Last Word

Matthew Bannister on Lady Falkender who was the controversial political secretary to Harold Wilson for twenty seven years. Karl Lagerfeld, the designer who re-vitalised Chanel, developed Fendi and became an icon in his own right. John Stalker, the Deputy Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police who led an investigation into allegations of a shoot to kill policy in Northern Ireland. Andrea Levy...

Matthew Bannister on Gordon Banks, the goalkeeper in England's 1966 World Cup winning team, who made one of the greatest saves of all time in 1970. Vikki Orvice, the first woman to work as a football writer on a national tabloid newspaper. David Garman, the inventor of the portable bath lift and many other devices to help people with disabilities. Mary Oliver, the American poet known for her works...

Pictured: Rosamunde Pilcher Andrea Catherwood on: Activist Hugh Lewin who was jailed for his stand against apartheid in South Africa, Iraqi archaeologist Lamia Al-Gailani who helped rebuild the National Museum of Iraq after looting, Dr Stewart Adams, the Boots pharmacist who invented Ibuprofen, Scottish ecologist Adam Watson who devoted his life to protecting the Cairngorms, and author Rosamunde P...

Pictured: Jeremy Hardy Julian Worricker on: Comedian Jeremy Hardy, a mainstay of The News Quiz and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue on Radio 4.... Editor and author, Diana Athill, who wrote candidly about her personal life especially in her later years... Sir Conrad Swan, who, as Garter King of Arms, was the senior heraldic authority of England... Oscar-winning composer, pianist, conductor and arranger,...

Pictured: Hugh McIlvanney Matthew Bannister on Hugh McIlvanney, the respected sports writer known for his love of language and combative approach to life. Jennie Buckman, the theatre practitioner who trained a generation of famous actors and founded a company to give voice to the disadvantaged. John Beavis, the surgeon who was forced to retire from the NHS through ill health but then spent the nex...

Pictured: Joe Casely-Hayford Matthew Bannister on Joe Casely-Hayford, the fashion designer whose creations ranged from punk to Savile Row tailoring. His children, who followed him into fashion, pay tribute. Nicholas Crichton, the judge who pioneered specialist family drug and alcohol courts in the UK. Professor Sophie Oluwole, who was a powerful advocate for African philosophy. Professor Paul O'Br...

Pictured: Nancy Roman Matthew Bannister on Nancy Roman, the American space agency NASA's first Chief Astronomer. She was known as the mother of the Hubble Telescope. Ralph Koltai, the influential theatre set designer who worked on more than 250 productions. Julia Grant, the transgender activist who allowed her transition from male to female to be filmed by the BBC. Jin Yong, the Chinese writer who...

Pictured: June Whitfield Matthew Bannister on Dame June Whitfield, the comic actress whose long career spanned classic radio shows and Absolutely Fabulous. Sir Jack Zunz, the civil engineer who led the construction of the Sydney Opera House and became chairman of Ove Arup. Thomas Baptiste, the Guyana-born actor who appeared in Coronation Street and The Ipcress File and campaigned for colour blind...

Pictured: Sister Wendy Beckett Julian Worricker on: The nun, Sister Wendy Beckett, who became an unlikely television star when she brought her knowledge of the history of art to the small screen... Nicolas Roeg, the film director behind such classics as Don't Look Now and The Man Who Fell to Earth... The German soprano, Inge Borkh, described as one of the most exciting operatic performers of her e...

Pictured: Nancy Wilson Matthew Bannister on Sir David Weatherall, the world renowned haematologist and geneticist who pioneered molecular approaches to medicine. Penny Marshall, the first woman to direct a film which grossed more than a hundred million dollars. She also starred in the US TV sitcom Laverne and Shirley. Evelyn Berezin who invented the first computerised word processor for secretaria...

Pictured: Peter Boizot Matthew Bannister on Peter Boizot who founded the Pizza Express chain of restaurants and invested heavily in his home town of Peterborough. Judith Kazantzis, the feminist poet, novelist and activist. Sir Sze-Yuen Chung, the Hong Kong businessman who led the campaign for residents' views to be heard during the handover negotiations between the UK and China. Cecylia Roszak, th...

Pictured: Pete Shelley Matthew Bannister on Harry Leslie Smith who grew up in poverty in Yorkshire. He became an outspoken campaigner for the welfare state and a social media star in his nineties. Pete Shelley, lead singer and songwriter of Buzzcocks. Monica Sims, the BBC executive who ran children's TV, then became Controller of Radio 4. Wendy Atkin, the epidemiologist who devised a breakthrough...

Pictured: Baroness Trumpington Matthew Bannister on Baroness Trumpington, who worked for Lloyd George and at Bletchley Park during the war then became a government minister noted for her cheerfully unstuffy attitude. Roy Bailey the socialist folk singer who teamed up with Tony Benn in an award winning live act. Henry Stevens, the police officer who won the George Cross for repeatedly tackling a bu...

Pictured: William Goldman Matthew Bannister on William Goldman, the Hollywood screenwriter behind a string of hits including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All The President's Men and The Princess Bride. John Large, the respected nuclear engineer who highlighted the safety risks facing the industry. Richard Baker, the long serving BBC television newsreader who also presented classical music p...

Pictured: Stan Lee Matthew Bannister on The naturalist and expert on animal evolution Aubrey Manning who presented the acclaimed BBC TV series Earth Story. The Jewish Communist campaigner Max Levitas who fought Oswald Moseley's fascist blackshirts. The singer Babs Beverley - one third of the close harmony singing group the Beverley Sisters. Janet Paisley the poet and novelist known for her work in...

Pictured: Lord Heywood Matthew Bannister on Lord Heywood, the senior civil servant who worked with four Prime Ministers: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May. Pamela Lonsdale, the children's TV producer who brought us Rainbow. Sangharakshita, the British born Buddhist leader whose reputation was tarnished by allegations of sexual misconduct with his students. Tom Jago, the drink...

Pictured: Wanda Ferragamo Matthew Bannister on Wanda Ferragamo - who took over her husband's successful Italian shoe making business and turned it into a global fashion brand. Wim Kok, the Dutch prime minister whose career was overshadowed by the Srebrenica massacre. The writer Ntozake Shange, best known for her choreopoem "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf". T...

Pictured: Baroness Hollis Matthew Bannister on Anthea Bell who translated the works of Freud and Kafka into English - but was even better known for making Asterix the Gaul funny in his second language. Captain Michael Howard, the intelligence officer who was part of T-Force which was set up after the second world war to seize German assets and bring them back to the UK. Baroness Hollis, the Labour...

Pictured: Paul Allen Matthew Bannister on Paul Allen who teamed up with his school friend Bill Gates to found the computer software company Microsoft. After he left, he used his billions to support medical research, education and an American football team. Mary Midgley, the philosopher who wrote about the relationship between humans and animals and enjoyed lively debates with her colleagues. Leon...

Pictured: Montserrat Caballé Matthew Bannister on Ray Galton, who, with his writing partner Alan Simpson, created Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son. Paul Merton pays tribute. Gerald Russell, the psychiatrist who was the first to describe the eating disorder bulimia nervosa. Evelyn Anthony, the novelist whose historical romances sold millions of copies. The financier Sir Roger Gibbs, who tran...

Pictured: Charles Aznavour Matthew Bannister on Charles Aznavour, the French singer who "made despair popular". The lyricist Don Black, who worked with him, pays tribute. Dr. Charles Kao, the Nobel prize winning physicist who developed fibre optic technology, so paving the way for the world wide web. Elizabeth de Mauny Wainwright, the pioneering foreign correspondent who helped to smuggle an inter...

Pictured: Chas Hodges Matthew Bannister on Chas Hodges, the session musician who became one half of the cockney duo Chas and Dave and had hits like Gertcha and Rabbit. M.J. Long the American-born architect who co-designed the British Library, the National Maritime Museum and studios for some of the UK's best known artists. Arthur Mitchell, the first African American principal dancer in a major bal...

Pictured: Denis Norden Andrea Catherwood on Denis Norden, the television presenter and comedy writer who made Britain laugh for half a century. Diane Leather, the first woman in the world to break the 5-minute mile, just 23 days after Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute barrier, but achieved much less acclaim. Johnny Kingdom, the poacher turned filmmaker who enthralled TV audiences with his love an...

Pictured: Jacqueline Pearce Matthew Bannister on Lady Coleridge, the nurse and adventurer who explored the Congo river with Colonel John Blashford-Snell. He pays tribute. Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Afghan warlord who was backed by the CIA to fight the Soviets but sided with the Taliban after the civil war. Jacqueline Pearce, the actor best known for playing villains in "Blake's Seven" and "Dr Who". L...

Pictured: Burt Reynolds Matthew Bannister on The prolific career of the movie star Burt Reynolds. The 'Deliverance' director John Boorman pays tribute. The environmental campaigner Lord Melchett who, as executive director of Greenpeace, was arrested during a protest against GM crops. The Italian anti-mafia campaigner Rita Borsellino who took up the cause after her brother was killed by a car bomb....