Last Word – Details, episodes & analysis

Matthew Bannister on Mike Lynch, who was one of the UK’s most successful tech entrepreneurs.

Nell McCafferty, the Irish journalist and feminist campaigner who took part in the “contraceptive train” protest in 1971.

Ruth Colvin, who founded the American “Literacy Volunteers” organisation to help adults who couldn’t read or write

Sven-Göran Eriksson, the Swedish born football manager who became the first non-British coach of the England football team.

Interviewee: Suranga Chandratillake Interviewee: David Davis Interviewee: Susan McKay Interviewee: Judy Cheatham Interviewee: Henry Winter

Producers: Ben Mitchell and Ed Prendeville

Archive: Contraceptives From Belfast, RTE, 1971; Witness, BBC News, 03/12/2016; Ruth Colvin, All things considered, NPR, 10/12/2006; Ruth Colvin, Onondaga Historical Association, YouTube Upload, 07/07/2020; Ruth Colvin, Onondaga Historical Association, YouTube Upload, 01/12/2016; The Real Sven-Goran Eriksson, BBC Radio 5Live; Kammy & Ben's Proper Football Podcast, BBC, 18/11/2022; BBC News at Ten; 20/11/2012; PM, BBC Radio 4, 01/08/24; The Report, BBC Radio 4, 27/12/12

Matthew Bannister on American TV host Phil Donahue – pioneer of the daytime talk show.

Countess Diana Phipps Sternberg, the Czech born interior designer who was at the centre of a vibrant social scene in London during the swinging 60s.

Professor Mary Gibby OBE, the botanist who specialised in the study and classification of ferns.

Toumani Diabaté, the Malian musician known around the world for his virtuoso kora playing.

Interviewee: Bill Brioux Interviewee: Michael Žantovský Interviewee: Jess Barrett Interviewee: Suntou Susso

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive used: The Phil Donahue show, Radio Ident, WLWD, Dayton Ohio, 1968; Phil Donahue interview, Television Academy Interviews YouTube, uploaded 06/06/2011; Phil Donahue interview on his career and becoming a dad, Today, NBC, 23/10/2024; Phil Donahue on literacy and education, ABC News, Uploaded 20/09/2024; The Phil Donahue Show, Marlo Thomas, 1977, Marlo Thomas YouTube Channel, uploaded, 21/09/2012; The Czech Republic, 1989's Velvet Revolution, BBC World Service, 07/12/1999; Czechoslovakia (1948), YouTube uploaded 13/04/2014; Gardner 4VT in narrowboat Swan, Myk Askin YouTube channel, uploaded 19/04/2010;Toumani Diabaté interview, Front Row, BBC Radio 4, 05/06/2014; Toumani Diabaté interview, BBC Radio 3, 29/05/2021;

Matthew Bannister on Nora Cortiñas, a founding member of Argentina’s “Mothers of the Disappeared” campaign group. Her son Gustavo was 24 when he was arrested by the country’s right-wing dictatorship. He was never seen again.

Belinda Bellville, the fashion designer who dressed every female member of the royal family apart from Queen Elizabeth. Her business partner David Sassoon shares his memories.

The poet John Burnside whose acclaimed work reflected his troubled childhood in Cowdenbeath and Corby.

Roger Corman, the American film director and producer known for his prolific output of low budget pictures.

Producer: Ed Prendeville

Archive used: Exhibition of Belinda Bellville dresses at Holkham Hall, BBC Norfolk, 17/04/2013; Princess Goes To Washington (1965). Pathe News, 21/11/1965; Wild Music, Radio 4, 29/12/2019; Belief: John Burnside, BBC Radio 3; 04/04/2012; The Little Shop Of Horrors (1960) Official Trailer; Masque Of The Red Death (1964) Trailer; Attack of the Crab Monsters Official Trailer; Viking Women and the Sea Serpent (1957) Trailer; It Conquered the World (1956) Theatrical Trailer; Horror Café, BBC 2, 15/09/1990; The Film Programme, BBC Radio 4, 30/05/2008;

Matthew Bannister on

Yusuf al-Qaradawi, one of the most influential Muslim scholars of his generation. He reached a vast audience through his show on the TV channel Al Jazeera.

'Ma' Smith MBE, who ran a celebrated soup kitchen in Oxford for thirty years.

Mike Burrows, the pioneering cycle designer who came up with the Lotus 108 bike ridden by Chris Boardman when he won Olympic Gold in Barcelona.

Loretta Lynn (pictured), the American country singer whose songs told the stories of working class women.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Dr. Usaama al-Azami Interviewed guest: Gary Smith Interviewed guest: Stuart Dennison Interviewed guest: Michael Hutchinson Interviewed guest: Garth Cartwright

Archive clips used: MEMRI TV Production, Friday Sermon with Dr. Yusef al-Qaradhawi 15/04/2005; BBC Two, Newsnight 07/07/2004; BBC Radio 4, PM 07/07/2004; BBC News Online, Ma Smith wins Pride of Britain Award 01/11/2018; BBC One, Songs Of Praise – Interview with Ma Smith 08/03/2020; BBC Sport, Barcelona 1992 – Chris Boardman qualifying 28/07/1992; BBC Radio 4, Eureka – Mike Burrows 16/01/1994; BBC One, Tomorrow’s World - Mike Burrows interview 01/10/1993; BBC Radio 2, Loretta Lynn – In Conversation 07/03/2016.

Matthew Bannister on

Dame Hilary Mantel (pictured), the Booker prize winning novelist best known for the Wolf Hall trilogy.

John McVicar, the former armed robber who studied sociology in prison and became a writer and broadcaster.

Joyce Reynolds, the eminent Cambridge classicist who specialised in the study of epigraphs and taught Dame Mary Beard who joins us to remember her.

The multi-instrumentalist and singer Paul Sartin, a key figure on the English folk scene and member of the band Bellowhead. His band mate Sam Sweeney pays tribute.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Laurie Taylor Interviewed guest: Dame Mary Beard Interviewed guest: Sam Sweeney Interviewed guest: Jon Wilks

Archive clips used: Company Pictures/ Playground Entertainment/ BBC, Wolf Hall – E01 Three Card Trick 21/01/2015; BBC News, interview with Hilary Mantel 03/05/2020; BBC Radio 4, Front Row – extended interview with Hilary Mantel 05/06/2012; BBC Radio 4, The Reith Lectures – Hilary Mantel 13/06/2017; Polytel/ The Who Films, McVicar (1980) UK TV Trailer; BBC One, Straight Talk – John McVicar interview 09/05/1980; BBC Radio 4, Six Men – John McVicar interview 20/04/1986; Loftsingers Andover, Andover Museum Loft Singers Promo 13/10/2018.

Kirsty Lang on Jean-Luc Godard (pictured), the critic and filmmaker who revolutionised French cinema.

The writer and journalist Barbara Ehrenreich, whose bestseller 'Nickel and Dimed', is considered a classic in social justice literature.

Captain Dennis Wilson, the Normandy veteran whose war poems were ranked alongside Wilfred Owen’s...

And Mavis Nicholson, the Welsh broadcaster with a knack for making her subjects talk about matters that they had never previously confronted in public.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Ian Christie Interviewed guest: Professor James Williams Interviewed guest: Alissa Quart Interviewed guest: Professor Tim Crook Interviewed guest: Steve Nicholson Interviewed guest: Maureen Lipman

Archive clips used: Les Films de la Pléiade/ Pathé Consortium Cinéma, Vivre Sa Vie (1962) - Trailer; Daphne Productions Inc/ WNET/ Thirteen, The Dick Cavett Show – Interview with Jean-Luc Godard 23/10/1980; Les Films Impéria/ Les Productions Georges de Beauregard/ Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC), À bout de souffle (1960) - Trailer; Rome Paris Films/ Les Films Concordia/ Compagnia Cinematografica Champion, Le Mépris (1963) - Clip; BBC Radio 3, Night Waves 30/01/2003; BBC Radio 4, Woman’s Hour – Barbara Ehrenreich interview 22/09/2008; BBC Radio 4, Today Programme – Captain Dennis Wilson interview 19/11/2013; Thames TV/ Pineapple Productions, Mavis catches up with Kenny Everett – jingle 15/11/1989; Thames TV/ Channel 4 , Mavis on 4 – Elizabeth Taylor interview 10/02/1988; Thames TV, Afternoon Plus – David Bowie interview 16/02/1979; BBC Wales, Being Mavis Nicholson: TV’s Greatest Interviewer 25/08/2016.

Matthew Bannister on Bill Turnbull (pictured), the journalist and BBC Breakfast presenter who was also a beekeeper and committed fan of Wycombe Wanderers. Anne Sutton, whose detailed studies of the life and times of King Richard III transformed his reputation. Norah Vincent, who wrote a best-selling book about her experience of living as a man for eighteen months and then suffered a mental breakdown. Drummie Zeb, the drummer and vocalist with the British reggae band Aswad.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Sian Williams Interviewed guest: Wendy Moorhen Interviewed guest: Justine Hardy Interviewed guest: Brinsley Forde

Archive clips used: BBC One, BBC Breakfast 27/04/2001; BBC News, London Bombs at Kings Cross 08/07/2005; BBC Three, Strictly Dance Fever on Three 01/04/2006; BBC One, BBC Breakfast - Bill Turnball talks about cancer 21/12/2018; WeTalkWycombe/ YouTube Channel, Best Wycombe Wanderers Chants! 06/07/2020; BBC One, BBC Breakfast 23/01/2007; BBC One, Celebrity Mastermind 01/01/2008; London Film Production/ L.O.P., Richard III (1955) film; Quite Frankly Productions/ BBC Hardtalk Extra, Norah Vincent 21/04/2006; ABC News, Self-Made Man: Norah Vincent 2006; Elephant House Studios/ Tribute, Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Concert 11/06/1988.

Matthew Bannister on

The last President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev (pictured), who was feted in the West but often derided in his own country. We follow his journey from a collective farm in Stavropol to momentous times in the Kremlin, including the introduction of Perestroika and Glasnost, the end of the Cold War and the coup that toppled him from power.

Stella 'Jaye' Edwards, who was the last surviving British woman pilot who delivered planes from factories to front line bases during the second world war.

Jerry Allison, the drummer and songwriter with Buddy Holly and the Crickets, whose girlfriend inspired their hit song 'Peggy Sue'.

Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Bridget Kendall Interviewed guest: John Eames Petersen Interviewed guest: Geoff Barker

Archive clips used: BBC Radio 4, Today programme 31/08/2022; BBC Two, Newsnight 30/08/2022; CNN - Larry King, Mikhail Gorbachev interview November 1993; UVA Miller Center, President Ronald Reagan speech on the Geneva Summit 21/11/1985; Pizza Hut, Gorbachev TV spot commercial January 1998; Juno Beach Centre / YouTube Channel, Jaye Edwards interview 19/02/2019; British Pathé, Sir Stafford Cripps and the A.T.A. (1943); Geoff Barker Archives, Jerry Allison interview.

Matthew Bannister on

Margaret Keane (pictured), the American artist whose paintings of children with 'Big Eyes' became hugely popular in the 1960s. Her identity as the painter was kept secret by her husband who claimed the works as his own.

Keith Smith, the market trader who co-founded the Poundland chain of shops.

Mario Fiorentini, Italy’s most decorated partisan, who risked torture and death to fight the German occupation of his country.

Brenda Fisher, the long distance swimmer from Grimsby who became an international celebrity after breaking the women’s speed record for swimming the English Channel.

Producer: Emily Finch

Interviewed guest: Larry Karaszewski Interviewed guest: Steve Smith Interviewed guest: Philip Cooke Interviewed guest: Alessandro Portelli Interviewed guest: Lucy Wood Interviewed guest: Peter Winchester MBE

Archive clips used: Westinghouse Broadcasting Company / Mike Douglas Entertainments, The Mike Douglas Show - Interview with Margaret Keane 1972; BBC World Service, Outlook - Margaret Keane interview 30/12/2014; Duane Anderly, 1964 Lost Interview with Walter and Margaret Keane from YouTube; The Weinstein Company / Silverwood Films / Tim Burton Productions, Big Eyes (film clip) 2014; Express & Star YouTube Channel, Founder of Poundland, Keith Smith opens his grounds up for a festival 25/06/2015; BBC One, Antiques Roadshow: Series 41 - Pioneering Women Special 10/06/2018; BBC Sound Archive, Swim The Channel 17/08/1951.

John Wilson on

Lamont Dozier (pictured), who wrote dozens of hits for Motown Records.

Joan Lingard, the author of the popular Kevin and Sadie books set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Issey Miyake, the Japanese fashion designer who survived the atomic bomb.

Edana Minghella, the mental health researcher and jazz singer.

Producer: Emily Finch

Interviewed guest: Eddie Holland Interviewed guest: Adam White Interviewed guest: Shelly Clark Interviewed guest: Lindsey Fraser Interviewed guest: Dana Thomas Interviewed guest: Dai Fujiwara Interviewed guest: Dominic Minghella Interviewed guest: Jo Brand

Archive clips used: Radio 4, Front Row - Brian and Eddie Holland interview 25/12/2019; BBC Radio 1, David Jensen Show - Lamont Dozier interview 29/02/1984; Radio 4, Joan Lingard interview 01/01/1984; BBC Two, Maggie episode 1 17/02/1981; British Pathé, Atomic Bomb Destruction in Japan (1945); INA Société/YouTube Channel, Mai 68 et l'éducation (1968).