Pictured: Paul Allen

Matthew Bannister on

Paul Allen who teamed up with his school friend Bill Gates to found the computer software company Microsoft. After he left, he used his billions to support medical research, education and an American football team.

Mary Midgley, the philosopher who wrote about the relationship between humans and animals and enjoyed lively debates with her colleagues.

Leon Lederman, the physicist who won the Nobel prize for his work on the neutrino and described the Higgs boson as "the God particle".

Roger Mainwood, the animator who helped to bring Raymond Briggs' The Snowman to the screen, then directed the critically acclaimed animated film about Briggs' parents, "Ethel and Ernest".

Interviewed guest: Glenn Fleishman

Archive clips from: Horizon: The Six Billion Dollar Experiment, BBC TV 01/05/07; Origins: Where We and Our World Came From, BBC TV 18/03/86; Woman’s Hour, Radio 4 30/07/03; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 17/03/97; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 20/11/05; When the Wind Blows film trailer, Meltdown Productions/British Screen Productions/Film Four International/TVC London/Penguin Books, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami 1986; Ethel & Ernest film trailer, BBC/BFI/Ffilm Cymru Wales/Film Fund Luxembourg/Cloth Cat Animation/Ethel&Ernest Productions/Lupus Films/Melusine Productions, directed by Roger Mainwood 2016; Meg and Mog, ITV, directed by Roger Mainwood 2003; CBS News, 17/04/11; Today, Radio 4 25/04/11.

Pictured: Montserrat Caballé

Matthew Bannister on

Ray Galton, who, with his writing partner Alan Simpson, created Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son. Paul Merton pays tribute.

Gerald Russell, the psychiatrist who was the first to describe the eating disorder bulimia nervosa.

Evelyn Anthony, the novelist whose historical romances sold millions of copies.

The financier Sir Roger Gibbs, who transformed the fortunes of the Wellcome Trust.

And the Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballé, who had a global hit with Barcelona - a duet with Freddie Mercury.

Interviewed guest: Paul Merton

Archive clips from: Read All About It, Radio 4 04/01/76; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 27/11/74; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 15/08/88; The Tamarind Seed, ITC/Jewel Productions/Pimlico Films/Lorimar Productions, directed by Blake Edwards 1974; The Wellcome Trust (https://wellcome.ac.uk/about-us); Aled Jones, Radio Wales 05/07/08; Laughed off the Page: Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, Radio Scotland 26/01/07; Hancock: The Radio Ham, BBC TV 1961; Steptoe and Son: The Offer, BBC Light Programme 03/07/66; The Wrong Arm of the Law (film trailer), Romulus Films/Robert Velaise Productions, directed by Cliff Owen 1963; Mark Lawson Talks To: Galton and Simpson, BBC TV 19/03/08; Eyes on Wales: Homeless, Radio Wales 04/06/95; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 10/10/81.

Pictured: Charles Aznavour

Matthew Bannister on

Charles Aznavour, the French singer who "made despair popular". The lyricist Don Black, who worked with him, pays tribute.

Dr. Charles Kao, the Nobel prize winning physicist who developed fibre optic technology, so paving the way for the world wide web.

Elizabeth de Mauny Wainwright, the pioneering foreign correspondent who helped to smuggle an interview with Solzhenitsyn out of Soviet Russia.

John Cunliffe, the writer who delighted generations of children by creating Postman Pat and Rosie and Jim.

Interviewed guest: Don Black

Archive clips from:

Pictured: Chas Hodges

Matthew Bannister on

Chas Hodges, the session musician who became one half of the cockney duo Chas and Dave and had hits like Gertcha and Rabbit.

M.J. Long the American-born architect who co-designed the British Library, the National Maritime Museum and studios for some of the UK's best known artists.

Arthur Mitchell, the first African American principal dancer in a major ballet company and founder of the Dance Theater of Harlem.

Rick Turner, the archaeologist who recovered the 2,000-year-old Lindow Man, Britain's best preserved bog body.

And Rachid Taha, the singer who mixed Algerian music with rock, techno and punk.

Interviewed guest: Michael Hann

Archive clips from: Piano Tales - A Social History of the Piano, Radio 3 23/09/2012; Outlook, World Service 24/01/2018; QED - The Body in the Bog, BBC One 10/04/1985; The African Rock 'N' Roll Years - North Africa, BBC Four 09/08/2005.

Pictured: Denis Norden

Andrea Catherwood on Denis Norden, the television presenter and comedy writer who made Britain laugh for half a century.

Interviewed guest: Russell Davies

Archive clips from: Gabby Logan, Radio 5 Live 12/10/2008; The Original Godfathers, Radio 4 27/03/2007; The Robert Peston Interview Show, Radio 4 07/09/2015; Midlands Today 06/05/2004; Midweek, Radio 4 14/05/2008; Loose Ends, Radio 4 31/05/2008; This Land: Johnny's Kingdom, BBC Two 14/04/2000; Johnny Kingdom: A Year on Exmoor, BBC Two 13/10/2006; Valmouth, Radio 4 28/04/1975; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 05/06/1965; Front Row, Radio 4 17/11/2017; www.metafenella.com: ‘Metafenella’ is an interactive video portrait by public artist Martin Firrell offering advice for living well from the life and work of Fenella Fielding.

Pictured: Jacqueline Pearce

Matthew Bannister on

Lady Coleridge, the nurse and adventurer who explored the Congo river with Colonel John Blashford-Snell. He pays tribute.

Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Afghan warlord who was backed by the CIA to fight the Soviets but sided with the Taliban after the civil war.

Jacqueline Pearce, the actor best known for playing villains in "Blake's Seven" and "Dr Who".

Lord Thomas, the Chief Executive who introduced ethical banking at the Co-op.

And Stan Brock , the cowboy and pilot who provided free health care to thousands in the USA.

Producer: Neil George.

Pictured: Burt Reynolds

Matthew Bannister on

The prolific career of the movie star Burt Reynolds. The 'Deliverance' director John Boorman pays tribute.

The environmental campaigner Lord Melchett who, as executive director of Greenpeace, was arrested during a protest against GM crops.

The Italian anti-mafia campaigner Rita Borsellino who took up the cause after her brother was killed by a car bomb.

And the Indian cricket captain Ajit Wadekar, who led the national side to victory against the West Indies and England in the 1970s.

Archive clips from: Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 30/01/2000; Outlook, World Service 16/03/2017; Test Match Special: Seasons To Savour, Radio 4 1971.

Pictured: Lindsay Kemp

Julian Worricker on:

The dancer and choreographer, Lindsay Kemp, who worked alongside David Bowie and Kate Bush.

John Calder, the influential publisher, who championed avant-garde authors and battled censorship.

The record-breaking sailor, Hilary Lister, who became the first quadriplegic person to sail across the English Channel.

John Calcutt, who shaped the contemporary visual art scene in Scotland at the Glasgow School of Art.

And the award-winning American playwright, screenwriter and author, Neil Simon.

Interviewed guest: David Haughton

Archive clips from: Woman's Hour, Radio 4 22/01/1969; Private Passions, Radio 3 25/03/2000; Censorship In Modern Britain: Radio 4 Reports, 12/12/68; Radio 2 Arts Programme: Simply Simon, 27/04/1997; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 14/05/1995; A Race Against Time: Hilary Lister's Round Britain Dream, BBC Two 14/07/2013; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 11/07/1989; Third Ear, Radio 3 06/05/1991.

Pictured: Kofi Annan

Julian Worricker on:

Diplomat Kofi Annan, who rose through the ranks of the United Nations, to serve as its secretary-general for nine years....

Janice Tchalenko, a ceramicist, designer and artist, who bridged the gap between art and large-scale production...

The botanist, Hugh Synge, voted one of the 20 most influential British conservationists....

One of the finest harp players of her generation - Helen MacLeod - a champion of the music of the West Highlands of Scotland...

And Hettie Williams, who at 23, led her class of terrified pupils to safety during the Aberfan disaster.

Archive clips from: Night Waves, Radio 3 10/10/2012; Surviving Aberfan, BBC Four 20/10/2016; Saturday Review, BBC TV 02/11/1985; See Hear, BBC TV 01/02/2012.

Pictured: Aretha Franklin

Matthew Bannister on

Sir VS Naipaul, the Nobel prize winning author of acclaimed books including "A House For Mr Biswas" and "A Bend in The River". He was a controversial figure who fell out with some of his fellow writers and was accused of cruelty in his relationships.

Nan Joyce, who campaigned for the rights of Ireland's travelling people.

Winston Ntshona,, the South African actor who won a Tony award for his Broadway performance in Athol Fugard's play "Sizwe Banze Is Dead" but was arrested by the apartheid government on his return home.

And the "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin.

Producer: Paul Waters

Archive clips from: African and Caribbean Writing: A House for Mr Biswas, Radio 4 03/05/1981; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 05/07/1980; Profile, Radio 4 11/05/1984; Omnibus, Radio 1 21/04/1988; Paul Gambaccini: Aretha Franklin Interview, Radio 1 01/01/2000; Night Waves, Radio 3 19/03/2007.