Matthew Bannister on Ken Mattingly, the astronaut who missed flying into space on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission because he had been exposed to German measles. We have a tribute from Fred Haise who did take part in that hazardous flight. Anne Wright, who devoted her life to conserving the wild animals of India. Mary “Tiny” Gallacher who worked behind the scenes at Rangers Football Club in Glasgow for over 50 years. David Kirke, the co-founder of the Dangerous Sports Club who took part in the...

Matthew Bannister on Benedict Birnberg, the radical lawyer who fought the cases of the far-left Angry Brigade and the Mangrove Nine and got the murder conviction of Derek Bentley quashed. Professor Jose Harris, the historian best known for her acclaimed biography of William Beveridge. Field Marshall Muthoni Wa Kirima, the last Mau Mau fighter to lay down her arms after the rebellion against British rule in Kenya. Matthew Perry, the actor best known for playing Chandler Bing in the TV sitcom...

Matthew Bannister on Sir Bobby Charlton, who is hailed as England’s greatest ever footballer. Dr. Evelyn Fox Keller, who explored the effects of gender on the study of science. Julian Bahula, the South African musician and anti- apartheid activist And Haydn Gwynne, the versatile actor known for her roles in Billy Elliott and The Audience on stage and The Windsors and Drop the Dead Donkey on screen. Andy Hamilton pays tribute. Producer: Ed Prendeville

Kirsty Lang on Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney, the secret billionaire who gave most of his money away to good causes. Phyllis ‘Pippa’ Latour, the fearless secret agent who was parachuted into Nazi occupied Normandy a month before D-Day. Florence Fisher, who was adopted as a child and later led a movement to help millions of others find their birth parents. Dr Nicholas Arnold, one of the world’s leading experts on reptiles. Interviewee: Conor O'Clery Interviewee: Clare Mulley...

Kirsty Lang on The talented young scientist Kirsty Smitten who did pioneering work developing a new generation of antibiotics. Singer Kat Anderson who made pop history with Motown’s first Number One hit: Please Mr Postman. The architect Beverly Willis who devoted much of her career to promoting her female peers. Tony Wade who helped built Britain’s first black owned multi-million-pound business selling hair and beauty products to Afro Caribbean women. Producer: Ed Prendeville

Matthew Bannister on the acclaimed actor Sir Michael Gambon. His son Fergus reveals his love of cars, antique firearms – and lying to journalists. The peace campaigner Pat Arrowsmith, who went to prison a number of times for direct action protests. Treleven Haysom, the stone mason who devoted his life to working, quarrying and telling the history of Purbeck stone. Dianne Feinstein, the US Senator who campaigned for women’s rights and gun control and revealed the CIA’s use of...

Matthew Bannister on Gita Mehta, the author who set out to reveal the truth about India to the West. Her friend the theatre director Sir Richard Eyre pays tribute. Matteo Messina Denaro, the Italian mafia boss who boasted he could “fill a cemetery” with his murder victims. Irma Brenman Pick, the psychoanalyst who investigated the emotional reactions between patient and therapist. John Stevenson, who wrote some of the best loved episodes of Coronation Street. Sally Wainwright shares her...

Matthew Bannister on Sir Horace Ové, the director whose films told stories of the experiences of black people in Britain. Su Gorman, who campaigned for justice for the victims of the contaminated blood scandal, after her own husband was infected with hepatitis C. Roger Whittaker, the singer best known for his hits Durham Town and The Last Farewell, and his skill at whistling. Jean Combes, the naturalist whose meticulous records of the moment when trees came into leaf in the spring cast...

Matthew Bannister on Mike Yarwood, whose impressions of famous people made him one of TV’s biggest stars in the 1970s and 80s. Ada Deer, the Native American campaigner who became head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under President Clinton. Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, the embryologist who led the team that created Dolly the Sheep – the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. Dorothy Purdew, who left school at fourteen but went on to build up the Champneys chain of health farms and spa...

Matthew Bannister on Mohamed Al-Fayed, the controversial businessman who owned Harrods department store and Fulham Football Club. His son Dodi died in the car crash that killed Princess Diana. Dorothy Goodman, the educationalist who helped to found the consumer affairs magazine that became known as “Which?”. Professor Anthony Bryceson, the tropical medicine expert who was kidnapped by guerrilla forces in Laos. Denyse Plummer, the singer who overcame prejudice to be crowned Calypso Monarch...

Matthew Bannister on: Julian Haviland who was political editor at ITN and then the Times, covering key events at Westminster in the 1970s and 80s. Johaar Mosaval, the South African dancer who overcame racial prejudice to fulfil his dream of becoming a ballet star. Tricia Tyler, who edited the Nursing Times. Matyelok Gibbs, the actor and director who secured the future of London’s famous Unicorn Children’s Theatre. Interviewee: Philip Webster Interviewee: Sharon Paulson Interviewee:...

John Wilson on: The journalist and broadcaster who became synonymous with the British chat show, Sir Michael Parkinson. Italian soprano Renata Scotto, one of the biggest stars of opera in the 1960s and 70s John Brierly, the author of bestselling guidebooks to the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route The teacher, anthropologist and communist Isobel Crook who lived and worked in China for most of her life. Producer: Ed Prendeville Archive used Isabel Crook: We belonged and this is why we...

Sir Michael Parkinson was a journalist, broadcaster, and arguably Britain’s greatest television chat show host. During a TV career than spanned six decades, Parky interviewed hundreds of the world's most famous stars. Sir Michael died on 16th August 2023. For Last Word, John Wilson talks to Sir Michael's son Mike about his father's life and career. Starting with his upbringing in a council house in Cudworth, near Barnsley, discussing his relationship with his parents, and later with his...

Kirsty Lang on: Nick Kaiser, an internationally renowned British scientist who reached not just for the stars but the entire cosmos.... A gallerist who championed British contemporary art: Angela Flowers opened her first exhibition space in a Soho attic in 1970 A fixture of Scottish cultural life, the legendary broadcaster Robbie Shepherd, who presented BBC Scotland’s Dance music programme, Take the Floor, for 35 years The actress, Doreen Mantle - best remembered for her role in the...

Kirsty Lang on: Sir Michael Boyd, the former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Jess Search, the fearless documentary producer who backed award winning but controversial films others feared to touch. Warren Ford, the tea consultant and buyer who devised the well-known Yorkshire blend. Leny Andrade, the Brazilian bossa nova and jazz singer. Producer: Ed Prendeville Archive used: Stark Talk, BBC, 02 Dec 2007; Front Row, BBC, 25 Jul 2002; Charlie Rose,...

Kirsty Lang on: Richard Barancik, the last known surviving member of a World War II allied unit - The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section - known as the Monuments Men and Women. Yvonne Littlewood MBE, the first woman to become a television producer and director in the BBC Light Entertainment unit. Edward Sexton, the Saville Row master tailor. And Dr Christian Carritt who set up her own GP practice in 1950s London. Interviewee: Robert Edsel Interviewee: Cathy...

John Wilson on George Alagiah, the BBC Journalist and Presenter is remembered by his colleagues Sophie Raworth and John Simpson. Sinead O’Connor, the Irish singer who won worldwide fame with Nothing Compares 2 U. Ann Clwyd, the former Labour Member of Parliament who held frontbench posts in opposition, and campaigned on behalf of Welsh miners and Iraqi Kurds. Tony Bennett, the consummate crooner who sold 50 million records with hits including I Left My Heart In San Francisco. His son...

Matthew Bannister on Lady Williams of Elvel, who, as Jane Portal, was personal secretary to Winston Churchill and the mother of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Professor John Goodenough, the American materials chemist who won the Nobel prize for his work on developing the rechargeable lithium battery. Christine Baker, the publisher who specialised in making British children’s books available in France. Sir Michael Morpurgo pays tribute. Lord Palmer, the aristocrat who worked in...

Matthew Bannister on Malcolm Mowbray, the British film director best known for making “A Private Function” - the comedy about wartime rationing starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. The film’s writer Alan Bennett pays tribute. Victoria Amelina, the Ukrainian novelist and war crimes researcher who was killed in a missile strike in Kramatorsk. Roger Lovegrove, the ornithologist who played a leading role in re-introducing red kites to the UK. Mavis Cheek, who wrote humorous novels about...

Matthew Bannister on Dame Ann Leslie, the journalist who reported on some of the most significant events of recent times. Lord Kerslake, who was Head of the Civil Service under the coalition government. Diane Rowe, the table tennis champion who won the world doubles title with her twin sister Rosalind. Tim Blackmore, the radio executive who produced the first Radio 1 breakfast show and pioneered independent production in the industry. Interviewee: Lindsey Hilsum Interviewee: Lord...

Matthew Bannister on Baroness McDonagh Margaret McDonagh was the youngest person and the first woman to become General Secretary of the Labour Party. She was a key player in the New Labour project that helped the party win a landslide in 1997 and two subsequent terms in office. Margaret McDonagh was born in Mitcham in South London where her mother worked as a psychiatric nurse and her father was a building worker. Born: 26 June 1961. Died: 24 June 2023. Age: 61 Craig Brown Scotland’s...

Matthew Bannister on Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers, revealing the US government’s secret approach to the Vietnam War. Glenda Jackson, the Oscar winning actor and Labour MP Melanie Phillips, who helped to change embedded racial prejudice in the social work system Sir Ben Helfgott, who survived the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps and went on to become captain of Britain’s Olympic weightlifting team Producer: Ed Prendeville Interviewee: Robert...

John Wilson on Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's flamboyant and controversial media mogul and four-time Prime Minister. Kathryn Harries, The soprano sang in more than 60 major operatic roles and raised millions of pounds by doing sponsored charity walks. Francoise Gilot, A celebrated painter and printmaker whose career spanned 8 decades. She was also known for a turbulent relationship with Pablo Picasso, with whom she had two children, Claude and Paloma. Cormac McCarthy, Author who wrote 12...

Matthew Bannister on Mel Parry, the SAS veteran who was part of the team that stormed the Iranian embassy in London in 1980. Professor Alice Coleman, the geographer whose modifications to modernist high rise estates won the support of Margaret Thatcher. Hugh Callaghan, the labourer who was one of six men arrested after the Birmingham pub bombings of 1974. He served 16 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Cynthia Weil, the American songwriter behind hits like The Righteous...

Matthew Bannister on Jeremy Clarke, who chronicled his experiences of living a “low life” in the Spectator magazine for more than 20 years. We have a tribute from Eric Idle. The women’s rights campaigner Dr. Moira Woods, who set up the Irish Republic’s first dedicated sexual assault treatment unit. Iain Johnstone, the film critic and documentary maker who told the stories of stars like Dustin Hoffman, Barbra Streisand and John Wayne. Rita Lee, the singer known as Brazil’s “Queen of...