Matthew Bannister on

Hannah Deacon who ran a successful campaign to allow her son – and many others – to be treated with cannabis after he was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy.

Andrew Norfolk, the journalist who exposed the Rotherham grooming gang scandal.

Dame June Clark, the President of the Royal College of Nursing who argued for more education to increase the skills of the nursing profession.

Martin Graham the businessman who built his own opera house in the Cotswolds so he could stage Wagner’s Ring Cycle.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive used:

Matthew Bannister on:

Sir Tom Farmer, the Edinburgh born businessman who built up the tyre and exhaust company Kwik Fit.

Elaine Wynn, who worked with her husband Steve to create a casino empire in Las Vegas.

Sue Stapely, who transformed the way the legal profession communicates with the public and the media.

Joseph Nye, the American political analyst who came up with the concept of “soft power” in international relations

Interviewee: Michael Welch

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Tom Farmer interview, Workwise Scotland, BBC Scotland, 03/02/1989; Tom Farmer, The House I Grew Up In, BBC Radio 4, 06/08/2008; Tom Farmer, First Light, BBC One, 22/11/2016; Joseph Nye On Soft Power, Foreign Policy Association, YouTube 22.02.2016; "Soft power" explained by the man who coined it, Council on Foreign Relations, uploaded to YouTube 09/05/2025; Joseph Nye on "The Future of Power", Harvard University, Centre for Public Leadership, uploaded to YouTube 04/02/2011; Doctor Who, Season 6, Episode 6, The Invasion, by Derrick Sherwin, Director: Douglas Camfied, BBC Television, 07/12/1968; An Interview with Sue Stapely, Fantom Films and Alex Moore, YouTube, uploaded 22/09/2021; PM, BBC, Radio 4, 31/03/1998; Coronation Street, Director: Michael Kerrigan, written by Tony Warren, Granada Television, ITV, 1998; The Archers, Omnibus Edition, BBC Radio 4, 21/07/1985; Mirage Resort Opens, 8 News Now, KLAS-TV, YouTube 13/07/2013; Elaine Wynn interview, KTVN Channel 13, YouTube, 03/11/2015; The Mirage Volcano erupts, 8 News Now - Las Vegas, YouTube 17/07/2024; Musings with Elaine Wynn, TheLifeYouCanSave.org, YouTube uploaded 27/09/2023;

Kirsty Lang on

The author Jane Gardam, whose works included The Queen of the Tambourine and Old Filth.

Sir Roger Birch, the former Chief Constable of Sussex Police who oversaw the investigation following the IRAs' Brighton bomb attack in 1984.

Mike Peters, the lead singer of the band The Alarm, whose own battle with cancer saw him become a campaigner and fundraiser for cancer treatment.

Professor Francoise Hampson, a lawyer who specialised in human rights in conflict zones.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive:

Matthew Bannister on

Virginia Giuffre, who waived her anonymity to accuse the billionaire Jeffrey Epstein and his friend Ghislaine Maxwell of sex abuse and trafficking.

Rosy Bremer, a leading campaigner against nuclear weapons at the women’s protest at Greenham Common airbase.

LJ Smith, author of the best-selling “Vampire Diaries” series of novels

And the influential folk and blues guitarist Wizz Jones. His friend Ralph McTell pays tribute.

If you have been affected by the issues reflected in tthis programme, you can visit https://www.bbc.co.uk/actionline

Interviewee: Sean Coughlan

Archive used:

Matthew Bannister on

Pope Francis, the first Latin American Pope who was noted for his humility and modest lifestyle.

Paddy Higson, the TV and film producer once described as “the mother of the Scottish film industry”. Jed Mercurio and Clare Grogan pay tribute.

And David Sassoon, the fashion designer who dressed royalty and film stars. Dame Zandra Rhodes tells us about his life.

Interviewee: David Willey

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Pope Francis, St Peter's Basilica, Vatican, BBC News, 25/04/2025; Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio appears on balcony of St Peter's Basilica addressing large crowd after being elected Pope Francis, BBC News, 13/03/2013; Pope Francis visits Lesbos, Greece, BBC News, 05/12/2021; Pope Francis speech, BBC Parliament, 25/09/2015; Pope Francis Speech, BBC News, 29/07/2013; Pope Francis Speech, 21/04/2025; Pope Francis speech, BBC News, 24/04/2025; Gregory's Girl, Film Promo, Director: David Forsyth;, 1981; Paddy Higson interview, Singular Scots, BBC Radio 4, 05/09/1991; That Sinking Feeling, Film Promo, Director: Bill Forsyth, 1979; Cardiac Arrest, Series 1, Promo, BBC ONE, 21/04/1994;

Matthew Bannister on

Anne Scargill, who founded the Women Against Pit Closures group when her husband Arthur was leading the Miners Strike of the 1980s. The actor Maxine Peake pays tribute.

Ronnie Appleton who was Chief Crown Prosecutor for Northern Ireland during the height of the troubles.

Cecil Wright, the Jamaican born cricketer who made his mark playing alongside some of his countrymen in the Lancashire league.

Mario Vargas Llosa, the Nobel prize winning novelist who was a candidate for the Presidency of his native Peru.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive:

Matthew Bannister on

Lord Kalms, who turned his family’s camera shop into the multi-million-pound Dixons electronics chain.

Melissa Llewellyn-Davies, the anthropologist who made an acclaimed TV series about Kenya’s Masai tribe before turning her camera on the UK.

Rex Cowan, the lawyer who changed career to become one of the world’s most successful shipwreck hunters.

Wilma Finlay, who worked with her husband David to introduce what they saw as more ethical animal husbandry on their farm in the Scottish borders.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

**In this episode we mistakenly referred to the town of Forres being in Aberdeenshire. Forres is located in Moray

Archive: On Your Farm, “The Ethical Dairy”, BBC Radio 4, Interviewer Caz Graham, 03/02/2019; Escape to the Country, Series 21, Dumfries & Galloway, BBC One, Presenter Sonali Shah, 25/05/2021; Children Calling Home, BBC, 25/12/1942; Escape to Fulfilment, Rex Cowan: Wreck Hunter, BBC, 02/09/1971; BBC News, 10/04/1972; Retail Week Legends, 28/07/2016; Desert Island Discs, Sir Stanley Kalms, BBC Radio 4, 01/07/2001; Dixons Advert, ITV, late 1970s; BBC News, 22/11/1986; London Plus – Broadwater Farm Riot, BBC News Archive; Nurses: The Team on B6, BBC; Diary of a Maasai Village, BBC; Scenes from the Farm, Documentary, Broadwater Farm Estate, London, UK, 1988

Matthew Bannister on

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive: Desert Island Discs – Sir Torquil Norman, 12/12/2010; Marika Sherwood, interviewed by Tayo Aluko, Dec 2023; Woman’s Hour, BBC, 25/02/2015; Top Gun, Paramount Pictures presents, A Tony Scott Film, A Don Simpson / Jerry Bruckheimer Production,1986; The Heaven and Earth Show, BBC 1, 16/01/2005; Top Secret!, Paramount Pictures, Kingsmere Properties, 1984; Batman Forever, Warner Bros. presents, A Tim Burton Production, A Joel Schumacher Film, Polygram Filmed Entertainment (PolyGram Pictures, produced in association with, 1995; Authors Series: Marika Sherwood, YouTube Upload by UCLA Bunch Center, 17/08/2016; Dr Marika Sherwood at Discover Black History: Beyond the Windrush, Daily Motion Upload by King Cipher Jewels, 31/08/2012; WORKING LUNCH, BC2, 11/07/2006; The Roundhouse - The People's Palace, BBC 4, 23/10/2016; The Editors, 09/07/1978; THE PERSUADERS: WOMEN'S OWN WEEKLIES, 07/01/1969; RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN ON THE THORN BIRDS, BBC1, 01/01/1984

Matthew Bannister on Oleg Gordievsky, the KGB agent who defected to Britain and became a valued source of secret intelligence during the 1970s and 80s.

Renee Goddard, the actress and TV commissioner who fled Nazi persecution only to be interned in Britain.

Professor Richard Fortey, the palaeontologist who used his expertise in trilobites to tell stories about the origins of life on earth. Bill Bryson pays tribute.

Sofia Gubaidulina, the composer whose large scale religious works attracted criticism from the Soviet authorities.

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive: Friendly Enemy Aliens, BBC Radio 4, 1980; Kaleidoscope: Simon’s War, BBC Radio 4, 1984; Year of the Great Betrayal, BBC Radio 4, 1977; Reni and the Brownshirts, BBC Radio 4, 2002; Lisel, BBC Radio 4, 1955; Desert Island Discs : Oleg Gordievsky, Radio 4, 10/02/2008; In the Psychiatrist's Chair : Oleg Gordievsky, BBC Radio 4, 26/07/2015; BBC News, 15/12/1984; BBC News, 15/10/1990;

Matthew Bannister on:

Group Captain John Allman ‘Paddy’ Hemingway DFC , the last surviving pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain during the second world war.

Dame Julie Kenny, the successful businesswoman from Rotherham who led the regeneration of one of Britain’s largest stately homes.

Tuppy Owens, who campaigned for greater openness about sex – and set up charities to help disabled people enjoy fulfilling relationships.

Dick McTaggart, the only Scottish boxer to win an Olympic gold medal. Described as a “legend” in the world of boxing.

Interviewee: Brian Hemingway

Producer: Catherine Powell

Archive used: Over the Edge, BBC2, 15th October 1996, Outsiders: Disabled and Looking for Love, BBC3 30th March 2006, Victoria Derbyshire Show, BBC 19th February 2016. BBC News 15th September 2020. BBC News Northern Ireland 9th November 2023. “The Battle of Britain, with Ewan and Colin McGregor” BBC Two 11th July 2015. Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill 20th August 1940. “Hitler's Luftwaffe vs The RAF In The Battle Of Britain, Blitz Spirit” BBC Select YouTube Channel, Uploaded 20th September 2021. “Remembering the Battle of Britain” Reuters, 23rd June 2010. Jamie Veitch, Sheffield Live FM radio, 27th September 2019. Dame Julie Kenny, from the Wentworth Woodhouse Trust. BBC Radio Scotland, The Scottish Olympians, 8th August 2004. Tales of Gold: Jack Beresford, Dick McTaggart and Don Thompson, BBC1, 29/05/1992/