Last Word

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 resorts.

Interviewee: Emma Freud

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

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 in her home islands of Trinidad and Tobago

Interviewee: Tom Bower

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive Used:

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

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

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

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 wife Mary.

In this revealing special edition, Mike says his father was "constantly questioning himself" after joining the mainstream media and "didn't have as much self-confidence as he appears". He also tells of how despite going on to success at both Granada Television and ITV, Sir Michael harboured "an innate distrust of the establishment.

Presented by John Wilson

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 popular 1990s sitcom, One Foot in the Grave

Producer: Ed Prendeville

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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:

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

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Hitler's Stolen Art Collection (1945), British Pathe, War Archives, YouTube published 10/01/2012; EuroVision Song Contest 1962, BBC One, Introduction, 1963; Yvonne Littlewood interview, History of the BBC, 09/01/2015; Yvonne Littlewood interview, The History Project: Film, Television and Radio, historyproject.org.uk, 21/11/1991,; Yvonne Littlewood interview Tape 2, The History Project: Film, Television and Radio, historyproject.org.uk, 28/11/1991; The Val Doonican Show, BBC One, 09/06/1984; Edward Sexton – Master Tailor, Edward Sexton YouTube, uploaded 29/08/2014; Edward Sexton interview, The Rake Presents, The Rake, YouTube uploaded 04/03/2021;Edward Sexton interview, Midweek, BBC Radio 4, 26/11/2014; Edward Sexton – British Style Genius, BBC Four, repeated broadcast date 11/06/2008;

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 and manager Danny Bennett pays tribute.

Trevor Francis, the former England footballer who became Britain’s first £1million player when he joined Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest.

Interviewee: Sophie Raworth

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

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 the family biscuit making firm Huntley and Palmer before inheriting the 109 room Manderston House and estate in the Scottish borders.

Interviewee: Allen Packwood OBE

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Interviews with Lady Williams, all courtesy of the Churchill Archives Centre; An Interview with Lady Williams, HTB at Home, HTB.org, YouTube uploaded 18/04/2021; Winston Churchill speech, The Commonwealth Mourns Its King, BBC Radio, 14/04/1952; Warhorse (2011) Trailer, YouTube uploaded 04/10/2011; Huntley and Palmers Factory, Reading in the 1930s, Wessex Film and Sound Archive YouTube channel, uploaded 25/08/2011; Lord Palmer Interview, Front Row, BBC 13/02/2004; Lord Palmer interview, BBC Antiques Roadshow Series 28 Manderston, BBC One, 30/10/2005; Lord Palmer Interview, Posh people: Inside Tatler, BBC Two, 18/12/2014; Lord Palmer speech in House of Lords, Today at Parliament, BBC Radio 4, 24/03/2021;