Last Word

Matthew Bannister on Sir Adrian Cadbury - who was chairman of the family confectionery firm, led its merger with Schweppes and wrote an influential report on corporate governance. He was also an Olympic rower - and Sir Steve Redgrave pays tribute. Rico Rodriguez the trombonist who helped create ska and reggae and played with the Specials and Jools Holland, who shares his memories. Ieng Thirith - h...

Matthew Bannister on Lord Montagu of Beaulieu who founded the National Motor Museum, opened his estate to the public and served a prison sentence for homosexuality. His son, who has succeeded to the title, pays tribute. Joy Beverley - one of the Beverley sisters who became close harmony singing stars in the 1940s and 50s. She married the England and Wolves footballer Billy Wright, making them the...

Matthew Bannister on The trade union official Bernie Passingham who helped women workers at the Ford Motor Company in their fight for equal pay. Medical researcher Chris Marshall who identified one of the human oncogenes which cause cancer. Wayne Carson who wrote the song Always on My Mind, which was recorded by Elvis Presley, the Pet Shop Boys and eight hundred other artists. Michael Turk, a Quee...

Presenter Lucy Ash remembers: Khaled Al-Asaad, the Syrian archaeologist beheaded by Islamic State who was famous for his in depth knowledge and love of the ancient city of Palmyra; Jazz Summers, the maverick music manager who took Wham! to China and had a reputation as a hard man; Jack Gold, multi-BAFTA winning TV director of the Naked Civil Servant and Goodnight Mr Tom; Manuel Contreras, the army...

Last Word is presented by Reeta Chakrabarti this week. She will be remembering: The comic writer and novelist David Nobbs - we speak to his friend and fellow writer Jonathan Coe about the man who invented the 1970s anti-hero Reginald Perrin; Frances Kelsey, the scientist whose concerns about the drug Thalidomide prevented it from being approved in the US; Kyril Zinovieff, who as a child in Russia...

Matthew Bannister on The singer and TV presenter Cilla Black - we go behind the scenes to discover the secret of her success on Saturday night TV. Michael Kidson who taught history at Eton for thirty years, delighting his pupils by his maverick behaviour. The Indian scientist and reluctant politician APJ Abdul Kalam, known as the "People's President". The Scottish public health campaigner Evelyn G...

Matthew Bannister on The Reverend Owen Chadwick, the distinguished ecclesiastical historian who was vice Chancellor of Cambridge University during student protests in the 1970s and chaired an influential commission on Church and State. Also Jon Vickers the operatic tenor best known for playing muscular roles like Samson, Otello and Peter Grimes. Yoichiro Nambu, the theoretical physicist who won th...

Matthew Bannister on Joyce Bennett who was the first English woman to be ordained as an Anglican priest. It happened in Hong Kong in 1971. Prince Saud al-Faisal, who was the world's longest serving foreign minister, representing the interests of Saudi Arabia for forty years. Burt Shavitz, the American beekeeper who developed a popular range of beeswax products. Professor Michael Oliver, the physic...

Matthew Bannister on Actor Omar Sharif Flying squad detective Stanley Moore - always known as Steve, he helped to catch some of the Great Train Robbers. Theatre Director Jules Wright who co-founded the Women's Playhouse Trust and set up the Wapping Project arts venue. Former Russian Foreign and Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. And the composer Ernest Tomlinson, best known for his light orchestral...

Matthew Bannister on Sir Nicholas Winton who saved 669 children from the advancing Nazis in Czechoslovakia. Also the Irish singer Val Doonican - known for his cardigans and rocking chair - he was sometimes called Britain's Bing Crosby. The Indian artist Nek Chand who created the extraordinary Rock Garden of Chandigarh. Jarvis Cocker pays tribute. The novelist and former fighter pilot James Salter...

Matthew Bannister on: The controversial Chief Inspector of Schools Sir Chris Woodhead who said he was paid to challenge "mediocrity, failure and complacency". The actor Patrick Macnee, best known for playing the suave John Steed in the Avengers. Dame Diana Rigg pays tribute. Dame Anne Warburton who was the UK's first woman ambassador. The Fleet Street sub-editor Vic Mayhew, who was as well known f...

Matthew Bannister on Morris Beckman - the East End Jewish activist who co-founded the 43 Group to fight against post-war British fascists. Ornette Coleman - the pioneering saxophonist who developed free jazz improvisation. Tanith Lee - the prolific science fiction author who also wrote episodes of the TV series Blake's 7. Süleyman Demirel - who was seven times Prime Minister and then President of...

Andrea Catherwood on film star Christopher Lee, internationally famous for his villainous, on screen roles. Cookery writer and broadcasting pioneer Marguerite Patten, explorer Major 'Roy' Homard who made the first crossing of the Antarctic, German born band leader and purveyor of 'Happy Music' James Last and actor Ron Moody, best known for playing Fagin in Oliver.

Andrea Catherwood on Iraqi politician Tariq Aziz, former Leader of the Liberal Democrats Charles Kennedy; Oscar winning costume designer Julie Harris; flamboyant Australian property developer and entrepreneur Alan Bond and violinist Peter Cropper who founded the Lindsay Quartet.