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BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

BBC Radio 4

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Last Word

Factual: Life Stories

Radio 4's weekly obituary programme, telling the life stories of those who have died recently

BBC Radio 4 LW

Last Word: Robin Gibb, Eric James, Alan Oakley, David Ellis and Eugene Polley

25/05/2012

Robin Gibb, Eric James, Alan Oakley, David Ellis and Eugene Polley

BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Robin Gibb, Eric James, Alan Oakley, David Ellis and Eugene Polley

Matthew Bannister on Robin Gibb, Eric James, Alan Oakley, David Ellis and Eugene Polley.

Matthew Bannister on Bee Gee Robin Gibb, left-wing cleric Eric James, Chopper bike designer Alan Oakley, David Ellis of Ballet Rambert, and TV remote control pioneer Eugene Polley.

Matthew Bannister on

Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees who, with his brothers Barry and Maurice, created scores of hit records. We hear about his rivalry with Barry for the lead vocal spot and his obsession with the Titanic.

Also: the left wing Anglican Canon Eric James, a regular on Radio 4's Thought For The Day,

Alan Oakley who invented the Chopper bicycle, much coveted by schoolboys of the seventies,

David Ellis - the dancer and doctor who married into the Ballet Rambert and played a leading role in the company's development.

And Eugene Polley who launched a million couch potatoes by pioneering the TV remote control. Elvis McGonagall pays tribute in verse from his sofa.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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Last Word

Robin Gibb, Eric James, Alan Oakley, David Ellis and Eugene Polley

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