Last Word

Matthew Bannister on Shane MacGowan the lead singer of The Pogues who was famous for his song writing but also his abuse of drugs and alcohol. His sister joins us to discuss the roots of his talent and his excesses. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman to be appointed to the US Supreme Court. Lord Darling, the Labour politician who was Chancellor during the financial crash of 2008. Joan Ja...

Matthew Bannister on Henry Kissinger, a towering figure in international diplomacy, who won the Nobel Peace Prize but was condemned by some as a war criminal. Also, Terry Venables, the colourful manager who took the England Football team to the semi-finals of Euro 96. Paul Watson, the pioneer of reality TV whose “fly on the wall” techniques caused controversy. Sir Peter Bazalgette pays tribute. An...

Matthew Bannister on Captain Don Walsh, the American submariner who made the first descent to the deepest place in the ocean – the Mariana Trench. His friend and fellow deep sea explorer Victor Vescovo relives the experience for us. Dame A.S. Byatt, the author best known for her Booker Prize winning novel “Possession”. Rosalynn Carter, the former First Lady of the USA. Dr Finlay Macleod, the histo...

Matthew Bannister on Peter Betts, who was the UK’s lead negotiator at international climate change summits. Audrey Salkeld, the mountaineering historian best known for her work on the ill-fated Mallory and Irvine expedition. Heather Rogers KC, the lawyer who championed freedom of speech in many high profile cases Louise Meriwether, the author and journalist whose acclaimed novel “Daddy was a Numbe...

Matthew Bannister on Ken Mattingly, the astronaut who missed flying into space on the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission because he had been exposed to German measles. We have a tribute from Fred Haise who did take part in that hazardous flight. Anne Wright, who devoted her life to conserving the wild animals of India. Mary “Tiny” Gallacher who worked behind the scenes at Rangers Football Club in Glasgow...

Matthew Bannister on Benedict Birnberg, the radical lawyer who fought the cases of the far-left Angry Brigade and the Mangrove Nine and got the murder conviction of Derek Bentley quashed. Professor Jose Harris, the historian best known for her acclaimed biography of William Beveridge. Field Marshall Muthoni Wa Kirima, the last Mau Mau fighter to lay down her arms after the rebellion against Britis...

Matthew Bannister on Sir Bobby Charlton, who is hailed as England’s greatest ever footballer. Dr. Evelyn Fox Keller, who explored the effects of gender on the study of science. Julian Bahula, the South African musician and anti- apartheid activist And Haydn Gwynne, the versatile actor known for her roles in Billy Elliott and The Audience on stage and The Windsors and Drop the Dead Donkey on screen...

Kirsty Lang on Charles ‘Chuck’ Feeney, the secret billionaire who gave most of his money away to good causes. Phyllis ‘Pippa’ Latour, the fearless secret agent who was parachuted into Nazi occupied Normandy a month before D-Day. Florence Fisher, who was adopted as a child and later led a movement to help millions of others find their birth parents. Dr Nicholas Arnold, one of the world’s leading ex...

Kirsty Lang on The talented young scientist Kirsty Smitten who did pioneering work developing a new generation of antibiotics. Singer Kat Anderson who made pop history with Motown’s first Number One hit: Please Mr Postman. The architect Beverly Willis who devoted much of her career to promoting her female peers. Tony Wade who helped built Britain’s first black owned multi-million-pound business se...

Matthew Bannister on the acclaimed actor Sir Michael Gambon. His son Fergus reveals his love of cars, antique firearms – and lying to journalists. The peace campaigner Pat Arrowsmith, who went to prison a number of times for direct action protests. Treleven Haysom, the stone mason who devoted his life to working, quarrying and telling the history of Purbeck stone. Dianne Feinstein, the US Senator...

Matthew Bannister on Gita Mehta, the author who set out to reveal the truth about India to the West. Her friend the theatre director Sir Richard Eyre pays tribute. Matteo Messina Denaro, the Italian mafia boss who boasted he could “fill a cemetery” with his murder victims. Irma Brenman Pick, the psychoanalyst who investigated the emotional reactions between patient and therapist. John Stevenson, w...

Matthew Bannister on Sir Horace Ové, the director whose films told stories of the experiences of black people in Britain. Su Gorman, who campaigned for justice for the victims of the contaminated blood scandal, after her own husband was infected with hepatitis C. Roger Whittaker, the singer best known for his hits Durham Town and The Last Farewell, and his skill at whistling. Jean Combes, the natu...

Matthew Bannister on Mike Yarwood, whose impressions of famous people made him one of TV’s biggest stars in the 1970s and 80s. Ada Deer, the Native American campaigner who became head of the Bureau of Indian Affairs under President Clinton. Professor Sir Ian Wilmut, the embryologist who led the team that created Dolly the Sheep – the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. Dorothy Purdew, wh...

Matthew Bannister on Mohamed Al-Fayed, the controversial businessman who owned Harrods department store and Fulham Football Club. His son Dodi died in the car crash that killed Princess Diana. Dorothy Goodman, the educationalist who helped to found the consumer affairs magazine that became known as “Which?”. Professor Anthony Bryceson, the tropical medicine expert who was kidnapped by guerrilla fo...

Matthew Bannister on: Julian Haviland who was political editor at ITN and then the Times, covering key events at Westminster in the 1970s and 80s. Johaar Mosaval, the South African dancer who overcame racial prejudice to fulfil his dream of becoming a ballet star. Tricia Tyler, who edited the Nursing Times. Matyelok Gibbs, the actor and director who secured the future of London’s famous Unicorn Ch...

John Wilson on: The journalist and broadcaster who became synonymous with the British chat show, Sir Michael Parkinson. Italian soprano Renata Scotto, one of the biggest stars of opera in the 1960s and 70s John Brierly, the author of bestselling guidebooks to the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route The teacher, anthropologist and communist Isobel Crook who lived and worked in China for most of her...

Sir Michael Parkinson was a journalist, broadcaster, and arguably Britain’s greatest television chat show host. During a TV career than spanned six decades, Parky interviewed hundreds of the world's most famous stars. Sir Michael died on 16th August 2023. For Last Word, John Wilson talks to Sir Michael's son Mike about his father's life and career. Starting with his upbringing in a council house i...

Kirsty Lang on: Nick Kaiser, an internationally renowned British scientist who reached not just for the stars but the entire cosmos.... A gallerist who championed British contemporary art: Angela Flowers opened her first exhibition space in a Soho attic in 1970 A fixture of Scottish cultural life, the legendary broadcaster Robbie Shepherd, who presented BBC Scotland’s Dance music programme, Take t...

Kirsty Lang on: Sir Michael Boyd, the former Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Jess Search, the fearless documentary producer who backed award winning but controversial films others feared to touch. Warren Ford, the tea consultant and buyer who devised the well-known Yorkshire blend. Leny Andrade, the Brazilian bossa nova and jazz singer. Producer: Ed Prendeville Archive used: St...

Kirsty Lang on: Richard Barancik, the last known surviving member of a World War II allied unit - The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives section - known as the Monuments Men and Women. Yvonne Littlewood MBE, the first woman to become a television producer and director in the BBC Light Entertainment unit. Edward Sexton, the Saville Row master tailor. And Dr Christian Carritt who set up her own GP p...

John Wilson on George Alagiah, the BBC Journalist and Presenter is remembered by his colleagues Sophie Raworth and John Simpson. Sinead O’Connor, the Irish singer who won worldwide fame with Nothing Compares 2 U. Ann Clwyd, the former Labour Member of Parliament who held frontbench posts in opposition, and campaigned on behalf of Welsh miners and Iraqi Kurds. Tony Bennett, the consummate crooner w...

Matthew Bannister on Lady Williams of Elvel, who, as Jane Portal, was personal secretary to Winston Churchill and the mother of the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Professor John Goodenough, the American materials chemist who won the Nobel prize for his work on developing the rechargeable lithium battery. Christine Baker, the publisher who specialised in making British children’s books avai...

Matthew Bannister on Malcolm Mowbray, the British film director best known for making “A Private Function” - the comedy about wartime rationing starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. The film’s writer Alan Bennett pays tribute. Victoria Amelina, the Ukrainian novelist and war crimes researcher who was killed in a missile strike in Kramatorsk. Roger Lovegrove, the ornithologist who played a leadi...

Matthew Bannister on Dame Ann Leslie, the journalist who reported on some of the most significant events of recent times. Lord Kerslake, who was Head of the Civil Service under the coalition government. Diane Rowe, the table tennis champion who won the world doubles title with her twin sister Rosalind. Tim Blackmore, the radio executive who produced the first Radio 1 breakfast show and pioneered i...

Matthew Bannister on Baroness McDonagh Margaret McDonagh was the youngest person and the first woman to become General Secretary of the Labour Party. She was a key player in the New Labour project that helped the party win a landslide in 1997 and two subsequent terms in office. Margaret McDonagh was born in Mitcham in South London where her mother worked as a psychiatric nurse and her father was a...