Last Word

Hugh Hefner shaped modern sexuality while launching the Playboy empire, sparking debate about his legacy. Stanislav Petrov's critical decision during the Cold War potentially saved millions from nuclear disaster. Teddy Taylor boldly challenged the European Union, reflecting a steadfast political stance. Liz Dawn's portrayal of Vera Duckworth on Coronation Street endeared her to audiences for nearly thirty years, blending humor with heartfelt moments. Each guest brings a unique perspective to pivotal cultural and historical narratives.

Matthew Bannister onDavid Shepherd, the artist who painted trains, aeroplanes and elephants and worked tirelessly to conserve wild animals. Nancy Hatch Dupree, the American born adventurer and writer who devoted her life to creating an archive of Afghan culture and history.Gordon Williams, the Booker prize shortlisted author whose novel The Siege of Trencher's farm became the controversial film Straw Dogs.Pat Albeck the designer known as "the queen of the tea towel" who produced popular fabric designs for John Lewis and the National Trust.Harry Dean Stanton, the gaunt, hollow-eyed actor best known for films like "Paris, Texas" and "Repo Man". Image of David Shepherd courtesy of the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation.

Matthew Bannister onSir Peter Hall, the director who founded the Royal Shakespeare Company, ran the National Theatre and created many acclaimed theatrical and operatic productions.Kate Millett, the radical feminist whose 1970 book Sexual Politics suggested that men's institutionalised power over women is a social construct, rather than innate or biological. Sir Edward Du Cann, the Tory MP and businessman who chaired the 1922 backbench committee, fell out with Edward Heath, and went bankrupt in the 1990s.J.P. Donleavy, the US-born Irish writer whose bawdy tale of Dublin Life - The Ginger Man - sold fifty million copies.

Matthew Bannister on:The flamboyant businessman Sir David Tang who founded the fashion label Shanghai Tang and collected celebrity friends. Tracey Emin pays tribute. Professor Dame Margaret Turner-Warwick who became one of the world's leading authorities on thoracic medicine after suffering from tuberculosis as a child.Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the genial head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales.And Walter Becker - who teamed up with Donald Fagen to create the sophisticated music and lyrics of Steely Dan.

Matthew Bannister onDick Gregory, the African American comedian and civil rights activist who was also a dietician to stars like John Lennon and Mohammed Ali.Jeannie Rousseau who spied on the Nazis' secret weapons programme.Wayne Lotter, the South African elephant conservationist who has been shot dead in Tanzania.Sean O'Callaghan, the leading IRA member who turned informer. He helped to stop a bomb attack which would have killed the Prince and Princess of Wales.And the jazz guitarist John Abercrombie.

Brian Aldiss - the gifted science fiction author who inspired the Hollywood movie AI artificial intelligence. Jerry Lewis the American comic who - with Dean Martin found fame as one of the most successful double acts of all time. Blanche Blackwell - the Jamaican society hostess who became Ian Fleming's lover and some believe - the inspiration for the Bond movie character Pussy Galore. Abu Kifah, the Syrian rescue worker who made headlines around the world after pulling a baby alive from the wreckage of a bombed out building - and Sir Bruce Forsyth whose death a week ago today has seen him fondly remembered for his contribution to British entertainment in a career spanning more than seven decades.

Kate Silverton on the "Broadway Diva" Barbara Cook, the American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s as the lead in the original Broadway musicals Plain and Fancy and Candide; Sister Ruth Pfau 'Mother Teresa' of Pakistan for her work in combating the spread of leprosy; Richard Gordon the anesthetist,whose medical work inspired him to write Dr in The House novels which were made into films and a TV series; Prof. U.R. Rao, Pioneer of India's Space Programme, who brought knowledge to millions of people through digital communications via the many satellites he launched into space.

Matthew Bannister onGlen Campbell - the singer and guitarist best known for hits like Galveston and Witchita Lineman. We talk to the man who wrote them - Jimmy Webb.Dame Helen Alexander, former Chief Executive of the Economist Group and the first woman to head the C.B.I. Clancy Sigal the American writer and activist who was blacklisted during the Communist witch hunts of the 1950s. Prunella Briance who founded the National Childbirth Trust after two traumatic experiences of giving birth.

Matthew Bannister on The actor Robert Hardy, best known for his roles in All Creatures Great and Small and the Harry Potter films and for playing Winston Churchill.David Jones who wrote the Daedalus column in New Scientist magazine and came up with an endless stream of inventive and challenging experiments.Jeanne Moreau the iconic French actress who was actually half English.Mark Wilkinson - the furniture designer once described as 'the Mozart of the kitchen cabinet'And Sam Shepard, the actor and playwright whose work redefined the landscape of the American West.

Matthew Bannister onMary Turner the President of the GMB Union who started her campaigning life by organising her fellow dinner ladies at a North London school.Chester Bennington, lead singer of the band Linkin Park who sold more than seventy million copies of their nu-metal albums.Scharlette Holdman who cajoled lawyers into representing people on death row in American prisons and developed techniques for persuading the courts to mitigate their sentences. Orri Vigfusson the businessman and angler who saved North Atlantic salmon stocks by paying commercial fishermen to stop taking them from the sea.And the film director George A Romero who pioneered the zombie horror movie genre with Night of the Living Dead. Presenter: Matthew Bannister Producer: Paul Waters.