Original version

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

Radio 4

Radio 4 (FM)

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: Dame June Whitfield, Sir Jack Zunz, Thomas Baptiste, David Austin OBE, Karre Mastanamma

04/01/2019

Dame June Whitfield, Sir Jack Zunz, Thomas Baptiste, David Austin OBE, Karre Mastanamma

BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Dame June Whitfield, Sir Jack Zunz, Thomas Baptiste, David Austin OBE, Karre Mastanamma

Matthew Bannister on an actress, an engineer, an actor, a rosarian and a cook.

Matthew Bannister on actress Dame June Whitfield, engineer Sir Jack Zunz, actor Thomas Baptiste, rosarian David Austin and cook Mastanamma.

Pictured: June Whitfield

Matthew Bannister on

Dame June Whitfield, the comic actress whose long career spanned classic radio shows and Absolutely Fabulous. 

Sir Jack Zunz, the civil engineer who led the construction of the Sydney Opera House and became chairman of Ove Arup.

Thomas Baptiste, the Guyana-born actor who appeared in Coronation Street and The Ipcress File and campaigned for colour blind casting. 

David Austin, who devoted his life to breeding new varieties of English roses. 

And Mastanamma, the 105-year-old Indian cook who became a sensation on the internet.

Interviewed guest: Greg Hodkinson
Interviewed guest: Stephen Bourne
Interviewed guest: Michael Marriott
Interviewed guest: Onkar Karambelkar
Producer: Paula McGinley

Archive clips from: Absolutely Fabulous, BBC One 19/11/1992; Absolutely Fabulous, BBC One 27/12/2002; Desert Island Discs, Radio 4 29/04/1990; Dame June Whitfield in Conversation with Joanna Lumley, Radio 4 30/12/2018; Terry and June, BBC One 10/03/1980; The News Huddlines, Radio 2 21/09/2000; The building of the Sydney Opera House, Huntley Film Archives; ABC: Official Opening of the Sydney Opera House 1973; Till Death Do Us Part, BBC One, 27/06/1966; Black and White in Colour: Television, Memory, Race 1968-1992, BFI / BBC 1992; Play for Today: King, BBC One, 03/04/1984; Gardeners' World, BBC Two 06/07/1984; Gardeners' World, BBC Two 14/07/1989; Granny's Life Story: Mastanamma Story, Country Foods, 22/02/2017; Watermelon Chicken by my Granny, Country Foods, 03/03/2017.

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

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Last Word

Dame June Whitfield, Sir Jack Zunz, Thomas Baptiste, David Austin OBE, Karre Mastanamma

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 FM

About BBC Radio 4