PLAY PODCASTS
Desert Island Discs

Desert Island Discs

2,006 episodes — Page 22 of 41

Richard Briers

Sue Lawley's castaway is actor Richard Briers.Favourite track: The Cuckoo and the Nightingale by George Frideric Handel Book: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Luxury: A huge supply of Chardonnay

Dec 17, 200033 min

Tim Smit

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is Tim Smit, the co-founder of the Eden Project in Cornwall. Before Tim Smit thought of building the largest greenhouse in the world, he had already attracted public attention by resurrecting The Lost Gardens of Heligan. Before that he'd enjoyed a successful music career, writing songs and working with - among others - Barry Manilow and the Nolan Sisters.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Dancing in the Street by David Bowie and Mick Jagger Book: Book with plain pages Luxury: Piano

Dec 10, 200032 min

Tina Brown

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the editor of Talk magazine, Tina Brown. Her reputation as a formidable magazine editor spans both sides of the Atlantic - with the revamp of Tatler, Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, raising eyebrows as well as circulation figures. In conversation with Sue Lawley, she talks about her life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Chan Chan by The Buena Vista Social Club Book: Middlemarch by George Eliot Luxury: Rollercoaster

Dec 3, 200035 min

Albie Sachs

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is judge Albie Sachs. The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs, his account of being placed in solitary confinement by the South African authorities, highlighted the dangers of campaigning against apartheid in the 1960s. After a long exile in Britain, Albie Sachs returned to his homeland in the 1990s to help shape its new constitution and become one of its most senior judges.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: The Hammerklavier-Piano Sonata No.29 in B Flat by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Charterhouse of Palma by Stendhal Luxury: Little bottle of aftershave

Nov 26, 200036 min

Des Lynam

Sue Lawley's castaway is sports presenter Des Lynam.Favourite track: In Party mood by West End Celebrity Orchestra Book: Encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine Luxury: A drumkit

Nov 19, 200034 min

J K Rowling

Sue Lawley's castaway is the writer and creator of Harry Potter J K Rowling.Favourite track: First movement-Violin Concerto in D Major by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Book: SAS Survival Guide Luxury: Pen and unlimited paper

Nov 5, 200036 min

Ronald Harwood

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the writer Ronald Harwood. At the age of 17 Ronald Harwood left his home in South Africa and set sail for England, determined to become an actor. When that failed he turned his hand successfully to writing. Some plays, like The Dresser, draw on his theatrical experiences, others, like Articles of Faith deal with the political dilemmas. He leaves behind his thought-provoking work to join Sue Lawley on the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Emperor Concerto No 5 in E Flat, Opus 73 by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh Luxury: My bathroom

Aug 27, 200036 min

Christopher Lloyd

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the gardener and writer Christopher Lloyd. Well known for his forthright opinions, Christopher Lloyd has tended his family garden at Great Dixter in Sussex for nearly 70 years. It's been the source of inspiration for his many books and his column in the magazine Country Life, which he's written without a break since 1963.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Letters by Gustave Flaubert Luxury: Syndicate whisky

Aug 20, 200036 min

Robert Swan

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the explorer and environmentalist, Robert Swan. When he was a boy Robert Swan became fascinated by Scott's attempt to conquer Antarctica and after university he decided not only to follow in his footsteps - but go one further and travel across the Arctic as well. In 1989 he achieved his dream - becoming the first man ever to walk unsupported to both the North and South Poles.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Better Off Alone by Alice Deejay Book: Huge copy of Times Atlas - largest available so I can see where I have been (168 countries so far) Luxury: An accountancy course

Aug 13, 200035 min

Sir Norman Wisdom

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actor and comedian Sir Norman Wisdom. His cloth cap and tight-fitting jacket became his screen trademark in the 1950s and 1960s and characters like Norman Pitkin won him fans all over the world. Sir Norman talks to Sue Lawley about a career that's spanned more than 60 years and chooses eight records to take with him the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Don't Laugh at Me 'Cos I'm a Fool by Norman Wisdom Book: Reach for the Skies by Sir Douglas Bader Luxury: Pot of stew with two dumplings

Aug 6, 200032 min

General Sir Charles Guthrie

This week, Sue Lawley's castaway on Desert Island Discs is General Sir Charles Guthrie.Favourite track: The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves by Giuseppe Verdi Book: Vol 1 of biography of the Duke of Wellington - Year of the Sword by Lady Longford Luxury: Surfboard

Jul 30, 200035 min

Sir Roger Penrose

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the mathematician Sir Roger Penrose. His prize-winning work with Stephen Hawking on the nature of black holes brought his name to public attention in the 1960s. Since then he has made a controversial contribution to the debate over human consciousness and whether or not computers will ever be able to mimic the workings of the human mind.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Crucifixion from B Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: The fattest book by Michael Frayne Luxury: 19-note piano

Jul 23, 200037 min

Rt Hon Michael Portillo MP

This week, Sue Lawley's castaway on Desert Island Discs is Michael Portillo.Favourite track: Viene la Sera by Giacomo Puccini Book: Proust: Time Regained by Alain de Botton Luxury: Solar-powered laptop

Jul 16, 200035 min

Alan Parker

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Alan Parker. When Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone came out in 1975, it marked the beginning of a very successful and sometimes controversial career. Films like Midnight Express, Fame and The Commitments underline his versatility and have won him countless awards all over the world.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Nimrod by Edward Elgar Book: A giant photo album of his four children and grandchildren that goes back over twenty years. Luxury: Watercolour paint box (plus brush and pad)

Jul 9, 200033 min

Peter Nichols

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the playwright Peter Nichols. His award winning work, including Privates on Parade and A Day in The Death of Joe Egg has left audiences in stitches and sometimes in tears. With the recent revival of Passion Play, his darkly comic tale about adultery, Peter Nichols talks to Sue Lawley about his life and writing, and chooses eight records to take to the mythical desert island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Hostias (from Requiem in D Minor) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: His diary which he has kept since he was 18 - to relive life since 1945 Luxury: Cyanide tablet (if he can't have a tower and telescope or a full-size snooker table)

Jul 2, 200035 min

Dr Max Perutz

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Dr Max Perutz. When he left Austria in 1936 to study at Cambridge, his fellow students dismissed his ambition to decipher the structure of the protein haemoglobin as 'mad'. No-one had seriously attempted to map a molecule that was made up of 10,000 atoms. Twenty-two years later he was successful. It was an achievement that earned him and his colleague John Kendrew the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1962 - and has since contributed to the study of blood diseases like sickle cell anaemia and Huntington's disease. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Piano Sonata No.30 in E Major by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin Luxury: Skis

Jun 25, 200037 min

Donald Sutherland

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Donald Sutherland. He has acted in 104 films, including such classics as MASH, Don't Look Now and JFK. Tall and lanky as a child, he was called 'Goofus' or 'Dumbo' because of his big ears. However, it was those ears that caught the attention of the director of The Dirty Dozen and thus his film career was launched. Now appearing on the British stage for the first time in 36 years, he chooses eight records to take to the mythical desert island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Horn Concerto No. 1 in D major 412 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman Luxury: 100 cases of vintage Bordeaux

Jun 18, 200035 min

Clive James

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Clive James. Author, critic and television personality, he is presently contemplating his fourth autobiography - tracing the journey from his childhood in Australia to the Footlights Review at Cambridge University, and then to becoming the wittiest television critic and presenter in Britain.During the interview Clive reads extracts from his poem 'Young Australian Rider, P.G. Burman', taken from his book Other Passport Poems 1958-1985.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Jailhouse Rock by Elvis Presley Book: My Method of Singing by Enrico Caruso Luxury: Karaoke piano

Jun 11, 200034 min

Professor Géza Vermes

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Professor Geza Vermes . When he wrote Jesus the Jew in the early 1970s, it shocked the Christian world. He continued to examine Jesus through three more books, drawing on his lifetime's study of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Born in Hungary in the 1920s, his Jewish parents had converted to Catholicism, but it did not save them from the Nazis. He was ordained a Catholic priest, but returned his Jewish roots and his study of the religion and culture of first-century Palestine.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Now from the Sixth Hour by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: The Complete Works by Flavius Josephus Luxury: Comfortable armchair/desk

Jun 4, 200038 min

John Bird

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is John Bird. As a student, he changed the face of the Cambridge Footlights review by rejecting jokes on bed-makers and punting and writing a political review instead. In the early 1960s he helped found The Establishment Club with Peter Cook. Writing sketches with John Fortune, they found they were unable to find suitable actors to perform their work, and so took to the stage themselves. Satire, he says, died in the late 1960s and he struggled to make a living, until Rory Bremner hired them. As 'The Two Johns', their dialogues featuring an awkward interviewer and slippery politician have won them much recognition and a BAFTA award.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Repons by Pierre Boulez Book: The collected works by Wallace Stevens Luxury: 2,000 soft loo rolls

May 28, 200038 min

Dame Norma Major

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Dame Norma Major. In her book on the Prime Minister's residence, Chequers, she revealed how Neville Chamberlain would spend time measuring the girths of his favourite trees, and how Ramsay MacDonald chopped wood every morning dressed in plus-fours. She herself was uncomfortable there, and she remembers the loneliness and stress of being the country's First Lady. She says her love of music, and her work for charity helped her through the tough times. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Norma by Bellini Book: Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers Luxury: Solar laptop

May 21, 200034 min

Kathleen Turner

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Kathleen Turner. A versatile actress, she's been the femme fatal in films like Body Heat, parodied that role in comedies like Serial Mom, and played the romantic adventurer in Romancing the Stone. But, she says, ''I never play the victim, because I'm not attracted to a woman who doesn't try''. It's an attitude which must have helped her when she developed rheumatoid arthritis which left her severely bloated and in pain. Presently wowing audiences as Mrs Robinson in London's West End production of The Graduate, she chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Piano Concerto No 1 in B flat minor by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Book: Emma by Jane Austen Luxury: Roses

May 14, 200033 min

Sir John Mills

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Sir John Mills. He was only six when he decided he wanted to be an actor. And now after seventy years in show business he is still touring the world with his one man show. It was the war which made him a star and the films he made then eventually led to Hollywood. There he made friends with Laurence Olivier, Rex Harrison and Noel Coward, to whom he says he owes a great debt.He won an Oscar for his performance in Ryan's Daughter, but one of his favourite films remains Ice Cold in Alex. In it, he got to kiss Sylvia Sims, a scene which was later cut by the censor for showing too much of her cleavage and which had to be reshot with only three buttons undone instead of four. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: All the Things You Are by Chick Henderson Book: The Warden by Anthony Trollope Luxury: His piano

May 7, 200033 min

Sir Peter Bonfield

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Sir Peter Bonfield. The chief executive of British Telecommunications, it is said that when he left his previous company, its Japanese owner presented him with a samurai sword and helmet to remind him of the warrior qualities he would need at BT. And certainly the challenges facing him in this fast moving industry have tested all his discipline and determination - qualities he says he learnt as a boy at the local convent school.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: American Pie by Don McLean Book: A book on celestial navigation Luxury: A windsurfer

Apr 30, 200034 min

Leonard Slatkin

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the conductor Leonard Slatkin. An American, he is about to take on the mantle of chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Renouned for his championing of both the American and British cannons, his aim has always been to demystify music of all kinds. He has spun discs on a pirate radio station and played honky tonk piano in a jazz bar. His parents' Hollywood String Quartet was the best known band in town and the Slatkin household was often filled with film stars. From these two influences he developed his love of chamber music and a passion for Doris Day. In conversation with Sue Lawley, he talks about his life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Danny Boy by Percy Grainger Book: Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin Luxury: Wine

Apr 23, 200037 min

Sir Anthony Caro

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Sir Anthony Caro. Universally regarded as the 'grand old man of British sculpture', in the 1950s he had learnt from his mentor Henry Moore that artistic rules were there to be broken. So he yanked sculpture off it's pedestal and set it on the floor. And he rejected the traditional materials of bronze, marble and wood for girders, nuts and bolts. In fact as he confesses to Sue Lawley, nothing is safe from his magpie eye: parts of ships, cars, even kitchen equipment have all been incorporated into his work.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: String Quartet in C by Franz Schubert Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Luxury: Glue

Apr 16, 200034 min

Claire Tomalin

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Claire Tomalin. A writer and literary editor, she is probably best known for a series of acclaimed biographies of women, including Mary Wollstonecraft, and Jane Austin. She began working in the literary world late in life, after bringing up her family. This, and a series of personal tragedies, including the death of her husband and two of her children, has no doubt made her particularly sympathetic to the lives of literary women in the 19th century.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Sull'aria. Che Soave Zeffietto (Act 3) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Complete diaries by Samuel Pepys Luxury: A garden

Apr 9, 200038 min

Harold Evans

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Harold Evans. One of the great campaigning journalists of all time, as editor of The Northern Echo in the 1960s he argued the the case for cervical smear tests for women. At The Sunday Times, he highlighted the problems of the Thalidomide children. When Rupert Murdoch bought The Times he was given the job of editor and then sacked. After writing a book which decribed how a newspaper changes when the owner becomes editorially involved, he left for America where he lives a life of apparent glamour, with his wife, magazine editor Tina Brown.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Mache Dich Mein Herze Rein by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: History of the American Civil War by Shelby Foote Luxury: Silk pyjamas

Apr 2, 200037 min

Adrian Noble

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is Adrian Noble. Now the Artistic Director of The Royal Shakespeare Company, he says he learnt a lot about theatre from watching his father, an undertaker, conduct funeral services. He fell in love with the stage when, as a boy, he saw Laurence Olivier play Othello. A stage play, he says, whether Shakespeare or Chekhov, should not simply be good entertainment, but make people ponder on life itself. In conversation with Sue Lawley, he talks about his life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Mir Ist So Wunderbar by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Art of Memory by Frances A Yates Luxury: Wine

Mar 26, 200036 min

Al Alvarez

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Al Alvarez. In the late 1950s, as the influential poetry critic of the Observer, he favoured a style of writing which reflected the disarray of the times, in the aftermath of the Second World War and the shadow of the nuclear bomb. He befriended and championed poets such as Robert Lowell, Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath. Later he wrote The Savage God, a study of suicide in which he recalled her death and described his own attempt.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Quartet No. 132 by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Interpretation of Dreams by Sigmund Freud Luxury: Laptop computer with poker game software

Mar 19, 200036 min

Colin Montgomerie

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Colin Montgomerie.One of the biggest earners in the history of golf, he's ranked number three in the world. Despite having a natural talent for the game, he'd never expected to play it professionally. Having applied for a job with a sports management company, his interview took place on the golf course. He played so well that the company persuaded him to become one of their stars.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Sailing by Rod Stewart Book: Any book by Michael Crichton

Mar 12, 200035 min

Robert McCrum

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Robert McCrum. The author of six highly acclaimed novels and literary editor of the Observer, he describes how he woke up one morning, at the age of 42, to a raging headache and partial paralysis. He had suffered a stroke and it was to take him more than a year to recover. Later, he was to write a memoir about that process which became not only a guide to other sufferers, but also a love story dedicated to his wife.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Prelude - Cello Suite No 3 by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome Luxury: St John's Wort

Mar 5, 200037 min

Sheila Hancock

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Sheila Hancock. She first became a household name in the 1960s in the BBC sitcom The Rag Trade. Since then she has starred in everything from Carry On films to Chekhov. One of our most versatile actresses, she's been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, sung in West End musicals and directed at the National. Twelve years ago she developed cancer, an experience which naturally made her re-assess her life. Today, she says, she's calmer, more secure and more able to cherish herself.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: String Quartet No.8 - Opening by Dmitri Shostakovich Book: A title by Marcel Proust Luxury: Grand piano (and music scores)

Feb 27, 200037 min

Michael Holroyd

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Michael Holroyd. A respected biographer, as a boy, he sought refuge from an unhappy home in Maidenhead Public Library. It was there he discovered the work of Hugh Kingsmill who was to become his first biographical subject. And it was then that he "discovered the attraction," as he says, "of stepping from my own life into other people's". Since then he has devoted seven years to writing the life of Augustus John, and 17 to the biography of George Bernard Shaw.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Last movement of String Quartet - No16 in F Opus 135 by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The High Hill of the Muses - Anthology by Hugh Kingsmill Luxury: Waterbed

Feb 20, 200037 min

Professor Stuart Hall

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is Professor Stuart Hall. Nearly 10 years after he came to England from Jamaica in 1951, he helped found the first Centre of Cultural Studies in Birmingham, with the academic Richard Hoggart. It was, he says, a reaction to how fast Britain was changing after the war, including the break up of the class structure and the growing impact of TV and the mass media. Now retired, he's still concerned by the question of British identity. In conversation with Sue Lawley, he talks about his life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: I Waited For You by Gil Fuller Book: Portrait of a Lady by Henry James Luxury: Piano

Feb 13, 200037 min

Simon Callow

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Simon Callow. He impressed the theatre world when he played Mozart in Amadeus, and won our hearts as the genial Scot, Gareth, in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Like many actors, he learned his trade in rep. It's a good place to make mistakes, he says, recalling how he fell twenty foot through a trap door during 'A Christmas Carol'.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: String Quintet in C Major - Adagio by Franz Schubert Book: Dictionary Luxury: Nose hair trimmer

Feb 6, 200038 min

Peter Melchett

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Peter Melchett. The executive director of Greenpeace, he has recently hit the headlines for his active opposition to genetically modified crops. Once a pillar of the establishment, Lord Melchett was a rising politician in Jim Callaghan's Labour government before he became interested in green issues. He did though shock his colleagues in the Northern Ireland office, when he admitted listening to the pop group The Boomtown Rats.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Special Live Recording of 'PEACE' by Eurythmics Book: Field guide to his imaginary Island Luxury: Snorkel and mask

Jan 30, 200033 min

Neil Jordan

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Neil Jordan. As a child he would cycle past Bram Stoker's house on his way to school, one of the reasons, perhaps, that he went on to direct the film Interview with a Vampire. His other movies include Mona Lisa and The Butcher Boy; the story of a little Irish lad who talks to the Virgin Mary which has echoes in his own Irish Catholic childhood.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Round Midnight by Thelonious Monk Book: A la Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust Luxury: Typewriter

Jan 23, 200035 min

Ian McEwan

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is Ian McEwan.A Booker Prize winner, he was once dubbed 'Ian Macabre' because of the dark nature of his stories. His first novel The Cement Garden told a horrifying tale of family life. Later, The Comfort of Strangers described how a chance encounter can end in murder. He does though admit to his writing becoming gentler in recent years. In conversation with Sue Lawley, he talks about his life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Aria from Goldberg Variations by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Ulysses by James Joyce Luxury: Italian leather hand-stitched hiking boots

Jan 16, 200038 min

Dr Jane Goodall

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Dr. Jane Goodall. She had no formal scientific qualifications when she first went to Africa to study the Gombe chimpanzees. But it was this lack of preconceptions which made her so successful as a naturalist. Watching chimps use sticks to extract termites from their mounds she realised that she was about to smash the assumption that only humans used tools. Now, forty years after she first stepped into the bush, she describes how she has halted her patient study of the chimpanzees to fight for their survival.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]Favourite track: Under the Milk Wood by Richard Burton Book: The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien Luxury: Pencil and paper

Jan 9, 200037 min

Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. His musicals dominate London's West End, including Cats, Phantom of the Opera and Starlight Express. He traces a career which began more than 30 years ago when he teamed up with Tim Rice to write Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Some Enchanted Evening by Rossano Brazzi Book: England's Thousand Best Churches by Simon Jenkins Luxury: Herb garden

Dec 31, 199936 min

Michael Crawford

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Michael Crawford. Renowned for his attention to detail, he has always performed his own stunts - whether roller-skating under moving lorries in Some Mothers Do Have 'Em, or walking the tightrope in the musical Barnum. A consumate professional, he admits to escaping from his hospital bed, where he was recovering from exhaustion, so the show could go on![Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Gloria from Mass in B Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: The complete book of self-sufficiency by John Seymour Luxury: Pen and paper

Dec 24, 199936 min

Michael Nyman

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Michael Nyman. Said to be the best-selling classical composer in Britain, as a child visiting the opera or concert hall his imagination would be caught by a particularly pleasing sequence of notes. Later, he was to use these as inspiration for his own compositions. A Purcell manuscript inspired his music for the The Draughtsman's Contract. Scottish folk songs the soundtrack to The Piano.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Farewell (Das Lied von der Erde (the song of the Earth)) by Gustav Mahler Book: Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne Luxury: A toilet

Dec 19, 199937 min

Oz Clarke

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Oz Clarke. As a wine expert, he has sipped, slurped and spat his way through thousands of vintages from around the world. Renowned for his enthusiasm for trying new flavours and varieties, his earliest memory is of drinking his mother's damson wine when he was just three years old. And it didn't put him off.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Thanks for the Memory by The Mitford Girls Original London Stage Cast Book: French Provincial Cookery by Elizabeth David Luxury: His memory

Dec 12, 199935 min

Sir Richard Sykes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Sir Richard Sykes. The chairman of Glaxo Welcome, as a boy he was not a natural scholar, until he went to work at the pathology laboratory of his local hospital. Understanding the application of science led him to become a research scientist at Glaxo Welcome. He describes how later the Board Room lured him away from the lab, and how he came to mastermind one of the most audacious take-overs in the city.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Second Movement from Cello Concerto in B Minor by Antonin Dvořák Book: The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin Luxury: Telescope

Dec 5, 199938 min

Warren Mitchell

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Warren Mitchell. Arthur Miller praised his portrayal of Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman. His King Lear and Shylock won critical acclaim. But he will always be remembered for Alf Garnett, the bigoted, bully from Till Death Us Do Part. He chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Marie Theres I Made A Vow from Der Rosenkavalier by Richard Strauss Book: Master and Commander by Patrick O'Brien Luxury: Organ (from the Royal Albert Hall)

Nov 28, 199937 min

Clarissa Dickson Wright

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Clarissa Dickson Wright.Born into a home where caviar was more common than fish paste, she has always been surrounded by fine food. Yet she came to cooking as a profession late in life, having first practised as a barrister. Finding success on television, she has recently had to come to terms with the death of her co host Jennifer Paterson and being just One Fat Lady.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Rasputin by Boney M Book: Complete Works by Saki Luxury: Wind-up radio

Nov 21, 199935 min

William Gibson

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is William Gibson. Long before the existence of the Internet, he wrote about 'cyberspace', a boundless world reached only through computers. External space travel, to the Moon and Mars, had become old hat. By creating internal space, he breathed new life into science fiction. In conversation with Sue Lawley, he talks about his life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: (Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For? by Nick Cave Book: Complete Works by Jorge Luis Borges Luxury: Junk yard

Nov 19, 199934 min

Willard White

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Willard White.Teased as a child for his deep bass voice, it has made him one of the most popular opera stars today. Happy to sing Wagner or Gershwin, he's renowned for his ability to get under the skin of his roles, and audiences still remember how, as Porgy, he wept real tears at the loss of Bess.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Piano Concerto No 21 in C Major- Andante by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale Luxury: Seeds

Nov 7, 199936 min

Ralph Fiennes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Ralph Fiennes. His first Hollywood film role was as the Nazi concentration camp leader in Schindler's List, a part which, he says, had a profoundly disturbing effect on him. His latest project, playing the jaded hero Onegin, is the culmination of a long held desire to bring Pushkin's novel to the big screen.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Mir Ist So Wunderbar by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: A la Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust Luxury: Pen and limited supplies of ink and paper

Oct 31, 199935 min