Main content

Last Word Episodes

  1. 26/06/2026

    Radio 4's weekly obituary programme

  2. 19/06/2026

    Radio 4's weekly obituary programme

  3. 12/06/2026

    Radio 4's weekly obituary programme

  4. Larry King: The man behind Billie Jean King’s feminist tennis revolution

    Matthew Bannister on a sport disruptor, Cold War spy, media innovator and art provocateur.

  5. Clarence B Jones, Judith Chalmers, Dr Anna Ritchie, Professor Frank Land

    Matthew Bannister on a lawyer, a broadcaster, an archaeologist and a computer pioneer.

  6. Michael Pennington, Cynthia Shange, Scott Hastings, Beverley Martyn

    Kirsty Lang on an actor, an activist, a rugby player and a singer.

  7. Ruth Slenczynska, Dame Bridget Ogilvie, Tony Worthington, Russell Tyner KC

    Kirsty Lang on a virtuoso pianist, leading scientist, peace-seeking MP and legal pioneer.

  8. Dr Ittai Gradel, Dame Shirley Porter, Professor Nigel Dunnett, María Nieves Rego

    Matthew Bannister on an antiquities dealer, a politician, a horticulturalist and a dancer.

  9. Xia De-hong, Lord Hunt of Chesterton, Joan Burstein, Bill Leader

    Matthew Bannister on a mother, a meteorologist, a retail pioneer and a recording engineer.

  10. Andy Kershaw, Dame Averil Cameron, Dr Judith Rapoport, Desmond Morris

    Matthew Bannister on a DJ, a historian, a psychiatrist and a zoologist.

  11. Asha Bhosle, Sir Neil Cossons, Professor Harold Ellis, Daphne Selfe

    Matthew Bannister on a singer, a curator, a surgeon and a model.

  12. Sir Craig Reedie, Bronwen Naish, Geoff Yeadon, Margareta Magnusson

    Matthew Bannister on a sports administrator, a musician, a cave diver and an author.

  13. Robert Fox, Mary Rand MBE, Sir Tony Hoare, Biruté Galdikas

    John Wilson on theatre producer, an athlete, a computer scientist, a primatologist.

  14. Dame Jenni Murray, Len Deighton, Lynda Hale, Jurgen Habermas

    Matthew Bannister on a broadcaster, an author, a footballer and a philosopher.

  15. Yanar Mohammed, MP Phil Woolas, Professor Robin Weiss, Jane Lapotaire

    Matthew Bannister on a campaigner, a politician, a virologist and an actor.

  16. Paul Conroy, Kenith Trodd, Astrid Llewellyn, Jo Purvis

    Matthew Bannister on a photojournalist, a TV producer, a sailor, a DJ.

  17. Neil Sedaka, Drusilla Beyfus, Professor Dame Carole Jordan, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

    Matthew Bannister on Neil Sedaka, Drusilla Beyfus, Carole Jordan, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

  18. Martyn Butler, Allan Massie, Professor Nicola Fear, Willie Colón

    Matthew Bannister on a campaigner, an epidemiologist, an author and a trombonist.

  19. 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.

  20. Meredith Hooper, David Young, Dorothy Solomon, Derek Kelly

    Matthew Bannister on an author, a lawyer, an agent and a farmer.

  21. Sir Nicholas White, Lord Wallace, Professor Deborah Cameron, Sly Dunbar

    Matthew Bannister on a physician, a politician, a linguist and a drummer.

  22. 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.

  23. Molly Burkett, Sir James Munby, Edith Flanigen, Aldrich Ames

    Matthew Bannister on a conservationist, a judge, a chemist and a spy.

  24. Claudette Colvin, Ian Balding, Gerry Gable, Bob Weir, Juliet Robertson

    Matthew Bannister on a campaigner, a racehorse trainer, an activist and an educationalist.

  25. Molly Parkin, Kristina Gjerde, Michael Barton, Eva Schloss

    Matthew Bannister on an artist, an activist, a BBC executive and a holocaust survivor.

  26. Brigitte Bardot, Sir Alec Reed, Alwyn Crawshaw, Dame Shân Legge-Bourke

    Jon Kay on an actor, a businessman, an artist, a landowner

  27. Antony Price, Sister Stan Kennedy, Ena Collymore Woodstock, John Carey

    Jon Kay on a fashion designer, a nun, a barrister, a literary critic

  28. Rob Reiner, Joanna Trollope, Stanley Baxter, Sophie Kinsella

    Matthew Bannister on a film-maker, a comedian and two authors.

  29. Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Vera Weisfeld, Frank Gehry, Martin Parr

    Matthew Bannister on a zoologist, a businesswoman, an architect and a photographer.

  30. Sir Tom Stoppard, Pam Hogg, Yanxin He, Jack Shepherd

    Matthew Bannister on a playwright, a designer, a language speaker and an actor.

  1. Previous
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. …
  8. 35