Chaim Topol, Zandra Flemister, Bill Tidy MBE, Avis Fawcitt
Matthew Bannister on
The actor and singer Chaim Topol (pictured), best known for his performances in the musical Fiddler on the Roof.
Zandra Flemister, the first African American woman to work as a Secret Service special agent.
The prolific cartoonist Bill Tidy MBE who created the Cloggies and The Fosdyke Saga.
Avis Fawcitt, the Leicestershire music teacher who devoted her life to the Orphean Youth and Concert Orchestra.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: John Collinge
Interviewed guest: Sylvia Tidy-Harris
Interviewed guest: Sir Tim Rice
Interviewed guest: Ian Stewart
Archive clips used: BBC Radio 4, Desert Island Discs – Chaim Topol 15/10/1983; BBC Radio 4, In The Public Eye 28/12/1967; Batjack Productions/ The Llenroc Productions/ The Mirisch Corporation, Cast A Giant Shadow (1966) film clip; Eon Productions, For Your Eyes Only (1981) film clip; Starling Films/ Famous Films (II)/ Dino De Laurentis Company, Flash Gordon (1980) film clip; The Mirisch Production Company/ Cartier Productions, Fiddler On The Roof (1971); BBC Radio 4, The World This Weekend, South Asian Earthquake 09/10/2005; BBC Radio 4 Extra, The Fosdyke Saga – Tripe War 21/07/2018; BBC Two, One Man’s Week – Bill Tidy 16/04/1975; BBC Radio 4, I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue 21/01/1989; Jeremy Oakley personal archive, Avis Fawcitt actuality and music.
3/17/2023
28:07
Judith Heumann, Brian Tufano, Sir David Elliott KCMG, Elizabeth Foulkes
Matthew Bannister on
Judith Heumann (pictured), the American disability rights campaigner who led the longest non-violent occupation of a Federal building in US history.
Brian Tufano, the cinematographer who shot films like Quadrophenia, Trainspotting and Billy Elliot.
Sir David Elliott, a key figure in the negotiations that created the European single market.
Elizabeth Foulkes, who helped to define common standards for architects in the UK.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: Thomas Shakespeare
Interviewed guest: Stuart Harris
Interviewed guest: Franc Roddam
Interviewed guest: Tony Pierce-Roberts
Interviewed guest: Simon Pugsley
Interviewed guest: Lord Hannay GCMG
Interviewed guest: Nick Foulkes
Archive clips used: TEDx talks, Judith Heumann - Our fight for disability rights and why we're not done yet 24/04/2018; BBC Radio 4, Woman's Hour 06/08/2021; Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, The Power of 504 (1977); StudioCanal/ Working Title Films/ BBC Films, Billy Elliott (2000) trailer; BBC Two Rogue Male 22/09/1976; BBC TV Archive, All in a Day - The Fight 12/11/1973; The Who Films/ Polytel, Quadrophenia (1979) trailer; Channel Four Films/ Figment Films/ The Noel Gay Motion Picture Company, Trainspotting (1996) trailer; Future Films/ MBP (Germany)/ Scala Productions, Last Orders (2001) trailer; BBC TV Archive, The Evacuees 05/03/1975; Screen and Film School, In memory of cinematographer Brian Tufano (February 2023); BBC Sound Archive, Margaret Thatcher speaks on the future of the European community 20/09/1988; DTI, Europe's Open for Business - UK TV advert (1991-92); Nick Foulkes, personal archive interview with Elizabeth Foulkes (2014); British Pathé, New housing to replace demolished village inspected by Nye Bevan (1946).
3/10/2023
28:05
Lady Betty Boothroyd, Marianne Mantell, John Motson OBE, Sulamita Aronovsky
Kirsty Lang on
The extraordinary Lady Betty Boothroyd (pictured) who went from humble beginnings in a Yorkshire mill town to becoming Westminster’s first female Speaker.
John Motson OBE - the BBC’s voice of football for half a century,
The pioneering New York publisher Marianne Mantell who paved the way for audio books...
And Lithuanian pianist Sulamita Aronovsky who founded London’s International Piano competition.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: Julia Langdon
Interviewed guest: Matthew Rubery
Interviewed guest: Ricky George
Interviewed guest: Jonathan Powell
Archive clips used: YouTube/ The Independent, Baroness Betty Boothroyd’s best moments uploaded on 27/02/2023; BBC One, Parkinson 04/11/2000; Central Cinema Company Film, …und abends in die Scala (1958) film clip; BBC News Archive, Betty Boothroyd obituary – clips from speech at House of Commons; Caedmon Recordings, A Child’s Christmas in Wales, A Story and Five Poems – Dylan Thomas TC 1002; Caedmon Recordings, Ezra Pound Reading His Poetry TC 1122; Caedmon Recordings, JRR Tolkein Reads and Sings his The Lord of the Rings TC 1478; Caedmon Recordings, Ernest Hemingway Reading TC 1185; BBC Two, Victoria Derbyshire Show – John Motson interview 06/09/2017; BBC One, Grandstand 07/07/1990; BBC Two, Sunday Grandstand 24/06/1984; ITV News – Bernard Ingham item 24/02/2023; BBC Radio 3, Music Matters 17/06/2019; London International Piano Competition, promotional video from YouTube.
3/3/2023
27:48
Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Ralph Hooper OBE, Raquel Welch, Dickie Davies
Kirsty Lang on
Dorothy Pitman Hughes who brought black women into the 70s Feminist movement and inspired Gloria Steinem.
Raquel Welch (pictured), the Hollywood actor who became a Sixties sex symbol after playing a cavewoman in the film 'One Million Years BC'.
The aeronautical engineer Ralph Hooper OBE who designed the revolutionary Harrier jump jet.
And Dickie Davies, the sports presenter best known for anchoring ITV Saturday afternoons in the 70s and 80s.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: Laura L Lovett
Interviewed guest: Professor John Fielding
Interviewed guest: Sir Colin Chandler
Interviewed guest: Jim Rosenthal
Archive clips used: ITV Sport, World of Sport 1985/1973/1981; CBS Mornings/ YouTube Channel, Life and Legacy of Activist and Feminist Leader Dorothy Pitman Hughes uploaded on 24/07/2021; Artemis Rising Foundation/ Saks Picture Company/ The Glorias, The Glorias – movie clip (2020); Associated British Pathé/ Hammer Films/ Seven Arts Productions, One Million Years BC – trailer (1966); BBC Radio 2, Gloria Hunniford Show 01/01/1989; BBC One, Parkinson 11/11/1972; Twentieth Century Fox, Myra Breckinridge – movie clip (1970); HIT Entertainment/ Henson Associates (HA)/ Incorporated Television Company (ITC), The Muppet Show S03E11 17/11/1978; Film at Lincoln Center/ YouTube Channel, Q&A with Raquel Welch uploaded on 23/02/2012; BBC Two, Designing the ‘60s 15/03/2003; British Pathé, Harrier Plane (1968); BBC One, Red Arrows Flyover Centenary of RAF 10/07/2018; Thames Television, The Benny Hill Show 18/02/1976; ITV Studios, The Best of ITV Wrestling (DVD) 2006.
2/24/2023
28:04
David Vaughan OBE, Burt Bacharach, Janet Anderson, Eileen Sheridan
Matthew Bannister on
Professor David Vaughan OBE, who was a leading expert on the effects of climate change on glaciers in the Antarctic.
Burt Bacharach (pictured), who wrote scores of hit songs including 'I Say A Little Prayer', 'Do You Know The Way To San José' and 'Raindrops Keep Fallin’ On My Head'.
Janet Anderson, the Labour MP who wrote entertaining reports of proceedings in parliament for Queen Elizabeth.
Eileen Sheridan – one of Britain’s greatest cyclists, she held the speed record for the journey from Land’s End to John O’Groats for 36 years.
Producer: Neil George
Interviewed guest: Justin Rowlatt
Interviewed guest: Professor Dame Jane Francis
Interviewed guest: Professor Andrew Shepherd
Interviewed guest: Julia Langdon
Interviewed guest: Paul Jones
Archive clips used: BBC World News, Our World - Journey to Doomsday Glacier 07/02/2020; BBC News, Scientists at NASA say East Antarctica is showing signs of significant melting 11/12/2018; The Christmas TV & Film Company/ BBC Four, Burt Bacharach... This Is Now 30/04/2012; BBC Radio Wales, Eye on Wales 16/06/1996; BBC Radio 4, With Humble Duty Reports... 05/10/2014; British Pathé, Sporting Britons - Eileen Sheridan's Record 1954; British Pathé, Housewife Cyclist 1956, Testimony Films/ BBC Four, Pedalling Dreams - The Raleigh Story 20/07/2017.