Last Word

Pictured: Judith Krantz

Matthew Bannister on

Dr. Henry Lynch whose painstaking medical research revealed the causes of hereditary cancers.

Judith Krantz, the American author who made a huge commercial success from her sex and shopping novels.

Lord Patel, the Indian-born businessman who became a key figure in community relations in his adopted town of Blackburn.

Anthony Hedges, the British composer whose prolific output ranged from light music to symphonies and choral works.

Interviewed guest: Professor Patrick M Lynch

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Horizon, BBC Two 04/11/2000; Genetic Mutations as Causes of Cancer, Ecancer/Vimeo; Remembering Dr Henry Lynch, KETV NewsWatch 7 03/06/2019; Princess Daisy, directed by Waris Hussein, National Broadcasting Company/ Steve Krantz Productions 1983; Scruples, directed by Alan J. Levi, Lou Step Productions/Warner Bros. Television 1980; Judith Krantz, BBC Sound Archive 01/05/1979.

Pictured: Franco Zeffirelli

Matthew Bannister on

Franco Zeffirelli, the stage and film director known for his opulent designs and flamboyant personality.

Gloria Vanderbilt, the heiress who overcame personal tragedy and was the first to market designer jeans.

Mohamed Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected President, who was ousted from office after only a year.

Philomena Lynott, who ran a hotel frequented by rock stars and footballers and was the proud Mum of Thin Lizzy lead singer Phil Lynott.

Interviewed guest: Rupert Christiansen

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 07/01/1978; Romeo and Juliet, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Old Vic 1960; Romeo and Juliet, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Verona Produzione/ BHE Films /Dino de Laurentiis Cinematografica 1968; The Taming of the Shrew, directed by Franco Zeffirelli, Columbia Pictures, Royal Films International, F.A.I. 1967; Gloria Vanderbilt in Studio Q, Q on CBC 30/07/2012; The Love Boat, ABC 1977; The Risk Business, BBC One 22/04/1981; 2012 CGI Annual Meeting, Clinton Global Initiative; 15/10/2012; Analysis, Radio 4 06/10/2013; Outlook, BBC World Service 24/09/2012.

Pictured: John Tidmarsh

Matthew Bannister on

John Tidmarsh, who presented Outlook on the BBC World Service for thirty years and brought comfort to the Beirut hostages. John McCarthy pays tribute.

Sylvia Denman, the Barbados-born lawyer who campaigned for better race relations in the UK and fought to improve educational outcomes for young black people.

Paul Darrow, the actor best known as Avon, the anti-hero of the cult sci-fi TV show Blake's 7.

Sheila Turner, who campaigned for better treatment for patients who, like her, suffered from thyroid disorders.

And the mysterious singer Leon Redbone, who specialised in music from the Tin Pan Alley era of the 20s and 30s.

Interviewed guest: Bob Chaundy

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: Outlook, BBC World Service 27/07/1974; Outlook, BBC World Service 15/06/1978; BBC News 12/10/1960; Outlook, BBC World Service 04/07/1996; Newsnight, BBC Two 26/07/2001; Blake's 7, BBC One 25/02/1980; Blake's 7, BBC One 21/12/1981; Dr Who, BBC One 09/03/1985; Kaleidoscope Extra, Radio 4 22/05/1990.

Please refer to the following websites if you would like further information about thyroid disorders:

Pictured: Edward Seaga

Julian Worricker on:

The Jamaican politician, Edward Seaga, who led his country as prime minister throughout the 1980s

Binyavanga Wainaina, one of Kenya's most prominent writers and LGBTQ activists

The Vogue fashion editor and Manhattan socialite, Gloria Schiff

Archivist, Mary Stopes-Roe, daughter of the bouncing bomb developer Barnes Wallis

And the Grammy Award-winning, New Orleans born singer, Dr John.

Interviewed guest: David Katz

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: International Profile, Radio 4 20/11/1987; The World Tonight, Radio 4 17/12/1976; BBC Sound Archive, Jamaican Labour Party Victory 03/11/1980; One Day I Will Write About This Place by Binyavanga Wainaina, read by Freddy Macha, Radio 4 07/11/2011; HardTalk, BBC World Service 21/02/2014; Regional Extra, Radio 4 16/04/1968; Interview with Mary Stopes-Roe, University of Huddersfield Research 19/07/2013; The First Time With Dr John, 6 Music 22/01/2018.

Pictured: Nan Winton

Matthew Bannister on

Murray Gell-Mann, the American physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He coined the name "quarks" for the fundamental building blocks of matter.

Nan Winton, the first woman to read the TV news on the BBC. She faced discrimination in the male-dominated BBC newsroom.

James McCord, the CIA agent who was involved in the Bay of Pigs and the Watergate break in.

Gregory Gray, the Irish singer who went from boy band to cult musician.

Interviewed guest: Professor Geoffrey West

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips from: The Key To The Universe: The Search For The Laws Of Creation, BBC Two 27/01/1977; Horizon, BBC Two 25/07/1964; Panorama, BBC One 21/09/1959; Panorama, BBC One 09/03/1959; Arena, BBC Two 15/03/1997; U.S. Senate Select Committee On The Watergate Affair, BBC Sound Archive 18/05/1973; Watergate: Inside The Scandal That Took Down A Presidency, ABC News 17/06/2017.

Pictured: Judith Kerr

Matthew Bannister on

Niki Lauda, the fearless racing driver who survived a terrible crash to make a dramatic comeback on the track.

Judith Kerr, the author of much-loved children's books including the Mog series and The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

I.M. Pei, the architect best known for the glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris.

Herman Wouk, the American novelist and screenwriter who won the Pulitzer Prize for The Caine Mutiny.

Interviewed guest: Simon Taylor

Archive clips from: South African Grand Prix 1976, BBC Sound Archives; Rush, directed by Ron Howard, Working Title Films/Imagine Entertainment/Cross Creek Pictures/DNEG/Revolution Films/ Exclusive Media Group 2013; Hunt/Lauda, Radio 4 24/03/2013; The World At One, Radio 4 12/11/1981; BBC News, 28/05/1991; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 29/02/2004; When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, read by Rosemary Leach, Radio 4 Extra 02/10/2017; The 60 Minutes Interview: I.M. Pei, CBS News 1987; Readings by Herman Wouk, University of California TV 24/01/2008.

Pictured: Doris Day

Julian Worricker on:

One of Hollywood's top box-office stars of the 50s and 60s, actress and singer Doris Day.

The Labour MP who became one of television's most exhaustive political interviewers, Brian Walden.

Dorothy Rowe, one of the earliest figures in psychology to build a bridge between clinical practice and the general public.

And the paranormal investigator, Lorraine Warren, whose best-known case focused on the house at the centre of the film, The Amityville Horror.

Interviewed guest: David Benedict

Archive clips from: The Gloria Hunniford Show, Radio 2 10/02/1995; The Man Who Knew Too Much, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Paramount Pictures/Filwite Productions 1956; A Point of View, Radio 4 18/03/2005; Weekend World, Radio 4 09/05/1982; Today, Radio 4 13/05/2019; The Walden Interview, BBC London Weekend Television 29/10/1989; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 24/03/2002; The Successful Self by Dorothy Rowe read by Frances Jester, Radio 4 03/01/2007; The Amityville Horror, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, American International Pictures/Cinema 77/Professional Films 1979; The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, New Line Cinema/The Safran Company/Evergreen Media Group 2013.

Pictured: John Singleton

Andrea Catherwood on:

British Athlete Winnie Jordan who won a silver medal in the Empire Games in 1938 and became a celebrated British Champion after the war.

American psychiatrist and lawyer, Richard Green, who advanced acceptance and understanding of gay and trans people.

Founder of Poland's Solidarity movement, Karol Modzelewski.

Liz Howe, the ecologist who spearheaded a modern environmental Domesday book for Wales.

And John Singleton, US film director of the LA gang classic Boyz N the Hood.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Peter Tatchell

Archive from: Front Row, Radio 4, 25.10.2016

Pictured: Peter Mayhew

Matthew Bannister on

Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, who served with the Irish Guards during the war, liberated his own country and then presided over its prosperity.

Terry Rawlings, the film editor who worked on Alien, Chariots of Fire and the Bond film Goldeneye.

Neus Català, the Spanish communist who fought Franco, joined the French resistance and survived a Nazi death camp.

Heather Harper, the operatic soprano who was called up at the last minute to perform in the premiere of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem.

Peter Mayhew, the actor best known for playing Chewbacca in the original Star Wars films.

Interviewed guest: Patricia Treble

Archive clips from: Passing Out Parade: HRH Prince Jean of Luxembourg, BBC Sound Archive, 29/07/1943; Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions/Twentieth Century-Fox Productions 1979; Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, The Ladd Company/Shaw Brothers/Warner Bros./Blade Runner Partnership, 1982; Heather Harper: A Musical Portrait, BBC Two 30/08/1984; Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, directed by George Lucas, Lucasfilm/Twentieth Century Fox 1977.

Pictured: Lyra McKee

Matthew Bannister on

Lyra McKee, the 29 year old Northern Irish journalist who was shot dead by the New IRA.

Una-Mary Parker who was the social editor of Tatler, a commentator on the Royal family and the author of best-selling novels.

Mira Markovic, the wife of the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who denied her husband's responsibility for atrocities during the Bosnian war.

Doreen Spooner, the first woman to work as a staff photographer on a Fleet Street newspaper.

And Edward Kelsey, the actor who played Joe Grundy in The Archers for 34 years.

Interviewed guest: Sarah Kay

Archive clips from: BBC News, 24/04/2019; Stephen Nolan, 5 Live 19/04/2019; TEDxStormont Women, November 2017; Just A Nimmo: Gossip and Gossip Columnists, BBC Two 03/02/1977; Best Behaviour, Radio 4 25/09/1991; HARDtalk, BBC News 10/09/2001; BBC News 28/06/2001; The World Tonight, Radio 4 01/11/1996; Breakfast Time, BBC One 29/01/1988; PM, Radio 4 13/10/1986; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 15/02/1988; BBC News, 02/10/1983; The Archers, Radio 4 17/03/2015; Breakfast Time, BBC One 26/03/1985; The Archers, Radio 4 18/07/2018.