Last Word
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently
- Update frequency
- every 6 days
- Average duration
- 27 minutes
- Episodes
- 531
- Years Active
- 2015 - 2025
France-Albert Rene, Simon Norton, Belle Tutaev, Dr Ian Adamson OBE, Keith Flint
Pictured: Simon Norton
Matthew Bannister on
France-Albert René, the Seychelles President who came to power in a coup and stayed in office for more than 25 years.
Simon Norton, the brilliant but eccentr…
André Previn KBE, John Haynes OBE, Tony Mendez, Lady Grantchester
Pictured: André Previn
Matthew Bannister on
André Previn, the conductor and pianist whose repertoire ranged from the classics to film and jazz music. He took part in a celebrated sketch with Morecambe …
Lady Falkender, Karl Lagerfeld, John Stalker, Andrea Levy, Peter Tork
Matthew Bannister on
Lady Falkender who was the controversial political secretary to Harold Wilson for twenty seven years.
Karl Lagerfeld, the designer who re-vitalised Chanel, developed Fendi and bec…
Gordon Banks OBE, Vikki Orvice, David Garman OBE, Mary Oliver, Albert Finney
Matthew Bannister on
Gordon Banks, the goalkeeper in England's 1966 World Cup winning team, who made one of the greatest saves of all time in 1970.
Vikki Orvice, the first woman to work as a football …
Rosamunde Pilcher OBE, Hugh Lewin, Lamia Al-Gailani, Dr Stewart Adams OBE, Dr Adam Watson
Pictured: Rosamunde Pilcher
Andrea Catherwood on:
Activist Hugh Lewin who was jailed for his stand against apartheid in South Africa,
Iraqi archaeologist Lamia Al-Gailani who helped rebuild the Nationa…
Jeremy Hardy, Diana Athill OBE, Sir Conrad Swan, Michel Legrand
Pictured: Jeremy Hardy
Julian Worricker on:
Comedian Jeremy Hardy, a mainstay of The News Quiz and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue on Radio 4....
Editor and author, Diana Athill, who wrote candidly about he…
Hugh McIlvanney, Jennie Buckman, John Beavis, David Pritchard
Pictured: Hugh McIlvanney
Matthew Bannister on
Hugh McIlvanney, the respected sports writer known for his love of language and combative approach to life.
Jennie Buckman, the theatre practitioner who …
Joe Casely-Hayford, Judge Nicholas Crichton, Professor Sophie Oluwole, Professor Paul O’Brien CBE, Carol Channing
Pictured: Joe Casely-Hayford
Matthew Bannister on
Joe Casely-Hayford, the fashion designer whose creations ranged from punk to Savile Row tailoring. His children, who followed him into fashion, pay tri…
Nancy Roman, Ralph Koltai CBE, Julia Grant, Jin Yong, Norman Gimbel
Pictured: Nancy Roman
Matthew Bannister on
Nancy Roman, the American space agency NASA's first Chief Astronomer. She was known as the mother of the Hubble Telescope.
Ralph Koltai, the influential theat…
Dame June Whitfield, Sir Jack Zunz, Thomas Baptiste, David Austin OBE, Karre Mastanamma
Pictured: June Whitfield
Matthew Bannister on
Dame June Whitfield, the comic actress whose long career spanned classic radio shows and Absolutely Fabulous.
Sir Jack Zunz, the civil engineer who led the…
Sister Wendy Beckett, Nicolas Roeg, Inge Borkh, Professor Sir Aaron Klug, Geoff Emerick
Pictured: Sister Wendy Beckett
Julian Worricker on:
The nun, Sister Wendy Beckett, who became an unlikely television star when she brought her knowledge of the history of art to the small screen...
Nic…
Sir David Weatherall, Penny Marshall, Evelyn Berezin, Zhores Medvedev, Nancy Wilson
Pictured: Nancy Wilson
Matthew Bannister on
Sir David Weatherall, the world renowned haematologist and geneticist who pioneered molecular approaches to medicine.
Penny Marshall, the first woman to direc…
Peter Boizot, Judith Kazantzis, Sir Sze-Yuen Chung, Sister Cecylia Roszak, Scott English
Pictured: Peter Boizot
Matthew Bannister on
Peter Boizot who founded the Pizza Express chain of restaurants and invested heavily in his home town of Peterborough.
Judith Kazantzis, the feminist poet, no…
Harry Leslie Smith, Pete Shelley, Monica Sims, Professor Wendy Atkin OBE, Ivan March
Pictured: Pete Shelley
Matthew Bannister on
Harry Leslie Smith who grew up in poverty in Yorkshire. He became an outspoken campaigner for the welfare state and a social media star in his nineties.
Pete …
Baroness Trumpington, Roy Bailey, Chief Inspector Henry Stevens GC, Bernardo Bertolucci
Pictured: Baroness Trumpington
Matthew Bannister on
Baroness Trumpington, who worked for Lloyd George and at Bletchley Park during the war then became a government minister noted for her cheerfully uns…
John Large, William Goldman, Dr Sarah Ntiro, Richard Baker, Patsy Rodgers
Pictured: William Goldman
Matthew Bannister on
William Goldman, the Hollywood screenwriter behind a string of hits including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All The President's Men and The Princess…
Aubrey Manning, Max Levitas, Babs Beverley, Janet Paisley, Stan Lee
Pictured: Stan Lee
Matthew Bannister on
The naturalist and expert on animal evolution Aubrey Manning who presented the acclaimed BBC TV series Earth Story.
The Jewish Communist campaigner Max Levitas wh…
Lord Heywood, Pamela Lonsdale, Sangharakshita, Tom Jago, Francis Lai
Pictured: Lord Heywood
Matthew Bannister on
Lord Heywood, the senior civil servant who worked with four Prime Ministers: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Theresa May.
Pamela Lonsdale, the ch…
Wanda Ferragamo, Wim Kok, Ntozake Shange, Mohamed Sahnoun, Keith Killby
Pictured: Wanda Ferragamo
Matthew Bannister on
Wanda Ferragamo - who took over her husband's successful Italian shoe making business and turned it into a global fashion brand.
Wim Kok, the Dutch prime …
Anthea Bell OBE, Captain Michael Howard, Baroness Hollis of Heigham, Cicely Berry CBE, Tony Hiller
Pictured: Baroness Hollis
Matthew Bannister on
Anthea Bell who translated the works of Freud and Kafka into English - but was even better known for making Asterix the Gaul funny in his second language.
…