Last Word

Matthew Bannister on

The actor Robert Hardy, best known for his roles in All Creatures Great and Small and the Harry Potter films and for playing Winston Churchill.

David Jones who wrote the Daedalus column in New Scientist magazine and came up with an endless stream of inventive and challenging experiments.

Jeanne Moreau the iconic French actress who was actually half English.

Mark Wilkinson - the furniture designer once described as 'the Mozart of the kitchen cabinet'

And Sam Shepard, the actor and playwright whose work redefined the landscape of the American West.

Matthew Bannister on

Mary Turner the President of the GMB Union who started her campaigning life by organising her fellow dinner ladies at a North London school.

Chester Bennington, lead singer of the band Linkin Park who sold more than seventy million copies of their nu-metal albums.

Scharlette Holdman who cajoled lawyers into representing people on death row in American prisons and developed techniques for persuading the courts to mitigate their sentences.

Orri Vigfusson the businessman and angler who saved North Atlantic salmon stocks by paying commercial fishermen to stop taking them from the sea.

And the film director George A Romero who pioneered the zombie horror movie genre with Night of the Living Dead.

Presenter: Matthew Bannister

Matthew Bannister on

Chuck Blazer who embezzled millions of dollars from the international football organisation FIFA, then turned whistle blower to incriminate his former colleagues.

Maryam Mirzakhani, the Iranian mathematician who became the first woman to win the prestigious Fields Medal.

The architect Bryan Avery who designed the drama school RADA and the London Imax cinema.

Peter McHugh, the former Fleet Street journalist who helped to turn round the fortunes of TV-am and then became director of programmes at GMTV.

And Martin Landau the versatile Hollywood actor who won an Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi in Tim Burton's film Ed Wood.

Producer: Neil George.

Matthew Bannister on

Simone Veil, the Holocaust survivor who became a leading French politician and President of the European Parliament.

Graham Rose who directed some of the best loved TV commercials, including the award winning Photo Booth for Hamlet Cigars.

Tom Isaacs who was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease at the age of 27 and raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for research by walking right round the coastline of Britain.

The Chinese literary critic and dissident Liu Xiaobo who was one of the "four gentlemen" of the Tiananmen Square protests. He died while serving an eleven year sentence for advocating democracy.

Ken Hirst, secretary of the Grimethorpe Colliery Band for 42 years.

Producer: Neil George.

Matthew Bannister on

Barry Norman - best known for presenting the BBC television's Film programme,on radio he also fronted the Today Programme and the News Quiz.

Gordon Wilson, the leader who re-built the Scottish National Party after electoral defeat and internal division.

Jazz pianist and composer Geri Allen who played in a wide range of styles and was committed to the advancement of women in jazz.

John Thompson, the regulator who presided over the introduction of independent local radio in the UK.

And Jack O'Neill who made a successful business out of his obsession with surfing.

Producer: Neil George.

Matthew Bannister on

Lord Joffe, the lawyer who defended Nelson Mandela at the infamous Rivonia trial. He went on to co-found the Allied Dunbar insurance company and sat as a Labour peer in the House of Lords.

Michael Bond who created Paddington Bear, the Herbs and the guinea pig Olga Da Polga.

Ann Louise Gilligan the former nun who campaigned for her same sex marriage to be recognised in Irish law.

Carla Fendi, one of five sisters who turned their family business in Rome into a global fashion brand.

And John Avildsen who directed two Rocky films and the Karate Kid.

Producer: Neil George.

Julian Worricker on:

Helmut Kohl, Chancellor of Germany at the time of the country's re-unification.

Anita Pallenberg, artiste and muse to three of the Rolling Stones.

Scientist, Brian Bellhouse, who invented the needle-free injection.

Naseem Khan, a pioneering figure within the minority ethnic arts scene in Britain.

Brian Cant, children's TV presenter, most famous for his twenty years on Play School.

Matthew Bannister on

Arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, known for his lavish life style, he acted as a middle man between governments and arms suppliers.

Countess Mountbatten, godmother to Prince Charles, she was badly wounded in the IRA bomb attack which killed her father, Earl Mountbatten of Burma, and her son Nicholas.

Adam West, the actor best known for playing Batman on TV.

Kailash Puri, the Indian born writer who became an agony aunt to thousands of Punjabi readers.

And Vin Garbutt, the folk singer known as "The Teesside Troubadour."

Producer: Neil George.

Matthew Bannister on

Miriam Rodríguez Martínez- the Mexican woman whose daughter was killed by drug cartels - and who led a campaign for justice for thousands of missing people.

Lord Soulsby - the first vet to be made a peer. He was an expert on parasites nicknamed "Lord of the Worms."

Peter Sallis the actor best known for his role as Norman Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine - and for being the voice of Wallace in Wallace and Gromit.

Lady Anne Piper, the novelist who campaigned for nuclear disarmament.

Jiří Bělohlávek, the Czech-born chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the first non-native English speaker to preside at the Last Night of the Proms.

Julian Worricker on:

The broadcaster, John Noakes, who was famous for his daredevil exploits on Blue Peter for thirteen years....

Manuel Noriega, who flirted with the Americans as leader of Panama, and ended up being jailed by them....

The dancer for whom one photograph of her on railings on Blackpool promenade shot her to fame, Pat Stewart....

Wing Commander Rex Sanders, lead navigator on a series of top secret missions over the Soviet Union...

And the American rock musician, Gregg Allman, whose band created the sound known as Southern Rock.

Producer: Neil George.