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

Jun 13, 2025 · 27 min
Brian Wilson, Frederick Forsyth, Uriah Rennie, Edmund White
Kirsty Lang on a musician, a writer, a referee and an author.
Jun 6, 2025 · 27 min
Valmik Thapar, Nancy Blaik, Norma Meras Swenson, Dr Stuart Farrimond
Kirsty Lang on a conservationist, a charity fundraiser, an author, a science communicator.
May 30, 2025 · 27 min
Alan Yentob, Richard Garwin, Dr Joy Schaverien, Anne Merriman
Matthew Bannister on a BBC executive, a physicist, a psychoanalyst and a doctor.
May 23, 2025 · 27 min
Hannah Deacon, Andrew Norfolk, Dame June Clark, Martin Graham
Matthew Bannister on a campaigner, a journalist, a nurses’ leader and a businessman.
May 16, 2025 · 27 min
Sir Tom Farmer, Elaine Wynn, Sue Stapely, Joseph Nye
Matthew Bannister on a businessman, a casino owner, a solicitor and a political analyst.
May 9, 2025 · 27 min
Jane Gardam, Sir Roger Birch, Mike Peters, Francoise Hampson
Kirsty Lang on an author, a chief constable, a musician and a lawyer.
May 2, 2025 · 27 min
Virginia Giuffre, Rosy Bremer, LJ Smith, Wizz Jones
Matthew Bannister on a campaigner, an activist, an author and a musician.
Apr 25, 2025 · 27 min
Pope Francis, Paddy Higson, David Sassoon
Matthew Bannister on a pope, a producer and a designer.
Apr 18, 2025 · 27 min
Anne Scargill, Ronnie Appleton, Cecil Wright, Mario Vargas Llosa
Matthew Bannister on a campaigner, a lawyer, a cricketer and a writer.
Apr 11, 2025 · 27 min
Lord Kalms, Melissa Llewallyn-Davies, Rex Cowan, Wilma Finla
Matthew Bannister on a businessman, an anthropologist, a shipwreck hunter and a farmer.
Apr 4, 2025 · 27 min
Val Kilmer, Jane Reed, Sir Torquil Norman, Dr Marika Sherwood
Matthew Bannister on an actor, an editor, a businessman and a historian.
Mar 28, 2025 · 27 min
Oleg Gordievsky, Renee Goddard, Professor Richard Fortey, Sofia Gubaidulina
Matthew Bannister on a spy, a TV commissioner, a palaeontologist, a composer.
Mar 21, 2025 · 27 min
Group Captain John Allman ‘Paddy’ Hemingway DFC, Dame Julie Kenny, Tuppy Owens, Dick McTaggart
Matthew Bannister on a pilot, a businesswoman, a campaigner and a boxer.
Mar 14, 2025 · 27 min
Athol Fugard, Janet Pharaoh, Alison Halford, Johnny Green
Kirsty Lang on a playwright, a dancer, a senior police officer and a roadie.
Mar 7, 2025 · 27 min
Bill Dare, Clint Hill, Valérie André, Gene Hackman
Matthew Bannister on a comedy producer, a Secret Service agent, a French general, an actor
Feb 28, 2025 · 27 min
Roberta Flack, Dr D G Hessayon, Keith Dewhurst, Rose Hanks
John Wilson on a musician, an author, a playwright and a sidecar passenger.
Feb 21, 2025 · 27 min
Rick Buckler, Margaret Miles-Bramwell, Harry Stewart Jr, Maureen Halton
John Wilson on a musician, a businesswoman, a fighter pilot and an entrepreneur.
Feb 14, 2025 · 27 min
Nigel McCrery, Andrée Dumon, Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Diana Melly
Matthew Bannister on a writer, a wartime courier, a politician and an author.
Feb 7, 2025 · 27 min
Tony Martin, Pete Wilkinson, Loretta Ford, Marianne Faithfull
Matthew Bannister on a farmer, a campaigner, a nurse practitioner and a singer.
Jan 31, 2025 · 27 min
Rev Don Cupitt, Phyllis Dalton, Cecile Richards, Michael Longley
Matthew Bannister on a theologian, a costume designer, an activist and a poet.