Last Word

{{Short description|BBC radio obituary series}}

{{About|the BBC radio programme|other uses|The Last Word (disambiguation){{!}}The Last Word}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{More citations needed|date=October 2016}}

{{Infobox Radio Show

| show_name = Last Word

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| format = Factual

| runtime = 28 minutes

| country = England

| language = English

| home_station = BBC Radio 4

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| presenter = Matthew Bannister

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| first_aired =10 February 2006

| last_aired = present

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| website = [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/lastword.shtml BBC website page]

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Last Word is a radio obituary series broadcast weekly on BBC Radio 4. Each week, the lives of recently deceased famous people are summarised with narration and interviews with people who knew them. It is normally presented by Matthew Bannister, although occasionally it has been presented by others, including Kate Silverton and Julian Worricker.

The programme was first broadcast on 10 February 2006.{{cite news|last=Reynolds|first=Gillian|title=Today's TV & radio choices|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3650028/Todays-TV-and-radio-choices.html|access-date=22 July 2017|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=10 February 2006|at=Radio choices by Gillian Reynolds|author-link=Gillian Reynolds|location=London}} On 29 September 2006, a biography of American songwriter Paul Vance (1929–2022) was broadcast, including an interview with Vance himself, after his death was announced in the media by mistake.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00181m9 | title=BBC Radio 4 – Last Word, Amanda Claridge, Sidhu Moose Wala (Pictured), Mark Sykes, Paul Vance }}