Mary Ellis, Shinobu Hashimoto, Dr William McBride AO, CBE, Dr Lincoln Brower, Mahendra Kaul

Pictured: Mary Ellis

Matthew Bannister on

Mary Ellis - a leading pilot for the Air Transport Auxiliary who risked her life to deliver fighters and bombers during the war.

Shinobu Hashimoto, the screenwriter who teamed up with the director Akira Kurosawa to make great classics of Japanese cinema, including the Seven Samurai and Rashomon.

Dr William McBride, the Australian obstetrician who raised the alarm about the terrible side effects of the drug Thalidomide.

Lincoln Brower who devoted his life to the study and protection of the Monarch butterfly.

Mahendra Kaul, the pioneering Indian TV and radio broadcaster who was the face of the BBC's Asian Programmes Unit for 20 years.

Archive clips from: 'Spitfire Women', BBC Four 18/09/2010; 'Supersense', BBC TV 23/01/1989; Sonia Deol, Asian Network 27/12/2011; 'Ten Million Wings', Radio 4 16/03/2004.