
• 0. 8: Andrew Adonis on Joseph Bazalgette
• 0. 9: Prof Edith Hall on Lucille Ball
• 0. James Gillray
• 0. 1: Emil Zatopek
• 0. 2: Louisa M Alcott
• 0. Captain James Cook
• 0. 4: Roald Dahl
• 0. 3: Michael Young
• 0. Scott of the Antartic
• 0. 3: Lord Young of Dartington
• 0. Rachmaninov
• 0. Bob Marley
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 6 of 8)
• 0. 5: Richard III
• 0. 6: Guy Burgess
• 0. 7: Nora Ephron
• 0. GK Chesterson
• 0. 8: Risto Ryti
• 0. The Man in the Iron Mask
• 0. Flora Sandes
• 0. Tommy Cooper
• 0. 1: Learie Constantine
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 2 of 9)
• 0. Ian Dury
• 0. 2: Ottoline Morrell
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 2 of 9)
• 0. Mary Kingsley
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 4 of 9)
• 0. Tchaikovsky
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 4 of 9)
• 0. Tom Paine
• 0. 5: John Clare
• 0. Nelson
• 0. 6: Marlon Brando
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 7 of 9)
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 8 of 9)
• 0. 7: Us Ambassador Matthew Barzun on Jg Winant
• 0. 8: Pd James
• 0. Octavia Hill
• 0. 8: David Blunkett on Louis Braille
• 0. 9: Pd James
• 0. Joseph Banks
• 0. Gilbert and Sullivan
• 0. Robert FitzRoy
• 0. 1: Sir Edmund Hillary
• 0. 2: Vicky Pryce on Melina Mercouri
• 0. Edward Elgar
• 0. 3: Elizabeth I
• 0. Michael Collins
• 0. 4: George Washington Williams
• 0. 5: Richard Burton
• 0. 5: Richard Francis Burton
• 0. 6: Barbara Castle
• 0. Genghis Khan
• 0. 7: Thelonious Monk
• 0. George Sand
• 0. 8: Nick Stadlen on Bram Fischer
• 0. 9: Toyah Willcox on Katharine Hepburn
• 0. Duke of Wellington
• 0. Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
• 0. 2: Gertrude Jekyll
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 1 of 8)
• 0. Biographical series presented by Matthew Parris. (Part 1 of 8)
• 0. 3: James Baldwin
• 0. 4: Wangari Maathai
• 0. 1: Sir Leonard Hutton
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 5 of 8)
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 5 of 8)
• 0. 6: Molly Weir
• 0. Biographical series presented by Matthew Parris. (Part 5 of 8)
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 7 of 8)
• 0. Thomas Cromwell
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 7 of 8)
• 0. 5: Charles Sargeant Jagger
• 0. 8: Abraham Lincoln
• 0. Nevil Shute
• 0. Andrew Carnegie
• 0. Sigmund Freud
• 0. Ella Fitzgerald
• 0. Robin Hood
• 0. Johnny Weissmuller
• 0. Ignaz Semmelweis
• 0. Leon Trotsky
• 0. 1: Alfred Hitchcock
• 0. Nina Simone
• 0. 2: Lucrezia Borgia
• 0. WH Auden
• 0. Biographical series presented by Matthew Parris. (Part 3 of 9)
• 0. 3: Lenny Bruce
• 0. 5: Christine Granville
• 0. 4: Playwright Sudha Bhuchar Nominates Zohra Sehgal
• 0. 6: Richard the Lionheart
• 0. 7: Gordon Hamilton-Fairley
• 0. 9: Thomas Muir
• 0. Joe Strummer
• 0. Ernest Hemingway
• 0. Billie Holiday
• 0. 1: Gracie Fields
• 0. 2: Thomas Muir
• 0. Mata Hari
• 0. 3: Virginia Woolf
• 0. 4: Dag Hammarskjold
• 0. George Bernard Shaw
• 0. 5: Marshall Rosenberg
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 6 of 9)
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 6 of 9)
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 7 of 9)
• 0. 6: Maureen Lipman on Cicely Saunders
• 0. Sir Alec Issigonis
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 8 of 9)
• 0. 9: Chef Cyrus Todiwala Chooses Dadabhai Naoroji, the Grand Old Man of India, Who in 1892 Became Britain's First Asian MP
• 0. Biographical series presented by Matthew Parris. (Part 8 of 9)
• 0. John Cage
• 0. 8: Aa Gill on Arthur Neville Chamberlain
• 0. Lord Denning
• 0. Elizabeth David
• 0. George Washington
• 0. Thora Hird
• 0. George Cruikshank
• 0. 1: Cary Grant Made His Name From Bristol to Los Angeles
• 0. Hermann Buhl
• 0. 2: Sir Ben Kingsley on Elie Wiesel
• 0. 4: Helen Rollason
• 0. 5: Cs Lewis
• 0. Juan Manuel Fangio
• 0. 6: Srinivasa Ramanujan
• 0. Anna Ford nominates singer, actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson
• 0. Ian Curtis
• 0. 7: Len Goodman on Lionel Bart
• 0. 8: Chris Patten Nominates Pope John Xxiii as His Hero
• 0. Alan Freed
• 0. Henry VII
• 0. Field Marshal Slim
• 0. William Hogarth
• 0. Luciano Pavarotti
• 0. Billy Marsh
• 0. Beachcomber
• 0. 2: Dame Elizabeth Frink
• 0. 3: Ermonela Jaho on Mother Teresa
• 0. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• 0. 4: Anton Du Beke on Arnold Palmer
• 0. 5: Peaches Golding on Shirley Chisholm
• 0. Bette Davis
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 6 of 8)
• 0. 6: Steven Knight on Sitting Bull
• 0. 7: Emma of Normandy
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris.. (Part 9 of 9)
• 0. Thomas Beecham
• 0. Carl Jung
• 0. Roy Jenkins
• 0. Joe Slovo
• 0. 1: Maxine Peak on Ellen Wilkinson
• 0. 2: Stephen Fry on Pg Wodehouse
• 0. 1: Ellen Wilkinson
• 0. 3: Norman Lewis
• 0. Miriam Makeba
• 0. 4: Mary Anning
• 0. 3: Sathnam Sanghera on Alexander Gardner
• 0. 4: Norman Lewis
• 0. 5: Mary Anning
• 0. 6: Elsie Widdowson
• 0. 7: Muhammad Ali
• 0. 8: Constance Markievicz
• 0. Hannah Arendt
• 0. Biographical Series Presented by Matthew Parris (Part 9 of 9)
• 0. Nero
• 0. Agustin Barrios Mangore
• 0. Bill Hamilton
• 0. Bertolt Brecht
• 0. 2: Daniel O'connell
• 0. Matthew Parris Invites Guests to Tell Him About a Person That Has Inspired Them, Made Them Think or Influenced Them in Some Way.. (Part 5 of 9)
• 0. Matthew Parris Invites Guests to Tell Him About a Person That Has Inspired Them, Made Them Think or Influenced Them in Some Way.. (Part 4 of 9)
• 0. Arthur Wharton
• 0. Matthew Parris Presents the Biographical Series.. (Part 6 of 9)
• 0. 4: Gandhi
• 0. John Lennon
• 0. Matthew Parris Presents the Biographical Series (Part 6 of 9)
• 0. Matthew Parris Presents the Biographical Series.. (Part 7 of 9)
• 0. Matthew Parris presents the biographical series. (Part 6 of 9)
• 0. Matthew Parris Presents the Biographical Series (Part 7 of 9)
• 0. 6: Gisela Stuart on Joseph Chamberlain
• 0. Matthew Parris Presents the Biographical Series.. (Part 8 of 9)
• 0. 7: Herodotus
• 0. 8: Nikolas Tesla
• 0. Mary Carpenter
• 0. 8: Nikola Tesla
• 0. Simone Weil
• 0. Golda Meir
• 0. Michel de Montaigne
• 0. Malcolm McLaren
• 0. 1: Captain Beefheart
• 0. Samuel Beckett
• 0. Sammy Davis Jr
• 0. 3: Miles Davis
• 0. 2: Jayaben Desai
• 0. 5: Richard Feynman
• 0. 4: Audre Lorde
• 0. 6: Orson Welles
• 0. Thomas Edison
• 0. 8: Hedy Lamarr
• 0. 7: Mica Paris on Josephine Baker
• 0. Leonard Bernstein
• 0. Scott of the Antarctic
• 0. Harold Pinter
• 0. Kirsty MacColl
• 0. 1: David Bowie
• 0. Emily Dickinson
• 0. 2: Roald Amundsen
• 0. Eduardo Paolozzi
• 0. 3: Js Mill
• 0. 5: Alison Hargreaves
• 0. 5: Gene Kelly
• 0. 7: Cherie Blair on Dame Rose Heilbron
• 0. 8: Mark Carwardine on Douglas Adams
• 0. Ludwig Wittgenstein
• 0. Razia Sultana
• 0. Producer
• 0. Tim Smit on Humphrey Jennings, Film Maker
• 0. Sathnam Sanghera on Alexander Gardner
• 0. Matt Lucas on Freddie Mercury
• 0. Josephine Bonaparte
• 0. Walter Scott
• 0. Leonard Maguire
• 0. Juvenal
• 0. Karel Reisz
• 0. Edith Wharton
• 0. Gabriel Gbadamosi on Fela Kuti
• 0. Konnie Huq on Ada Lovelace
• 0. Alfred Russel Wallace Nominated by Bill Bailey
• 0. Henri Matisse
• 0. Patricia Highsmith
• 0. The Talented Mr Ripley Author, Patricia Highsmith
• 0. Maureen Lipman on Cicely Saunders
• 0. Maureen Lipman on Dame Cicely Saunders
• 0. Sir Ben Kingsley on Elie Wiesel
• 0. Maxine Peake on Ellen Wilkinson
• 0. Charlie Chaplin - Not Just Funny but a Political Rebel According to Mark Steel
• 0. Margaret Haig Thomas
• 0. Jim Moir on Captain Beefheart
• 0. Ayesha Hazarika on Jayaben Desai
• 0. Mark Carwardine on Douglas Adams
• 0. Adrian Utley of Portishead on Miles Davis
• 0. Professor Laura Serrant on Audre Lorde
• 0. Tej Lalvani on Richard Feynman
• 0. Simon Callow on Orson Welles
• 0. Mica Paris on Josephine Baker
• 0. Hanif Kureishi on David Bowie
• 0. Simon Evans on JS Mill
• 0. Patricia Greene on Bess of Hardwick
• 0. Helen Glover on Alison Hargreaves
• 0. Gene Kelly
• 0. Cherie Blair on Dame Rose Heilbron
• 0. Christina Lamb on Benazir Bhutto
• 0. Pioneer Girl Laura Ingalls Wilder Nominated by Superfan Samira Ahmed
• 0. Russell Kane on Evelyn Waugh
• 0. Tim Smit on Humphrey Jennings
• 0. Nikesh Shukla on the Undefeated Muslim Wrestler The Great Gama
• 0. Oliver Sacks Chosen by Fellow Neurologist Suzanne O'Sullivan
• 0. Colin Chapman, Creator of Lotus Cars
• 0. Andjoa Andoh on Zora Neale Hurston
• 0. Beatrix Potter
• 0. Max Miller
• 0. Robin Day
• 1. Russell Grant on Ivor Novello
• 1. Evelyn Glennie on Jacqueline du Pre
• 1. Gary Kemp on EW Godwin
• 1. Brian Cox on Lindsay Anderson
• 1. Ravi Shankar
• 1. Susie Dent on Thomas Mann
• 1. Noel Coward
• 1. Mother Teresa
• 2. Charles Bukowski
• 2. Chinua Achebe, Nigerian Novelist
• 2. Germaine Greer on Dame Elizabeth Frink
• 2. Dutch to Doddy
• 2. Stephen Fry on PG Wodehouse
• 2. Tom Hopkinson, Editor of Picture Post
• 2. Holly Walsh on BS Johnson
• 2. Stamford Raffles, Founder of Singapore and London Zoo
• 3. Prince Alamayu
• 3. Baroness Oona King on Ida B Wells
• 3. Alvin Hall Chooses James Baldwin
• 3. Sara Pascoe on Virginia Woolf
• 3. Black and British Pioneer Kenny Lynch
• 3. Ermonela Jaho on Mother Teresa
• 3. GBS to Godber
• 3. Daniel O'Connell
• 3. Johan Cruyff Picked by Pat Nevin
• 3. Bobby Seagull on Ravi Shankar
• 3. Sophie Scott on Hattie Jacques
• 4. Malcolm Lowry, Novelist, Nominated by Ian McMillan
• 4. David Livingstone
• 4. Marcus du Sautoy on Jorge Luis Borges
• 4. Ray Mears on Rommel
• 4. 27/04/2021
• 4. Ivor Cutler
• 4. Anton du Beke on Arnold Palmer
• 4. Don McCullin on Norman Lewis
• 4. Nazir Afzal on Gandhi
• 4. Sir John Timpson Picks Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw
• 4. 22/08/2023
• 4. Kate Raworth on Donella Meadows
• 4. Marie Curie
• 5. Conductor and composer Ferruccio Busoni
• 5. Tony Hawks on Marshall Rosenberg
• 5. Tracy Chevalier on Mary Anning
• 5. 04/05/2021
• 5. Jonathan Dimbleby on Harry Hopkins
• 5. Suzannah Lipscomb on CS Lewis
• 5. Peaches Golding on Shirley Chisholm
• 5. Hertha Ayrton
• 5. Rosalind Franklin Picked by Kate Bingham, Head of the UK Government's Vaccine Taskforce
• 5. 29/08/2023
• 5. Ludwig Koch
• 5. Burt Lancaster
• 6. Caroline Criado Perez on Jane Austen
• 6. Isy Suttie on Jake Thackray
• 6. 11/05/2021
• 6. Arlo Parks on Elliott Smith
• 6. Akram Khan on Srinivasa Ramanujan
• 6. Steven Knight on Sitting Bull
• 6. Helen Sharman on Elsie Widdowson
• 6. Gisela Stuart on Joseph Chamberlain
• 6. Romy Gill on Poet Amrita Pritam
• 6. Marvin Gaye
• 6. Ninette de Valois
• 7. Jeremy Deller on the Beatles' Manager Brian Epstein
• 7. Salvador Dali
• 7. 18/05/2021
• 7. Ben Miller on William Hazlitt
• 7. Len Goodman on Lionel Bart
• 7. Emma of Normandy
• 7. Nicholas Stern on Muhammad Ali
• 7. Justin Marozzi on Herodotus
• 7. George Lascelles, Seventh Earl of Harewood
• 7. Lady Eve Balfour
• 8. Shirley Collins on the Ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax
• 8. Brendan Barber on John Steinbeck
• 8. Lisa `Left Eye" Lopes
• 8. Emma Kirkby on Henry Purcell
• 8. 25/05/2021
• 8. The Surprise Lives of Great Lives
• 8. Rosie Millard on Edward III
• 8. Chris Patten on Pope John XXIII
• 8. Peter Williams, Founder of Jack Wills, on Steve Jobs
• 8. Andrea Catherwood on Constance Markievicz
• 8. Liza Tarbuck on Nikola Tesla
• 8. Astrid Lindgren
• 8. Chi-chi Nwanoku on Jessye Norman
• 9. Kamila Shamshie Chooses Asma Jahangir
• 9. Frank Turner on Joseph Grimaldi
• 9. Dadabhai Naoroji
• 9. Andy Kaufman
• 9. Helena Morrissey on Rachael Heyhoe Flint
• 9. Ethel Gumm (aka Judy Garland)
• 9. Bonnie Greer on the Morant Bay Women
• 9. 26/09/2023
• 9. Ken Loach on Gerrard Winstanley

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