Last Word

Pictured: William GoldmanMatthew Bannister onWilliam Goldman, the Hollywood screenwriter behind a string of hits including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All The President's Men and The Princess Bride.John Large, the respected nuclear engineer who highlighted the safety risks facing the industry.Richard Baker, the long serving BBC television newsreader who also presented classical music programmes, including the Proms, on radio.Dr. Sarah Ntiro, the first woman in East Africa to get a university degree.Patsy Rodgers who was known as the King of Tory - Ireland's most remote inhabited island.Correction: in this Last Word edition it was broadcast that Richard Baker was the first newsreader on BBC television. This is incorrect: Richard Baker in fact introduced the newsreader John Snagge, who was the first person to read a news bulletin for BBC television on 5th July 1954.Interviewed guest: Harlan Coben Interviewed guest: Ellin Stein Interviewed guest: Shaun Burnie Interviewed guest: Andrew Baker Interviewed guest: John Rendel Interviewed guest: Rita Achiro Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: Nationwide, BBC One 04/12/80; Saturday Live, Radio 4 08/01/11; The Last King of Ireland, RTE 27/07/18; Marathon Man, directed by John Schlesinger, Paramount Pictures / Robert Evans Company 1976; Night Waves, Radio 3 26/11/92; Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, directed by George Roy Hill, Twentieth Century Fox 1969; The Princess Bride, directed by Rob Reiner, Act III Communications 1987; 50th Anniversary of BBC Television News, BBC One 05/07/04; Midweek, Radio 4 15/06/83; Walton: Façade, London Sinfonietta, Radio 3 03/06/77; Up All Night, 5 Live, 12/04/11; File On Four: The Future Of Nuclear Energy, Radio 4 04/11/86.

Pictured: Stan LeeMatthew Bannister onThe naturalist and expert on animal evolution Aubrey Manning who presented the acclaimed BBC TV series Earth Story.The Jewish Communist campaigner Max Levitas who fought Oswald Moseley's fascist blackshirts.The singer Babs Beverley - one third of the close harmony singing group the Beverley Sisters.Janet Paisley the poet and novelist known for her work in the Scots language.Stan Lee - revered creator of comic book icons like Spiderman, the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.Interviewed guest: Derwent May Interviewed guest: Julian Hector Interviewed guest: Stephanie Hilbourne Interviewed guest: Matthew Sweet Interviewed guest: Linda Jackson Interviewed guest: Michael Goldfarb Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: Sunday Morning with Richard Holloway, Radio Scotland 14/02/2010; The Poetry of Life, Radio Scotland 27/01/2008; The Language of Kings, BBC Scotland/Hopscotch Films 28/02/2006; PM, Radio 4 04/10/2006; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 14/08/1985; Richard Bacon, 5 Live 20/08/2009; 5 Live interview 12/11/2018; Third Ear, Radio 4 17/12/1991; Today, Radio 4 18/11/2015; Rules of Life: Life Before Birth, Radio 4 24/01/2006; Earth Story: The Time Travellers, BBC Worldwide / Learning Channel 01/11/1998; Images by Janet Paisley. 31/12/2018; Jeremy Vine, Radio 2 09/11/2011; Max Levitas Battle of Cable Street, Fourman Films 07/09/2013.

Pictured: Lord HeywoodMatthew Bannister on Lord Heywood, the senior civil servant who worked with four Prime Ministers: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May.Pamela Lonsdale, the children's TV producer who brought us Rainbow.Sangharakshita, the British born Buddhist leader whose reputation was tarnished by allegations of sexual misconduct with his students.Tom Jago, the drinks marketeer who developed Bailey's Irish Cream, Malibu and Le Piat D'Or.And Francis Lai, the Love Story composer.Interviewed guest: Ed Balls Interviewed guest: Ronnie Le Drew Interviewed guest: Liz Crowther Interviewed guest: Dharmachari Vishvapani Interviewed guest: Rebecca Jago Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: Jeremy Vine, Radio 2 05/11/2018; Radio 4 News Flash, 16/09/1992; Westminster Hour, Radio 4 04/11/2018; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Ep. 8, Part 1, ITV 1967; Rainbow, Thames TV 01/11/1972; Midweek, Radio 4 05/07/1989; Matter of Fact: Going for Refuge, BBC East 12/11/1992.

Pictured: Wanda FerragamoMatthew Bannister onWanda Ferragamo - who took over her husband's successful Italian shoe making business and turned it into a global fashion brand. Wim Kok, the Dutch prime minister whose career was overshadowed by the Srebrenica massacre.The writer Ntozake Shange, best known for her choreopoem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf".The Algerian diplomat Mohamed Sahnoun who played a key role in ending several conflicts in Africa.Keith Killby, the pacifist who served unarmed with the Special Boat Service during the war.Interviewed guest: Luisa Zargani Interviewed guest: Suzy Menkes Interviewed guest: Dan van der Vat Interviewed guest: Rohan Preston Interviewed guest: Paul T. Williams Jr Interviewed guest: Jill Turner Interviewed guest: Letitia Blake Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: Radio 4 News, 28/11/2000; Radio 4 News, 10/04/2002; Ntozake Shange - The Lost Interview, Reelblack, 08/03/2016; Melissa Harris-Perry, MSNBC 23/09/2014; A Journey Through Imaginary Landscapes, Radio 3 16/04/1993; For Colored Girls Who've Considered Suicide/ When The Rainbow Is Enuf, Radio 3 21/01/1996; BBC News 30/07/1992; Newsnight, BBC Two 14/06/1993; Interview with Keith Killby, courtesy of the Monte San Martino Trust, 17/06/2014.

Pictured: Baroness HollisMatthew Bannister onAnthea Bell who translated the works of Freud and Kafka into English - but was even better known for making Asterix the Gaul funny in his second language.Captain Michael Howard, the intelligence officer who was part of T-Force which was set up after the second world war to seize German assets and bring them back to the UK. Baroness Hollis, the Labour peer who campaigned for the poor and disadvantaged.Cicely Berry, the voice coach who trained a generation of British actors.And Tony Hiller who wrote 1,500 songs, including the Brotherhood of Man's Eurovision hit "Save Your Kisses For Me".Interviewed guest: Oliver Kamm Interviewed guest: Aubyn Howard Interviewed guest: Major John Bendit Interviewed guest: Julia Langdon Interviewed guest: Michael Quinn Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: The Verb, Radio 3 08/05/2004; Open Book. Radio 4 14/07/2002; Front Row, Radio 4 14/05/2004; Open Book, Radio 4 04/09/2008; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 18/07/2003; Victoria Derbyshire, BBC One 27/10/2015; Money Box, Radio 4 13/09/2015; The Week in Westminster, Radio 4 26/01/2013; Newsnight, BBC Two 26/10/2015; The Vox Project, Radio 4 04/01/2010; Night Waves, Radio 3 05/06/2006; Working Shakespeare: The Muscularity of Language, The Working Arts; Miss Moneypenny's Meter, Radio 4 07/09/2006.

Pictured: Paul AllenMatthew Bannister onPaul Allen who teamed up with his school friend Bill Gates to found the computer software company Microsoft. After he left, he used his billions to support medical research, education and an American football team.Mary Midgley, the philosopher who wrote about the relationship between humans and animals and enjoyed lively debates with her colleagues.Leon Lederman, the physicist who won the Nobel prize for his work on the neutrino and described the Higgs boson as "the God particle".Roger Mainwood, the animator who helped to bring Raymond Briggs' The Snowman to the screen, then directed the critically acclaimed animated film about Briggs' parents, "Ethel and Ernest".Interviewed guest: Glenn Fleishman Interviewed guest: David Midgley Interviewed guest: Professor Malcolm Fairbairn Interviewed guest: Nigel Lockyer Interviewed guest: Jez StewartArchive clips from: Horizon: The Six Billion Dollar Experiment, BBC TV 01/05/07; Origins: Where We and Our World Came From, BBC TV 18/03/86; Woman’s Hour, Radio 4 30/07/03; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 17/03/97; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 20/11/05; When the Wind Blows film trailer, Meltdown Productions/British Screen Productions/Film Four International/TVC London/Penguin Books, directed by Jimmy T. Murakami 1986; Ethel & Ernest film trailer, BBC/BFI/Ffilm Cymru Wales/Film Fund Luxembourg/Cloth Cat Animation/Ethel&Ernest Productions/Lupus Films/Melusine Productions, directed by Roger Mainwood 2016; Meg and Mog, ITV, directed by Roger Mainwood 2003; CBS News, 17/04/11; Today, Radio 4 25/04/11.

Pictured: Montserrat CaballéMatthew Bannister on Ray Galton, who, with his writing partner Alan Simpson, created Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son. Paul Merton pays tribute. Gerald Russell, the psychiatrist who was the first to describe the eating disorder bulimia nervosa.Evelyn Anthony, the novelist whose historical romances sold millions of copies.The financier Sir Roger Gibbs, who transformed the fortunes of the Wellcome Trust. And the Spanish opera singer Montserrat Caballé, who had a global hit with Barcelona - a duet with Freddie Mercury.Interviewed guest: Paul Merton Interviewed guest: Professor Janet Treasure Interviewed guest: Ewan Ward-Thomas Reader: Alexandra Constantinidi Interviewed guest: Baroness Eliza Manningham-BullerArchive clips from: Read All About It, Radio 4 04/01/76; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 27/11/74; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 15/08/88; The Tamarind Seed, ITC/Jewel Productions/Pimlico Films/Lorimar Productions, directed by Blake Edwards 1974; The Wellcome Trust (https://wellcome.ac.uk/about-us); Aled Jones, Radio Wales 05/07/08; Laughed off the Page: Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, Radio Scotland 26/01/07; Hancock: The Radio Ham, BBC TV 1961; Steptoe and Son: The Offer, BBC Light Programme 03/07/66; The Wrong Arm of the Law (film trailer), Romulus Films/Robert Velaise Productions, directed by Cliff Owen 1963; Mark Lawson Talks To: Galton and Simpson, BBC TV 19/03/08; Eyes on Wales: Homeless, Radio Wales 04/06/95; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 10/10/81.

Pictured: Charles AznavourMatthew Bannister onCharles Aznavour, the French singer who "made despair popular". The lyricist Don Black, who worked with him, pays tribute. Dr. Charles Kao, the Nobel prize winning physicist who developed fibre optic technology, so paving the way for the world wide web. Elizabeth de Mauny Wainwright, the pioneering foreign correspondent who helped to smuggle an interview with Solzhenitsyn out of Soviet Russia.John Cunliffe, the writer who delighted generations of children by creating Postman Pat and Rosie and Jim.Interviewed guest: Don Black Interviewed guest: Jeff Hecht Interviewed guest: Marc de Mauny Interviewed guest: Rachel Feldberg Interviewed guest: Nigel P. HarrisArchive clips from: The Typically French Armenian, Radio 4 02/02/1977; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 01/01/1978; Aznavour at Eighty, Radio 2 12/03/2004; Treasure Islands, Radio 4 05/04/1992; Postman Pat’s Finding Day, BBC One 16/9/1981; Bookshelf, Radio 4 20/03/1986; Rosie and Jim, ITV 1991; Postman Pat Takes the Bus, BBC One 25/12/1991; Postman Pat’s Secret Birthday, BBC One 30/09/1981; Postman Pat’s Rainy Day, BBC One 07/10/1981; Charles Kao interview with FiberStory, 22/03/2010; Look East, BBC Norwich 06/10/2009; Look East, BBC Norwich 27/01/2006; Radio 4 News, 12/02/1974; Tomorrow's World, BBC One 1994.

Pictured: Chas HodgesMatthew Bannister onChas Hodges, the session musician who became one half of the cockney duo Chas and Dave and had hits like Gertcha and Rabbit. M.J. Long the American-born architect who co-designed the British Library, the National Maritime Museum and studios for some of the UK's best known artists. Arthur Mitchell, the first African American principal dancer in a major ballet company and founder of the Dance Theater of Harlem. Rick Turner, the archaeologist who recovered the 2,000-year-old Lindow Man, Britain's best preserved bog body.And Rachid Taha, the singer who mixed Algerian music with rock, techno and punk.Interviewed guest: Michael Hann Interviewed guest: Rolfe Kentish Interviewed guest: Rachel Pugh Interviewed guest: Robin DenselowArchive clips from: Piano Tales - A Social History of the Piano, Radio 3 23/09/2012; Outlook, World Service 24/01/2018; QED - The Body in the Bog, BBC One 10/04/1985; The African Rock 'N' Roll Years - North Africa, BBC Four 09/08/2005.

Pictured: Denis NordenAndrea Catherwood on Denis Norden, the television presenter and comedy writer who made Britain laugh for half a century. Diane Leather, the first woman in the world to break the 5-minute mile, just 23 days after Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier, but achieved much less acclaim. Johnny Kingdom, the poacher turned filmmaker who enthralled TV audiences with his love and knowledge of wildlife in his native Exmoor and beyond, and became an unlikely celebrity in the process. And Fenella Fielding, the femme fatale with a throaty drawl and come-hither stare best known for her roles in the Carry On and Doctor comedy capers.Interviewed guest: Russell Davies Interviewed guest: Lindsey Armstrong Interviewed guest: Anna Kessel Interviewed guest: Richard Taylor Jones Interviewed guest: Robert ChalmersArchive clips from: Gabby Logan, Radio 5 Live 12/10/2008; The Original Godfathers, Radio 4 27/03/2007; The Robert Peston Interview Show, Radio 4 07/09/2015; Midlands Today 06/05/2004; Midweek, Radio 4 14/05/2008; Loose Ends, Radio 4 31/05/2008; This Land: Johnny's Kingdom, BBC Two 14/04/2000; Johnny Kingdom: A Year on Exmoor, BBC Two 13/10/2006; Valmouth, Radio 4 28/04/1975; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 05/06/1965; Front Row, Radio 4 17/11/2017; www.metafenella.com: ‘Metafenella’ is an interactive video portrait by public artist Martin Firrell offering advice for living well from the life and work of Fenella Fielding.