

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

Jul 27, 2018 • 28min
Charles Gimingham, Felicia Langer, Julian Tudor Hart, Anne Olivier Popham Bell, Adrian Cronauer
Pictured: Anne Olivier Popham BellJulian Worricker on:Charles Gimingham, an environmentalist, described as the foremost expert on heather and moorland landscapes....Human rights lawyer, Felicia Langer, who represented many Palestinians in the Israeli courts....Campaigning doctor, Julian Tudor Hart, who pioneered the regular monitoring of blood pressure in patients....Art historian, Anne Olivier Bell, who edited the five volumes of Virginia Woolf's diaries....And the real-life Good Morning Vietnam DJ, Adrian Cronauer, inspiration for the film starring Robin Williams...Archive clips from: Assignment: A Report From The Israeli-Occupied Golan Heights, Radio 4, 07/04/1982; On Behalf of the Working Class, BBC Wales, 07/11/1982; The Good Doctor, BBC TV/Worldwide, 07/10/1996; Newsnight, BBC Two, 23/01/2008; George Orwell Back at the BBC, Radio 4, 05/11/2017; Panorama: Life at 100, BBC One, 23/10/2017; Dear Diary, Episode 2, BBC Four, 11/01/2010; Good Morning Vietnam Revisited, Radio 2, 13/04/2015.

Jul 20, 2018 • 28min
Oliver Knussen CBE, Barbara Harrell-Bond OBE, Sam Chisholm, Steve Ditko, Anna Sándor de Kénos
Pictured: Oliver KnussenJulian Worricker on:British composer and conductor, Oliver Knussen, described as a towering figure in contemporary music....Barbara Harrell-Bond, who founded and then directed the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University....The media executive, Sam Chisholm, who drove the development of multi-channel television in Britain....Steve Ditko, the American artist and writer best known as co-creator of the Marvel Comics superheroes Spider-Man and Doctor Strange...and the last Transylvanian aristocrat to have lived through the communist purges, Anna Sandor de Kenos.Archive clips from: Jonathan Ross in Search of Steve Ditko, BBC Four, 16/09/07; Music Matters, Radio 3, 09/07/18; Horizon: Exodus, BBC Two, 06/03/95; Breakfast Time, BBC One, 05/01/89.

Jul 13, 2018 • 28min
Lord Carrington, Karen Finch, Claude Lanzmann, Harlan Ellison
Photo: Lord CarringtonMatthew Bannister onLord Carrington, the Conservative Foreign Secretary who resigned after the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands.Karen Finch, the textile conservator who restored the garments of Bonnie Prince Charlie and Marlene Dietrich among many others. Claude Lanzmann, the French film maker best known for Shoah, the nine and a half hour documentary about the holocaust.Harlan Ellison, the outspoken American science fiction writer who published 70 books, more than 400 short stories and countless essays. Producer: Neil George.

Jul 6, 2018 • 28min
Dame Gillian Lynne, Peter Firmin, Reinhard Hardegen, Alan Longmuir
Photo: Dame Gillian LynneMatthew 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, created beloved children's TV characters like the Clangers, Noggin the Nog and Bagpuss.Reinhard Hardegen the last surviving U boat ace who took part in attacks on the East Coast of America in 1942 and Alan Longmuir, founder member of the Bay City Rollers. Archive clips from: Front Row, Radio 4, TX 2.7.2018.

Jun 29, 2018 • 28min
Joe Jackson, Paul Lamplugh OBE, Myrtle Allen, Daisy Kadibil, Paddy Feeny
Photo: Joe JacksonMatthew Bannister onJoe 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 Lamplugh, whose daughter Suzy was abducted and never found. He worked with his wife to campaign for greater safety for women working alone.Myrtle Allen, the chef who pioneered farm-to-table cooking at her family home in Ireland and became the country's first woman to win a Michelin star.Daisy Kadibil whose one thousand two hundred mile walk across Australia inspired the film Rabbit-Proof Fence. And Paddy Feeny who presented Top of the Form and sport on the BBC World Service for more than thirty years.Archive clips from: Woman's Hour, Radio 4 17/04/2006; The Best Dishes Ever, BBC Two 18/02/2016; Saturday Kitchen Best Bites, BBC Two 23/03/2014; The Best Dishes Ever, BBC Two 18/02/2016; MasterChef, BBC One 07/07/1991; Rabbit-Proof Fence, BBC One 26/12/2008; Top of the Form, Radio 4 22/12/1981.

Jun 22, 2018 • 28min
Gennady Rozhdestvensky CBE, Maria Bueno, Gena Turgel, Zhao Kangmin, Leo Sarkisian
Photo: Maria BuenoMatthew Bannister onThe conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky who brought Russian music to the UK - and British music to Russia.Maria Bueno, the Brazilian tennis player who won Wimbledon three times. Gena Turgel the holocaust survivor who married one of the British soldiers who liberated her.Zhao Kangmin, the Chinese archaeologist who played an important role in the discovery of the Terracotta Army.Leo Sarkisian the musicologist who travelled across Africa and brought back countless recordings for the Voice of America radio station. Interviewed guest: Robert Slotover
Interviewed guest: Gerard McBurney
Interviewed guest: Richard Evans
Interviewed guest: Karen Pollock
Interviewed guest: Paul Martin
Interviewed guest: John Man
Interviewed guest: Maria MargaronisArchive clips from: Prom 31, BBC Proms 2007, Radio 3, 05/08/2007; Proms on One, BBC One, 04/09/1992; The Gloria Hunniford Show, Radio 2, 08/07/1991; Radio 1 Newsbeat, 13/04/1995; Remembrance Week, BBC One, 05/11/2012; The Time of Your Life, BBC TV, 30/07/1985; Origins: The Burial of China's First Emperor, Radio 4, 13/07/1980.

Jun 15, 2018 • 28min
Peter Mayer, Professor Celia Brackenridge OBE, Anthony Bourdain, Leslie Grantham, Teddy Johnson
Photo: Leslie GranthamTina 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 protection in sport.
Anthony Bourdain, American TV chef and author of 'Kitchen Confidential'.
Leslie Grantham, the actor better known as 'Dirty Den' in EastEnders.
Singer Teddy Johnson, part of the double act with Pearl Carr, who represented the UK in the 1959 Eurovision Song Contest.Archive clips from: Kaleidoscope, Radio 4 20/10/1985; View at the Top, Radio 4 03/09/1985; Bookshelf, Radio 4 02/06/1985; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 05/05/2008; Front Row, Radio 4 14/08/2000; Midweek, Radio 4 23/01/2002; Book of the Week, Radio 4 23/01/2002; A Cook's Tour, Radio 4 Extra 25/11/2010; Kitchen Confidential, Radio 4 Extra 28/05/17; The Gloria Hunniford Show, Radio 2 08/07/1991; Desmond Carrington's Icons of the 50s, Radio 2 18/01/2011; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 09/04/1989.

Jun 8, 2018 • 28min
Peter Stringfellow, Graham Corbett, Kate Spade, Lord John Julius Norwich, Eli Avivi
Photo: Peter StringfellowTina 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 financial officer. Kate Spade, American fashion designer who rose to fame with her range of handbags in the 1990s.John Julius Norwich, aristocratic man of letters, historian, travel writer and broadcaster.Eli Avivi, self-proclaimed president of the independent state of Achzivland in Israel. Interviewed guest: Fiona Lafferty
Interviewed guest: Anne Corbett
Interviewed guest: Robert Peston
Interviewed guest: Artemis Cooper
Interviewed guest: Raffi BergArchive clips from: BBC Radio Sheffield, 2012; Archive Hour: Clubbin', 21/09/2002 Radio 4; God of the Week, 01/01/94 Radio 1; Richard Bacon: Peter Stringfellow and Adam Henson, 01/03/2011 5 Live; The Today Programme, 26/03/2001 Radio 4; The Today Programme, 03/10/02 Radio 4; Chronicle: The Fall of Constantinople, 25/11/1967 BBC TV; Round Britain Quiz, 20/09/93 Radio 4; Frogmore House: A Royal Retreat, 09/08/90 BBC TV; Desert Island Discs, 02/11/97 Radio 4.

Jun 1, 2018 • 28min
John Ashdown-Hill, Anne Coates OBE, Dr Davida Coady, Samuel F 'Ted' Dabney, Brendan Ingle
Photo: Anne Coates OBEMatthew Bannister on the prolific film editor Anne Coates, who worked on Laurence of Arabia, The Elephant Man and Fifty Shades of Grey.John Ashdown-Hill, the historian who helped to discover the bones of Richard III under a Leicester car park.Dr Davida Coady who travelled the world from Biafra to Honduras helping the sick and starving.Ted Dabney - one half of the partnership that started the successful computer games company AtariBrendan Ingle, the Sheffield based boxing trainer who developed the careers of Herol "Bomber" Graham and "Prince" Naseem Hamed. Archive clips from: Back Row, Radio 4 15/12/00; Front Row, Radio 4 07/12/16; Woman's Hour, Radio 4 13/02/07; BBC News 24, 04/02/13; People's Century 1954: Living Longer, WGBH and BBC Worldwide 05/01/97; Newsnight, BBC Two 27/10/81; Sport on 4, Radio 4 04/03/95; World Championship Snooker, BBC Two 03/05/09.

May 25, 2018 • 28min
Beth Chatto, Philip Roth, Doreen Simmons, Khurshid Drabu, June Milne.
Photo: Philip RothJulian Worricker on:Beth Chatto, the gardener and writer regarded as one of the most influential horticulturists of the past 50 yearsThe multiple award-winning American novelist, Philip Roth...author of Portnoy's Complaint and American PastoralDoreen Simmons, who moved to Japan in her forties and became an authority on sumo wrestlingBritain's first Muslim judge, Khurshid Drabu, described as a pioneer in promoting community cohesionAnd June Milne, writer, publisher, and trusted guardian of the works of independent Ghana's first leader, Kwame Nkrumah.Archive clips from: The Cancer of Betrayal, 03/03/07 Radio 4; Woman's Hour, 18/08/08 Radio 4; Gardening Gurus, 30/01/00 Radio 4; Front Row, 27/06/11 Radio 4; The World Tonight, 15/07/05 Radio 4; Sumo wrestling commentary, NHK TV.


