Icons: The Greatest Person of the 20th Century

Icons: The Greatest Person of the 20th Century (also referred to as simply Icons) is a 2019 BBC television series, aired on BBC Two, which pits the greatest people of the 20th century against each other in a competition.

Premise
Each episode contains four 'icons' in a particular field, with a presenter or "advocate" leading the audience through each of the four choices. The audience then has one vote in which they can choose their favourite icon, who would go through to the final, or in the case of the final, be their winner.

Heat One – Leaders
Broadcast – 8 January 2019 Advocate – Sir Trevor McDonald

Heat Two – Explorers
Broadcast – 9 January 2019 Advocate – Dermot O'Leary

Heat Three – Scientists
Broadcast – 14 January 2019 Advocate – Chris Packham

Heat Four – Entertainers
Broadcast – 15 January 2019 Advocate – Kathleen Turner

Heat Five – Activists
Broadcast – 21 January 2019 Advocate – Sanjeev Bhaskar

Heat Six – Sports Stars
Broadcast – 22 January 2019 Advocate – Clare Balding

Heat Seven – Artists and Writers
Broadcast – 29 January 2019 Advocate – Lily Cole

Episode Eight – The Final
This episode was broadcast live from Indigo at The O2, hosted by Nick Robinson and Claudia Winkleman on 5 February 2019.

Controversy
The Icons series attracted controversy after some people were left unhappy with those selected to represent each category. The Entertainers category sparked particular debate through the omission of Elvis Presley, The Beatles, and Madonna, while Diana, Princess of Wales, and John F. Kennedy also received support.