Last Word BBC

Julian Worricker on the film-maker Michael Apted, famous for his work on the 7UP documentary series, but who also directed nearly 30 feature films.

Kay Ullrich, an MSP after the first elections to the Scottish parliament, who Nicola Sturgeon described as one of the most influential figures in her life.

Katharine Whitehorn, whose column in the Observer revolutionised the journalism that women wrote....and read.

And the Vatican Latinist, Reginald Foster, who served four Popes, and who would never acknowledge that the language he was expert in was anything other than alive.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Claire Lewis
Interviewed guest: Shelley Joffre
Interviewed guest: Nicola Sturgeon
Interviewed guest: Julie Welch
Interviewed guest: David Willey

Archive from: Today Programme, Radio 4 TX 8.1.2021; On Top of A Column, Radio 4 TX 14.7.1971; A Point of View, Radio 4 TX 12.9.2008; Reginald Foster, High Priest of Latin, Radio 4 TX 16.4.1992; Today Programme, Radio 4 TX 27.12.2008; A World in Your Ear, Radio 4 TX 19.12.2003

Matthew Bannister on

Sir Brian Urquhart, the international civil servant and war veteran who played a key role in setting up United Nations peacekeeping forces.

Albert Roux, the French-born chef who, with his brother Michel, helped to revolutionise the quality of British restaurant cooking.

Dame Rachel Waterhouse, the chair of the Consumers’ Association whose campaigns were behind many significant improvements in consumer legislation.

And Gerry Marsden, lead singer of Gerry and the Pacemakers, best known for his hit versions of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” and “Ferry ‘Cross The Mersey”.

Interviewed guest: Alison Bernays
Interviewed guest: Andrew Gilmour
Interviewed guest: Rowley Leigh
Interviewed guest: Brian Yates
Interviewed guest: Peter Parfet
Interviewed guest: Spencer Leigh

Producer: Neil George

Archive clips used: Profile: Brian Urquhart, Radio 4, 28.2.1981; Pathe News – Shaping the Future; The Liberation of Bergen Belsen –WS Historic Moments; Desert Island Discs: Albert & Michel Roux, Radio 4, 1986; Albert & Michel Roux on Roux Scholarship – YouTube; File on 4: Quangos, Radio 4, 7.6.1978; Farming Today, Radio 4, 17.10.1988

Matthew Bannister on
Stella Tennant, the iconic fashion model who rose to prominence in the 1990s, becoming the face of Chanel.
George Bizos, the South African human rights lawyer who represented Nelson Mandela at the Rivonia Trial.
Joan Feynman, the astrophysicist who made important breakthroughs in her study of auroras and solar cycles.
Actor Rishi Kapoor, who appeared in almost 100 films and defined Bollywood for a generation.

Interviewed guest: Plum Sykes
Interviewed guest: Sir Nicholas Stadlen
Interviewed guest: Christopher Riley
Interviewed guest: Laura Tenenbaum
Interviewed guest: Haroon Rashid

Archive clips from: HARDtalk, BBC News 11/10/2011; Remembering Rivonia, BBC World Service 06/03/2018; Nelson Mandela Released from Prison, BBC News Archive 11/02/1990; The Fantastic Mr Feynman, dir. Christopher Riley, BBC2 12/05/2013; Bobby, R.K. Films Ltd 28/09/1973; Prem Rog, K.R. Films Ltd. 31/07/1982; Agneepath, Dharma Productions/Eros International 26/01/2012.

Producer: Dan Hardoon

Julian Worricker on

Millie Jones, the singer who brought ska rhythms and Jamaican culture to a global audience with her hit song My Boy Lollipop.

JJ Williams, the Llanelli, Wales and British Lions winger who became one of the stars of world rugby.

Dame Fanny Waterman, who co-founded the Leeds International Piano Festival and introduced many of the greatest pianists of our time.

And consumer champion Maurice Healy, editor of Which? magazine and director of the National Consumer Council, who was instrumental in bringing in shopping on a Sunday, cheaper air fares and better food labelling.

Interviewed guest: Chris Blackwell
Interviewed guest: Chris Salewicz
Interviewed guest: Phil Bennett
Interviewed guest: Petroc Trelawny
Interviewed guest: Richard Thomas

Producer: Paul Waters

Matthew Bannister on

The author John le Carré , the pen name of David Cornwell, who drew on his own experiences as a spy to elevate the espionage novel to new heights.

Patience Thomson, the educator who devoted herself to helping children with reading difficulties and set up a publishing house to create books for them. Michael Morpurgo pays tribute.

Doug Scott, the pioneering mountaineer who was the first Englishman to climb Mount Everest. His friend Sir Chris Bonington recalls Doug’s adventures.

Dame Barbara Windsor – the much loved actor who went from Carry On to Eastenders.

Interviewed guest: Adam Sisman
Interviewed guest: Sir Chris Bonnington
Interviewed guest: Denise Prior
Interviewed guest: Alice Thomson
Interviewed guest: Michael Morpurgo

Producer: Neil George

Matthew Bannister on

Mario Molina, the chemist who won the Nobel prize for revealing the devastating impact of CFCs on the ozone layer.

Irina Antonova, the director of the Pushkin Museum in Moscow for more than fifty years. She was caught up in a controversy over her refusal to send back priceless works of art looted by the Soviet Army at the end of the Second World War.

Valery Giscard d’Estaing, President of France between 1974 and 1981. He introduced liberal social reforms and was a passionate supporter of closer European integration.

Peter Alliss, the jovial former player who became known as TV’s “Voice of Golf”

Interviewed guest: Tony Adamson
Interviewed guest: Prof James Shields
Interviewed guest: Konstantin Akinsha
Interviewed guest: Dr Tony Cox

Producer: Neil George