Alle afleveringen van Desert Island Discs – pagina 15 van 40

Sir Clive Woodward

21 februari 2010 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the former England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward. Lees meer

He took England to World Cup glory in 2003, becoming the first ever northern hemisphere side to win the trophy. He well understands the pressure and the glory of top-flight sport, which is just as well, as he's now Director of Elite Performance for Team GB's 2012 Olympic effort.

He says, 'It is the coach's job to refuse to compromise. If you do, you will come second'.

Record: Take That, Greatest Day
Book: Dave Pelz, Short Game of Golf
Luxury: Sand wedge and golf ball.

Professor Jim Al-Khalili

14 februari 2010 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili. Lees meer

He's spent his adult life studying sub-atomic particles - and trying to explain them to the rest of us. He fell in love with physics when he was a teenager growing up in Iraq. With an Iraqi father and English mother, the Baghdad he spent his early years in was cosmopolitan and vibrant but, once Saddam Hussein came to power, his parents realised the family would have to flee, and he has lived and worked in Britain for the past 30 years.

Record: She's Not There by Santana
Book: The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose
Luxury: Acoustic guitar.

Gok Wan

7 februari 2010 · 34 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the stylist Gok Wan. Lees meer

Dispensing fashion advice and hugs in equal measure, he aims, he says, to 'make women feel like women, not like turkeys'.

Yet although he made his name as a stylist, his special talent isn't for fashion, but for gaining people's trust. He understands only too well the emotional journey he is asking women to make; the first person he had to transform was himself, and that, he says, is very much work in progress.

Record: The Promise
Book: Beautiful Thing by Jonathan Harvey
Luxury: Lip balm.

Mary Beard

31 januari 2010 · 37 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the classicist Mary Beard. Lees meer

A professor at Cambridge, she's that rare thing: a university academic who writes for the masses. Her popular books, blog, articles and reviews have led to her being called 'Britain's best-known classicist'.

But while her research is steeped in the ancient world, her commentary is all about the here and now. The classical world speaks to us, she says, and makes us see our own world differently.

Record: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - Bob Dylan
Book: Treasures of the British Museum - Marjorie Caygill
Luxury: The Elgin Marbles.

Frank Warren

24 januari 2010 · 34 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the boxing promoter Frank Warren. Lees meer

He has managed and promoted some of the biggest names in the sport, including Joe Calzaghe, Prince Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton and the Olympic medal winner Amir Khan.

Over the past three decades he has lost fortunes and remade them, survived an assassination attempt and even a run-in with Mike Tyson. Boxing has been good to him, he says, but now he says he wants to find something that will nourish his soul too.

Record: Don't Worry 'Bout Me, Billie Holiday
Book: Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
Luxury: Merlot grapevine.

James Ellroy

17 januari 2010 · 39 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is American crime writer James Ellroy. Lees meer

His books have been translated into 30 languages and, according to the New York Times, he is the author of some of the most powerful crime novels ever written.

But the case that has dominated his life and much of his writing was the murder of his mother when he was just ten years old. In the years since, he has tried to find a way of getting to know and understand her.

Record: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 'Hammerklavier', Op. 106
Book: Libra by Don DeLillo
Luxury: Sun block.

Mary Portas

10 januari 2010 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is Mary Portas. Lees meer

She's made an art-form out of turning heads, and her galleries have been the enormous plate-glass windows of Harrods, Topshop and Harvey Nichols.

These days she brings retail therapy to small traders, helping them to hold their own against the high street's big names.

Record: Casta Diva from Norma
Book: The works of Rumi, Persian poet and philosopher
Luxury: 'A set of different fragrances from the people I love'.

John Copley

3 januari 2010 · 38 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the opera director John Copley. Lees meer

Throughout his sixty year career he's worked with all the greats at the major opera houses of the world. He introduced Luciano Pavarotti to a London audience, charmed Georg Solti with his piano playing and was even called upon to stand in for Maria Callas. He was just ten years old when he first saw an opera and he loved it straight away; "I caught opera," he says, "like the measles".

Record: Janet Baker singing Handel's Ariodante
Book: Grove's Operatic Dictionary of Music
Luxury: My 49-year-old double bed.

Producer: Leanne Buckle.

David Tennant

27 december 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor David Tennant. Lees meer

He has been voted the best Dr Who ever and has redefined the Time Lord for a generation of parents and children.

As a child he was a huge fan of the programme; he reckons he only ever missed one episode, wore a long stripy scarf and queued up to meet Tom Baker and get his autograph. As a role, he says, it appealed not just to his adult self but to the eight-year-old boy who was just below the surface

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs].

Sir Michael Caine

20 december 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this Christmas is Sir Michael Caine. Lees meer

In a film career that has spanned more than four decades he has won two Oscars; his credits include Alfie, The Italian Job, Hannah and Her Sisters and Educating Rita.

As well as discussing his remarkable life in films, he describes how the Queen used to cut through his back garden on her way to the horse races, discusses the secrets of a happy marriage and reveals the tricks for cooking perfect roast potatoes this Christmas.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Record: My Way, by Frank Sinatra
Book: The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand
Luxury: A large bed with 50 per cent goose down and 50 per cent feather pillows.

Lord Coe

13 december 2009 · 38 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is Sebastian Coe. Lees meer

It is more than a quarter of a century since his rivalry with fellow middle-distance runner Steve Ovett enraptured the nation.

After retiring from the racetrack, he enjoyed a career in politics. Now, though, his focus is on the Olympics once again - not on individual medals this time, but ensuring the 2012 games in London are a success.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Record: The Closest Thing to Crazy, Katie Melua
Book: Such Sweet Thunder: Benny Green on Jazz
Luxury: A piano and guide to playing it.

Baroness Scotland

6 december 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland. Lees meer

She is the government's chief law officer, a position as significant as it is isolated. She was on course to be the first female High Court judge before a life in politics intervened and she joined the government. Before she took on her current role she thought she understood the pressures that came with it. In fact, she says, that only became evident once she was in office: 'It is a huge responsibility and it is, and it always will be, a fairly lonely one'.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Record: Pie Jesu with Sarah Brightman
Book: A bound version of her children's (and their cousin's) prose and poems.
Luxury: A luxurious bathroom.

Morrissey

29 november 2009 · 32 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is Morrissey. Lees meer

As the lead singer of The Smiths he captivated a generation of angst-ridden teenagers and, a quarter of a century later, he remains the outsider's outsider.

As a child, he was enthralled by the emotion and beauty in pop music. He discovered the joy of public performance when, as a six-year-old boy, he stood on a table and started singing. But from an early age he felt he had to avoid everything conventional life had to offer. 'I just didn't want the norm in any way, he says, 'and I didn't get it. And I'm very glad.'

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Record: (There's Gonna Be A) Showdown, New York Dolls
Book: The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde
Luxury: A comfy bed with lots of pillows.

Sir Stuart Rose

22 november 2009 · 37 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is Sir Stuart Rose. As the boss of Marks and Spencer, he has held a national institution - and the nation's knickers - in his hands. After seeing off a hostile takeover bid and revamping its tired image, he is regarded by many as the store's saviour. Now, after five years in one of the top jobs on the high street, his successor has been announced and, in this timely interview, Sir Stuart looks to the future and considers where life might take him next. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Casta Diva by Bellini
Book: The collected cricketers' almanac by Wisden
Luxury: A power shower with white fluffy towels and constant hot water.

Julia Donaldson

15 november 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the children's author Julia Donaldson. The Gruffalo is her best known creation. Published 10 years ago, it's become a modern classic; it has sold more than four million copies, won an armful of awards and been turned into a film. But Julia nearly gave up when she was half way through writing it, and only the encouragement of her son persuaded her to continue. Its latest accolade is that BBC listeners have just voted it their favourite book for reading out loud at bedtime. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: An Die Music by Felicity Lott
Book: Poem for the day by Wendy Cope
Luxury: A piano.

Anthony Julius

13 november 2009 · 37 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the lawyer and writer Anthony Julius. He was already renowned in legal circles when, in 1996, he moved into the public arena, representing Princess Diana in her divorce. He became her confidante and, after her death, one of the founders of her memorial fund. Of the high profile cases he has fought, he says. "You're on a higher wire, stared at by a larger number of people, but in the end, the only audience that matters is your own client." Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: The Promise of Living by Aaron Copland
Book: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Luxury: San Pellegrino water on tap.

Jerry Springer

1 november 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the talk show host Jerry Springer. His life has been split between serving the public and outraging them. His first career was in politics where, as a life-long Democrat, one of his early jobs was working with Bobby Kennedy. Then he found global fame with his controversial TV programme, The Jerry Springer Show. He says that in politics and in his TV show, he is always on the side of the powerless and disenfranchised. It's a philosophy, he says, he learned from his parents. They were among the last Jews to escape from Berlin in August 1939 and their memories and fears of that time shaped the entire family. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler
Book: Photo album of family & friends
Alternative to Bible: Torah
Luxury: A cheeseburger machine.

Professor Colin Pillinger

25 oktober 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the scientist Professor Colin Pillinger. A world-class planetary scientist, his first job was for NASA, analysing the lunar samples brought back by Apollo 11. He is best known, though, for being the public face of Beagle 2, the daring mission to search for life on Mars. Although Beagle 2 was unsuccessful, he is adamant that the mission was not a failure. Now it is hoped that the technology developed for the mission to Mars can be used to diagnose TB faster than has ever been possible before. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: As Time Goes By by Johnnie Ray
Book: Journey into Space by Charles Chilton
Luxury: A picture of the Clifton Suspension Bridge.

Jan Pienkowski

18 oktober 2009 · 37 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the illustrator Jan Pienkowski. He was born in Warsaw before the Second World War and lived through the uprising of 1944. He spent his childhood in Poland, Bavaria, Vienna and Italy, before making his home in England more than 60 years ago. The folk traditions of central Europe are still much in evidence in his work though; twice winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal, his illustrations see childhood terrors realised in gothic scenes, with witches a constant presence. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles
Book: Audiobook of Martin Jarvis reading Just William by Richmal Crompton
Luxury: Large supply of moleskin sketch books.

Steve Coogan

11 oktober 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the comedian and actor Steve Coogan. As a child he found he had a knack for impressions, a talent which led him to work on Spitting Image. Recently he has also found success in films, but is best known for the comic monster he created - Alan Partridge. The chatshow host in Pringle jumper and slacks made us cringe with his crass questions and witless interventions and has remained one of our most enduring comic anti-heroes. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: We Have All the Time in the World by Louis Armstrong
Book: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
Luxury: Fully-restored Morris Minor Traveller with wooden detail.

Dame Ellen MacArthur

4 oktober 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the solo yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur. She was 28 when she became the fastest person to sail solo around the world, and has been called the 'first true heroine of the 21st century'. She still sails with friends and with the charity she set up for children with cancer and leukaemia, but her ambition now is to try to find a way of living the same sustainable existence on land that she lives at sea. When your life depends on it, she says, you realise how scarce food and fuel really are. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Boys of Summer by Don Henley
Book: SAS Survival Handbook by John 'Lofty' Wiseman
Luxury: A fluffy purple worm (which has been taken everywhere).

Barry Manilow

27 september 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is Barry Manilow. He has been a hugely successful performer for more than 30 years but, in this intimate interview, Manilow describes how it was never the career he intended to have. He always knew he would be a musician, but thought his future lay behind the scenes, not at the front of the stage. Brought up by his mother and grandparents in Brooklyn, money was always scarce and family life often difficult - but when there was music playing in their apartment, Manilow says, the home was a happy one. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Over the Rainbow by Judy Garland
Book: Man vs Wild - Survival Techniques from the Most Dangerous Places on Earth by Bear Grylls
Luxury: A piano.

Roberto Alagna

16 augustus 2009 · 37 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the singer Roberto Alagna. He is one of the most celebrated tenors in the world and one half of opera's golden couple; his wife is the soprano Angela Gheorghiu. Yet, his is not a voice that was honed through early years in a conservatoire. He was brought up in Paris in a family of keen amateur musicians. He used to sing in nightclubs and in those early years, he says, the world of opera was, to him, no more than an impossible dream. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: One Day from the Immortal Heights by Giuseppe Verdi
Book: The works by Victor Hugo
Luxury: Guitar.

Dame Joan Bakewell

9 augustus 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the broadcaster Dame Joan Bakewell. Born in Stockport in 1933, it was in the 1960s that she first started to shape the cultural agenda, interviewing the likes of Kingsley Amis and Stockhausen for the radical BBC TV show Late Night Line-Up. It was also during the 1960s that she had an affair with Harold Pinter, a relationship which inspired his play Betrayal. Looking back on it now from the age of 76, she says, "We always said we had a damn good time". Lees meer

Now appointed as the Voice of Older People by Gordon Brown, her passion for debate and social change is as strong as ever. She says she has always regarded the world to be improved and is not afraid of being called a wishy-washy liberal. "It's a good thing to do," she says, "you feel you can be part of change."

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: String Quintet in C Major by Franz Schubert
Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Luxury: An abundance of paper and pencils.

Nicky Haslam

2 augustus 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the interior designer, socialite and one-time cowboy, Nicky Haslam. His life defies easy description. In America in the 1960s, he was part of Andy Warhol's circle of friends. He got to know Wallis Simpson and the Duke of Windsor and met Cyd Charisse and President Kennedy; and after all that, he became a cowboy. When he returned to Britain he brought the sleek style of the States with him. When he is designing a room, he says, first he lets the room speak to him, then his client - then he gets the last word on how it should look. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: You're Just In Love from Call Me Madam by Ethel Merman & Dick Haymes
Book: A Legacy by Sybille Bedford
Luxury: A large 18th-century picture.

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

26 juli 2009 · 34 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the food writer and cook Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Famous for making paté out of placenta and dining on such delicacies as squirrel and rook in his TV programmes, he has made a name for himself as a cook on the wild side. So perhaps it is not surprising that his first ambition was not to spend his life inside a kitchen but in the great outdoors because, he says, he 'wanted to be David Attenborough'. Lees meer

A stint in the renowned River Cafe in London, however, set him on his way to establishing his own waterside haven for food lovers, his River Cottage in Dorset. From there, he has followed his passion for the environment by campaigning for ethically-produced food, including championing a creature not normally given time on our small screens - the humble supermarket chicken.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Love Reign O'er Me by The Who
Book: Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Luxury: Full set of Scuba gear.

David Mitchell

19 juli 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is comedian David Mitchell. Mitchell has won two Bafta awards and, as a sitcom actor, sketch show writer and humorous columnist, has never been in greater demand. Lees meer

But as a child, Mitchell was sure he wasn't funny and it was only when he was at university, he says, that he learnt how to have fun. It is now just the rest of his life that Mitchell needs to address - beginning, he says, by tidying up his flat and then, maybe, even getting a girlfriend.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Rainbow Connection by Jim Henson
Book: Decline and Fall by Evelyn Waugh
Luxury: DVDs of sitcoms and DVD player.

Prof Hugh Pennington

12 juli 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is Professor Hugh Pennington. Professor Pennington has spent his life trying to understand diseases and how they spread. He has chaired two major enquiries into E. coli, and his influence is felt everywhere from school kitchens to hospital wards. But he concedes that in his own home, efforts to ban the humble tea towel from his kitchen have so far failed. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Sonata in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach
Book: The Cabinet Cyclopedia by Dionysius Lardner
Luxury: Brass microscope.

Harvey Goldsmith

5 juli 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the impresario and promoter Harvey Goldsmith. From the Rolling Stones to Pavarotti, and with pretty well every other name in music inbetween, he has been one of the country's top promoters for more than 40 years. His career has given him a unique insight into music history; he was there, after all, when Keith Moon threw his first TV out of a hotel window. Always passionate about what he listened to, he acknowledges that his own instrument is the pocket calculator. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Sing, Sing, Sing (with a Swing) by Benny Goodman
Book: The Reader's Digest Complete Do It Yourself Manual
Luxury: A piano.

Arlene Phillips

28 juni 2009 · 34 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the choreographer, Arlene Phillips. In a career spanning 40 years, she set up the dance group Hot Gossip and has masterminded numerous music videos and West End shows. Already one of the country's leading choreographers, the hit TV show Strictly Come Dancing then turned her into a household name. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Dinah Washington
Book: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Luxury: Tweezers.

Martin Shaw

21 juni 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the actor Martin Shaw. He has been one of Britain's most popular stage and television actors of the past 40 years and has taken on more than 100 different roles. Yet Martin has spent half a lifetime moving out of the shadow of one of his earliest parts: Ray Doyle in The Professionals. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Surely He Hath Borne Our Griefs by George Frideric Handel
Book: Post Captain in the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brien
Luxury: A synthesiser to make up my own music.

Lord Healey

14 juni 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the Labour peer and former Chancellor of the Exchequer, Denis Healey. As a politician, he was known for his sharp intellect and biting oratory and now, as he approaches his 92nd birthday, those skills are still very much in evidence. He talks of his regret that his lack of ambition meant that he did not push himself further in politics but, he says, it is better for people to wonder why he wasn't Prime Minister than to wonder why he was. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: The Cavatina from String Quartet No.13 in B flat Major by Ludwig van Beethoven
Book: The Faber book of English verse
by John Hayward
Luxury: Very big box of chocolates including nougat.

Piers Morgan

7 juni 2009 · 34 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the journalist and broadcaster Piers Morgan. He spent more than a decade as a Fleet Street editor and pioneered a style of journalism that devoured the day-to-day lives of celebrities. Now, he has become something of a celebrity himself, fronting a TV interview programme and sitting as a judge on both America's Got Talent and Britain's Got Talent. He is, according to one friend, 'the ultimate proof that self-confidence and self-belief can become a self-fulfilling prophecy'. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Mambo Italiano by Dean Martin
Book: An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan
Luxury: My cricket bat.

Caroline, Countess of Cranbrook

31 mei 2009 · 38 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is Caroline, Countess of Cranbrook. Caroline has travelled the world to see how different zoos worked, spent years living in the jungle and, when she returned to Britain, taught herself how to be a farmer. She has become a champion of the countryside and, when a supermarket giant announced plans to open a store on her doorstep, she decided to take them on. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: No. 54 Chorale: O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden by Johann Sebastian Bach
Book: Food in England by Dorothy Hartley
Luxury: Ink and a pen.

Barry Humphries

24 mei 2009 · 37 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway is the comedian and performer Barry Humphries. For decades he has enjoyed global fame with his grotesque comic creations, the Melbourne housewife Dame Edna Everage and the drunken cultural attache Sir Les Patterson. Off stage, though, his life has been spent immersed in literature, music and the arts, and he says that his time spent on the desert island would allow him to devote himself to painting. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Songs of Sunset: They are not long, the weeping & the laughter by Frederick Delius
Book: The Melbourne Street Directory
Luxury: My paints.

Peter Sallis

17 mei 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young invites actor Peter Sallis to choose eight records to take to Radio 4's mythical desert island. As the unassuming Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine and the equally mild-mannered Wallace in Wallace and Gromit, Sallis brings to life a sepia-tinted Britain that barely seems to exist any more. Now aged 88 and with failing eyesight, no-one, he says, is more surprised at his success than himself: "I've been lucky enough to keep going and I realise now, though it's taken me nearly 100 years, that my voice is distinctive. I'm very lucky indeed." Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: The finale of Symphony No.5 in E flat Major by Jean Sibelius
Book: The collected works by P G Wodehouse
Luxury: No.7 Meccano outfit.

Whoopi Goldberg

10 mei 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the comic and actress Whoopi Goldberg. As a child she used to practise the acceptance speeches she was sure she would one day make - little surprise then that she's one of a handful of people to have won an Oscar, a Grammy, a Tony and Emmy awards. Lees meer

Favourite track: Lovely Day by Bill Withers
Book: Letters to a Young Poet by Raine Maria Rilke
Luxury: Wise potato chips

Sebastian Faulks

29 maart 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the writer Sebastian Faulks. He is best known for his novel Birdsong, which told in shocking detail the misery of life in the Flanders trenches. It was published with little fanfare or glossy advertising and failed to win any major awards - but it became a literary phenomenon and a huge best-seller. He was inspired to write it after visiting the battlefields of the Western Front with some veterans of World War I. One old soldier held onto Sebastian's hand and recalled seeing his friend killed next to him and, for the first time for him, Sebastian says, the war emerged from the history books into real, tangible human experience. He concedes that he still struggles to get to grips with much of life. Writers, he says, are often trying to impose a structure on a world that they find generally baffling. Lees meer

Favourite track: Miles by Miles Davis
Book: Remembrance of Things Past (Proust) by CK Scott Moncrieff (transl.)
Luxury: A wicket, cricket bat, net, an endless supply of balls and a bowling machine that can be set to replicate the style of any bowler

Athene Donald

22 maart 2009 · 37 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the scientist Athene Donald. A Cambridge professor and fellow of the Royal Society, she has dedicated much of her life to studying everyday objects like plastic, food or plants. Her enthusiasm is so strong that, at her daughter's eleventh birthday party, she couldn't resist describing the structure of melting ice-cream - it was a rare case of misjudging her audience. Lees meer

By her own admission she is a workaholic - but she also champions the cause of women who want to become scientists and have families too. Her great triumph was to marry a supportive husband and after that, she says, the trick is learning how to cut corners: there are no 'dainty dinner parties' at her home, and she makes sure her clothes are machine washable and easy-iron.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: The Dies Irae (from Requiem) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Book: The Lymond Novels by Dorothy Dunnett
Luxury: A bat.

Baaba Maal

15 maart 2009 · 34 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the musician Baaba Maal. He's among the best known African artists in the West, performing at events as diverse as the Glastonbury Festival and the Proms. Born in Senegal, music was always part of his life, but was not seen as a possible career option. Yet through his singing he has gained an incredible international profile - he represents the UN's development programme on HIV, is an ambassador for Nelson Mandela's 46664 campaign and champions the right of African communities to be involved in the aid projects which are intended to benefit them. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: So What by Miles Davis
Book: Coups de Pilon by David Diop
Alternative to Bible: Koran
Luxury: Guitar.

Richard Madeley

8 maart 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is Richard Madeley. It's 20 years since he opened the first edition of ITV's This Morning programme with his wife Judy Finnigan and, in the years since, pretty well everyone has sat on their sofa, from Madonna to Tony Blair, from the Clintons to, notoriously, OJ Simpson. Today, Richard Madeley is the epitome of a certain kind of smooth charm. In this frank interview though, he describes how he wasn't always so confident: he used to be so anxious about holding a conversation with his colleagues that he'd make excuses to hide himself away. He was in his 20s when he decided to become, he says, embarrassingly frank. He recognised how both his father and grandfather had deliberately stifled their own emotions and decided that he would be healthier and happier giving voice to them. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Summertime by Ella Fitzgerald
Book: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Suzanna Clarke
Luxury: Guitar.

Lord Rix

1 maart 2009 · 34 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is Brian Rix. For many years he brought farce to a large and appreciative audience - dropping his trousers thousands of times for the benefit of television viewers and theatre-goers. He was one of the most successful actor-managers that Britain has produced. But, more than 30 years ago, he called a halt to his first career to devote himself to altering legislation and attitudes towards disability. His eldest child, Shelley, was born with Down's syndrome and her birth prompted him towards his extraordinary second career. As a campaigner and fundraiser he has been described as having done more for people with learning disabilities than possibly anyone else in the country. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Love by Nat King Cole
Book: Encyclopædia Britannica
Luxury: A proper orthopaedic cushion.

David Walliams

22 februari 2009 · 34 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is David Walliams. He has seen extraordinary success - as one half of the comedy duo behind Little Britain, as a cross-channel swimmer and more recently on the West End stage and as a novelist. In this frank interview, he describes his life away from the spotlight; how he used to practise comedy routines in his bathroom, the excitement of an early trip out wearing a John Paul Gaultier skirt, the inner drive that propels him and the unhappiness he feels when he has no company except his own. Lees meer

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want by The Smiths
Book: Collected Poems by Philip Larkin
Alternative to Bible: None - Bible not taken
Luxury: A gun.

Professor Dame Kay Davies

15 februari 2009 · 35 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the scientist Professor Kay Davies. She has dedicated much of her life to finding a cure for the severest form of muscular dystrophy. Before she was 40, she had helped to develop the antenatal test which is now used around the world, then she isolated the gene sequence which could be instrumental in treating the condition. After years spent working on that, human trials for a possible treatment are about to begin. Lees meer

It's quite something for a woman who doesn't have an O-level in biology. Although, even as a child she did possess that critical quality crucial to scientific pioneers: "I loved solving problems," she says, "I was very tenacious and would sit in my room until I had finished the problem. I am a sticker."

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Piano Sonata in B Flat by Franz Schubert
Book: Untold Stories by Alan Bennett
Luxury: A piano.

David Suchet

8 februari 2009 · 37 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the actor David Suchet. He has won armfuls of awards for his work - most recently an Emmy for his portrayal of Robert Maxwell - but he is best known for the character he has been associated with for 20 years, Hercule Poirot. Lees meer

His approach to his work is meticulous and he says he has to inhabit each role he takes on. In this illuminating interview he recalls how, early in his career, a psychologist showed him how to shed his character at the end of each performance otherwise, he found, the edges between his own life and those of the person he was playing became blurred.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: When I Fall In Love by Nat King Cole
Book: Magnum Magnum by Brigitte Lardinois
Luxury: His clarinet and an unlimited supply of reeds.

Thomas Quasthoff

1 februari 2009 · 37 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the bass-baritone Thomas Quasthoff. He has performed in concert halls the world over under the batons of the finest conductors and, while he made his name as a Lieder singer, he's equally popular for his jazz, spiritual and gospel recordings. Lees meer

Music critics say he is "one of the great singers of our time and one of the most remarkable of any time." That his life has been remarkable is a reference to his disability: he was born suffering the effects of Thalidomide and although his early musical talent was spotted, his inability to play the piano meant he was not allowed to take up a place at a conservatoire.

In this candid and moving interview, though, he describes how, with his family's support, he went on to build a highly successful career. Now, living contentedly with his wife and daughter, he says his life is a full and satisfying one. He adds that when he sees how readily people become consumed by envy and resentment, he questions whether that too isn't a kind of disability.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: The Adagietto from 5th symphony by Gustav Mahler
Book: Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
Luxury: Good wine.

Alan Sillitoe

25 januari 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the writer Alan Sillitoe. 50 years ago his debut novel Saturday Night and Sunday Morning captured the truth and brutality of post war working class life. It was a world he knew intimately - he grew up in the tight, terraced streets of Nottingham and, from a very young age, harboured an ambition to escape. Lees meer

As a child, he read voraciously and knew he wanted to explore the world. During the war he was a navigator in Malaya but, when he returned to Britain, he was shocked to be told he had contracted tuberculosis. As he convalesced in hospital he started writing and, once he had been discharged, his disability pension gave him the security to sustain him while he pursued his career. When Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was published, critics said his was a more authentic voice than D H Lawrence's. But the extraordinary reviews made scant impact on Alan Sillitoe - he says he had developed a healthy scorn for the opinions of critics - but he remains grateful, he says, to the book that brought him security and which has allowed him the freedom to write throughout his life.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Le Ca Ira by Edith Piaf
Book: The Air Publication 1234 (RAF Manual)
Luxury: A communications receiver (receiving only).

Vincent Cable MP

18 januari 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesman, Vince Cable. He studied economics at Cambridge and had a rich career before entering parliament in 1997. Now, he's become something of a media darling; seen by many as one of the few people able to understand - and make credible suggestions about - the current financial crisis. Lees meer

In this personal interview, however, politics is largely set aside and instead Vince describes the home-life that shaped him as he grew up and the rich family life he has enjoyed as an adult. His fiercely ambitious father was an activist for the local Conservative party: he was talented, driven and passionate, but also overbearing and unwilling to hear voices of dissent. Vince dismayed his father by dropping his science degree in favour of economics and later outraged him by marrying his first wife, Olympia, who was from Kenya. Despite his father's view that mixed-race marriages 'didn't work', they were married for more than 13 years and raised their three children together before Olympia's death from cancer. After her death, he says, he envisaged a lonely old-age lay ahead - but an unpromising debate about free trade and agriculture brought him together with his second wife. Now he says he wears both his wedding rings together as a tribute to the two happy marriages he has enjoyed, he continues to go dancing every week with his second wife Rachel, as he did with Olympia and he is, he cheerfully confesses, a romantic.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: La Ci Darem La Mano from Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Book: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
Luxury: An Aston Martin car.

Ruth Padel

11 januari 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the poet Ruth Padel. She is a highly acclaimed writer who is fascinated with the natural world around her. She's said of her poetry: "wildness, and wild animals lie at the heart of what I feel about writing". And perhaps that's no surprise - she is the great-great-granddaughter of Charles Darwin. Lees meer

As a child, her hero was Bagheera - the black panther from The Jungle Book. For a time, she confesses, she used to want to be a black panther. Later, she simply wanted to marry one. As an adult she has spent several years travelling across India, Sumatra and parts of Russia tracking tigers and trying to understand their lives. She notes ruefully that while her illustrious ancestor was involved in understanding how different species came into being, her own work was more a matter of documenting their decline.

Her interests have been with her since childhood. Back then, she says, "looking at nature properly, knowing the names of the plants, seeing how the petals worked, observing animal behaviour was just there. That was what you did. That was what being a person was."

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: E Voi Ridete? - And you're laughing? by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Book: The Iliad by Homer
Luxury: A lot of paper and pencils.

Simon Murray

4 januari 2009 · 36 min

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Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the adventurer and businessman Simon Murray. What many of us would struggle to do over three life-times he has managed in one - as a teenager, nursing a broken heart and determined to prove himself, he joined the French Foreign Legion. Fighting in the Algerian war, he risked his life many times over; combat was at close quarters and was very bloody. Lees meer

Next, he set his sights on business - he ran some of the most well-known companies in South East Asia and was one of Chris Patten's key allies during the handover of Hong Kong. Then, in his 60s and looking for a new challenge, he chanced upon the idea of polar adventure, and went on to become the oldest person to walk unsupported to the South Pole. But after all this, his greatest achievement, he says, is his marriage. Perhaps it's no surprise that his wife of 43 years, Jennifer, is the first woman to have flown a helicopter solo around the world. These days their three children try to curb their enthusiasm for dangerous pursuits. But, Simon snorts, the couple simply say: "we're not listening."

This programme contains descriptions that some listeners may find disturbing.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: O Soave Fanciulla (Oh beautiful maiden) by Giacomo Puccini
Book: Cautionary Tales by Hilaire Belloc
Luxury: Lots of paper, pencil and pencil sharpener.