25 October 2025

By Tim Koch

The BBC website says that its obituary programme, Last Word, which is broadcast weekly on BBC Radio 4, tells the life stories of people who have recently died, from the rich and famous to the unsung but significant. 

As he would have been the first to admit, Bill Colley was neither rich nor famous (despite a late interaction with Hollywood actor, director and producer, George Clooney) and, outside of a very small group, he was also unsung. However, were proof needed that Bill was significant, there was the recent lengthy obituary in the Times newspaper and now there has been recognition by another British institution, BBC Radio 4’s Last Word programme broadcast on 24 and 26 October. 

Those in the UK may listen to the programme via the BBC’s on demand service, BBC Sounds. Unfortunately, it is not available in other countries but YouTube has a couple of nice interviews with Bill, this from 2013, and this from 2024.