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Kirsty Wark looks back at the extraordinary lives of some of the legendary actors, celebrated singers and political giants who died in 2025.

Kirsty Wark looks back at the extraordinary lives of some of the legendary actors, celebrated singers and political giants who died in 2025.

This year saw the passing of Hollywood stars who changed cinema - Robert Redford, Diane Keaton and Gene Hackman. There are insights into their acting and directing from Reese Witherspoon, Ralph Fiennes and Elizabeth McGovern, and Watergate journalist Bob Woodward talks about Redford鈥檚 portrayal of him in the hit film All the President鈥檚 Men.

Sir James Galway and Dame Sheila Hancock pay tribute to their friend, the jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, and Conservative peer Lord Dobbs and former Labour minister Lord Blunkett discuss their memories of Norman Tebbit, who played a central role in the political change under Margaret Thatcher.

Actor Dominic Monaghan, who starred alongside Dame Patricia Routledge on television, remembers both her dramatic and comic performances, while the film star John Cusack, singer Sting and fellow Beach Boy Al Jardine describe how Brian Wilson reinvented pop music in the 1960s.

10 months left to watch

1 hour, 21 minutes

Last on

Sun 28 Dec 2025 07:00

Credits

Role Contributor
Presenter Kirsty Wark
Series Producer Bernadette Kitterick
Executive Producer Matthew Shaw

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