Last Word

Photo: Lord Carrington

Matthew Bannister on

Lord Carrington, the Conservative Foreign Secretary who resigned after the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands.

Karen Finch, the textile conservator who restored the garments of Bonnie Prince Charlie and Marlene Dietrich among many others.

Claude Lanzmann, the French film maker best known for Shoah, the nine and a half hour documentary about the holocaust.

Harlan Ellison, the outspoken American science fiction writer who published 70 books, more than 400 short stories and countless essays.

Producer: Neil George.

Photo: Dame Gillian Lynne

Matthew Bannister on:

The choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne, best known for her work on Cats and the Phantom of the Opera.

Peter Firmin who, with his partner Oliver Postgate, created beloved children's TV characters like the Clangers, Noggin the Nog and Bagpuss.

Reinhard Hardegen the last surviving U boat ace who took part in attacks on the East Coast of America in 1942

and Alan Longmuir, founder member of the Bay City Rollers.

Archive clips from: Front Row, Radio 4, TX 2.7.2018.

Photo: Joe Jackson

Matthew Bannister on

Joe Jackson who drilled his children into becoming the Jackson Five, but was accused of abusive and violent behaviour by his most successful son, Michael.

Paul Lamplugh, whose daughter Suzy was abducted and never found. He worked with his wife to campaign for greater safety for women working alone.

Myrtle Allen, the chef who pioneered farm-to-table cooking at her family home in Ireland and became the country's first woman to win a Michelin star.

Daisy Kadibil whose one thousand two hundred mile walk across Australia inspired the film Rabbit-Proof Fence.

And Paddy Feeny who presented Top of the Form and sport on the BBC World Service for more than thirty years.

Archive clips from: Woman's Hour, Radio 4 17/04/2006; The Best Dishes Ever, BBC Two 18/02/2016; Saturday Kitchen Best Bites, BBC Two 23/03/2014; The Best Dishes Ever, BBC Two 18/02/2016; MasterChef, BBC One 07/07/1991; Rabbit-Proof Fence, BBC One 26/12/2008; Top of the Form, Radio 4 22/12/1981.

Photo: Maria Bueno

Matthew Bannister on

The conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky who brought Russian music to the UK - and British music to Russia.

Maria Bueno, the Brazilian tennis player who won Wimbledon three times.

Gena Turgel the holocaust survivor who married one of the British soldiers who liberated her.

Zhao Kangmin, the Chinese archaeologist who played an important role in the discovery of the Terracotta Army.

Leo Sarkisian the musicologist who travelled across Africa and brought back countless recordings for the Voice of America radio station.

Interviewed guest: Robert Slotover

Archive clips from: Prom 31, BBC Proms 2007, Radio 3, 05/08/2007; Proms on One, BBC One, 04/09/1992; The Gloria Hunniford Show, Radio 2, 08/07/1991; Radio 1 Newsbeat, 13/04/1995; Remembrance Week, BBC One, 05/11/2012; The Time of Your Life, BBC TV, 30/07/1985; Origins: The Burial of China's First Emperor, Radio 4, 13/07/1980.

Photo: Leslie Grantham

Tina Daheley on Peter Mayer, the publisher who was given a fatwa for printing 'The Satanic Verses'.

Archive clips from: Kaleidoscope, Radio 4 20/10/1985; View at the Top, Radio 4 03/09/1985; Bookshelf, Radio 4 02/06/1985; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 05/05/2008; Front Row, Radio 4 14/08/2000; Midweek, Radio 4 23/01/2002; Book of the Week, Radio 4 23/01/2002; A Cook's Tour, Radio 4 Extra 25/11/2010; Kitchen Confidential, Radio 4 Extra 28/05/17; The Gloria Hunniford Show, Radio 2 08/07/1991; Desmond Carrington's Icons of the 50s, Radio 2 18/01/2011; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 09/04/1989.

Photo: Peter Stringfellow

Tina Daheley on the nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow, who introduced nude table dancing to Britain.

Graham Corbett, the first Chairman of Postcomm, and Eurotunnel's chief financial officer.

Kate Spade, American fashion designer who rose to fame with her range of handbags in the 1990s.

John Julius Norwich, aristocratic man of letters, historian, travel writer and broadcaster.

Eli Avivi, self-proclaimed president of the independent state of Achzivland in Israel.

Interviewed guest: Fiona Lafferty

Archive clips from: BBC Radio Sheffield, 2012; Archive Hour: Clubbin', 21/09/2002 Radio 4; God of the Week, 01/01/94 Radio 1; Richard Bacon: Peter Stringfellow and Adam Henson, 01/03/2011 5 Live; The Today Programme, 26/03/2001 Radio 4; The Today Programme, 03/10/02 Radio 4; Chronicle: The Fall of Constantinople, 25/11/1967 BBC TV; Round Britain Quiz, 20/09/93 Radio 4; Frogmore House: A Royal Retreat, 09/08/90 BBC TV; Desert Island Discs, 02/11/97 Radio 4.

Photo: Anne Coates OBE

Matthew Bannister on the prolific film editor Anne Coates, who worked on Laurence of Arabia, The Elephant Man and Fifty Shades of Grey.

John Ashdown-Hill, the historian who helped to discover the bones of Richard III under a Leicester car park.

Dr Davida Coady who travelled the world from Biafra to Honduras helping the sick and starving.

Ted Dabney - one half of the partnership that started the successful computer games company Atari

Brendan Ingle, the Sheffield based boxing trainer who developed the careers of Herol "Bomber" Graham and "Prince" Naseem Hamed.

Archive clips from: Back Row, Radio 4 15/12/00; Front Row, Radio 4 07/12/16; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 13/02/07; BBC News 24, 04/02/13; People's Century 1954: Living Longer, WGBH and BBC Worldwide 05/01/97; Newsnight, BBC Two 27/10/81; Sport on 4, Radio 4 04/03/95; World Championship Snooker, BBC Two 03/05/09.

Photo: Philip Roth

Julian Worricker on:

Beth Chatto, the gardener and writer regarded as one of the most influential horticulturists of the past 50 years

The multiple award-winning American novelist, Philip Roth...author of Portnoy's Complaint and American Pastoral

Doreen Simmons, who moved to Japan in her forties and became an authority on sumo wrestling

Britain's first Muslim judge, Khurshid Drabu, described as a pioneer in promoting community cohesion

And June Milne, writer, publisher, and trusted guardian of the works of independent Ghana's first leader, Kwame Nkrumah.

Archive clips from: The Cancer of Betrayal, 03/03/07 Radio 4; Woman's Hour, 18/08/08 Radio 4; Gardening Gurus, 30/01/00 Radio 4; Front Row, 27/06/11 Radio 4; The World Tonight, 15/07/05 Radio 4; Sumo wrestling commentary, NHK TV.

Matthew Bannister on

Baroness Jowell - the former Labour Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell - who led the campaign to bring the Olympic Games to London and supported the survivors of the 7/7 bombings.

Tom Wolfe, author of The Right Stuff and Bonfire of the Vanities and a pioneer of using literary techniques to tell factual stories.

Dennis Nilsen, who killed up to fifteen young men at his home in North London before dismembering their bodies. Kate Adie recalls covering the story for the BBC.

And Will Alsop, the maverick architect who won the Stirling Prize for designing the Peckham Library in South London.

Presenter: Matthew Bannister

Matthew Bannister on

Bruce Tulloh, who ran across the United States in record time and became European 5,000 metres champion barefoot.

Emma Smith the author of an acclaimed novel based on her travels to India with Laurie Lee.

Professor Peter Waddington the sociologist who studied policing and came up with the technique of "kettling" to control street protests

The Dowager Countess of Harewood, an Australian former model whose affair with the married Earl caused a scandal in the 1960s.

And Ronald Chesney, half of the writing partnership that brought us the hit TV sitcoms The Rag Trade and On The Buses.

Presenter: Matthew Bannister