Last Word

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...

Matthew Bannister on Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower who leaked the Pentagon Papers, revealing the US government’s secret approach to the Vietnam War. Glenda Jackson, the Oscar winning actor and Labour MP Melanie Phillips, who helped to change embedded racial prejudice in the social work system Sir Ben Helfgott, who survived the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps and went on to become capt...

John Wilson on Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's flamboyant and controversial media mogul and four-time Prime Minister. Kathryn Harries, The soprano sang in more than 60 major operatic roles and raised millions of pounds by doing sponsored charity walks. Francoise Gilot, A celebrated painter and printmaker whose career spanned 8 decades. She was also known for a turbulent relationship with Pablo Picasso,...

Matthew Bannister on Mel Parry, the SAS veteran who was part of the team that stormed the Iranian embassy in London in 1980. Professor Alice Coleman, the geographer whose modifications to modernist high rise estates won the support of Margaret Thatcher. Hugh Callaghan, the labourer who was one of six men arrested after the Birmingham pub bombings of 1974. He served 16 years in prison for a crime h...

Matthew Bannister on Jeremy Clarke, who chronicled his experiences of living a “low life” in the Spectator magazine for more than 20 years. We have a tribute from Eric Idle. The women’s rights campaigner Dr. Moira Woods, who set up the Irish Republic’s first dedicated sexual assault treatment unit. Iain Johnstone, the film critic and documentary maker who told the stories of stars like Dustin Hoff...

Matthew Bannister on Tina Turner, the singer who overcame an abusive relationship to become an international superstar Martin Amis, one of the literary giants of his generation Leroy Cooper, the photographer who captured the social history of his area of Liverpool Rolf Harris, the entertainer who was imprisoned for sexually assaulting young girls Marlene Bauer Hagge, the last surviving founding me...

Matthew Bannister on Newton Minow, who was just 35 when he was appointed chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission by President John F. Kennedy. He gave a famous speech describing TV as a “vast wasteland” and helped to set up the Public Broadcasting Service. Vicky Neale, the mathematician who responded to her diagnosis with cancer by launching a podcast discussing the role of maths in c...

Matthew Bannister on The opera singer Grace Bumbry who broke down barriers by becoming the first black performer at the Bayreuth Festival. Don Short, the showbusiness journalist who coined the term “Beatlemania” and became good friends with the Fab Four. Dame Rosemary Cramp, the archaeologist who deepened our understanding of the Anglo Saxon period. And Wee Willie Harris, the flamboyant rock’n’rol...

Matthew Bannister on Harry Belafonte, the singer and actor who was also a leading civil rights campaigner. Jerry Springer, whose TV talk show was once voted the worst in history – but was watched by millions around the world. Valerie Winn, the runner who became the face of a campaign to allow women to compete in top level middle distance races. Kate Saunders, the novelist, journalist and critic wh...

Matthew Bannister on Barry Humphries, best known for his comic creations Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. We have tributes from Rob Brydon and John Humphrys. Len Goodman, who went from working as a welder to international fame as head judge of Strictly Come Dancing. Professor Elizabeth Murray, a pioneer in the use of digital technology in health care. And Jah Shaka, dub reggae star, produc...

Matthew Bannister on Anne Perry, the best-selling crime novelist who committed a murder when she was a teenager. Dame Mary Quant, the influential fashion designer at the heart of the swinging 60s. Pattie Boyd recalls the coat Mary designed for her wedding to George Harrison. Jean Argles, who – with her sister - served as a codebreaker during the second world war. Ahmad Jamal, the jazz pianist and...

Matthew Bannister on Ben Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. He devoted his life to campaigning for an international system of justice for the victims of such crimes. Seymour Fortescue, the banker who pioneered the credit and debit card revolution. Valerie Elliott, the respected journalist who reported on politics and then rural affairs. Rachel Pollack, the a...

Matthew Bannister on Nigel Lawson – Baron Lawson of Blaby, the reforming Chancellor of the Exchequer under Margaret Thatcher. He cut income tax, led the campaign of privatisation and paved the way for the Big Bang in the City of London. Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, the Ethiopian-born nun acclaimed for her unique musical compositions. Ken Buchanan, the Scottish boxer who became World Lightweight C...

Matthew Bannister on Paul O’Grady, who made his name as the drag queen Lily Savage, and went on to become a much-loved TV and radio star. Gordon Moore, the tech entrepreneur who founded the chip maker Intel and came up with Moore’s law which says that computer processing power doubles every two years. Vera Selby who challenged sexist prejudice to become the women’s world snooker champion – twice....

Matthew Bannister on Jacqueline Gold CBE – the businesswoman who turned Ann Summers from a couple of seedy sex shops into a multi-million pound high street success. Lance Reddick, the American actor best known for playing Cedric Daniels in The Wire. Traute Lafrenz, the last known survivor of the White Rose Group that actively resisted the Nazis in Germany during the second world war. Lynn Seymour,...