Last Word

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BBC Radio 4 LW

Factual: Life Stories

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

BBC Radio 4 FM

Last Word: Bernard Haitink (pictured), Victor Gregg, Ruthie Tompson, Paddy Moloney

Bernard Haitink, Victor Gregg, Ruthie Tompson, Paddy Moloney

Bernard Haitink (pictured), Victor Gregg, Ruthie Tompson, Paddy Moloney

BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Bernard Haitink (pictured), Victor Gregg, Ruthie Tompson, Paddy Moloney

Matthew Bannister on a conductor, a soldier, an animator, and a piper.

Matthew Bannister on conductor Bernard Haitink, soldier Victor Gregg, animator Ruthie Tompson and piper Paddy Moloney.

Matthew Bannister on

Bernard Haitink, one of the greatest orchestral conductors of his generation, known for his interpretations of Mahler, Bruckner and Wagner.

Victor Gregg, the British soldier who was caught up in the Dresden bombing raids, suffered Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and later went undercover for MI6. 

Ruthie Tompson, one of Walt Disney’s longest serving animators, she worked on classic films like 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' and 'Fantasia'.

Paddy Moloney, the Irish pipe player who founded and led the influential band the Chieftains.


Producer: Neil George

Interviewed guest: Norman Lebretch
Interviewed guest: Nick Kenyon
Interviewed guest: Rick Stroud
Interviewed guest: Brian Sibley
Interviewed guest: Louise Mulcahy
Interviewed guest: Aedín Moloney

Archive clips used: BBC, Proms 2005/2008/2019; BBC Radio 3, Music Matters 20/11/2017; BBC Radio 2, Victor - Read by John Hurt 12/11/2011; MPTF YouTube channel, Spotlight on Ruthie Tompson 06/03/2012; King Features Syndicate, Popeye The Sailor Man ep52 1960; Walt Disney Productions, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 1937/Pinocchio 1940/Mary Poppins 1964; BBC, Omnibus 29/01/1976; BBC, Profile 15/11/1976; BBC FOUR, Legends - The Chieftains 15/03/2008; BBC, The Old Grey Whistle Test 06/04/1976.

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Last Word

Bernard Haitink (pictured), Victor Gregg, Ruthie Tompson, Paddy Moloney

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