Last Word

Matthew Bannister on Miriam Rodríguez Martínez- the Mexican woman whose daughter was killed by drug cartels - and who led a campaign for justice for thousands of missing people. Lord Soulsby - the first vet to be made a peer. He was an expert on parasites nicknamed "Lord of the Worms." Peter Sallis the actor best known for his role as Norman Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine - and for being the voi...

Julian Worricker on: The broadcaster, John Noakes, who was famous for his daredevil exploits on Blue Peter for thirteen years.... Manuel Noriega, who flirted with the Americans as leader of Panama, and ended up being jailed by them.... The dancer for whom one photograph of her on railings on Blackpool promenade shot her to fame, Pat Stewart.... Wing Commander Rex Sanders, lead navigator on a serie...

Andrea Catherwood on Brendan Duddy, the businessman from Derry who played a key but unsung role in the Northern Ireland peace process hosting secret talks between MI6 and the IRA. Nina Lowry, the first woman to become an Old Bailey judge, who helped toughen up sentencing on sex crimes. Roger Ailes, the controversial figure who conceived and ran Rupert Murdoch's Fox News Network for two decades bef...

Matthew Bannister on Rhodri Morgan the former Welsh First Minister, known as the Labour Party's "Father of Welsh devolution". Michael Wearing the TV producer behind award winning series like "Boys From The Blackstuff" and "Edge of Darkness". Helen Szamuely who helped to start the Anti Federalist League - which became the UK Independence Party. The Moors murderer Ian Brady. And the DJ Robert Miles...

Matthew Bannister on The Swiss climber Ueli Steck, famous for his daring high speed ascents of the world's most challenging mountains without the use of oxygen. Lord Williams the human rights expert who advised three Labour Foreign secretaries. Sylvia Moy who co-wrote many of Stevie Wonder's best known songs, including "I Was Made To Love Her" and "My Cherie Amour." Captain James Dickson, the expe...

Matthew Bannister on Robert Pirsig, author of the best selling book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Shobha Nehru, the Hungarian woman who married into India's most powerful political dynasty - and used her position to confront Prime Minister Indira Ghandi about human rights abuses. Michael Ballhaus, the cinematographer who worked closely with Martin Scorsese. Leo Baxendale, the cartooni...

Matthew Bannister on The film director Jonathan Demme - best known for the multi Oscar winning films Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia. Robert Taylor who helped to develop the first networked computers - a forerunner of the internet - and inspired the creation of modern personal computers. Cathy Hopkins who campaigned for the residents of St Helena to get back their British citizenship. Peter...

Matthew Bannister on The theatre director Michael Bogdanov, who co-founded the English Shakespeare Company. His National Theatre production of the Romans In Britain led to an obscenity trial. The ethnomusicologist Louis Sarno who fell in love with the music of an obscure tribe of pygmies in the Central African Republic and went to live with them. Sheila Abdus Salaam, who became the first African A...

Julian Worricker on: The society columnist and Holocaust survivor, Masha Leon.... Actor Tim Pigott-Smith and director Christopher Morahan, who worked together on ITV's The Jewel in the Crown.... Playwright Parv Bancil whose work tackled issues affecting young British Asians.... Marthe Gosteli, who was at the forefront of the campaign to get women the vote in Switzerland.... And the broadcaster, ho...

Matthew Bannister on the Black Power activist and journalist Darcus Howe. He was a leading campaigner for equal rights in the 1970s and 80s. Athletics coach Andy Coogan who spent three and a half years as a prisoner of the Japanese during the second world war. Dr Sylvia Moody, the clinical psychologist who pioneered greater understanding of dyslexia in adults. The Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko...

Matthew Bannister on Playwright and novelist David Storey who drew on his experiences as a professional rugby league player in some of his work. The South African anti apartheid activist Ahmed Kathrada who spent twenty six years in prison with Nelson Mandela and then became his parliamentary adviser. Barbara Buss who edited Woman Magazine in its 1970s heyday. And Lucky Gordon, the drug dealer, jaz...

Matthew Bannister on Martin McGuinness, who went from being a violent IRA commander to a peace making politician. Chuck Berry, hailed as the father of rock n roll by musicians from Keith Richards to John Lennon and Bruce Springsteen. The Nobel prize winning poet Sir Derek Walcott, who brought the Caribbean experience to the wider world. Salome Karwah, who survived Ebola in her native Liberia, went...

Matthew Bannister on The racing driver John Surtees who won world championships on two wheels and four. Gordon Thomas who wrote best selling books about espionage and religion. Sir Howard Hodgkin - one of the UK's most admired modern painters. H. Boyd Woodruff, the microbiologist who isolated life saving antibiotics in soil. Joni Sledge one of four singing sisters in the disco group Sister Sledge....

Matthew Bannister on The human rights lawyer Sir Nigel Rodley. He helped to draft the United Nations Convention Against Torture and became its special rapporteur on the issue. Pete Overend Watts, the bass player from Mott the Hoople. His platform soled boots were so high that if he fell over on stage he needed a roadie to put him back on his feet again. Louise Hulton the maternal health expert who...

Julian Worricker on: The long-serving Labour MP and former minister, Gerald Kaufman The prolific Dutch illustrator and author Dick Bruna Cardinal Desmond Connell, who as Archbishop of Dublin presided over the Church's handling of the child abuse scandal Controversial city mayor Rita Barbera, who ran Valencia in Spain for twenty years Writer and broadcaster, Frank Delaney, best known for Radio 4 pr...

Kate Silverton on Stanley Bard, the enigmatic proprietor of New York's Chelsea Hotel who created a haven for artists, writers and rock stars and presided over one of the greatest experiments in bohemian living in the history of New York Norma McCorvey, known as Jane Roe, the anonymous plaintiff in the Roe v Wade case by which the US supreme court legalised abortion, who became an unlikely icon for...

Matthew Bannister on Betty Tebbs who devoted her life to fighting for women's rights and nuclear disarmament. Sir Peter Mansfield, the Nobel Prize winning physicist who led the development of MRI scanning. Dame Jennifer Jenkins, chairwoman of the Consumers Association and the National Trust. Hans Rosling the statistician known for his skill as a communicator who worked to end poverty. Al Jarreau t...

Matthew Bannister on The comedy writer Alan Simpson. With his partner Ray Galton, he created classic sitcoms including Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son. Brunhilde Pomsel who was the secretary to the Nazi propaganda chief Josef Goebbels. Sir Ken Morrison, the Yorkshireman who built up the family grocery firm to become Britain's fourth largest supermarket chain. And the Nigerian born novelist...

Matthew Bannister on Sir John Hurt, the actor whose outstanding roles included Quentin Crisp, the Elephant Man and Caligula. Margaret Pereira, the pioneering forensic scientist who was known as "Miss Murder" by the press. Sir Christopher Bland who chaired LWT, the BBC and BT. Emma Tennant, the author from an aristocratic background whose work included sequels to classic novels. And Mary Tyler Moor...

Matthew Bannister on The Labour MP Tam Dalyell who asked the West Lothian Question and pursued Margaret Thatcher over the sinking of the Belgrano. Victor Lownes who ran Playboy's clubs in the UK - and lived up to the magazine's lifestyle and values. Children's author Babette Cole, best known for writing and illustrating Princess Smartypants and The Trouble with Mum. The Chinese economist and lingu...

Matthew Bannister on Baroness Rachael Heyhoe Flint who captained the England women's cricket team to victory in the World Cup. Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of the key players in the country's revolution. Dr. Una Kroll, a tireless campaigner for the ordination of women. William Peter Blatty who wrote the book and the film "The Exorcist" And Sir James Mancham, the first President...

Matthew Bannister on Lord Snowdon - renowned photographer and Princess Margaret's former husband. Graham Taylor - the football manager who had success with Watford and Aston Villa, but was lampooned for his performance with England. Jill Saward, the rape survivor who campaigned for the rights of those who suffer sexual violence. The singer and songwriter Peter Sarsdedt, best known for the song "Wh...

Julian Worricker on: The writer and art critic John Berger Mother and daughter actresses, Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher The surgeon who came up with the life-saving heimlich manoeuvre, Henry Heimlich The linguist Patsy Crampton, who worked at the Nuremberg trials before going on to translate more than 200 children's books Broadcaster Brian Widlake, well known for the Money Programme and the Wo...

Julian Worricker on: The journalist and TV correspondent, Michael Nicholson, who covered numerous conflicts for ITN The actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor, famous for her one-liners and nine husbands James Prior, who served in government under Margaret Thatcher despite her regarding him as a 'wet' Rabbi Lionel Blue, a regular presenter on Thought for the Day on Radio 4 and the composer Pauline Ol...

Matthew Bannister on Peter Gibson the master glazier who devoted his life to the care of the stained glass windows in York Minster. AA Gill, who overcame alcoholism and dyslexia to become one of the UK's best known critics. Coral Atkins who gave up a career as an actress to run homes for disadvantaged children. William Chaloner, an authority on fossil plants who used pollen from the past to recons...