Last Word

Matthew Bannister on American playwright Edward Albee, who won three Pullitzer prizes but not for his best known work "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Physicist James Cronin who won the Nobel Prize for his work on the asymmetry between matter and anti matter. Health administrator Caroline Thomson, who persuaded the people of the Scottish Highlands to confront the challenges of HIV and AIDS. Zool...

Matthew Bannister on Barry Myers who directed some of the best known commercials of the 1970s and 80s, including ads for Hovis, Olympus Cameras and Cadbury's Flake. Eileen Younghusband, who worked as a filter officer during the Second World War, spotting the approaching aircraft and V2 rockets launched against Britain by the Nazis. The Edinburgh based artist Robin Spark, who had a troubled relatio...

Matthew Bannister on The Bishop of Durham the Right Reverend David Jenkins. A respected theologian, he was noted for his controversial views. The diplomat Dame Margaret Anstee who overcame sex discrimination to hold senior roles at the United Nations. She led relief missions at many of the world's major trouble spots. . The President of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov who faced international condemnation...

Matthew Bannister on João Havelange, the President of the international football federation, FIFA, who stepped down amid allegations of corruption. The French fashion designer Sonia Rykiel who broke the conventions of haute couture to produce wearable clothes for women on the go. Gene Wilder, the comedy film actor best known for his roles as Willy Wonka in Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and in...

Julian Worricker on.... The co-writer of 'Yes Minister' and 'Yes Prime Minister' - Sir Antony Jay.... Donald Henderson, American epidemiologist, who led the WHO's campaign to eradicate smallpox.... The aristocrat Tom Cholmondeley, who divided opinion in his native Kenya after he shot dead two black men on his ranch.... Nursing leader, Patsy Wright-Warren, who went on to travel the world for the Ry...

Matthew Bannister on the Bishop of Derry Edward Daly. He was famously photographed waving a bloodstained white handkerchief as he tended to a young man shot by the army on Bloody Sunday. The Egyptian born chemist Ahmed Zewail who won the Nobel prize for his work on revealing the minute details of chemical reactions. Suzanne Wright who raised millions of dollars for research into autism after her g...

Matthew Bannister on Luc Hoffmann, the Swiss conservationist who co-founded the World Wildlife Fund and fought to save endangered species and wetlands. Sylvia Peters, one of the best known faces on BBC television in the 1950s. The film stuntman Joe Powell who took part in many death defying exploits. The editor of the Archers William Smethurst who introduced the characters of Eddie Grundy and Nige...

Matthew Bannister on Thomas Sutherland the Scottish-born American professor who was held hostage for more than six years in Lebanon. We hear from his fellow hostage Terry Anderson. The singer, songwriter and producer Gary S Paxton. He brought us the Monster Mash and thousands of other songs and lived up to his nickname "His Weirdness" Sally Beauman, who was given a reported million pound advance f...

Matthew Bannister on The American journalist Sydney Schanberg who won the Pulitzer prize for his reporting on Cambodia. His story was turned into the film "The Killing Fields". The archaeologist Beatrice de Cardi, once described as "a cross between Miss Marple and Indiana Jones". The publisher Lord Evans of Temple Guiting, who, as Matthew Evans, led Faber and Faber to great success. His friend Mel...

Matthew Bannister on Abdul Sattar Edhi. Known as Pakistan's "Angel of Mercy", he built up a foundation which brought healthcare, orphanages and women's shelters to the poorest people in his country. Dr. Suzanne Corkin - the neuroscientist who spent years studying a patient known as "H.M." An operation on his brain had left him with profound amnesia. Bernardo Provenzano - the Sicilian mafia boss ni...

Matthew Bannister on The comedian Caroline Aherne who created Mrs Merton and the Royle family and struggled with the pressures of fame. Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel. Described by President Obama as "one of the great moral voices of our time", he won the Nobel Peace Prize. The poet Sir Geoffrey Hill whose work focused on English history, landscape and religion. The Conservative politic...

Matthew Bannister on The Pakistani qawwali singer Amjad Sabri. A huge star in his homeland, he was shot dead in his car in Karachi. The auctioneer Lorna Kelly who turned her back on a glittering New York lifestyle to work with Mother Teresa. The psychologist Jerome Bruner whose work brought new insight into how children learn. Bob Holman who gave up his academic career to live and work with people...

Matthew Bannister on The parasitologist Sylvia Meek who led the fight to reduce deaths from malaria. Harry Rabinowitz who conducted the music for many films and TV series, including the English Patient and Upstairs Downstairs. Ethel Bush who was one of the two first policewomen to be awarded the George Medal for bravery. Sam King, the RAF veteran from Jamaica who later travelled to Britain on the...

Julian Worricker on: The playwright Sir Peter Shaffer, most famous for 'The Royal Hunt of the Sun, 'Equus' and 'Amadeus'... The physicist, Sir Denys Wilkinson, considered an expert on the electromagnetic properties of nuclear isotopes... The dancer, Peggy Spencer - also a choreographer, adjudicator and dance event organiser... And the man voted the sportsman of the last century, heavyweight boxer...

Reeta Chakrabarti on: The MP Jo Cox , who was brutally killed in the street, after meeting local people in the West Yorkshire constituency she represented The musician Dave Swarbrick, who found fame with the folk group Fairport Convention - and who celebrated the premature publication of his obituary by a newspaper, 17 years before his death. The chess player Viktor Korchnoi, a grandmaster of the...

Matthew Bannister on Carla Lane who wrote hit TV comedies including The Liver Birds, Bread and Butterflies. Wendy Craig pays tribute. The ICI Chairman Sir Denys Henderson, who fought off a takeover bid from Lord Hanson and split the company into two parts. Jane Fawcett, the former debutante who worked with the code-breakers at Bletchley Park and then fought to conserve many of Britain's greatest V...

Matthew Bannister on Professor Robert McNeill Alexander - the father of animal biomechanics, who revealed how fast dinosaurs could run. The Australian TV producer Reg Grundy who was behind a string of popular hits, including Neighbours, Wheel of Fortune and Prisoner Cell Block H. Sally Brampton, the founding editor of British Elle magazine who wrote a powerful book about her struggle with depressi...

Matthew Bannister on Gareth Gwenlan the TV producer and Head of BBC Comedy behind a string of hits including Only Fools and Horses. Sir David Jason pays tribute. Sir Harry Kroto, the Nobel prize winning chemist who helped to discover new forms of carbon. Michael 'Dandy Kim' Caborn-Waterfield, the charming, well dressed scoundrel who started the Ann Summers chain of sex shops and was imprisoned in...

Matthew Bannister on The Reverend Daniel Berrigan, the American Catholic priest who devoted his life to campaigning for peace. He was arrested many times for protests against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons. Jenny Diski who wrote celebrated novels, essays including her travelogue Skating to Antarctica and her latest memoir In Gratitude. Lord Walton, the eminent neurologist who wrote an influen...

Matthew Bannister on The economist Lord Peston who advised the Labour governments of the 60s and 70s. His son Robert Peston and Lord Hattersley pay tribute. The women's cricket coach Ruth Prideaux who steered England to victory at the 1993 World Cup. The Chilean President Patricio Aylwin who is credited with restoring democracy after nearly 17 years of military dictatorship. The physicist Professo...

Matthew Bannister on Rock superstar Prince - we recall his intimate gig for a handful of people here in Broadcasting House. Ray Fitzwalter the Editor of ITV's World In Action who championed investigative journalism. Victoria Wood - we have a tribute in song from the young comedian she inspired. The nurse June Jolly who transformed the treatment of children in hospital - she once brought a baby ele...

Matthew Bannister on The playwright Sir Arnold Wesker whose work celebrated working class life, Howard Marks, the convicted cannabis smuggler and raconteur who became a folk hero to some. Peggy Fortnum, the children's book illustrator who brought Paddington Bear to life. The country singer Merle Haggard whose music was steeped in traditional redneck America. And Rachel Johnson, last surviving resi...

Matthew Bannister on The American broadcasting nun Mother Angelica who founded the Eternal Word Television Network and dispensed traditional Catholic advice to viewers. The German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, one of the principal architects of his country's re-unification. Derek Serpell-Morris, who gave up his job as an accountant to become DJ Derek, playing reggae and ska and claiming...

Matthew Bannister on The internationally acclaimed architect Dame Zaha Hadid, known to some as "the queen of the curve". Ronnie Corbett, whose partnership with Ronnie Barker made him one of the UK's best loved comedians. General Meir Dagan, head of the Israeli secret service Mossad when it was credited with carrying out the assassination of five Iranian nuclear scientists. Joan Loraine who created...

Matthew Bannister on Cliff Michelmore who brought a relaxed informality to presenting TV programmes like Tonight and 24 Hours, without losing intelligence or authority. Sylvia Anderson who - with her husband Gerry - produced TV puppet series like Thunderbirds and Stingray. She was also the voice of Lady Penelope. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, the composer and former Master of the Queen's Music who mad...