Last Word

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

Radio 4,891 episodes

Episodes

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Michael Parkinson, Renata Scotto, John Brierly, Isobel Crook
John Wilson on a broadcaster, an Italian soprano, an author and an anthropologist
25 Aug 2023,28 mins
SPECIAL EDITION: Michael Parkinson
John Wilson talks to Sir Michael Parkinson's son Mike
24 Aug 2023,40 mins
Nick Kaiser, Angela Flowers, Robbie Shepherd, Doreen Mantle.
Kirsty Lang on an actress, a British scientist, a gallerist, a Scottish broadcaster.
18 Aug 2023,28 mins
Sir Michael Boyd, Jess Search, Warren Ford, Leny Andrade
Kirsty Lang on an artistic director, a documentary maker, a tea consultant and a singer
11 Aug 2023,28 mins
Richard Barancik, Yvonne Littlewood MBE, Edward Sexton, Dr Christian Carritt
Kirsty Lang on a soldier, a television producer, a tailor and a doctor.
04 Aug 2023,28 mins
George Alagiah, Sinead O'Connor, Ann Clwyd, Tony Bennett, and Trevor Francis
John Wilson on a journalist, a singer-songwriter, a politician, a singer, a footballer
28 Jul 2023,28 mins
Lady Williams of Elvel, Professor John Goodenough, Christine Baker, Lord Palmer
Matthew Bannister on a secretary, a materials chemist, a publisher and an aristocrat.
21 Jul 2023,28 mins
Malcolm Mowbray, Victoria Amelina, Roger Lovegrove, Mavis Cheek
Matthew Bannister on a film director, a novelist, an ornithologist and a writer.
14 Jul 2023,28 mins
Lord Kerslake, Dame Ann Leslie, Diane Rowe, Tim Blackmore
Matthew Bannister on a civil servant, journalist, table tennis champion, radio executive.
07 Jul 2023,28 mins
Baroness McDonagh, Craig Brown, Godfrey Merlen, Winnie Ewing
Matthew Bannister on a baroness, a football manager, a conservationist and a politician.
30 Jun 2023,28 mins
Daniel Ellsberg, Glenda Jackson, Melanie Phillips, Sir Ben Helfgott
Matthew Bannister on a whistleblower, an actor, a social worker and a holocaust survivor.
23 Jun 2023,28 mins
Silvio Berlusconi, Cormac McCarthy, Kathryn Harries, Francoise Gilot
John Wilson on a prime minister, a novelist, a soprano and an artist.
16 Jun 2023,28 mins
Mel Parry, Professor Alice Coleman, Hugh Callaghan, Cynthia Weil
Matthew Bannister on an SAS veteran, a geographer, a labourer and a songwriter.
09 Jun 2023,28 mins
Jeremy Clarke, Dr Moira Woods, Iain Johnstone, Rita Lee
Matthew Bannister on a columnist, a campaigner, a film critic and a singer.
02 Jun 2023,28 mins
Tina Turner, Martin Amis, Leroy Cooper, Rolf Harris, Marlene Bauer Hagge
Matthew Bannister on a singer, an author, a photographer and a golfer.
26 May 2023,28 mins
Newton Minow, Vicky Neale, Lois Keith, Gerald Rose
Matthew Bannister on a broadcast regulator, a mathematician, a campaigner, an illustrator.
19 May 2023,28 mins
Grace Bumbry, Don Short, Dame Rosemary Cramp, Wee Willie Harris
Matthew Bannister on an opera singer, a journalist, an archaeologist and a rock‘n’roller
12 May 2023,28 mins
Harry Belafonte, Jerry Springer, Valerie Winn, Kate Saunders
Matthew Bannister on a singer and actor, a broadcaster, a runner and an author.
05 May 2023,28 mins
Barry Humphries, Len Goodman, Professor Elizabeth Murray, Jah Shaka
Matthew Bannister on a comedian, a dancer, a medical researcher and a musician
28 Apr 2023,28 mins
Anne Perry, Dame Mary Quant, Jean Argles, Ahmad Jamal
Matthew Bannister on an author, a designer, a codebreaker and a musician.
21 Apr 2023,27 mins
Ben Ferencz, Seymour Fortescue, Valerie Elliott, Rachel Pollack
Matthew Bannister on a lawyer, a banker, a journalist, an author
14 Apr 2023,28 mins
Nigel Lawson, Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, Ken Buchanan, Mary Rayner
Matthew Bannister on a politician, a musician, a boxer and a writer.
07 Apr 2023,28 mins
Paul O'Grady, Gordon Moore, Vera Selby, Simon Emmerson
Matthew Bannister on an entertainer, a tech entrepreneur, a snooker player, a musician.
31 Mar 2023,28 mins
Jacqueline Gold CBE, Lance Reddick, Traute Lafrenz, Lynn Seymour
Matthew Bannister on a businesswoman, an actor, a campaigner, a ballerina
24 Mar 2023,28 mins
Chaim Topol, Zandra Flemister, Bill Tidy MBE, Avis Fawcitt
Matthew Bannister on an actor, a special agent, a cartoonist and a music teacher.
17 Mar 2023,28 mins
Judith Heumann, Brian Tufano, Sir David Elliott KCMG, Elizabeth Foulkes
Matthew Bannister on a campaigner, a cinematographer, a diplomat and an architect.
10 Mar 2023,28 mins
Lady Betty Boothroyd, Marianne Mantell, John Motson OBE, Sulamita Aronovsky
Kirsty Lang on a politician, a publisher, a football commentator and a pianist.
03 Mar 2023,28 mins
Dorothy Pitman Hughes, Ralph Hooper OBE, Raquel Welch, Dickie Davies
A feminist, an engineer, an actress and a sports presenter.
24 Feb 2023,28 mins
David Vaughan OBE, Burt Bacharach, Janet Anderson, Eileen Sheridan
Matthew Bannister on a glaciologist, a composer, an MP and a cyclist.
17 Feb 2023,28 mins
Frene Ginwala, Lady Martha Bruce OBE, Pervez Musharraf, Paco Rabanne
Matthew Bannister on an activist, a prison governor, a president and a designer.
10 Feb 2023,28 mins