Last Word

Matthew Bannister on The Israeli chemical weapons expert Marcus Klingberg, who was revealed to have been spying for the Soviet Union. The Scottish writer William McIlvanney, best known for his Jack Laidlaw crime novels. Val McDermid pays tribute. Setsuko Hara, one of Japan's most popular film actresses. Joel Elkes, the pharmacologist who pioneered the use of drugs to treat schizophrenia. And John Peel, the anthropologist who studied Nigeria's Yoruba people.

Matthew Bannister on General Sir Robert Ford who was Commander Land Forces Northern Ireland at the time of the Bloody Sunday shootings. Hazel Adair, the TV scriptwriter behind hit series like Compact, Emergency Ward 10 and Crossroads. Professor Jane Wardle, the behavioural scientist who transformed our understanding of cancer screening and prevention. Gerry Byrne, the Liverpool left back who was part of the England World Cup winning squad in 1966. And PF Sloan, the enigmatic musician who wrote the number one hit "Eve of Destruction"

Matthew Bannister on TV pioneer Peter Dimmock. An accomplished presenter and also a BBC executive, he directed the coverage of the Queen's coronation in 1953. Also SOE agent Alix d'Unienville. In the days before D Day she was parachuted into occupied France with a suitcase containing forty million francs. Yolanda Sonnabend who designed some of the UK's best loved ballets Maggie Eales who rose from the secretarial pool at ITN to become the company's Foreign Editor. Jon Snow pays tribute. And George Barris who created some of the most exotic vehicles in TV and film, including the Batmobile, the Munsters' Koach and the intelligent car in Knight Rider.

Matthew Bannister on Roy Dommett, one of the UK's leading rocket scientists who was also a well known morris dancer. Warren Mitchell, the actor best known for playing Alf Garnett in the TV sit com "Till Death Us Do Part" Allen Toussaint, the New Orleans producer and musician who worked with many of the great names in rock. Cynthia Payne, who ran a brothel at her home in Streatham where men exchanged luncheon vouchers for sex. And Jonah Lomu, the rugby player who won 63 caps for the All Blacks and scored 37 international tries.

Matthew Bannister onHelmut Schmidt, the German Chancellor who helped to design the European Monetary System and agreed that US nuclear weapons could be sited in his country. His friend the former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger pays tribute.Also the jockey Pat Eddery - Willie Carson remembers their rivalry on the course and their friendship off it. The actress and TV scriptwriter Julia Jones, who wrote the sitcom Take Three Girls and the period drama The Duchess of Duke Street.The businessman Lord Noon who made millions by selling authentic take away Indian curries to the British.And the trombonist Nat Peck, last survivor of the Glenn Miller Band.

Matthew Bannister on Norman Moore, the conservationist who discovered that organochorine pesticides were decimating the UK's bird of prey population. He fought a twenty year campaign to have them banned. The singer Diane Charlemagne - known as the diva of drum and bass. We have a tribute from Moby. The academic David Cesarani - a leading authority on modern Jewish history. The actor and screenwriter Colin Welland who, on winning an Oscar for Chariots of Fire, announced "The British Are Coming". And a powerful poem read by the Radio 4 newsreader and Chief Announcer Peter Donaldson.

Matthew Bannister on Professor Lisa Jardine, the historian whose intellectual curiosity stretched across the arts and sciences. She was chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and a regular broadcaster on Radio 4. Philip French, for thirty-five years the Chief Film Critic of the Observer. Ronnie Massarella who built up a successful family ice cream business and managed the British showjumping team for 32 years. And Maureen O'Hara, the red haired Irish film star known as the Queen of Technicolor. She appeared opposite John Wayne in five of his films including the Quiet Man.

Matthew Bannister onGeneral Jack Galvin who was NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe as the Cold War ended. Generals Colin Powell and David Petraeus pay tribute.Joan Leslie - the Hollywood star who made forty films in ten years.Michael Meacher - the former Environment minister once described by Neil Kinnock as "Tony Benn's vicar on earth." The Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn joins us.Howard Kendall - Everton football club's most successful manager. Gary Lineker remembers playing under him.Jerry Parr - the secret service agent who saved President Ronald Reagan's life when he was shot.

Julian Worricker on: The former Chancellor and Foreign Secretary, Geoffrey Howe, whose resignation speech in the Commons was generally regarded as the beginning of the end for Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister. The journalist, Sue Lloyd-Roberts, whose reporting frequently took her to some of the most dangerous parts of the world. The farmer and conservationist, Joe Henson, who founded the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. Hugh Scully, who rose to fame as a television presenter through his work on 'Nationwide' and 'Antiques Roadshow'. And the composer, Alexander Faris, best known for writing the theme tune to the 1970s ITV drama, Upstairs Downstairs.

Lucy Ash on the former Labour politician Denis Healey who was Chancellor of the Exchequer during the Winter of Discontent in 70s; Catalan literary agent Carmen Ballcells known as Big Mamma to her Nobel Prize winning authors;Captain Bob Arnott, beloved by his passengers on the QE2; Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell and radical priest Reverend Kenneth Leech, who founded the homelessness charity Centrepoint.