Last Word

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

Radio 4,901 episodes

Episodes

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Shaw Taylor, Arthur Wyatt, Naty Revuelta Clews, Malcolm Fraser, Andy Fraser
Matthew Bannister on a broadcaster, a diplomat, a revolutionary, a politician, a musician.
20 Mar 2015,28 mins
Sir Terry Pratchett, Florence Arthaud, Patrick Whitefield, Lord Molyneaux, Sam Simon
Matthew Bannister on an author, a sailor, an ecologist, a politician and a comedy creator.
13 Mar 2015,28 mins
Yasar Kemal, Maureen Guy, Professor Oliver Rackham, Sir Noel Davies, Leonard Nimoy
A Turkish author, an opera singer, an environmentalist, a nuclear engineer and an actor.
06 Mar 2015,28 mins
Dan Topolski, Lady Villiers, John Davies, Tim Lusty, Clark Terry
A rower, a resistance fighter, a historian, a historian and a jazz musician.
27 Feb 2015,28 mins
Michele Ferrero, Lady Platt of Writtle, John McCabe, Louis Jourdan, Anne Naysmith and Lesley Gore.
Julian Worricker on a confectioner, an engineer, a composer, an actor, a pianist
20 Feb 2015,28 mins
John Hopkins, Ena Baxter, Lord Gavron, Andre Brink, Charles Townes, Steve Strange
Matthew Bannister on a photographer, a cook, a businessman, a writer and a physicist.
13 Feb 2015,28 mins
Colleen McCullough, Richard von Weizsaecker, Carl Djerassi, Geraldine McEwan and Lotte Hass
Matthew Bannister talks about an author, a president, a chemist, an actress and a diver.
06 Feb 2015,28 mins
Sir Jack Hayward, Elena Obraztsova, Robert Stone, Jean Stogdon OBE and Demis Roussos
Matthew Bannister on a businessman, a singer, a novelist, a social worker and a pop star.
30 Jan 2015,28 mins
Lord Brittan, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, Professor John Bayley, Anne Kirkbride
Obituary series: Matthew Bannister on a politician, a king, an academic and an actress.
23 Jan 2015,28 mins
Ray McFall, Richard Meade, Joan Benesh, Frank Atkinson and Brian Clemens
Obituaries of a club owner, a horseman, a choreologist, a curator and a screenwriter.
16 Jan 2015,28 mins
Jean Cabut and Georges Wolinski, Luise Rainer, Edward Brooke and Chip Young
Matthew Bannister on two cartoonists, an actress, a senator and a session guitarist.
09 Jan 2015,28 mins
Debbie Purdy, David Ryall, Willy Burgdorfer, Dame Mary Glen Haig, Graeme Goodall
Julian Worricker on a campaigner, an actor, an entomologist, a fencer and a music pioneer.
02 Jan 2015,28 mins
In a special edition of Last Word, Matthew Bannister talks to obituary editors from around the UK about the nature of their work
Matthew Bannister and guests offer an insight into the world of the obituary writer.
26 Dec 2014,28 mins
Mandy Rice-Davies, Dr Tim Black, Michel du Cille, Ian Player, Christopher Morris
Matthew Bannister on a showgirl, a doctor, a photographer and a conservationist.
19 Dec 2014,28 mins
Queen Fabiola, Stella Young, Bernard Stonehouse, Kent Haruf, Ralph Baer
Matthew Bannister on a disability campaigner, a queen, a polar scientist and an author.
12 Dec 2014,28 mins
Jeremy Thorpe, Ian McLagan, Viktor Tikhonov, Trevor Pharo and Sabah
Matthew Bannister on a politician, a musician, an ice hockey coach, a clown, and a singer.
05 Dec 2014,28 mins
PD James, 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, Glen A Larson, Medlin Lewis-Spencer, Arthur Butterworth MBE
Matthew Bannister on a crime writer, a criminal, a director, a mayor and a composer.
28 Nov 2014,28 mins
Sir Thomas Macpherson, Mike Nichols, Alexander Grothendieck, Paul Vaughan, Leonore Davidoff and Jimmy Ruffin
Matthew Bannister on a war hero, a director, a mathematician, a broadcaster, a historian.
21 Nov 2014,28 mins
Vivienne Price; Dr Dick Laws; Warren Clarke; Geoffrey Clarke; Prince David Chavchavadze
Matthew Bannister on an orchestra founder, a zoologist, an actor, a sculptor and a spy.
14 Nov 2014,28 mins
Warren Anderson, Acker Bilk, Lord Barnett, Sonia Rolt
Matthew Bannister on a company chairman, a musician, a politician and a canal campaigner.
07 Nov 2014,28 mins
Jack Bruce, Gough Whitlam, Efua Dorkenoo, James Dunlop
Matthew Bannister on a rock musician, a campaigner, a politician and a firefighter.
31 Oct 2014,28 mins
Lynda Bellingham, Ben Bradlee, Geoffrey Perry, John Holt
Andrea Catherwood remembers an actress, a war veteran, a reggae artist and newspaperman.
24 Oct 2014,28 mins
Sir Jocelyn Stevens, Jerrie Mock, John Moat, Shirley Baker, David Rayvern Allen
Matthew Bannister on a newspaper executive, a pilot, an author, a photographer, a producer
17 Oct 2014,28 mins
Andrew Kerr, Jean-Claude Duvalier, Dorothy Tyler MBE, Prof Karl Miller, Cosimo Matassa
Matthew Bannister on a festival founder, a dictator, an athlete and a literary editor.
10 Oct 2014,28 mins
Christopher Hogwood, Major General Yitzhak Hofi, Sheila Tracy, Dame Kathleen Ollerenshaw, Lynsey de Paul
Matthew Bannister on a conductor, an Israeli general, a broadcaster and a mathematician.
03 Oct 2014,28 mins
The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire, Oleg Ivanovsky, Jim Petrie, Dame Julia Polak and Bob Crewe
Julian Worricker on two scientists, an illustrator, a songwriter and a leading aristocrat.
26 Sep 2014,28 mins
James Nesbitt MBE, Andrew McLaglen, Emilio Botin, Simin Behbahani, Sir Philip Dowson, George Hamilton IV
Matthew Bannister on a detective, a film director, a banker, a poet and an architect.
19 Sep 2014,28 mins
Rev Ian Paisley, Sir Donald Sinden, Caroline Gooding, Anthony Smith, Andrew McLaglen
Matthew Bannister on a politician, an actor, an adventurer, a disability rights campaigner
12 Sep 2014,28 mins
Joan Rivers, Sir David Mitchell, Werner Franz, Candida Lycett Green, Sandy Wilson
Matthew Bannister remembers a comedian, an MP, a Hindenburg survivor and a conservationist
05 Sep 2014,28 mins
Richard Attenborough, Helen Bamber, BKS Iyengar, Sam Galbraith, Bill Kerr
Matthew Bannister on a director, a human rights campaigner, a yoga guru and a Labour MSP.
29 Aug 2014,28 mins