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

March 13 · 27 min
Paul Conroy, Kenith Trodd, Astrid Llewellyn, Jo Purvis
Matthew Bannister on a photojournalist, a TV producer, a sailor, a DJ.
March 6 · 27 min
Neil Sedaka, Drusilla Beyfus, Professor Dame Carole Jordan, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Matthew Bannister on Neil Sedaka, Drusilla Beyfus, Carole Jordan, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
February 27 · 27 min
Martyn Butler, Allan Massie, Professor Nicola Fear, Willie Colón
Matthew Bannister on a campaigner, an epidemiologist, an author and a trombonist.
February 20 · 27 min
Reverend Jesse Jackson, Diane Munday, Philippe Gaulier, Lady Jean Wilson
Kirsty Lang on a civil rights leader, a campaigner, a clown and a charity worker.
February 13 · 27 min
Meredith Hooper, David Young, Dorothy Solomon, Derek Kelly
Matthew Bannister on an author, a lawyer, an agent and a farmer.
February 6 · 27 min
Sir Nicholas White, Lord Wallace, Professor Deborah Cameron, Sly Dunbar
Matthew Bannister on a physician, a politician, a linguist and a drummer.
January 30 · 27 min
Sir Mark Tully, Dame Gillian Wagner, Dr Gladys West, Richard Larn OBE
Matthew Bannister on a journalist, a campaigner, a mathematician and a shipwreck expert.
January 23 · 27 min
Molly Burkett, Sir James Munby, Edith Flanigen, Aldrich Ames
Matthew Bannister on a conservationist, a judge, a chemist and a spy.
January 16 · 27 min
Claudette Colvin, Ian Balding, Gerry Gable, Bob Weir, Juliet Robertson
Matthew Bannister on a campaigner, a racehorse trainer, an activist and an educationalist.
January 9 · 27 min
Molly Parkin, Kristina Gjerde, Michael Barton, Eva Schloss
Matthew Bannister on an artist, an activist, a BBC executive and a holocaust survivor.
January 2 · 27 min
Brigitte Bardot, Sir Alec Reed, Alwyn Crawshaw, Dame Shân Legge-Bourke
Jon Kay on an actor, a businessman, an artist, a landowner
Dec 26, 2025 · 27 min
Antony Price, Sister Stan Kennedy, Ena Collymore Woodstock, John Carey
Jon Kay on a fashion designer, a nun, a barrister, a literary critic
Dec 19, 2025 · 27 min
Rob Reiner, Joanna Trollope, Stanley Baxter, Sophie Kinsella
Matthew Bannister on a film-maker, a comedian and two authors.
Dec 12, 2025 · 27 min
Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Vera Weisfeld, Frank Gehry, Martin Parr
Matthew Bannister on a zoologist, a businesswoman, an architect and a photographer.
Dec 5, 2025 · 27 min
Sir Tom Stoppard, Pam Hogg, Yanxin He, Jack Shepherd
Matthew Bannister on a playwright, a designer, a language speaker and an actor.
Nov 28, 2025 · 27 min
Jimmy Cliff, Charlotte Bingham, Skye Gyngell, David Bellos
Kirsty Lang on a musician, a writer, a chef and a translator.
Nov 21, 2025 · 27 min
Baroness Newlove, Zoe Wicomb, Sir Geoffrey Bindman KC, Professor Roland Paxton
Matthew Bannister on a campaigner, an author, a lawyer and a civil engineer.
Nov 15, 2025 · 27 min
James Watson, Pauline Collins, Judith Vidal-Hall, Dugald Ross
Matthew Bannister on a scientist, an actor, a journalist and a fossil hunter.
Nov 7, 2025 · 27 min
Dick Cheney, Yvonne Brewster, Mary McGee, Peter Watkins
Matthew Bannister on a US politician, a theatre director, a campaigner and a film-maker.
Oct 31, 2025 · 27 min
Prunella Scales CBE, Gillian Tindall, Roger Smith, Anthony Grey
Matthew Bannister on an actor, a writer, an outdoors champion, a journalist