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
Paul Allen, Dr Mary Midgley, Leon Lederman, Roger Mainwood
Pictured: Paul Allen
Matthew Bannister on
Paul Allen who teamed up with his school friend Bill Gates to found the computer software company Microsoft. After he left, he used his billions to support med…
Ray Galton, Professor Gerald Russell, Evelyn Anthony, Sir Roger Gibbs, Montserrat Caballé
Pictured: Montserrat Caballé
Matthew Bannister on
Ray Galton, who, with his writing partner Alan Simpson, created Hancock's Half Hour and Steptoe and Son. Paul Merton pays tribute.
Gerald Russell, the…
Charles Aznavour, Dr Charles Kao, Elizabeth de Mauny Wainwright, John Cunliffe
Pictured: Charles Aznavour
Matthew Bannister on
Charles Aznavour, the French singer who "made despair popular". The lyricist Don Black, who worked with him, pays tribute.
Dr. Charles Kao, the Nobel pri…
Chas Hodges, MJ Long, Arthur Mitchell, Rick Turner, Rachid Taha
Pictured: Chas Hodges
Matthew Bannister on
Chas Hodges, the session musician who became one half of the cockney duo Chas and Dave and had hits like Gertcha and Rabbit.
M.J. Long the American-born archi…
Denis Norden, Diane Leather, Johnny Kingdom, Fenella Fielding
Pictured: Denis Norden
Andrea Catherwood on Denis Norden, the television presenter and comedy writer who made Britain laugh for half a century. Diane Leather, the first woman in the world to break th…
Lady Coleridge, Jalaluddin Haqqani, Jacqueline Pearce, Lord Thomas of Macclesfield, Stan Brock
Pictured: Jacqueline Pearce
Matthew Bannister on
Lady Coleridge, the nurse and adventurer who explored the Congo river with Colonel John Blashford-Snell. He pays tribute.
Jalaluddin Haqqani, the Afghan …
Burt Reynolds, Lord Peter Melchett, Rita Borsellino, Ajit Wadekar
Pictured: Burt Reynolds
Matthew Bannister on
The prolific career of the movie star Burt Reynolds. The 'Deliverance' director John Boorman pays tribute.
The environmental campaigner Lord Melchett who, a…
Lindsay Kemp, John Calder, Hilary Lister, John Calcutt, Neil Simon
Pictured: Lindsay Kemp
Julian Worricker on:
The dancer and choreographer, Lindsay Kemp, who worked alongside David Bowie and Kate Bush.
John Calder, the influential publisher, who championed avant-garde…
Kofi Annan, Janice Tchalenko, Hugh Synge, Helen MacLeod, Hettie Williams
Pictured: Kofi Annan
Julian Worricker on:
Diplomat Kofi Annan, who rose through the ranks of the United Nations, to serve as its secretary-general for nine years....
Janice Tchalenko, a ceramicist, desi…
Aretha Franklin, VS Naipaul, Winston Ntshona, Nan Joyce
Pictured: Aretha Franklin
Matthew Bannister on
Sir VS Naipaul, the Nobel prize winning author of acclaimed books including "A House For Mr Biswas" and "A Bend in The River". He was a controversial figu…
Tony Bullimore, Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, Barry Chuckle, June Jacobs, Tommy Peoples
Pictured: Barry Chuckle
Matthew Bannister on
Tony Bullimore, the self styled "Del Boy of yacht racing" who was trapped under the hull of his boat for 4 days during a solo round the world race.
Aiko Herz…
Mary Ellis, Shinobu Hashimoto, Dr William McBride AO, CBE, Dr Lincoln Brower, Mahendra Kaul
Pictured: Mary Ellis
Matthew Bannister on
Mary Ellis - a leading pilot for the Air Transport Auxiliary who risked her life to deliver fighters and bombers during the war.
Shinobu Hashimoto, the screen…
Charles Gimingham, Felicia Langer, Julian Tudor Hart, Anne Olivier Popham Bell, Adrian Cronauer
Pictured: Anne Olivier Popham Bell
Julian Worricker on:
Charles Gimingham, an environmentalist, described as the foremost expert on heather and moorland landscapes....
Human rights lawyer, Felicia Lange…
Oliver Knussen CBE, Barbara Harrell-Bond OBE, Sam Chisholm, Steve Ditko, Anna Sándor de Kénos
Pictured: Oliver Knussen
Julian Worricker on:
British composer and conductor, Oliver Knussen, described as a towering figure in contemporary music....
Barbara Harrell-Bond, who founded and then directed…
Lord Carrington, Karen Finch, Claude Lanzmann, Harlan Ellison
Photo: Lord Carrington
Matthew Bannister on
Lord Carrington, the Conservative Foreign Secretary who resigned after the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands.
Karen Finch, the textile conservator wh…
Dame Gillian Lynne, Peter Firmin, Reinhard Hardegen, Alan Longmuir
Photo: Dame Gillian Lynne
Matthew Bannister on:
The choreographer Dame Gillian Lynne, best known for her work on Cats and the Phantom of the Opera.
Peter Firmin who, with his partner Oliver Postgate, cr…
Joe Jackson, Paul Lamplugh OBE, Myrtle Allen, Daisy Kadibil, Paddy Feeny
Photo: Joe Jackson
Matthew Bannister on
Joe Jackson who drilled his children into becoming the Jackson Five, but was accused of abusive and violent behaviour by his most successful son, Michael.
Paul La…
Gennady Rozhdestvensky CBE, Maria Bueno, Gena Turgel, Zhao Kangmin, Leo Sarkisian
Photo: Maria Bueno
Matthew Bannister on
The conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky who brought Russian music to the UK - and British music to Russia.
Maria Bueno, the Brazilian tennis player who won Wimbledon…
Peter Mayer, Professor Celia Brackenridge OBE, Anthony Bourdain, Leslie Grantham, Teddy Johnson
Photo: Leslie Grantham
Tina Daheley on Peter Mayer, the publisher who was given a fatwa for printing 'The Satanic Verses'. Professor Celia Brackenridge, the sports scientist who campaigned for child …
Peter Stringfellow, Graham Corbett, Kate Spade, Lord John Julius Norwich, Eli Avivi
Photo: Peter Stringfellow
Tina Daheley on the nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow, who introduced nude table dancing to Britain.
Graham Corbett, the first Chairman of Postcomm, and Eurotunnel's chief fi…