Long sticks and elephants

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BEEN AND GONE By Nick Serpell BBC Obituary Unit Martin was the voice of landmark events - and spoof news reports

Our regular column covering the passing of significant - but lesser-reported - people of the past month.

When Elvis Presley died in 1977 the news was relayed to Radio 4 listeners by the familiar tones of announcer Bryan Martin. He first appeared in radio as a child actor in 1946 and later wrote to the BBC asking for a job. He started as a studio manager, which paid considerably more than his earnings as a medical photographer, and then became an announcer on the World Service. He moved on to the Third Programme - now Radio 3 - before ending up at Radio 4 in the 1970s. As well as his presentation work, he also appeared in the News Quiz and, on a few occasions, introduced editions of The Goon Show. He took early retirement in 1992 after complaining of the decline in English language usage on the BBC; particularly the disappearance of the adverb.

She was partial to one-armed bandits

Comedienne Joan Turner's life was a classic story of riches to rags. Born in Belfast she had, by the 1960s, become one of the UK's best known performers, famed for her biting wit and a singing voice compared to that of Gracie Fields. After huge success on stage and in cabaret, she moved to television. But her high earnings were not enough to fund her drinking and gambling, and she lost work because of her irrational behaviour. A possible comeback in a 1977 production of the musical Oliver ended in her dismissal after two weeks for throwing wine bottles from her dressing room window. In 2001 she was discovered living as a destitute in a shelter in Los Angeles.

A game devised to tempt tourists

It may be a while before elephant polo becomes a mainstream sport but, for Jim Edwards it was an interesting addition to his eco-tourism business based in Nepal. After persuading the Nepalese government to set up a national wildlife park, he began to look for new attractions to bring tourists to the country. The first game in 1981 proved a steep learning curve for both riders and elephants but the big beasts soon got the hang of it, trumpeting excitedly whenever a goal was scored. Early attempts to use footballs proved unwise after the elephants persisted in stamping on them, so normal polo balls were used instead. The extremely expensive game spread to India and Sri Lanka despite the protest of one leading conservationist who insisted elephants were "not designed to play polo - and nor should they".

Rogers was prescribed the drug by her specialist - but the Trust refused

Thousands of women now have access to the anti-cancer drug Herceptin thanks to Ann-Marie Rogers. After being diagnosed with breast cancer, her oncologist prescribed Herceptin but her local health authority, Swindon Primary Care Trust, refused to supply it. Mrs Rogers began a long legal battle which ended in a landmark decision in 2006 when the Court of Appeal ruled that the Trust's decision was "irrational and unlawful". Herceptin was subsequently approved for funding but, unfortunately, Mrs Rogers has now lost her battle against cancer. Her actions mean that thousands of women can now benefit from the treatment.

Motown stickman Jones

Uriel Jones is not a name much bandied about among lovers of pop music but, together with the band The Funk Brothers, the drummer is said to have appeared on more top 10 hits than Beatles and Elvis Presley combined. The band was formed by Tamla Motown founder Berry Gordy to back his star names. As session musicians they were paid a pittance and received no credit on the record label. Jones played on a string of hits including Marvin Gaye's I Heard It Through The Grapevine, Cloud 9 by The Temptations, and Stevie Wonder's For Once In My Life. He left Motown after Gordy abruptly moved the label to Los Angeles without bothering to tell his backing band.

Sweet by name...

When the gritty BBC police series Z-Cars hit the TV screens in 1962, many a female heart fluttered over the clean-cut character of PC Sweet, played by Terence Edmond. Z-Cars represented a milestone in police drama, and Sweet's demeanour was in stark contrast to some of the rougher-edged characters such as Chief Inspector Barlow. Edmond appeared in 75 episodes before his character died in a misguided attempt to save a young boy from drowning. His death, in a drama which was transmitted live, shocked the nation. After Z-Cars, Edmond took up writing and directing, but made his final screen appearance in 1994 in another police drama, The Bill.

Among others who died in March were <a class="inlineText" href="/1/hi/entertainment/7949125.stm"> Natasha Richardson, </a> actress and member of the Redgrave dynasty; <a class="inlineText" href="/1/hi/entertainment/7971223.stm"> Maurice Jarre, </a> composer of film soundtracks including Lawrence of Arabia and Dr Zhivago; <a class="inlineText" href="/1/hi/entertainment/7931251.stm"> Ali Bongo, </a> TV magician; <a class="inlineText" href="/sport1/hi/boxing/7694673.stm"> Chris Finnegan, </a> former Olympic middleweight boxing champion; and <a class="inlineText" href="/1/hi/entertainment/7869431.stm"> Jade Goody, </a> epitome of the cult of celebrity.