

Last Word
BBC Radio 4
Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently
Episodes
Mentioned books

May 31, 2019 • 28min
Professor Murray Gell-Mann, Nan Winton, James McCord, Gregory Gray
Pictured: Nan WintonMatthew Bannister onMurray Gell-Mann, the American physicist who won the Nobel Prize for his work on the theory of elementary particles. He coined the name "quarks" for the fundamental building blocks of matter. Nan Winton, the first woman to read the TV news on the BBC. She faced discrimination in the male-dominated BBC newsroom.James McCord, the CIA agent who was involved in the Bay of Pigs and the Watergate break in.Gregory Gray, the Irish singer who went from boy band to cult musician.Interviewed guest: Professor Geoffrey West
Interviewed guest: Graham Farmelo
Interviewed guest: Tina Ellen Lee
Interviewed guest: Maggie Brown
Interviewed guest: Michael Carlson
Interviewed guest: Tom Robinson
Interviewed guest: Noel McLaughlinProducer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: The Key To The Universe: The Search For The Laws Of Creation, BBC Two 27/01/1977; Horizon, BBC Two 25/07/1964; Panorama, BBC One 21/09/1959; Panorama, BBC One 09/03/1959; Arena, BBC Two 15/03/1997; U.S. Senate Select Committee On The Watergate Affair, BBC Sound Archive 18/05/1973; Watergate: Inside The Scandal That Took Down A Presidency, ABC News 17/06/2017.

May 24, 2019 • 28min
Niki Lauda, Judith Kerr, IM Pei, Herman Wouk
Pictured: Judith KerrMatthew Bannister on Niki Lauda, the fearless racing driver who survived a terrible crash to make a dramatic comeback on the track. Judith Kerr, the author of much-loved children's books including the Mog series and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. I.M. Pei, the architect best known for the glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris. Herman Wouk, the American novelist and screenwriter who won the Pulitzer Prize for The Caine Mutiny.Interviewed guest: Simon Taylor
Interviewed guest: Julia Eccleshare
Contributor: Michael Goldfarb
Interviewed guest: Professor Eric Homberger
Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: South African Grand Prix 1976, BBC Sound Archives; Rush, directed by Ron Howard, Working Title Films/Imagine Entertainment/Cross Creek Pictures/DNEG/Revolution Films/ Exclusive Media Group 2013; Hunt/Lauda, Radio 4 24/03/2013; The World At One, Radio 4 12/11/1981; BBC News, 28/05/1991; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 29/02/2004; When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit, read by Rosemary Leach, Radio 4 Extra 02/10/2017; The 60 Minutes Interview: I.M. Pei, CBS News 1987; Readings by Herman Wouk, University of California TV 24/01/2008.

May 17, 2019 • 28min
Doris Day, Brian Walden, Dorothy Rowe, Lorraine Warren
Pictured: Doris DayJulian Worricker on:One of Hollywood's top box-office stars of the 50s and 60s, actress and singer Doris Day.The Labour MP who became one of television's most exhaustive political interviewers, Brian Walden.Dorothy Rowe, one of the earliest figures in psychology to build a bridge between clinical practice and the general public.And the paranormal investigator, Lorraine Warren, whose best-known case focused on the house at the centre of the film, The Amityville Horror.Interviewed guest: David Benedict
Interviewed guest: Matthew Parris
Interviewed guest: Tim Lott
Interviewed guest: Tony Spera
Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: The Gloria Hunniford Show, Radio 2 10/02/1995; The Man Who Knew Too Much, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Paramount Pictures/Filwite Productions 1956; A Point of View, Radio 4 18/03/2005; Weekend World, Radio 4 09/05/1982; Today, Radio 4 13/05/2019; The Walden Interview, BBC London Weekend Television 29/10/1989; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 24/03/2002; The Successful Self by Dorothy Rowe read by Frances Jester, Radio 4 03/01/2007; The Amityville Horror, directed by Stuart Rosenberg, American International Pictures/Cinema 77/Professional Films 1979; The Conjuring, directed by James Wan, New Line Cinema/The Safran Company/Evergreen Media Group 2013.

May 10, 2019 • 28min
Winnie Jordan, Richard Green, Karol Modzelewski, Liz Howe, John Singleton
Pictured: John SingletonAndrea Catherwood on:British Athlete Winnie Jordan who won a silver medal in the Empire Games in 1938 and became a celebrated British Champion after the war.American psychiatrist and lawyer, Richard Green, who advanced acceptance and understanding of gay and trans people.Founder of Poland's Solidarity movement, Karol Modzelewski.Liz Howe, the ecologist who spearheaded a modern environmental Domesday book for Wales.And John Singleton, US film director of the LA gang classic Boyz N the Hood.Producer: Neil GeorgeInterviewed guest: Peter Tatchell
Interviewed guest: Faye Jordan
Interviewed guest: John Brant
Interviewed guest: John Ratcliffe
Interviewed guest: Dr Stanley BillArchive from: Front Row, Radio 4, 25.10.2016

May 3, 2019 • 28min
Grand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, Terry Rawlings, Neus Català, Heather Harper CBE, Peter Mayhew
Pictured: Peter MayhewMatthew Bannister onGrand Duke Jean of Luxembourg, who served with the Irish Guards during the war, liberated his own country and then presided over its prosperity. Terry Rawlings, the film editor who worked on Alien, Chariots of Fire and the Bond film Goldeneye.Neus Català, the Spanish communist who fought Franco, joined the French resistance and survived a Nazi death camp. Heather Harper, the operatic soprano who was called up at the last minute to perform in the premiere of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. Peter Mayhew, the actor best known for playing Chewbacca in the original Star Wars films.Interviewed guest: Patricia Treble
Interviewed guest: Major General Sir Robert Corbett, KCVO, CB
Interviewed guest: Ridley Scott
Interviewed guest: Michael Eaude
Interviewed guest: Eduardo Bennaroch
Reader: Helen Clapp
Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: Passing Out Parade: HRH Prince Jean of Luxembourg, BBC Sound Archive, 29/07/1943; Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions/Twentieth Century-Fox Productions 1979; Blade Runner, directed by Ridley Scott, The Ladd Company/Shaw Brothers/Warner Bros./Blade Runner Partnership, 1982; Heather Harper: A Musical Portrait, BBC Two 30/08/1984; Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, directed by George Lucas, Lucasfilm/Twentieth Century Fox 1977.

Apr 26, 2019 • 28min
Lyra McKee, Una-Mary Parker, Mira Markovic, Doreen Spooner, Edward Kelsey
Pictured: Lyra McKeeMatthew Bannister onLyra McKee, the 29 year old Northern Irish journalist who was shot dead by the New IRA. Una-Mary Parker who was the social editor of Tatler, a commentator on the Royal family and the author of best-selling novels. Mira Markovic, the wife of the Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, who denied her husband's responsibility for atrocities during the Bosnian war. Doreen Spooner, the first woman to work as a staff photographer on a Fleet Street newspaper.And Edward Kelsey, the actor who played Joe Grundy in The Archers for 34 years.Interviewed guest: Sarah Kay
Interviewed guest: Baba Hobart
Interviewed guest: Adam Lebor
Interviewed guest: Cathy Vandeputte
Interviewed guest: Felicity Green
Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: BBC News, 24/04/2019; Stephen Nolan, 5 Live 19/04/2019; TEDxStormont Women, November 2017; Just A Nimmo: Gossip and Gossip Columnists, BBC Two 03/02/1977; Best Behaviour, Radio 4 25/09/1991; HARDtalk, BBC News 10/09/2001; BBC News 28/06/2001; The World Tonight, Radio 4 01/11/1996; Breakfast Time, BBC One 29/01/1988; PM, Radio 4 13/10/1986; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 15/02/1988; BBC News, 02/10/1983; The Archers, Radio 4 17/03/2015; Breakfast Time, BBC One 26/03/1985; The Archers, Radio 4 18/07/2018.

Apr 19, 2019 • 28min
David Thouless, Nadja Poderegin, Ian Cognito, Dr Michael O’Donnell, Les Reed
Pictured: Nadja PodereginJulian Worricker on:David Thouless, whose work in the world of quantum mechanics earned him a share of the Nobel Prize for Physics.The Serbian actress, Nadja Poderegin, who went from 'Bond girl' on screen to be a publisher and novelist.Stand-up comedian, Ian Cognito, whose act was much loved on the comedy circuit but never allowed on TV.Michael O'Donnell, who combined a medical background with a career in journalism and broadcasting, notably on Radio 4.And the songwriter Les Reed, who co-wrote memorable songs for the likes of Englebert Humperdinck and Tom Jones.Interviewed guest: Michael Thouless
Interviewed guest: Professor Andy Schofield
Interviewed guest: Tanya Firth
Interviewed guest: Toby Hadoke
Interviewed guest: Dr Harvey Marcovitch
Interviewed guest: Laurie Taylor
Producer: Paula McGinleyArchive clips from: Profile, Radio 4 09/10/2016; From Russia With Love, directed by Terence Young, Eon Productions 1963; Goldfinger, directed by Guy Hamilton, Eon Productions 1964; Comic To Comic: Ian Cognito, Radio 4 Extra 07/04/2012; Stop The Week, Radio 4 14/11/1987; O'Donnell Investigates, BBC Two 19/09/1988; Midweek, Radio 4 11/12/2002; Relative Values, Radio 4 30/08/1988; The Songwriters: Les Reed, Radio 2 18/11/1975; Les Reed Interviewed By Debbie Greenwood, Radio 2 29/03/1988.

Apr 12, 2019 • 28min
Sydney Brenner, Dan Robbins, Edda Tasiemka, Ian McDonald
Pictured: Sydney BrennerMatthew Bannister onSydney Brenner, the Nobel Prize-winning biologist who worked with Francis Crick to map DNA. Dan Robbins, the artist who invented painting by numbers.Edda Tasiemka, the archivist who kept a comprehensive newspaper and magazine cuttings collection in her North London home.Ian McDonald, the Ministry of Defence spokesman during the Falklands War who became a familiar face on TV and was known for his sonorous delivery.Interviewed guest: Professor Jonathan Hodgkin
Interviewed guest: Larry Robbins
Interviewed guest: Robert Lacey
Interviewed guest: Ian Mather
Interviewed guest: Revel Barker
Producer: Paula McGinley

Apr 5, 2019 • 28min
Michel Bacos, Agnes Varda, Victor Hochhauser CBE, Barbara Low, Ranking Roger
Pictured: Agnès VardaMatthew Bannister onMichel Bacos, the pilot of the Air France jet that was hi-jacked to Entebbe in 1976. He was offered the chance to leave, but chose to stay with the hostages until they were freed in a dramatic raid by the Israelis.The film director Agnès Varda, known as the mother of the French New Wave.The impresario Victor Hochhauser who specialised in bringing top Russian artists to the UK.The biochemist Barbara Low who used X-ray crystallography to identify the structure of penicillin.Ranking Roger, the singer and frontman of the 70s ska revival band The Beat.Interviewed guest: Rosemary Bacos
Interviewed guest: Paul Martin
Interviewed guest: Terri White
Interviewed guest: Norman Lebrecht
Interviewed guest: Helen Berman
Interviewed guest: Pauline Black
Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: Raid on Entebbe, directed by Irvin Kershner, 20th Century Fox Television, Edgar J. Scherick Associates, 1977; La Pointe Courte, directed by Agnès Varda, Ciné Tamaris, 1956; Cléo from 5 to 7, directed by Agnès Varda, Ciné Tamaris, Rome Paris Films, 1962; Front Row, Radio 4 13/07/2018; Today, Radio 4 30/03/2019; In Tune, Radio 3 17/11/2017; Liz Kershaw, 6 Music 09/07/2016.

Mar 29, 2019 • 28min
Baroness Warnock, William Hucklesby QPM, Rose Hilton, Professor Lord Bhattacharyya CBE FRS, Scott Walker
Pictured: Baroness WarnockMatthew Bannister onBaroness Warnock, the philosopher who set down the principles which govern human fertilisation treatment and embryo research. William Hucklesby, the Police Commander who led the anti-terrorist branch at the time of the Hyde Park and Brighton bomb attacks. Rose Hilton, the artist who put her career on hold to support her husband, but gained recognition after his death.Professor Lord Bhattacharyya, who brought together academics and industrialists at the Warwick Manufacturing Group.And Scott Walker, the chart-topping singer who moved into experimental music later in life.Interviewed guest: Baroness Onora O’Neill
Interviewed guest: Sally Cheshire
Interviewed guest: Alex Hucklesby
Interviewed guest: Christopher Burke
Interviewed guest: Ian Collins
Interviewed guest: Professor Dave Mullins
Interviewed guest: Sir Vince Cable
Producer: Neil GeorgeArchive clips from: Meeting Myself Coming Back: Mary Warnock, Radio 4 12/07/2014; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 04/12/1988; The World Tonight, Radio 4 20/04/1984; PM, Radio 4 06/09/1982; BBC News 19/12/1983; Sound Archive: Brighton Press Conference, Radio 4 13/10/1984; Rose Hilton interviewed by Susan Marling, 2017 (not broadcast); Woman's Hour, Radio 4 05/04/2011; The Politics Show: West Midlands, BBC One 11/12/2011; Midlands Today, BBC One 09/12/2011; Scott Walker talks to Jarvis Cocker, 6 Music 2017; The Late Show, BBC Two 10/05/1995.