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

Oct 31, 2025 · 21 min
SPECIAL EDITION: Prunella Scales
Matthew Bannister talks to Samuel West about his mother Prunella Scales
Oct 24, 2025 · 27 min
Raila Odinga, Bill Colley, Baroness Rosalind Howells, Sister Marion Irvine
Matthew Bannister on a Kenyan politician, a boat builder, a campaigner, a nun'
Oct 17, 2025 · 27 min
Peter Gurney, Diane Keaton, Peter Hall, Angela Bond
Matthew Bannister on a bomb disposal expert, an actor, a winemaker and a theatre manager.
Oct 10, 2025 · 27 min
Patrick Bradley, Dame Jilly Cooper, Sara Jane Moore, Dame Patricia Routledge
Matthew Bannister on an electoral officer, an author, an attempted assassin and an actor.
Oct 3, 2025 · 27 min
Dame Jane Goodall, Tony Harrison, Lord Menzies Campbell, Danny Thompson
Matthew Bannister on a primatologist, a poet, a politician and a bass player.
Sep 26, 2025 · 27 min
Sir Nicholas Grimshaw, John Stapleton, Mary Elizabeth Dodd, Claudia Cardinale
Matthew Bannister on an architect, a TV presenter, a physiotherapist and an actor.
Sep 19, 2025 · 27 min
Robert Redford, Barbara Harvey, Rosa Roisinblit, Stuart Craig
Matthew Bannister on a film star, a historian, a campaigner and a designer.
Sep 12, 2025 · 27 min
The Duchess of Kent, Giorgio Armani, Valerie Pearlman, Rick Davies
John Wilson on a duchess, fashion designer, judge and a singer.
Sep 5, 2025 · 27 min
Joe Bugner, Ann McManus, Angela Mortimer Barrett, Frank Strang
John Wilson on a boxer, a writer, a tennis player and an entrepreneur.
Aug 29, 2025 · 27 min
David Richardson, Doris Lockhart Saatchi, Dame Annette Brooke, Byron Rogers
John Wilson on a broadcaster, an art collector, a former MP and a biographer.
Aug 22, 2025 · 27 min
Terence Stamp, Stephanie Shirley, Kay Dunbar, Eric Midwinter
John Wilson on an actor, tech pioneer, literacy festival founder, a polymath
Aug 15, 2025 · 27 min
Jim Lovell, Biddy Baxter, Razia Jan, Iris Williams
Matthew Bannister on an astronaut, an editor, an educator, a singer
Aug 8, 2025 · 27 min
Dame Stella Rimington, Sylvia Young, Sir Jamie McGrigor, Joan Anderson
Matthew Bannister on an spy boss, a drama school founder, a politician and a craze starter
Aug 1, 2025 · 27 min
Dame Cleo Laine, Hulk Hogan, Margaret Boden, Tom Lehrer
Matthew Bannister on a singer, a wrestler, a cognitive scientist and a satirist.
Jul 25, 2025 · 27 min
Ozzy Osbourne, Connie Francis, Jacqui Browne, Douglas Chamberlain
Matthew Bannister on two singers, a campaigner and a cardiologist.
Jul 18, 2025 · 27 min
Sir Ian Blair, Jennie Street, Dr Anna Ornstein, Muhammadu Buhari
Matthew Bannister on a police commissioner, a farmer, a psychoanalyst and a president.
Jul 11, 2025 · 27 min
Lord Tebbit, Daphne Boden, James Leprino, Sir Francis Graham-Smith
Matthew Bannister on a politician, a harpist, a businessman and an astronomer.
Jul 4, 2025 · 27 min
Courtney Griffiths KC, Sara Venn, Nina Kuscik, Mohammad Hussain
Matthew Bannister on a barrister, a gardener, a runner and a soldier.
Jun 27, 2025 · 27 min
Michael Lachmann, Pik-sen Lim, Leon Krier, David 'Syd' Lawrence
Matthew Bannister on a director, an actor, an architect and a cricketer.
Jun 20, 2025 · 27 min
Sir Geoff Palmer, Barbara Holdridge, Kim Woodburn, Sly Stone
John Wilson on a scientist, an entrepreneur, a reality TV star and a musician.