THE BBC has launched a new series to find out who is the greatest Briton of them all.

The top 100, featured in a BBC 2 countdown at the weekend, included the likes of James Cook, Margaret Thatcher and Alfred the Great - alongside modern-day celebrities such as Boy George, David Beckham and Robbie Williams.

Now the search is one to find out who is the greatest of all. Starting tonight, viewers will be asked to vote for their choice from the top ten revealed on Sunday night. It contains some obvious figures - William Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth I and Charles Darwin - alongside some less plausible candidates, such as Oliver Cromwell, John Lennon and Diana, Princess of Wales.

But is Diana really one of the greatest Britons of all time? And if not, who is?

Dorothy Dawson, 63, chair of York Conservative Supper Club and a keen public speaker

I tell you who I wouldn't have in the top 10, and that's Oliver Cromwell. The man who made England miserable. There was no dancing, no singing, no enjoyment really, because of his Puritan beliefs. I read a book which said when King Charles II came back to the throne there were bonfires lit, dancing in the streets, all the things people weren't allowed to do while he was in power.

I think that people loved Diana because she was trying to change the idea of royalty, to produce a more human and useful form of royalty, and also because of all her charity works. Look at the Aids charities. Until Diana took the lead people were frightened of it. They thought that if they touched anyone with Aids they would get it. She changed all that. And with the landmines, she did a marvellous job. So she deserves her place.

But my Greatest Briton would be Winston Churchill. I actually heard his wartime broadcasts although I was very young. I remember my grandfather's comments, and he used to say 'Winston says we're going to win this war, and if Winston says we're going to, we will.' At the time he did the broadcasts he himself didn't believe we would. We were in such dire straits. But he felt he must give the people hope. And he did give the people hope, and of course we did win. He was a man for his time.

Donna Hay, 42, romantic novelist from Rawcliffe

When I saw the tasters on TV about the Greatest Britons series I could never get my head around it. How can you judge one against the other? How can you judge a scientist from this century against somebody who was working in the fourteenth or fifteenth century? It's like trying to compare an apple with an orange.

Nice as she probably was, I'm surprised to see Diana up there. I'm probably swimming against the tide here, but... I'm not sure what she contributed. I don't think she should be up there.

As far as who I would want there, I really haven't a clue. I'm not sure it's even a worthwhile exercise. How can you compare someone from the twelfth century with someone from today? It seems bizarre and pointless. But I suppose they have got to use the licence money somehow. Heaven forbid they should use it to make good programmes.

Updated: 08:26 Tuesday, October 22, 2002