Last Word Podcast
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently
Episodes to download
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Reverend Daniel Berrigan, Lord Walton of Detchant, Jenny Diski, Guy Woolfenden
Fri 6 May 2016
Matthew Bannister on a peace campaigner, an author, a neurologist and a composer.
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Lord Peston, Ruth Prideaux, Patricio Aylwin, Professor Sir David Mackay, Gareth Thomas
Fri 29 Apr 2016
Matthew Bannister on an economist, a cricketer, a Chilean President, a physicist, an actor
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Prince, Ray Fitzwalter, Victoria Wood, June Jolly, Phil Sayer
Fri 22 Apr 2016
Matthew Bannister on a rock star, an editor, a comedian, a nurse and an announcer.
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Arnold Wesker, Howard Marks, Peggy Fortnum, Merle Haggard and Rachel Johnson
Fri 15 Apr 2016
Matthew Bannister on a playwright, a drug smuggler, an illustrator and a country singer.
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Mother Angelica, Hans-Dietrich Genscher, DJ Derek, Doreen Massey and Joe Medicine Crow
Fri 8 Apr 2016
Matthew Bannister on a nun, a German politician, a DJ, a geographer, a native American.
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Dame Zaha Hadid, Ronnie Corbett, General Meir Dagan, Joan Loraine, Gary Shandling
Fri 1 Apr 2016
Matthew Bannister on an architect, two comedians, a Mossad chief, a gardener.
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Paul Daniels, Anita Brookner, Sylvia Anderson, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Cliff Michelmore
Fri 18 Mar 2016
Matthew Bannister on a broadcaster, a producer, a composer, an author and a magician.
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George Martin, Nancy Reagan, Ray Tomlinson, Gillian Avery
Fri 11 Mar 2016
Reeta Chakrabarti on a music producer, a US first lady, an internet pioneer and an author.
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Tony Warren, Louise Rennison, Lord Chorley, George Kennedy, John Chilton
Fri 4 Mar 2016
Reeta Chakrabarti on a TV writer, an author, a conservationist, an actor and a musician
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Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Edmonde Charles-Roux, Norman Hudis, Antonin Scalia, Harper Lee
Fri 19 Feb 2016
Matthew Bannister on a UN Secretary General, an editor, a screenwriter, a judge
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Marvin Minsky, Margaret Forster, Peter Powell, Sir Brian Tovey, Joe Alaskey
Fri 12 Feb 2016
Matthew Bannister on a computer scientist, a writer, a kite inventor, a GCHQ director
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Terry Wogan, Lord Lucan, Frank Finlay, Denise St Aubyn Hubbard, Maurice White
Fri 5 Feb 2016
Matthew Bannister on a broadcaster, an earl, an actor, a sailor, a musician
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Lord Parkinson, Bill Mitchell, Paddy Doherty, Henry Worsley, Dr Gladys-Marie Fry
Fri 29 Jan 2016
Matthew Bannister on a politician, an editor, an activist, an explorer, a folklorist
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Glenn Frey, Lord Weidenfeld, Jeanne Cordova, Haskell Wexler, Gilbert Kaplan.
Fri 22 Jan 2016
Matthew Bannister on a rock star, a publisher, a lesbian campaigner, a cinematographer.
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David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Olwyn Hughes and Ed Stewart
Fri 15 Jan 2016
Matthew Bannister on a rock star, an actor, a literary agent, a DJ
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Robert Stigwood, Patricia Torrens, Pierre Boulez, Lord Ezra, Natalie Cole
Fri 8 Jan 2016
Obituary series, analysing and celebrating the lives of people who have recently died.
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Eric Tomlinson, Elsie Tu, Peter Dickinson, Lillian Vernon and Lemmy
New Year's Day 2016
Julian Worricker on a sound engineer, a campaigner, a writer, a businesswoman, a musician.
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Some of the most memorable lives of the past twelve months
Christmas Day 2015
A scientist, a diver, a marchioness and a singer - memorable lives from 2015 are recalled.
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Mick Murphy, Ahmed Chalabi, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Brajraj Mahapatra and Holly Woodlawn
Fri 18 Dec 2015
Matthew Bannister on a cyclist, a politician, a singer, a king, an actress.
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Marcus Klingberg, William McIlvanney, Setsuko Hara, Joel Elkes and John Peel
Fri 11 Dec 2015
Obituary series, analysing and celebrating the lives of people who have recently died.
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General Sir Robert Ford, Hazel Adair, Jane Wardle, Gerry Byrne and P.F Sloan
Fri 4 Dec 2015
Obituary series, analysing and celebrating the lives of people who have recently died.
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Peter Dimmock, Alix d'Unienville, Yolanda Sonnabend, Maggie Eales and George Barris
Fri 27 Nov 2015
Obituary series, analysing and celebrating the lives of people who have recently died.
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Roy Dommett, Warren Mitchell, Allen Toussaint, Cynthia Payne and Jonah Lomu
Fri 20 Nov 2015
Obituary series, analysing and celebrating the lives of people who have recently died.
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Helmut Schmidt, Pat Eddery, Julia Jones, Lord Noon and Nat Peck
Fri 13 Nov 2015
Obituary series, analysing and celebrating the lives of people who have recently died.
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Norman Moore, Diane Charlemagne, Professor David Cesarani, Colin Welland and Peter Donaldson
Fri 6 Nov 2015
Matthew Bannister on a conservationist, a singer, an historian, an actor, a newsreader
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Professor Lisa Jardine, Philip French, Ronnie Massarella, Maureen O'Hara
Fri 30 Oct 2015
Matthew Bannister on a polymath, a critic, a showjumping manager, a film star
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General John Galvin, Joan Leslie, Michael Meacher, Howard Kendall, Jerry Parr and Coleridge Goode
Fri 23 Oct 2015
Matthew Bannister on a general, an actress, an MP, a football manager and a bodyguard.
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Geoffrey Howe, Sue Lloyd-Roberts, Joe Henson, Hugh Scully and Alexander Faris
Fri 16 Oct 2015
Julian Worricker on a politician, a journalist, a farmer, a TV presenter and a composer.
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Lord Denis Healey, Carmen Balcells, Henning Mankell, Revd Kenneth Leech and Captain Bob Arnott
Fri 9 Oct 2015
Lucy Ash on a politician, a literary agent, a crime writer, a QE2 captain and a churchman.
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Brian Friel, General Mario Menendez, Tessa Ransford, John Guillermin, Ben Cauley
Fri 2 Oct 2015
Matthew Bannister talks about a playwright, a general, a poet and a director.
