Last Word

Matthew Bannister on: Phil Spector, the influential record producer who created the “Wall of Sound”. He died while serving a prison sentence for murdering actress Lana Clarkson. Grace Robertson, the photojournalist known for chronicling working class life in post war Britain. Paul Nihill, one of the world’s finest race walkers who won 96 consecutive races and was the first male British athlete to...

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...

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...

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 de...

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 champi...

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 t...

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,...

Matthew Bannister on: Hamish MacInnes, the mountaineer known as “The Fox of Glencoe”. He climbed the Matterhorn aged 16, made four trips to Everest and was a stalwart of the Glencoe Mountain Rescue team. He was also an inventor, coming up with an all metal ice axe and a collapsible stretcher for use in rescue operations. His services were much in demand as an advisor to big budget films like The E...

Pictured: Diego Maradona Matthew Bannister on: Diego Maradona, the flawed footballing genius who was worshipped by fans in Argentina and his adopted home city of Naples before drug abuse and scandal tainted his reputation. We speak to Asif Kapadia, director of the acclaimed film about Maradona’s life. Rosalind Grimshaw, the talented stained glass artist whose works include a spectacular window dep...

Pictured: Des O'Connor Matthew Bannister on The comedian Des O’Connor, an all-round entertainer equally at home telling jokes, hosting a chat show or recording an album. Richard Trim, the radar engineer who developed the technology that supports modern air traffic control systems. Dr Ataullah Siddiqui, the leading Muslim scholar who played a major role in creating inter-faith dialogue. Edith Raymo...

Pictured: Lord Sacks Matthew Bannister on The former Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, a respected scholar and broadcaster who reached out to other faiths, but had trouble reconciling the different strains of opinion in his own. John Sessions, the actor and comedian who used his gift for improvisation and mimicry in TV shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway, Spitting Image and Stella Street. Clive Anderson and...

Pictured: Sir Sean Connery Matthew Bannister on Sir Sean Connery, seen by many as the definitive James Bond, he won an Oscar for The Untouchables and was a supporter of the Scottish National Party. Eavan Boland, who changed the course of Irish poetry by making women’s experiences central to her work. The footballer Nobby Stiles, one of only two Englishmen to have won both the World Cup and the Eur...

Pictured: David Toole Matthew Bannister on David Toole, the disabled dancer who starred in the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympics. Professor Val Curtis, who was known as the Queen of Hygiene for her expertise on sanitation and research in how to communicate public health messages. Frank Bough, the popular presenter of TV shows like 'Grandstand' and 'Nationwide' whose BBC career ended in disg...

Pictured: Herbert Kretzmer Matthew Bannister on Herbert Kretzmer, the journalist turned lyricist, best known for writing the lyrics for the musical Les Misérables. James Nash, the flamboyant adventurer who came under fire as a Colonial Officer in the Middle East during the last days of the British Empire. Tom Maschler, the influential publisher who promoted the careers of many leading novelists an...

Pictured: Derek Mahon Matthew Bannister on Derek Mahon, one of Ireland’s greatest poets of recent times, whose work 'Everything’s Going To Be Alright' was read on Irish TV and radio at the start of the Covid lockdown. Professor Gerta Vrbová, who spent her youth fleeing Nazi persecution, then carried out pioneering work on the interaction between muscles and nerves. Ang Rita Sherpa, the only person...

Pictured: Kenzo Takada Matthew Bannister on: Kenzo Takada, the Japanese-born fashion designer who made Paris his home and was known for his bold use of colour. Colonel John Waddy, the former head of the SAS who was wounded at the Battle of Arnhem. Frank Windsor, the actor best known for playing Detective Sergeant Watt in Z Cars and Softly Softly. Ann Getty, who married into the Getty family and us...

Julian Worricker on: The campaigning journalist and editor, Sir Harold Evans, voted the greatest of all time by his peers.... Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, US Supreme Court Justice, who served in that role for 27 years and became something of a judicial celebrity.... The charity worker Helen Taylor-Thompson, who co-founded Europe's first AIDS hospice at a time of great hostility towards those with the dise...

Pictured: Juliette Greco Julian Worricker on the French singer and actor, Juliette Greco, who rose to fame on the famous Left Bank in Paris after the war.... Bob Gore who revolutionised outdoor clothing with his invention of the waterproof fabric, Gore-Tex.... The ecologist Dame Georgina Mace, who changed the way threatened species were classified and reshaped worldwide conservation policies.... A...

Pictured: Sir Terence Conran Matthew Bannister on: Sir Terence Conran, the designer and businessman who transformed the UK’s approach to home décor and eating out. Dame Diana Rigg, the actor who combined a critically acclaimed stage career with stardom on TV and film. Shere Hite, who wrote the Hite Report which changed attitudes to female sexuality. Toots Hibbert, the Jamaican singer often called...

Pictured: Stuart King Julian Worricker on: Stuart King, who co-founded a humanitarian charity which involved perilous flights to southern Africa in light aircraft straight after the war.... The Khmer Rouge executioner, known as Comrade Duch, found guilty of some of the worst atrocities carried out by that regime in Cambodia.... Deirdre Le Faye, a scholar and professor, whose knowledge of the life...

Pictured: Chadwick Boseman Matthew Bannister on Chadwick Boseman, whose portrayal of the King of the fictional African kingdom of Wakanda in the movie Black Panther made him a global star. Sir Kenneth Robinson, the charismatic education expert whose TED talk “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” has been viewed online more than 67 million times. Lord Renton, the Tory politician who was Chief Whip when Mar...

Pictured: Dr James Partridge OBE (c) Paul Chambers Photography Julian Worricker on: The theatre designer, Sally Jacobs, whose work included a groundbreaking production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, set in a white box on stage…. James Partridge, whose life was transformed by facial burns suffered in a car accident, and who went on to campaign for equal treatment for all, irrespective of appearance…...

Pictured: Julian Bream Matthew Bannister on Julian Bream, said by many to be the greatest classical guitarist of all time. Elizabeth Ward, who campaigned for the introduction of the kidney donor card after her son went through three transplants. Chris Graham-Bell, the founding publisher of the Gay Times magazine. Stuart Christie, the anarchist who was involved in a plot to blow up the Spanish dict...

Matthew Bannister on Hawa Abdi, the Somali doctor who set up a clinic for pregnant women at her home that eventually became a sanctuary for thousands during violence in the country. Clive Ponting, the civil servant who leaked details of the sinking of the Argentine cruiser the General Belgrano during the Falklands War, but was acquitted of breaching the Official Secrets Act. Lee Teng-hui, the firs...

Pictured: John Hume Matthew Bannister on: John Hume, the politician widely credited with driving through the Northern Ireland peace process. Stan Mellor, who became the first jump jockey to ride one thousand winners. Paulette Wilson, who was wrongly threatened with deportation and went on to campaign for justice for others affected by the Windrush scandal. And the film director Sir Alan Parker, wh...