Desert Island Discs

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the cookery writer Marguerite Patten. Known as the 'doyenne of British cookery', Marguerite Patten has written 167 cookery books and given thousands of demonstrations - including several at the London Palladium. In conversation with Sue Lawley, she talks about her life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island. [Taken from th...

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the writer George MacDonald Fraser. When George MacDonald Fraser decided to write about Flashman, the well-known bully in Tom Brown's Schooldays, he found the perfect star for a series of Victorian adventures - from the Opium Wars and Custer's Last Stand to the Charge of the Light Brigade. Eleven books later, the caddish Flashman now boasts a huge following all o...

Sue Lawley's castaway is the owner of Longleat, the Marquess Of Bath. Favourite track: The Ode to Joy (Symphony No 9) by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Combined dictionary and thesaurus Luxury: Laptop computer

Sue Lawley's castaway is composer Stephen Sondheim. Favourite track: Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess? by George Gershwin Book: The collected works by E B White Luxury: Piano

Sue Lawley's castaway for this special edition of Desert Island Discs is Norman Painting, who has played Phil Archer in The Archers ever since its first episode in January 1951. He chooses eight records to take with him to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: 2nd movement of Shubert's String Quintet in C...

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the astrophysicist Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Jocelyn Bell Burnell was only twenty-four when she made the discovery of a lifetime: As she was mapping the universe for her PhD, she chanced upon the radio signal for a totally new kind of star, known as a 'pulsar'. Her find is seen as one of the most important contributions to astrophysics in the twentieth cent...

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

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 fro...

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 isl...

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....

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

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

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 though...

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 materi...

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...

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 origin...

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

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...

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

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 D...

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 de...

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 Kendre...

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...

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 Australia...

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 p...