Last Word

BBC Radio 4

Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently

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578 episodes
Updated Friday

Episodes578

Newest first

Dec 31, 2021 · 28 min
Janice Long (pictured), Marvin Hagler, Esther Bejarano, Leslie Bricusse
Julian Worricker on a DJ, a boxer, a Holocaust survivor and a songwriter.
Dec 24, 2021 · 28 min
bell hooks (pictured), Shirley McGreal, Lionel Blair, Melvin Van Peebles
Julian Worricker on a writer, a conservationist, an entertainer, a film director.
Dec 17, 2021 · 27 min
Mary Maher, Robbie Shakespeare (pictured), Anwar Ditta, Anne Rice
Matthew Bannister on a journalist, a bass player, a campaigner and an author.
Dec 10, 2021 · 28 min
Sir Antony Sher (pictured), Roger Phillips, Judy Totton
Matthew Bannister on an actor, a mushroom expert and a publicist.
Dec 3, 2021 · 28 min
Stephen Sondheim (pictured), Sir Frank Williams, Jo-Carroll Dennison
Matthew Bannister on a composer, a motor racing team owner and a beauty queen.
Nov 29, 2021 · 28 min
Ian Wallace, Rossana Banti, Ivy Nicholson (pictured), Cedric Robinson MBE
Matthew Bannister on an ornithologist, a partisan, a model, a guide
Nov 19, 2021 · 28 min
Aaron Beck, Joan Carlyle (pictured), Etel Adnan, Anne Bradford
Kirsty Lang on a psychiatrist, a soprano, a writer and a crossword solver.
Nov 12, 2021 · 28 min
Sir Archie Lamb (pictured), John Boyden, Ida Nudel, Abolhassan Banisadr
Matthew Bannister on a diplomat, a record producer, a 'refusenik' and a president.
Nov 9, 2021 · 27 min
Sir Michael Rutter (pictured), Christopher Wenner, Sister Megan Rice, Jeanette Altwegg
Matthew Bannister on a psychiatrist, a film maker, a campaigner, a figure skater
Oct 29, 2021 · 28 min
Bernard Haitink (pictured), Victor Gregg, Ruthie Tompson, Paddy Moloney
Matthew Bannister on a conductor, a soldier, an animator, and a piper.
Oct 22, 2021 · 28 min
Colin Powell (pictured), Brendan Kennelly, Myriam Sarachik, John Clunies-Ross
Kirsty Lang on a General, a poet, a scientist and the ruler of the Cocos Islands
Oct 15, 2021 · 28 min
Abdul Qadeer Khan (pictured), R. Allen Gardner, Joyce Jackson, Beresford King-Smith
Matthew Bannister on a metallurgist, an ethologist, a centenarian, an orchestra manager.
Oct 8, 2021 · 28 min
Antony Hewish (pictured), Roger Michell, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, Jane Powell
Matthew Bannister on an astronomer, a director, a president and an actor.
Oct 1, 2021 · 28 min
Lord Gowrie, Kamla Bhasin (pictured), Shirley Metherell MBE, Roger Hunt MBE
Matthew Bannister on a politician, a feminist, a charity founder, a footballer
Sep 24, 2021 · 28 min
Jimmy Greaves (pictured), Sir Clive Sinclair, Olivia Jordan, Carolyn Shoemaker
Julian Worricker on a footballer, an inventor, a translator and an astrophysicist.
Sep 17, 2021 · 28 min
Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, Jean-Paul Belmondo (pictured), Angela Milner, Inge Ginsberg
Datshiane Navanayagam on a revolutionary, an actor, a palaeontologist and a singer.
Sep 10, 2021 · 28 min
Sergei Kovalev (pictured), Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Abebech Gobena, Ed Asner
Matthew Bannister on a dissident, a reggae pioneer, a humanitarian, an actor
Sep 3, 2021 · 28 min
Jill Murphy (pictured), Len Gibson, Dame Elizabeth Blackadder, Nanci Griffith
Matthew Bannister on an author, a prisoner of war, an artist, a country singer
Aug 27, 2021 · 28 min
Charlie Watts (pictured), Austin Mitchell, Hugh Wood, Sean Lock
Matthew Bannister on a drummer, a Labour MP, a composer and a comedian.
Aug 20, 2021 · 27 min
Una Stubbs (pictured), Gino Strada, Mo Hayder
Matthew Bannister on an actor, a surgeon, a writer