Last Word

Molly Parkin, Kristina Gjerde, Michael Barton, Eva Schloss

Matthew Bannister on The colourful life of artist, fashion editor, sex columnist and bonkbuster author Molly Parkin. Her daughter shares the highs and lows of living with Molly. Kristina Gjerde, the maritime lawyer who fought to protect the high seas. Michael Barton, the BBC executive who oversaw the expansion of English local radio Eva Schloss, the holocaust survivor who became Anne Frank’s stepsister. Producer: Ed Prendeville Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Glyn Tansley Archive used Breakfast Time, BBC 1, 12/02/1986; Outlook, BBC World Service,27/01/2022; BBC Sound Archive, Murrow, Edward R, CBS Recording, 13/03/1938; BBC Sound Archive, Sinclair W.A.,19/05/1940; Learning about the Past to Make a Better Future, YouTube Upload, Anne Frank Trust UK, 24/03/2021; News – Gulf War special, BBC 1, 20/01/1991; Neighbours Shall Speak, BBC Archives; Archive on 4 : Close to Home - The Story of Local Radio, BBC Radio 4, 12/11/2017; The Time of your life – Molly Parkin, BBC 1, 08/06/1984; Molly Parkin – Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 13/05/2011; The Seven Ages of Man : Molly Parkin, BBC 2, 12/08/1996; Wogan, BBC 1, 03/12/1990; Dr Harriet Harden-Davies’ personal recording of Kristina Gjerde, 2024

Brigitte Bardot, Sir Alec Reed, Alwyn Crawshaw, Dame Shân Legge-Bourke

Jon Kay on The French actor Brigitte Bardot who starred in over 40 films in the 1950s and 60s before a career-change saw her give up the big screen to campaign for animal welfare Sir Alec Reed who founded the UKs most successful recruitment agency and, through his philanthropy, raised millions for charity Alwyn Crawshaw, the artist who encouraged millions to paint landscapes through his how-to books and TV programmes Dame Shan Legge-Bourke who transformed the Glanusk estate in the Black Mountains and was for many years lady in waiting to Princess Anne Producer: Ed Prendeville Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Josie Hardy Editor: Glyn Tansley Archive The Lady of Glanusk: Winter, BBC Two Wales, 28/09/2006 ; The Lady of Glanusk: Summer, BBC Two Wales, 14/09/2006 ; The Lady of Glanusk: Autumn, BBC Two Wales, 21/09/2006 ; The Lady of Glanusk: Spring, BBC Two Wales, 07/09/2006 ; Reed Podcast, Sir Alec Reed at 91: A British Business Legend, Permission granted by James Reed; The Fast Show: The Last Fast Show Ever, BBC Two, 28/12/2000 ; Daytime Live, BBC One, 16/03/1990 ; …And God Created Woman (Official Trailer), 1956, Directed by Roger Vadim, Starring Brigitte Bardot, Curd Jürgens, Jean-Louis Trintignant ; Worldwide: France’s New-Look TV, BBC Two, 14/05/1975 ; And God Created Bardot, BBC One, 28/09/1994 ; The World at One, BBC Radio 4, 25/04/1968 ; Brigitte Bardot, BBC Archive, 01/11/1956

Antony Price, Sister Stan Kennedy, Ena Collymore Woodstock, John Carey

Jon Kay on Fashion designer Antony Price who fused together the worlds of fashion and music in the 70s and 80s Sister Stan Kennedy, the nun who founded one of Ireland’s largest homelessness charities Ena Collymore Woodstock, the Jamaican barrister and magistrate who throughout her career broke many barriers for women John Carey, the academic and former chief literary critic for The Times who took no prisoners with his reviews. Producer: Ed Prendeville Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Glyn Tansley Archive Midweek: Professor John Carey, Benny Lewis, Eduardo Niebla, Lynn Ruth Miller, BBC Radio 4, 19/03/2014; The Verb (Week 10), BBC Radio 3, 13/03/2015; Meet the Author, BBC News, 20/03/2014; SAL Night 2020 – A Message From Sister Stan, Founder and President, Focus Ireland, YouTube, 16/10/2020; Redlight – Sr Stan Kennedy, YouTube (Immigration Council), 20/08/2018; Everyman: Ireland’s Hidden People, BBC One, 24/04/1988; Mary H.R.H. Princess Royal, BBC Archive, 26/06/1940; Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing – Gone Christmas Fishing, BBC Two, 13/12/2020

Rob Reiner, Joanna Trollope, Stanley Baxter, Sophie Kinsella

Matthew Bannister on Rob Reiner, the film director, screenwriter and actor behind pictures like “This Is Spinal Tap”, “Stand By Me” and “When Harry Met Sally”. Stanley Baxter, the Scottish comedian best known for his impersonations of Hollywood stars and royalty. The actor Bill Paterson pays tribute. And Joanna Trollope and Sophie Kinsella, two best-selling novelists who, in their different ways, told stories of modern life and relationships. Interviewee: Hadley Freeman Interviewee: Linda Evans Interviewee: Bill Paterson Interviewee: Brian Beacom Interviewee: Bill Scott-Kerr Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Glyn Tansley CORRECTION: In this episode we mistakenly refer to Stanley Baxter being born in 1928. He was born in 1926. Archive used: Rob Reiner interview, HardTalk, BBC News, 06/05/1998; All In The Family trailer, Tandem Productions, 1975; This is Spinal Tap, Sony Pictures Entrainment, uploaded to YouTube 31/07/2025; Stand By Me, Film Trailer, Castle Rock 1986, Dir: Rob Reiner; When Harry Met Sally, Official Film Trailer, 1989, Director: Rob Reiner; Joanna Trollope interview, BBC Four, 23/03/2014; Stanley Baxter: Compilation of Best Sketches and Impressions, BBC Scotland 1962; Stanley Baxter interview, Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 02/02/1970; Stanley Baxter, Best of Show, BBC Television, 14/02/1961; Sophie Kinsella reads a second extract from her novel Mini Shopaholic, Transworld Books, uploaded to YouTube 08/09/2010; Confessions of a Shopaholic Trailer 2009, Touchstone Pictures, Director P.J. Hogan; Sophie Kinsella interview, Loose Ends, BBC Radio 4, 22/04/2013; Meet the Author: Sophie Kinsella, BBC News, 05/02/2017; Sophie Kinsella, Extract from book preview, What Does It Feel Like?, Read by Sally Phillips, Penguin Random House;

Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Vera Weisfeld, Frank Gehry, Martin Parr

Matthew Bannister on Iain Douglas-Hamilton, the zoologist who devoted his life to the study and conservation of African elephants. Vera Weisfeld, the businesswoman whose chain of What Every Woman Wants stores offered fashion designs at bargain prices. Frank Gehry, the architect best known for his flamboyant designs for the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao and the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles Martin Parr whose celebrated colourful photographs showed the messy details of British life. Producer: Ed Prendeville Assistant Producer: Ribika Moktan Researcher: Jesse Edwards Editor: Glyn Tansley Archive used The Late Show, BBC Two, 11/11/1992; Imagine… Frank Gehry: The Architect Says "Why Can't I?", BBC Two, 25/08/2015 ; The John Tusa Interview, BBC Three, 09/01/2005; The Simpsons – "The Seven-Beer Snitch", Created by Matt Groening, Directors: Matthew Nastuk, David Silverman; Writers: Bill Odenkirk, Daniel Chun; Production companies: Gracie Films, 20th Century Fox Television; 8/05/2025; This Cultural Life: Martin Parr, BBC Radio 4, 10/04/2023 ; Britain in Focus: A Photographic History – Series 1 Episode 3, BBC Four, 21/01/2020 ; I Am Martin Parr, BBC Four, 01/09/2025 ; The Natural World: Ivory Wars, BBC Two, 01/09/2025 ; Encounters with Animals: Last Stand in Eden, BBC Two, 08/10/1989 ; Encounters with Animals, BBC Two, 15/08/1980 ; Outlook, BBC World Service, 02/12/2010 ; Millionaires, BBC One, 17/12/1990; Reporting Scotland 2019: What Everyone Wants, BBC One Scotland, 23/11/2019 ; What Every Woman Wants had all the clothes for women at Christmas 1985, UK ADS Uploaded to YouTube 27/12/2023