Last Word

Matthew Bannister onThe award winning Irish playwright Brian Friel, best known for Dancing At Lughnasa and Translations.Argentine General Mario Menéndez who was appointed Governor of the Falkland Islands during the invasion.Tessa Ransford who founded the Scottish Poetry Library.John Guillermin who directed movie blockbusters like The Towering Inferno, Death on the Nile, and the 1976 re-make of King Kong.And Ben Cauley, the trumpeter who was the only survivor of the plane crash which killed Otis Redding.Producer: Neil George.

Matthew Bannister onBrian Sewell, the art critic with the distinctive voice, outspoken opinions and love of dogs.Jackie Collins who sold millions of copies of her sex and showbusiness novels,Ted Smith, the conservationist who built up the UK's network of Wildlife Trusts.PJ Kavanagh, the poet who also played a Nazi loving priest in the TV comedy Father Ted.And Yogi Berra the top baseball player also known for his mangling of the English language.

Matthew Bannister onSir David Willcocks - one of the most influential choir masters of his generation. Known for his descants to Christmas carols, he was director of music at King's College Cambridge for 17 years - and led the Bach choir for 38. Merv Adelson the property developer who founded the TV company Lorimar which made hits like the Waltons, Dallas and Knots Landing.Mariem Hassan, the singer from the marginalised Sahrawi people who used her music to promote their cause.Brian Close the Yorkshire and England cricket captain noted for his courage at the crease. And Beryl Renwick who became a presenter on BBC Radio Humberside in her eighties and won the industry's top award.

Matthew Bannister onSir Adrian Cadbury - who was chairman of the family confectionery firm, led its merger with Schweppes and wrote an influential report on corporate governance. He was also an Olympic rower - and Sir Steve Redgrave pays tribute. Rico Rodriguez the trombonist who helped create ska and reggae and played with the Specials and Jools Holland, who shares his memories.Ieng Thirith - health minister of the Khmer Rouge and sister in law of Pol Pot. She was indicted for crimes against humanity.Margaret Harrison who founded the Home Start charity which sends volunteers to help parents who are struggling to cope.

Matthew Bannister onLord Montagu of Beaulieu who founded the National Motor Museum, opened his estate to the public and served a prison sentence for homosexuality. His son, who has succeeded to the title, pays tribute. Joy Beverley - one of the Beverley sisters who became close harmony singing stars in the 1940s and 50s. She married the England and Wolves footballer Billy Wright, making them the Posh and Becks of their day.The neurologist Oliver Sacks who told his patients' extraordinary stories in books like "The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat".And Annette Worsley-Taylor who started London Fashion Week to promote young British designers. Producer: Neil George.

Matthew Bannister onThe trade union official Bernie Passingham who helped women workers at the Ford Motor Company in their fight for equal pay.Medical researcher Chris Marshall who identified one of the human oncogenes which cause cancer.Wayne Carson who wrote the song Always on My Mind, which was recorded by Elvis Presley, the Pet Shop Boys and eight hundred other artists.Michael Turk, a Queen's Waterman and Swan Marker who built historic boats for film and TV.And author Marie Dobbs who completed Jane Austen's unfinished last novel Sanditon.

Presenter Lucy Ash remembers:Khaled Al-Asaad, the Syrian archaeologist beheaded by Islamic State who was famous for his in depth knowledge and love of the ancient city of Palmyra; Jazz Summers, the maverick music manager who took Wham! to China and had a reputation as a hard man;Jack Gold, multi-BAFTA winning TV director of the Naked Civil Servant and Goodnight Mr Tom; Manuel Contreras, the army general who ran Chile's brutal secret police during Pinochet's dictatorship;And Dawn Wofford, the showjumping champion who won her first competition at the age of three. Producer: Neil George.

Last Word is presented by Reeta Chakrabarti this week. She will be remembering:The comic writer and novelist David Nobbs - we speak to his friend and fellow writer Jonathan Coe about the man who invented the 1970s anti-hero Reginald Perrin;Frances Kelsey, the scientist whose concerns about the drug Thalidomide prevented it from being approved in the US;Kyril Zinovieff, who as a child in Russia saw Rasputin, and as a spy for Britain encountered Hitler;The Italian fashion designer Elio Fiorucci, who introduced the world to skintight vinyl jeans;And the musician Harry Pitch, the harmonica player who performed everywhere from jazz clubs to opera houses.Producer: Neil George.

Matthew Bannister onThe singer and TV presenter Cilla Black - we go behind the scenes to discover the secret of her success on Saturday night TV.Michael Kidson who taught history at Eton for thirty years, delighting his pupils by his maverick behaviour.The Indian scientist and reluctant politician APJ Abdul Kalam, known as the "People's President".The Scottish public health campaigner Evelyn Gillan who targeted domestic violence and fought for minimum pricing for alcohol.And the actor George Cole, best known for playing Arthur Daley in the TV series Minder.

Matthew Bannister onThe Reverend Owen Chadwick, the distinguished ecclesiastical historian who was vice Chancellor of Cambridge University during student protests in the 1970s and chaired an influential commission on Church and State.Also Jon Vickers the operatic tenor best known for playing muscular roles like Samson, Otello and Peter Grimes.Yoichiro Nambu, the theoretical physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his ground-breaking work on sub atomic particles.Nova Pilbeam, the leading lady in early Hitchcock films who later turned her back on stage and screen.And Nick Ryman who made his fortune by building up the family stationery firm and then moved to France to become a successful wine maker.