Excellent, balanced biography of an interesting but complicated actor. The life and times of Peter Sellers exposes the price of being a genius bordering on schizophrenia. I would heartily recommend this broadcast for all of those diehard Seller's fans.

Genius! Have you not heard this yet? I demand to speak with the person in charge.

Comprehensive and intelligent, "Independent Minds: Peter Sellers" is nevertheless unerringly funny, with plenty of primary source Sellers that's quite impossible not to laugh out loud at.

Everybody of a certain age remembers the moment he was sold on Sellers (mine when he, impossibly, embodied Jerzy Kosinski's literary Chance in Being There). But it must be only comedic polymaths who can blithely trace Seller's remarkably broad and lengthy oeuvre (myself never really into the Pinks), so, even for devoted fans, there's something to learn here. There's enough of The Man to satisfy inquiring minds without slighting The Art, and plenty of contemporary stars paying homage to Sellers to provoke curiosity in younger listeners.

"Independent Minds: Peter Sellers" could be advantageously slotted next to Fresh Air, or in place of a repeat show. It's a formidable enough presentation that PDs should consider scheduling an encore airing, for devoted fanatics – and the word-of-mouth the show is sure to provoke.

My wife and I grew up in Glasgow and like many of the interviewees were entranced by Peter Sellers Comedic Art. We are familiar with much of his work, the Goon Shows; I'm All Right Jack, Dr Strangelove, the Inspector Clouseau movies and Being There. There were a number of other movies we'd forgotten about or had never seen and, of course, all those great records that Peter Sellers made from about 1963, ‘Goodness Gracious Me!’ We never liked much of Monty Python's Flying Cir-cuss! Too many of the sketches are trying too hard. Yet we have been listening to recorded Goon Shows for 12 years and thoroughly enjoying some of the movies for 30 years. For us, this program was very special because of the subject. There’s nothing as biting as British humor and Peter Sellers was one of its best practitioners. How about a program about ‘Yes Minister’ and ‘Yes Prime Minister’ It’s hilariously topical and even more satirical.

Peter Sellers! What an amazing guy, an actor of otherwordly presence and flexibility with a sharp comedic mind. But he was a troubled soul and regarded himself as not much more than an empty shell that the well-defined characters he played could manipulate at will. We learn all about him here through a cast of modern celebrities and comedic types who fawn over the late great genius. I would have read this script on a scribbled piece of crumpled notebook paper -- instead, it unfolds in a beautifully paced radio piece that never falters through the hour. Great clips of Sellers, fine narration. Highest marks!