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
Robert Stigwood, Patricia Torrens, Pierre Boulez, Lord Ezra, Natalie Cole
Matthew Bannister on
Robert Stigwood, the impresario who managed Eric Clapton and The Bee Gees, produced Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita and the movies Saturday Night Fever and Grease.
Patricia Torre…
Eric Tomlinson, Elsie Tu, Peter Dickinson, Lillian Vernon and Lemmy
Recording engineer, Eric Tomlinson, who worked on the score for Star Wars and added music to Charlie Chaplin's silent films.
Elsie Tu, social campaigner, legislator and educationalist in Hong Kong.
Aut…
Some of the most memorable lives of the past twelve months
Matthew Bannister and Economist Obituary Editor Ann Wroe recall some of the most memorable lives of 2015, including a diver, a scientist and a singer.
Producer: Edwina Pitman.
Mick Murphy, Ahmed Chalabi, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Brajraj Mahapatra and Holly Woodlawn
Matthew Bannister on
The Irish cyclist, strong man and farm labourer Mick Murphy who won a famous victory in the 1958 round Ireland race.
The Iraqi politician Ahmed Chalabi who boasted that he tricke…
Marcus Klingberg, William McIlvanney, Setsuko Hara, Joel Elkes and John Peel
Matthew Bannister on
The Israeli chemical weapons expert Marcus Klingberg, who was revealed to have been spying for the Soviet Union.
The Scottish writer William McIlvanney, best known for his Jack L…
General Sir Robert Ford, Hazel Adair, Jane Wardle, Gerry Byrne and P.F Sloan
Matthew Bannister on
General Sir Robert Ford who was Commander Land Forces Northern Ireland at the time of the Bloody Sunday shootings.
Hazel Adair, the TV scriptwriter behind hit series like Compact…
Peter Dimmock, Alix d'Unienville, Yolanda Sonnabend, Maggie Eales and George Barris
Matthew Bannister on
TV pioneer Peter Dimmock. An accomplished presenter and also a BBC executive, he directed the coverage of the Queen's coronation in 1953.
Also SOE agent Alix d'Unienville. In the…
Roy Dommett, Warren Mitchell, Allen Toussaint, Cynthia Payne and Jonah Lomu
Matthew Bannister on
Roy Dommett, one of the UK's leading rocket scientists who was also a well known morris dancer.
Warren Mitchell, the actor best known for playing Alf Garnett in the TV sit com "T…
Helmut Schmidt, Pat Eddery, Julia Jones, Lord Noon and Nat Peck
Matthew Bannister on
Helmut Schmidt, the German Chancellor who helped to design the European Monetary System and agreed that US nuclear weapons could be sited in his country. His friend the former US …
Norman Moore, Diane Charlemagne, Professor David Cesarani, Colin Welland and Peter Donaldson
Matthew Bannister on
Norman Moore, the conservationist who discovered that organochorine pesticides were decimating the UK's bird of prey population. He fought a twenty year campaign to have them ban…
Professor Lisa Jardine, Philip French, Ronnie Massarella, Maureen O'Hara
Matthew Bannister on
Professor Lisa Jardine, the historian whose intellectual curiosity stretched across the arts and sciences. She was chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and a…
General John Galvin, Joan Leslie, Michael Meacher, Howard Kendall, Jerry Parr and Coleridge Goode
Matthew Bannister on
General Jack Galvin who was NATO's Supreme Allied Commander in Europe as the Cold War ended. Generals Colin Powell and David Petraeus pay tribute.
Joan Leslie - the Hollywood star …
Geoffrey Howe, Sue Lloyd-Roberts, Joe Henson, Hugh Scully and Alexander Faris
Julian Worricker on: The former Chancellor and Foreign Secretary, Geoffrey Howe, whose resignation speech in the Commons was generally regarded as the beginning of the end for Margaret Thatcher as Pr…
Lord Denis Healey, Carmen Balcells, Henning Mankell, Revd Kenneth Leech and Captain Bob Arnott
Lucy Ash on the former Labour politician Denis Healey who was Chancellor of the Exchequer during the Winter of Discontent in 70s; Catalan literary agent Carmen Ballcells known as Big Mamma to her Nob…
Brian Friel, General Mario Menendez, Tessa Ransford, John Guillermin, Ben Cauley
Matthew Bannister on
The award winning Irish playwright Brian Friel, best known for Dancing At Lughnasa and Translations.
Argentine General Mario Menéndez who was appointed Governor of the Falkland Isl…
Brian Sewell, Jackie Collins, Ted Smith CBE, PJ Kavanagh, Yogi Berra
Matthew Bannister on
Brian Sewell, the art critic with the distinctive voice, outspoken opinions and love of dogs.
Jackie Collins who sold millions of copies of her sex and showbusiness novels,
Ted Smit…
Sir David Willcocks, Merv Adelson, Mariem Hassan, Brian Close, Beryl Renwick
Matthew Bannister on
Sir David Willcocks - one of the most influential choir masters of his generation. Known for his descants to Christmas carols, he was director of music at King's College Cambridge…
Sir Adrian Cadbury, Rico Rodriguez, Ieng Thirith, Margaret Harrison, Judy Carne
Matthew Bannister on
Sir Adrian Cadbury - who was chairman of the family confectionery firm, led its merger with Schweppes and wrote an influential report on corporate governance. He was also an Olymp…
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu, Joy Beverley, Oliver Sacks, Annette Worsley-Taylor
Matthew Bannister on
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu who founded the National Motor Museum, opened his estate to the public and served a prison sentence for homosexuality. His son, who has succeeded to the t…
Bernie Passingham, Christopher Marshall, Wayne Carson, Michael Turk, Marie Dobbs, Yvonne Craig
Matthew Bannister on
The trade union official Bernie Passingham who helped women workers at the Ford Motor Company in their fight for equal pay.
Medical researcher Chris Marshall who identified one of …