Last Word

Matthew Bannister on

Captain Don Walsh, the American submariner who made the first descent to the deepest place in the ocean – the Mariana Trench. His friend and fellow deep sea explorer Victor Vescovo relives the experience for us.

Dame A.S. Byatt, the author best known for her Booker Prize winning novel “Possession”.

Rosalynn Carter, the former First Lady of the USA.

Dr Finlay Macleod, the historian from the Isle of Lewis who fought to preserve the Gaelic language. Robert Macfarlane pays tribute.

Interviewee: Rebecca Morelle

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Rebecca Morelle interviews Don Walsh, BBC News, 23/02/2012, They Dived 7 Miles, British Pathe News Reels, 08/02/1960; Witness History : The world's deepest dive 11km down, BBC World Service, 01/03/2021; Don Walsh interview, Short CUts 18, The Descent, BBC Radio 4, 05/03/2019;

Matthew Bannister on Peter Betts, who was the UK’s lead negotiator at international climate change summits.

Audrey Salkeld, the mountaineering historian best known for her work on the ill-fated Mallory and Irvine expedition.

Heather Rogers KC, the lawyer who championed freedom of speech in many high profile cases

Louise Meriwether, the author and journalist whose acclaimed novel “Daddy was a Number Runner” told the story of her childhood during the depression in Harlem.

Interviewee: Fiona MacGregor

Reading extract by: Susan Abebe

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

News report following 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen, BBC News, 12/19/2009; News report, The Paris Agreement, UN Climate Change Conference (COP21), BBC News, 13/12/2015; Pete Betts interview, 194: Making a Difference, Outrage + Optimism podcast, Outrage + Optimism Ltd, uploaded 30/03/2023; Spycatcher ruling, Newsnight, BBC Two, 13/10/1988; David Irving, HardTalk, BBC News, 28/04/2000; Denial - official movie promo, IMDB, uploaded 2016; Louise Meriwether Lecture, Lectures to the Black Experience in the Arts course, University of Connecticut 14/03/1972;

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 first modern bungee jump wearing top hat and tails and carrying a bottle of champagne.

Interviewee: Fred Haise

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Apollo 13 official movie trailer , Universal Pictures, Universal Pictures All-Access YouTube channel, uploaded 12/04/2011; Ken Mattingly interview, NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project, Thomas K. Mattingly II, interviewed by Rebecca Wright, Costa Mesa, California, 06/11/2001; NASA’s Look at 50 Years of Apollo, NASA, YouTube channel uploaded 13/04/2020; Apollo 13, CBS News Coverage of Apollo 13, 17/04/1970; Apollo 13 re-entry, BBC One, Cliff Michelmore, James Burke, Geoffery Pardoe and Patrick Moore, BBC, 17/04/1970; Anne Wright interview, Witness History, The End of British Rule in India 22/07/2014; Mary Tiny Gallacher interview, Rangers Retro , Tiny's Team, Rangers Football Club Official YouTube Channel, uploaded 25/10/2023;

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 “Friends”.

Interviewee: Ariadne Birnberg

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

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.

Interviewee: Conor O'Clery

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Secret Billionaire: The Chuck Feeney Story, RTE Factual, YouTube, Atlantic Phil, Uploaded 05/06/2010; Chuck Feeney, Founding Chairman of The Atlantic Philanthropies, on Empathy, YouTube, Atlantic Phil, Uploaded 13/04/2011; Discovery with Jill Neville, BBC World Service, 01/06/1988; Adoption – The Right To Know, interview with Florence Fisher, Harvard University, 01/06/1990; Adoption records unsealed, News 8, News report, Wish-TV Indiana, YouTube uploaded 05/07/2018;

Kirsty Lang on

The talented young scientist Kirsty Smitten who did pioneering work developing a new generation of antibiotics.

The architect Beverly Willis who devoted much of her career to promoting her female peers.

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 torture.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

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 memories of working with him.

Interviewee: Sir Richard Eyre

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Gita Mehta interview with Charlie Rose: The complexity and diversity of India, Charlie Rose website, 12/05/1997; Paperbacks: Gita Mehta interview about her book Karma Cola, BBC One, 29/04/1981; Gita Mehta documentary, Dateline Bangladesh, 18/12/2014; Gita Mehta interview, Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 4, 02/07/1990; News report: Falcone killed in bomb explosion, BBC News, 23/05/1992; News report: Anti-Mafia Judge murdered, BBC News, 19/07/1992; Matteo Messina Denaro arrested, The World Tonight, Radio 4, 16/01/2023; Ken Barlow Finds Out About Deidre’s Affair, Coronation Street YouTube channel, uploaded 21/01/2015; Hilda Ogden unveils her new "muriel " , Coronation Street, 1976; Rovers Return scene, Coronation Street, 11/09/1978; Reg’s Waterbed Floods His Apartment, Coronation Street YouTube Channel, uploaded 30 May 2017; Brass opening scene, ITV, 21/02/1983; Ken gives Raquel French Lessons , Coronation Street Facebook page, uploaded 19/08/2020;

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 light on the effects of climate change.

Interviewee: Zak Ové

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Horace Ové interview Galeforce Television, YouTube uploaded 04/10/2010; Horace Ové interview, Caribbean Links, BBC Radio 4, 03/02/1984; Reggae, Review, BBC Two, 26/03/1971; Horace Ové interview, Newsnight, BBC Two, 02/02/1982; Pressure: Discussion Panel, The Derek Jarman Lab, uploaded 21/05/2021; Play for Today: A Hole in Babylon, BBC One, 29/11/1979; Contaminated Blood Inquiry, Today, Radio 4, 24/09/2018; Contaminated Blood Scandal, BBC News, 17/08/2022; Roger Whittaker interview, BBC Radio 2, 01/01/2000.