September 15, 2023

Mike Yarwood, Ada Deer, Sir Ian Wilmut, Dorothy Purdew

27 minutes

Matthew Bannister on Mike Yarwood, whose impressions of famous people made him one of TV’s biggest stars in the 1970s and 80s.

Ada Deer, the Native American campaigner who became head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under President Clinton.

Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, the embryologist who led the team that created Dolly the Sheep – the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell.

Dorothy Purdew, who left school at fourteen but went on to build up the Champneys chain of health farms and spa resorts.

Interviewee: Emma Freud

Interviewee: Gyles Brandreth

Interviewee: Ben Wikler

Interviewee: Dr Bill Ritchie

Interviewee: Stephen Purdew

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used:

Mike Yarwood sketch as Prime Minister Ted Heath, Christmas with the Stars, BBC One, 25/12/1972; Denis Healy sketch, Look – Mike Yarwood, BBC one, 07/02/1976; Harold Wilson sketch, The Best of Mike Yarwood, BBC One, 23/04/1976; Mike Yarwood interview, On the Ropes, BBC Radio 4, 01/12/1995; Mike Yarwood impressions Nixon/Cooper/Moore, Listen – Mike Yarwood, BBC Radio 2, 08/12/1973; Emma Freud as Princess Diana, Mike Yarwood’s Royal Variety Show, Thames Production, 30/09/1986; Ada Deer interview, NPR Radio, uploaded 17/08/2023; Ada Deer interview, YouTube, uploaded 04/01/2013; Native American Experience, Ada Deer, Communications for Change, 01/01/1976; Professor Sir Ian Wilmut interview, Life Scientific, BBC Radio 4, 11/10/2016; Dolly The Sheep – BBC News, BBC Archive; Dorothy Perdue , Champneys, ITV, YouTube uploaded 04/07/2014;

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