Desert Island Discs

Sir James Callaghan has the distinction of being the only politician to have held the four highest offices in the state. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, before becoming Prime Minister in 1976. In an interview with Michael Parkinson recorded in April 1987, he looks back on his career and chooses the eight records to take to the mythical island. [Taken from...

"Music would be absolutely essential on my desert island" says Bernard Levin, "I don't know what my life would be without music". In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he looks back on his career as a journalist and critic and, in narrowing his choice of music to eight records, reveals a penchant for opera. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Dis...

"My wife and I are great opera buffs" says Bamber Gascoigne, who became a household name when he first became the question master of BBC television's University Challenge some 25 years ago. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he looks back on his career as a writer and broadcaster and reveals a novel approach to assembling his package of records to take to the mythical island. [Taken from the...

Sue Lawley admits to being the kind of person whose tummy goes ping when she hears a certain tune and thinks "Ah yes, I remember that, it brings back lovely memories." In conversation with Michael Parkinson, she looks back on her upbringing in Worcestershire, her early days as a journalist and subsequent career as one of our most popular television presenters. She also chooses her eight records to...

As a restaurateur, broadcaster and writer, Robert Carrier's name has become synonymous with good food. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he looks back on a 25 year career and chooses music to remind him of some of the places he has lived during that time, including his native America, Paris, England and Morocco. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert I...

Barry Cryer is one of our best-known comedy writers who has, for 30 years, survived the quick-fire world that he sums up with the phrase "We don't want it good - we want it Monday". In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he looks back on his career, both as performer and writer, and he also selects eight records to take to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this...

Vernon Scannell's colourful career has included prize-fighting, a controversial spell in the Army, confinement to a mental institution for insisting on becoming a writer and a subsequent award of a civil list pension for his services to literature. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he looks back on these aspects of his life and also selects the eight records to take to the mythical island. [...

The actor Anthony Sher became well-known to television audiences when he took the lead in The History Man and has established a special talent for Shakespeare, in particular Richard the Third. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he recalls his upbringing in South Africa and his subsequent career in the British theatre. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Des...

Lew Grade has been at the centre of British show business for more than 50 years. Now into his 80s, he still has a dominant role as film and television mogul. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he looks back on his life and career and selects the music both to listen and dance to during his stay on the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of De...

Of Adele Leigh, a critic once said that she put paid to the myth that to be good, a soprano had to look like a Hoffnung cartoon. The youngest principal of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden when she joined in 1948, she became a television star in the 1960s with the show All Kinds of Music and appearances on Eric Robinson’s Music For You. After leaving Covent Garden she married a diplomat and sett...

The Right Honourable Michael Heseltine MP is often described as one of the new breed of Tory politicians and was widely tipped to be the next leader of the party. But that all changed dramatically in 1986 when he resigned his Cabinet post over the Westland affair. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he recalls his upbringing in South Wales, schooldays at Shrewsbury, undergraduate life at Oxfor...

Gemma Craven is one of our most versatile actresses. An award winning stage performer, she made her film debut opposite Richard Chamberlain in The Slipper and the Rose. On television her work has ranged from the part of Joan in Dennis Potter’s Pennies from Heaven to appearances on The Morecambe and Wise Show. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, she looks back over her life on stage and off, an...

This week’s castaway is the dancer and founder of the Bluebell Girls dance troupe, Margaret Kelly. An orphan born in Dublin, she started a career as a dancer at the age of twelve. As a teenager she worked in Germany in the late 1920s and 30s before moving to France. It was there that she formed The Bluebell Girls, a dance troupe which became synonymous with the high life of Paris. She spent the wa...

This week’s castaway is the author, columnist and broadcaster William Davis. The former editor of Punch started his career as a financial journalist and his many roles have included working for Lord Beaverbrook, presenting the World at One and founding a successful publishing company. In conversation with Michael Parkinson he looks back over his childhood in wartime Germany and life in post-war Br...

This week’s castaway is the playwright Dennis Potter. Best known for his television series Pennies from Heaven and The Singing Detective, Potter worked as a journalist and television critic before turning to writing. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he looks back on his childhood in the mining community of Forest of Dean, his career in Britain and Hollywood and talks about coping with psori...

Until recently, the actress Stephanie Beacham played the glamorous 'rich bitch' Sable in the American soap opera The Colbys. She has also appeared in the television saga Tenko. She's now returned to London to perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, she looks back on her life and career. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition...

The castaway this week is James Burke, whose broadcasting style has been described as "turning science into show-biz". But, paradoxically, he admits to being immensely impractical and reveals to Michael Parkinson, while choosing his eight records to take to the island, that he at one time planned to make music his career. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Dese...

In the 1970s, Brendon Foster was our most outstandingly consistent athlete, breaking world records and winning European and Commonwealth titles. He has also promoted Gateshead as an international centre for athletics. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he looks back on his career and considers the pros and cons of athletics today, and he also selects eight records to take with him on an imagi...

"I would have looked forward with a great deal more relish when I was 50 and more able to look after myself, but I think I can manage". So says Lord Hailsham of St Marylebone in reply to Sue Lawley's invitation to send him in isolation to the mythical island. During their conversation, he looks back on his career as scholar, lawyer and politician, and he also chooses eight records to entertain him...

Sue Lawley's castaway is actress Jane Asher. Favourite track: The Ode To Joy (Symphony No 9) by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Luxury: Hot bath with extra tap for cold champagne

This week, Sue Lawley casts away Arthur Scargill, the President of the National Union of Mineworkers, who admits to being orderly in his everyday life, and that he would devise a plan to enable him to have a store of food and proper living accommodation. In choosing his music to take with him, he pays particular attention to black American jazz. [Taken from the original programme material for this...

This week's castaway, Mary Archer, admits to being basically a private person, happy to find refuge in her work as a scientist and in her love of music. In conversation with Sue Lawley, she looks back on her life and career, and also recalls the two crises involving her husband, Jeffrey. In her choice of records to take to the mythical island, she shows a preference for choral music. [Taken from t...

The castaway this week is the actor Michael Gambon, who last year won the BAFTA award for best actor for his portrayal of the lead role in The Singing Detective. In conversation with Sue Lawley, he looks back on his career in the theatre, in films and on television and also chooses eight records to keep him company on the island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition...

Sue Lawley's castaway is leader of the Labour Party Neil Kinnock. Favourite track: Horace the Horse by Rachel Kinnock Book: Essays on Equality by R H Tawney Luxury: Radio 4

The castaway this week is Peggy Makins, better known as Evelyn Home, long-time agony aunt of Woman magazine. In conversation with Sue Lawley, she looks back on her life and career and also chooses eight records to take with her to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: A peal of 12 bells at Canterbury Cathe...