Last Word

Matthew Bannister on

Jean Alexander - the actress best known for playing Hilda Ogden in Coronation Street.

Trinh Thi Ngo. Nicknamed Hanoi Hannah, she broadcast propaganda to American GIs during the Vietnam war.

Ian Mercer the naturalist who became the first Dartmoor National Park officer and the first Chief Executive of the Countryside Council for Wales.

Joseph Harmatz, part of a group of Jewish vigilantes who set out to murder millions of Germans just after the second world war.

And Joan Marie Johnson - one of the three women singers in the Dixie Cups who scored a major hit with The Chapel of Love.

Producer: Neil George.

Matthew Bannister on

The world's longest reigning monarch - King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand.

The Nobel prize winning playwright and satirist Dario Fo. Griff Rhys Jones pays tribute.

The pioneering racing driver Jean Bloxam She took on the men - and often beat them.

Andrew Vicari, the painter from Port Talbot in Wales who made millions through commissions from the Saudi Royal family.

And the musician Don Buchla who invented the first modern synthesiser in 1963.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Paul Handley

Matthew Bannister on

Sir Neville Marriner the conductor who founded the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and led them to become the world's most recorded orchestra.

Father Gabriele Amorth, the Catholic Church's leading exorcist who said he'd tackled over a hundred cases of demonic possession.

Beryl Crockford, one of the first two British women to become rowing world champions.

Professor Louis Herman the American psychologist who caused a sensation by communicating with dolphins.

Rod Temperton, a member of the band Heatwave who wrote a string of hits for Michael Jackson including the title track of his album Thriller.

Producer: Neil George.

Matthew Bannister on

Shimon Peres, the Israeli elder statesman who was twice Prime Minister of his country and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his part in negotiating the Oslo Accord with the Palestinians.

Nathalie Evans who co founded the Twycross Zoo and provided the chimps for the PG Tips TV adverts.

Arnold Palmer, the legendary golfer who won 91 professional titles and was followed by fans known as "Arnie's Army".

Bill Mollison, the Australian author and lecturer who was known as the "father of permaculture".

Produced by Neil George.

Matthew Bannister on

American playwright Edward Albee, who won three Pullitzer prizes but not for his best known work "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?".

Physicist James Cronin who won the Nobel Prize for his work on the asymmetry between matter and anti matter.

Health administrator Caroline Thomson, who persuaded the people of the Scottish Highlands to confront the challenges of HIV and AIDS.

Zoologist and academic Sir Frederick Holliday. He was vice chancellor of Durham University and campaigned to save the UK's otter population.

Actress Charmian Carr best known for playing the teenager Liesl in the film "The Sound of Music."

Produced by Neil George.

Matthew Bannister on

Barry Myers who directed some of the best known commercials of the 1970s and 80s, including ads for Hovis, Olympus Cameras and Cadbury's Flake.

Eileen Younghusband, who worked as a filter officer during the Second World War, spotting the approaching aircraft and V2 rockets launched against Britain by the Nazis.

The Edinburgh based artist Robin Spark, who had a troubled relationship with his mother, the writer Muriel Spark.

Keith MacDougall, the Norfolk countryman who balanced a passion for shooting with a commitment to conservation.

And Prince Buster the Jamaican musician who was one of the pioneers of Ska.

Produced by Neil George.

Matthew Bannister on

The Bishop of Durham the Right Reverend David Jenkins. A respected theologian, he was noted for his controversial views.

The diplomat Dame Margaret Anstee who overcame sex discrimination to hold senior roles at the United Nations. She led relief missions at many of the world's major trouble spots. .

The President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov who faced international condemnation for his violent treatment of his opponents.

And Richard Neville who edited the 1960s counter culture magazine Oz, and faced obscenity charges in a notorious court case.

Matthew Bannister on

João Havelange, the President of the international football federation, FIFA, who stepped down amid allegations of corruption.

The French fashion designer Sonia Rykiel who broke the conventions of haute couture to produce wearable clothes for women on the go.

Gene Wilder, the comedy film actor best known for his roles as Willy Wonka in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and in Mel Brooks films like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.

And Toots Thielemans, the jazz musician who played the harmonica and made his name by whistling along to his own guitar.

Producer: Neil George.

Julian Worricker on....

The co-writer of 'Yes Minister' and 'Yes Prime Minister' - Sir Antony Jay....

Donald Henderson, American epidemiologist, who led the WHO's campaign to eradicate smallpox....

The aristocrat Tom Cholmondeley, who divided opinion in his native Kenya after he shot dead two black men on his ranch....

Nursing leader, Patsy Wright-Warren, who went on to travel the world for the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation.....

and the entertainer and actor, Brian Rix, who was one of the country's leading campaigners for people with learning disabilities.

Producer: Neil George.

Matthew Bannister on

the Bishop of Derry Edward Daly. He was famously photographed waving a bloodstained white handkerchief as he tended to a young man shot by the army on Bloody Sunday.

The Egyptian born chemist Ahmed Zewail who won the Nobel prize for his work on revealing the minute details of chemical reactions.

Suzanne Wright who raised millions of dollars for research into autism after her grandson was diagnosed with the condition.

The Duke of Westminster, one of the UK's wealthiest landowners and a close friend of the royal family.

And the Brazilian plastic surgeon Ivo Pitanguy. To his many celebrity patients he was known as the Michelangelo of the scalpel.

Producer: Paul Waters.