Last Word

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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.

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Factual: Life Stories

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

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Last Word: Benjamin Zephaniah, Laura Lean, Stacy Marking, Eric Freeman

Benjamin Zephaniah, Laura Lean, Stacy Marking, Eric Freeman

BBC Radio 4 - Last Word, Benjamin Zephaniah, Laura Lean, Stacy Marking, Eric Freeman

Matthew Bannister on a poet, a FANY officer, a documentary maker and a farmer.

Matthew Bannister on poet Benjamin Zephaniah, FANY officer Laura Lean, documentary maker Stacy Marking and farmer Eric Freeman.

Matthew Bannister on 

The dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah who overcame childhood trauma to become an acclaimed performer and writer.

Laura Lean, who volunteered for the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, helping to support distressed families after The Grenfell Tower fire and greeting Afghan evacuees.

Stacy Marking, one of the first women directors in documentary television whose work focused on social issues.

Eric Freeman, the Gloucestershire farmer who played a key role in saving the county’s rare breeds of cattle, sheep and pigs.

Interviewee: Qian Zephaniah
Interviewee: Neil Astley
Interviewee: Dot Newman
Interviewee: Adam Henson
Interviewee: Clifford Freeman
Interviewee: Havana Marking

Producer: Gareth Nelson-Davies

Archive Used:

Benjamin Zephaniah performance of Dis Poetry, BBC Radio 1, 05/06/1984;  Benjamin Zephaniah, To Do Wild Me (trailer), Blood Axe Books, director: Pamela Robertson-Pearce, Uploaded 17/02/2013; Benjamin Zephaniah interview, Desert Island Discs, BBC Radio 4, 13/06/1997; Benjamin Zephaniah, I Luv Me Mudder, Benjamin Zephaniah  Orchard Enterprises, YouTube uploaded 08/11/2014; Benjamin Zephaniah - What has Stephen Lawrence Taught Us?, AKL Concepts, YouTube, Uploaded 16/02/2012;  Laura Lean interview, First Aid Nursing Yeomanry; fany.org.uk; 2022;  Princess Alice inspects First Aid Nursing Yoemanry Unit and donated ambulances (1940), British Pathe, British Pathe YouTube channel, uploaded 11/11/2020; Eric Freeman interviews courtesy of Vernon Harwood, Eric Freeman, Auction Memories. Farming Today, BBC Radio 4, 17/04/2017; Eric Freeman Future of Rare Breeds. On Your Farm, BBC Radio 4  03/03/2013; Gloucester Cattle. Country Matters, BBC Radio Gloucestershire  19/05/2013; Wassail. Country Matters, BBC Radio Gloucestershire 14/01/2007;

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

Benjamin Zephaniah, Laura Lean, Stacy Marking, Eric Freeman

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