Last Word

Matthew Bannister on

Producer: Catherine Powell

John Wilson on

Richard Taylor, who became a tireless campaigner against knife crime and supported disadvantaged young people.

Lisa Lane, the chess champion who was the first player to feature on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Rose Dugdale, the English heiress and debutante who went onto join the IRA.

Ian Green, the Scottish folk music champion who started the record label Greentrax.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

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In this special edition of Last Word, John Boyega pays tribute to campaigner Richard Taylor, the father of Damilola Taylor who was killed 24 years ago.

Richard Taylor - a Nigerian civil servant - dedicated years to improving the lives of disadvantaged children in the wake of his son's death via the Damilola Taylor Trust. Mr Taylor said he wanted his son to be remembered as a boy of hope and for his legacy to be a better life and opportunities for underprivileged young people.

Boyega - best known for his roles in Star Wars sequel movies – was schoolfriends with Damilola Taylor in South London, as well as being a beneficiary of the Trust set up in his friend’s name.

John was one of the last people to see him alive. Until now he had never spoken about that night, or the impact the death of Damilola has had on him.

Presented by John Wilson

Matthew Bannister on

Interviewee: Melvin Benn

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

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Matthew Bannister on

Audrey Adams who became a tireless campaigner for the rights of black people after her son was stabbed to death in a racist attack.

Nicola Trahan, who joined the French Resistance as a teenager and was later awarded the Croix de Guerre.

Edward Bond, the controversial playwright who played a key role in the abolition of censorship in British theatre.

The singer and songwriter Eric Carmen whose biggest hit “All By Myself” was based on a Rachmaninov piano concerto.

Interviewee: Lord Simon Woolley

Producer: Ed Prendeville

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Iris Apfel the colourful fashion and interior designer whose own dress sense made an impact until her death aged 102.

Dr Colin Murray Parkes, the psychiatrist once described as “the David Attenborough of the bereavement world.”

Baroness Henig, the deputy House of Lords Speaker who was a historian and expert on the security industry.

Jim Lawrence who became skipper of a Thames sailing barge aged eighteen and went on to set up a successful sail making business in Essex.

Interviewee: Dame Zandra Rhodes

Producer: Catherine Powell

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John Wilson on the celebrated sculptor Nicholas Dimbleby, responsible for numerous well known commissions around the country.

Lord Patrick Cormack the politician, historian and prolific author.

Wendy Mitchell, the author and blogger who was diagnosed with young onset dementia and worked tirelessly to help improve the understanding of the condition.

Eleanor Fazan, the theatre director, choreographer and actor. Her career spanned almost 70 years and saw her working with some of the biggest names in the business.

Archive Details

Archive used:. “Wogan” BBC 1 10/12/1986. BBC Midlands Today News 13/7/2011. BBC News West 09/09/1999.

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Alexei Navalny, the anti-corruption campaigner and leading opponent of President Vladimir Putin, who has died in a Russian state prison.

Dr Brooke Ellison, an American academic and disabilities rights advocate who drew on her own experience of living with quadriplegia.

Gertrude Wright, who survived the bombing of her German home city during World War Two and went on to become a translator for Field Marshall Montgomery.

And Steve Brown, the music composer who worked on comedy productions such as Alan Partridge, Spitting Image, Dead Ringers and many more productions. Steve Coogan and Harry Hill pay tribute.

Interviewee: Nikolai Petrov

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

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The much-loved Radio 1 and 2 DJ Steve Wright. We have a tribute from his former colleague Simon Mayo.

Baroness Flather, who was the first Asian woman to sit in the House of Lords.

Alan Mills, the Wimbledon tennis referee who had to deal with tantrums on court.

Angela Peberdy, the train announcer known as “the golden voice of British Rail”.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive Used

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Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue who overcame a traumatic childhood to become one of Australia’s leading campaigners for the rights of indigenous people.

Ian Lavender, the actor best known for playing Private Pike in Dad’s Army.

Robie Harris, whose book explaining sex to children made her one of America’s most banned authors.

Barry John, the Welsh and British and Irish Lions fly-half known simply as “The King”.

Interviewee: Stuart Rintoul

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Dr O’Donoghue speaking at the Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Conference 2016, Lowitja Institute International, YouTube upload 07/09/2023; Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue, Australian Biography Series 3, Film Australia Collection 1994, Director & Producer Frank Heimans, YouTube upload 01/06/2021; Native Title Act News Report, BBC News, BBC One, 22/12/1993 Barry John: The King, BBC One Wales, 08/032013; Barry John, Scotland v Wales, Five Nations, BBC One, 1971; Barry John, Cardiff v Wales, BBC One Wales, 1969; Barry John playing for Lions v New Zealand, BBC One Wales, 22/03/2013; Barry John, Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 12/12/1978; Robie Harris On Kids' Right To Read, National Coalition Against Censorship, YouTube, 01/02/2014; Robie Harris on KidLit TV, 07/11/2014; Ian Lavender, Celebrity MasterMind, BBC One, 01/01/2009; , Dad's Army: Series 5, Asleep in the Deep, BBC One, 04/01/1977; Dads Army, Battle of the Giants!, BBC One, 26/08/1972; Dads Army, The Deadly Attachment, 31/10/1973; Ian Lavender interview, Today, BBC Radio 4, 14/11/2022; Ian Lavender interview, 5’s Company, 1997, Freemantle, YouTube upload 24/08/2018