A brush with greatness

It’s April 1978, Stan Peskett’s warehouse party in New York, and a street guy wants to do some graffiti

It’s October 2007, in a cosy flat in Kensington, and the first female prime minister of a Muslim country is determined to return home to fight for democracy

It’s 1995, Peter Sellers is dead, Michael Bentine is dying, Spike Milligan says no but one Goon steps into the breach, recalls Roy Bainton

It’s 1990, the South African icon is free at last, and Michael Odell, an intrepid young journalist buttonholes him backstage at Wembley Stadium

It’s September 2009, Bestival on the Isle of Wight, and massive electro fan John Rutledge from Goldie Lookin Chain is joined by some well-mannered men wearing braces…

It’s 1967, and David Montgomery, a terrified young American photographer, is commissioned to shoot our monarch at home

A chance encounter in a restaurant in Bath with Van the Man leads to a bizarre series of events for one fan, recalls Jon Bewley

It’s April 1997, west Wales, and a well-read old man with a shock of white hair wants to tell Steve Dubé about a dear old friend

It’s just before Christmas 2003, Somerset House has installed an ice rink in the courtyard and Peter Stanford is learning his limitations with the silver blades

It’s 2014, there are serious matters to discuss, everything from Monica Lewinsky to Benghazi, but the former presidential candidate has something to say first…

It’s 1974, and a young Caroline Boucher is in Los Angeles to meet scary legend Don Van Vliet…