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

Geoffrey Grigson 35:22

Roy Plomley's castaway is critic Geoffrey Grigson. Favourite track: She Never Told Her Love by Franz Joseph Haydn Book: The Oxford English Dictionary Luxury: Pate de foie gras

Mike Harding 35:21

Roy Plomley's castaway is comedian Mike Harding. Favourite track: 2000-Year-Old Man by Carl Reiner & Mel Brooks Book: The New Oxford Book of English Verse Luxury: Ordnance Survey maps and a set of books about the Fells

Rt Hon. George Thomas 36:43

Lord Tonypandy, George Thomas, now Chairman of the National Children's Homes, was Speaker of the House of Commons from 1976 to 1983. He was invited to choose the eight records he would take to the mythical island, and he also talked to Roy Plomley about his childhood in Wales and about his parliamentary career which he began when he won the Cardiff Central seat in 1945. Book: The Methodist hymn bo...

Thomas Allen 33:50

Roy Plomley's castaway is baritone Thomas Allen. Favourite track: Concerto in C For Violin, Cello, Piano by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Luxury: Golf clubs and balls

Rosamond Lehmann 29:29

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Rosamond Lehmann. Favourite track: Nunc Dimittis by Burgon Book: Letters by Marquise de Sevigne Luxury: Writing Materials

P D James 32:09

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer P D James. Favourite track: St Matthew Passion (First Chorus) by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Middlemarch by George Eliot Luxury: Claret

Helen Mirren 34:32

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Helen Mirren. Favourite track: Pass The Dutchie by Musical Youth Book: The Bhagavad-Gita Luxury: Silk underwear

Alan Price 33:57

Roy Plomley's castaway is musician Alan Price. Favourite track: I Ain't Got Nobody by Louis Prima Book: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame Luxury: Piano

Gyorgy Ligeti 36:29

Roy Plomley's castaway is composer Gyorgy Ligeti. Favourite track: String Quintet In C by Franz Schubert Book: Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Luxury: Hieronymus Bosch, Garden Of Earthly Delights

Mary Ellis 34:43

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Mary Ellis. Favourite track: Gloria by Ariel Ramirez Book: Encyclopaedia Luxury: Writing materials

Rachel Billington 41:06

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Rachel Billington. Favourite track: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor by Sergei Rachmaninov Book: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Luxury: Writing materials

Steve Davis 39:22

Roy Plomley's castaway is snooker player Steve Davis. Favourite track: I Need You Now by George Duke Book: The Throwback and Wilt by Tom Sharpe Luxury: Snooker table

Baroness Maria Von Trapp 45:09

Roy Plomley's castaway is the inspiration behind The Sound Of Music, Maria Von Trapp. Favourite track: Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: True funny stories in German Luxury: Statue of Madonna and child, 17th century

Gwyneth Jones 42:13

Roy Plomley's castaway is soprano Gwyneth Jones. Favourite track: L'Incoronazione Di Poppea by Claudio Monteverdi Book: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran Luxury: Piano with bath salts

Tim Severin 42:26

Roy Plomley's castaway is explorer Tim Severin. Favourite track: Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien by Edith Piaf Book: Pax Britannica by Jan Morris Luxury: Herb garden

Beryl Reid 37:28

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Beryl Reid. Favourite track: Let The Bright Seraphim by George Frideric Handel Book: Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor Luxury: Silk garment

Zandra Rhodes 37:34

Roy Plomley's castaway is designer Zandra Rhodes. Favourite track: Bolero by Maurice Ravel Book: Household Management by Mrs Beeton Luxury: Sketchbook, pens and pencils

James Ivory 39:43

Roy Plomley's castaway is director James Ivory. Favourite track: The Three Ladies Find Tamino by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust Luxury: Shower with hot water

Tom Keating 39:55

Roy Plomley's castaway is painter and restorer Tom Keating. Favourite track: Symphony No. 2 in D by Jean Sibelius Book: Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari Luxury: Mattock

Kenneth Macmillan 40:08

Roy Plomley's castaway is choreographer Kenneth Macmillan. Favourite track: Students' Chorus by Romberg Book: The Rack by A E Ellis Luxury: Godiva chocolates from Belgium

Douglas Reeman 38:16

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Douglas Reeman. Favourite track: The Song Of The Jellicles by T S Eliot Book: The Admiralty Seamanship Manual Luxury: Orchid-growing kit

Michael Wood 39:48

Roy Plomley's castaway is flying surgeon of East Africa Michael Wood. Favourite track: Toccata and Fugue In D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Other Men's Flowers by Lord A P Wavell Luxury: Pair of field glasses

Jan Morris 42:56

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer and journalist Jan Morris. Favourite track: Badinrie by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Her own book on Venice Luxury: Astronimical telescope with Catalogue Of Nebulae

James Fox 39:55

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor James Fox. Favourite track: I Believe In You by Bob Dylan Book: Colour reproduction of Renaissance artists Luxury: Water colour equipment

Ruggiero Ricci 41:09

Roy Plomley's castaway is violinist Ruggiero Ricci. Favourite track: Prelude and Fugue No. 1 in C by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Letters by Beethoven Luxury: The Plowden Guarneri violin