BBC Radio 4

Desert Island Discs

Society EN ↓ 2000 episodes

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Author

BBC Radio 4

Episodes

Marti Caine 29:04

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress and musician Marti Caine. Favourite track: Coming Home by Marshall Hain Book: Glory Road by Robert Heinlein Luxury: Bath with solar-heated water and bubble bath

Michael Palin 30:47

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor and writer Michael Palin. Favourite track: Nimrod by Edward Elgar Book: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray Luxury: Bed

Peter Shaffer 32:52

Roy Plomley's castaway is playwright Peter Shaffer. Favourite track: Piano Concerto No. 9 In E Flat by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon Luxury: Claude Monet, Dawn on the Seine

Charles Causley 31:57

Roy Plomley's castaway is poet Charles Causley. Favourite track: The Play Of Daniel Overture by Ensemble Hortus Musicus Book: Life of Johnson by James Boswell Luxury: Piano

Elisabeth Soderstrom 32:21

Roy Plomley's castaway is soprano Elisabeth Soderstrom. Favourite track: The Age Of Gold by Dmitri Shostakovich Book: The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir Luxury: Bed

Norman Mailer 31:59

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Norman Mailer. Favourite track: Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges Luxury: Stick of the best marijuana

Sir Osbert Lancaster 32:08

Roy Plomley's castaway is cartoonist Sir Osbert Lancaster. Favourite track: Ein' Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon Luxury: Live sturgeon

Kyung-Wha Chung 30:13

Roy Plomley's castaway is violinist Kyung-Wha Chung. Favourite track: Cello Suite No. 5 In C Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse Luxury: Mixed flower seeds

Reginald Goodall 28:29

Roy Plomley's castaway is conductor Reginald Goodall. Favourite track: Prelude and Fugue No.1 in C by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Paradise Lost by John Milton Luxury: An English garden

Sir Peter Parker 33:42

Roy Plomley's castaway is chairman of British Rail Sir Peter Parker. Favourite track: Oboe Quartet in F Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: The collected works by William Blake Luxury: Gold rail pass

Dizzy Gillespie 30:03

Roy Plomley's castaway is jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. Favourite track: Parker's Mood by Charlie Parker All Stars Book: Baha'i Prayer Book Luxury: Trumpet

Sir Cecil Beaton 33:22

Roy Plomley's castaway is photographer and designer Sir Cecil Beaton. Favourite track: Symphony No. 1 in C by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Scrapbook Luxury: Cashmere Shawl

Otto Preminger 33:04

Roy Plomley's castaway is producer Otto Preminger. Favourite track: Laura by Frank Sinatra Book: Autobiography by Otto Preminger Luxury: Beautiful watch

Claudio Abbado 33:32

Roy Plomley's castaway is conductor Claudio Abbado. Favourite track: Kommt Ihr Tochter by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri Luxury: Writing materials

Timothy West 36:41

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor Timothy West. Favourite track: Bagatelle In B Flat by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Le Morte D'Arthur by Thomas Mallory Luxury: Typewriter

Fay Weldon 33:11

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Fay Weldon. Book: Kennedy's Latin Primer Luxury: Shiny white paper and felt pens

Susannah York 25:07

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Susannah York. Favourite track: Concerto in D Minor For Violin, Oboe and String Orchestra by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Italian Touring Atlas of the World Luxury: Pencils and paper

Kiri Te Kanawa 32:30

Roy Plomley's castaway is soprano Kiri Te Kanawa. Favourite track: Flute Concerto No. 1 in G by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Luxury: Cooking knives

Geoffrey Household 34:04

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Geoffrey Household. Favourite track: Symphony No. 5 In C Minor by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Elizabethan lyrics from songbooks and dramatists Luxury: Claret

Frances Perry 28:22

Roy Plomley's castaway is horticulturalist Frances Perry. Favourite track: Stars and Stripes Forever by Royal Military School Of Music Band and Trumpeters Book: Survival manual Luxury: Lamp with solar batteries

Donald Pleasence 28:01

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor Donald Pleasence. Favourite track: Dies Irae by Giuseppe Verdi Book: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Luxury: Writing materials

Commissioner Catherine Bramwell-Booth 36:16

Roy Plomley's castaway is Salvation Army Commissioner Catherine Bramwell-Booth. Favourite track: Hallelujah Chorus by George Frideric Handel Book: The Salvation Army Songbook Luxury: Strong, wooden armchair

Leonard Rossiter 34:20

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor Leonard Rossiter. Favourite track: Max At The Met by Max Miller Book: Three early novels by P G Wodehouse Luxury: Moselle wine

Erich Segal 38:32

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Erich Segal. Favourite track: A Fifth Of Beethoven by Walter Murphy Band Book: The Odyssey by Homer Luxury: Stop watch

Salvatore Accardo 32:21

Roy Plomley's castaway is violinist Salvatore Accardo. Favourite track: Che Faro Senza Euridice by Christoph Willibald Ritter von Gluck Book: The Odyssey by Homer Luxury: Violin and strings