Last Word

Pictured: Kofi AnnanJulian Worricker on:Diplomat Kofi Annan, who rose through the ranks of the United Nations, to serve as its secretary-general for nine years....Janice Tchalenko, a ceramicist, designer and artist, who bridged the gap between art and large-scale production...The botanist, Hugh Synge, voted one of the 20 most influential British conservationists....One of the finest harp players of her generation - Helen MacLeod - a champion of the music of the West Highlands of Scotland...And Hettie Williams, who at 23, led her class of terrified pupils to safety during the Aberfan disaster.Archive clips from: Night Waves, Radio 3 10/10/2012; Surviving Aberfan, BBC Four 20/10/2016; Saturday Review, BBC TV 02/11/1985; See Hear, BBC TV 01/02/2012.

Pictured: Aretha FranklinMatthew Bannister onSir VS Naipaul, the Nobel prize winning author of acclaimed books including "A House For Mr Biswas" and "A Bend in The River". He was a controversial figure who fell out with some of his fellow writers and was accused of cruelty in his relationships. Nan Joyce, who campaigned for the rights of Ireland's travelling people.Winston Ntshona,, the South African actor who won a Tony award for his Broadway performance in Athol Fugard's play "Sizwe Banze Is Dead" but was arrested by the apartheid government on his return home. And the "Queen of Soul" Aretha Franklin.Producer: Paul WatersArchive clips from: African and Caribbean Writing: A House for Mr Biswas, Radio 4 03/05/1981; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 05/07/1980; Profile, Radio 4 11/05/1984; Omnibus, Radio 1 21/04/1988; Paul Gambaccini: Aretha Franklin Interview, Radio 1 01/01/2000; Night Waves, Radio 3 19/03/2007.

Pictured: Barry ChuckleMatthew Bannister onTony Bullimore, the self styled "Del Boy of yacht racing" who was trapped under the hull of his boat for 4 days during a solo round the world race.Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, the Japanese American woman who was interned in the USA during the World War Two and later fought for and won a presidential apology and compensation for her fellow inmates.Barry Chuckle - one half of the Chuckle Brothers who entertained a generation of children on TV.June Jacobs, the Jewish activist who caused controversy by meeting members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation.Tommy Peoples, the award winning Irish fiddle player of the Bothy Band.Producer: Paul WatersArchive clips from: BBC News 20/06/73; ChuckleVision, BBC TV.

Pictured: Mary EllisMatthew 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.

Pictured: Anne Olivier Popham BellJulian Worricker on:Charles Gimingham, an environmentalist, described as the foremost expert on heather and moorland landscapes....Human rights lawyer, Felicia Langer, who represented many Palestinians in the Israeli courts....Campaigning doctor, Julian Tudor Hart, who pioneered the regular monitoring of blood pressure in patients....Art historian, Anne Olivier Bell, who edited the five volumes of Virginia Woolf's diaries....And the real-life Good Morning Vietnam DJ, Adrian Cronauer, inspiration for the film starring Robin Williams...Archive clips from: Assignment: A Report From The Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights, Radio 4, 07/04/1982; On Behalf of the Working Class, BBC Wales, 07/11/1982; The Good Doctor, BBC TV/Worldwide, 07/10/1996; Newsnight, BBC Two, 23/01/2008; George Orwell Back at the BBC, Radio 4, 05/11/2017; Panorama: Life at 100, BBC One, 23/10/2017; Dear Diary, Episode 2, BBC Four, 11/01/2010; Good Morning Vietnam Revisited, Radio 2, 13/04/2015.

Pictured: Oliver KnussenJulian Worricker on:British composer and conductor, Oliver Knussen, described as a towering figure in contemporary music....Barbara Harrell-Bond, who founded and then directed the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University....The media executive, Sam Chisholm, who drove the development of multi-channel television in Britain....Steve Ditko, the American artist and writer best known as co-creator of the Marvel Comics superheroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange...and the last Transylvanian aristocrat to have lived through the communist purges, Anna Sandor de Kenos.Archive clips from: Jonathan Ross in Search of Steve Ditko, BBC Four, 16/09/07; Music Matters, Radio 3, 09/07/18; Horizon: Exodus, BBC Two, 06/03/95; Breakfast Time, BBC One, 05/01/89.

Photo: Lord CarringtonMatthew Bannister onLord Carrington, the Conservative Foreign Secretary who resigned after the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands.Karen Finch, the textile conservator who restored the garments of Bonnie Prince Charlie and Marlene Dietrich among many others. Claude Lanzmann, the French film maker best known for Shoah, the nine and a half hour documentary about the holocaust.Harlan Ellison, the outspoken American science fiction writer who published 70 books, more than 400 short stories and countless essays. Producer: Neil George.

Photo: Dame Gillian LynneMatthew Bannister on:The choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne, best known for her work on Cats and the Phantom of the Opera.Peter Firmin who, with his partner Oliver Postgate, created beloved children's TV characters like the Clangers, Noggin the Nog and Bagpuss.Reinhard Hardegen the last surviving U boat ace who took part in attacks on the East Coast of America in 1942 and Alan Longmuir, founder member of the Bay City Rollers. Archive clips from: Front Row, Radio 4, TX 2.7.2018.

Photo: Joe JacksonMatthew Bannister onJoe Jackson who drilled his children into becoming the Jackson Five, but was accused of abusive and violent behaviour by his most successful son, Michael.Paul Lamplugh, whose daughter Suzy was abducted and never found. He worked with his wife to campaign for greater safety for women working alone.Myrtle Allen, the chef who pioneered farm-to-table cooking at her family home in Ireland and became the country's first woman to win a Michelin star.Daisy Kadibil whose one thousand two hundred mile walk across Australia inspired the film Rabbit-Proof Fence. And Paddy Feeny who presented Top of the Form and sport on the BBC World Service for more than thirty years.Archive clips from: Woman's Hour, Radio 4 17/04/2006; The Best Dishes Ever, BBC Two 18/02/2016; Saturday Kitchen Best Bites, BBC Two 23/03/2014; The Best Dishes Ever, BBC Two 18/02/2016; MasterChef, BBC One 07/07/1991; Rabbit-Proof Fence, BBC One 26/12/2008; Top of the Form, Radio 4 22/12/1981.

Photo: Maria BuenoMatthew Bannister onThe conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky who brought Russian music to the UK - and British music to Russia.Maria Bueno, the Brazilian tennis player who won Wimbledon three times. Gena Turgel the holocaust survivor who married one of the British soldiers who liberated her.Zhao Kangmin, the Chinese archaeologist who played an important role in the discovery of the Terracotta Army.Leo Sarkisian the musicologist who travelled across Africa and brought back countless recordings for the Voice of America radio station. Interviewed guest: Robert Slotover Interviewed guest: Gerard McBurney Interviewed guest: Richard Evans Interviewed guest: Karen Pollock Interviewed guest: Paul Martin Interviewed guest: John Man Interviewed guest: Maria MargaronisArchive clips from: Prom 31, BBC Proms 2007, Radio 3, 05/08/2007; Proms on One, BBC One, 04/09/1992; The Gloria Hunniford Show, Radio 2, 08/07/1991; Radio 1 Newsbeat, 13/04/1995; Remembrance Week, BBC One, 05/11/2012; The Time of Your Life, BBC TV, 30/07/1985; Origins: The Burial of China's First Emperor, Radio 4, 13/07/1980.