Will Winston Churchill Be BBC’s Greatest Of 20th Century?

Nelson Mandela is the nearest competitor in the betting to the overall favourite Winston Churchill as the BBC begin their search for the greatest person of the 20th century.

The BBC Icons show kicks off on Tuesday night with the ‘Leaders’ category, before six other categories determine the 7 finalists in the search for the 20th century’s most important and influential figure.

Churchill is the 5/4 frontrunner with us to win the Leaders category with Mandela at 5/2.

Margaret Thatcher and Franklin D Roosevelt are up against the odds at 14/1 and 50/1 respectively.

The category winners are decided by a public vote and will be announced by The One Show each week, before a Grand Final in February.

Winston Churchill is the overall 5/4 favourite but Nelson Mandela has already been backed into 5/2 from 3/1. WW2 code breaker Alan Turning is 8/1, with 16/1 Muhammad Ali leading the candidates from the world of sport.

David Bowie at 33/1 is the most likely winner from the Entertainment world while Neil Armstrong is an 80/1 shot, 50 years on from becoming the first man to walk on the moon.

You can find our full BBC Icons market here.

*Prices correct at time of publication.