Alle afleveringen
2.000 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
-
Gordon Buchanan, cameraman and presenter
28 december 2025 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringGordon Buchanan is a wildlife cameraman and TV presenter. He is best known for the Animal Family & Me series of BBC documentaries in which he gets up close to wild bears, Arctic wolves, elephants and reindeer among other species. Lees meer
Gordon was brought up in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull where he spent his days exploring the island and developed his lifelong love of the outdoors. In 1988, when he was 17, he met the charismatic wildlife cameraman Nick Gordon who invited him to become his assistant for a project to film primates on the island of Tiwai in Sierra Leone.
Gordon spent 18 months in Sierra Leone working with Nick and after that the two of them worked in West Africa and South America. At 22 Gordon set up on his own – his first job was a year-long assignment to make three half-hour programmes for a 14-part wildlife series called Wild Islands.
In 2001 he made his debut as a presenter on the BBC’s Natural World strand. He was appointed an MBE for services to conservation and wildlife filmmaking in 2020.
Gordon lives in Glasgow with his wife Wendy. They have two children.
DISC ONE: Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver
DISC TWO: Brandy in the Airidh - Peat & Diesel
DISC THREE: Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience
DISC FOUR: Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana
DISC FIVE: High and Dry - Radiohead
DISC SIX: Last Nite - The Strokes
DISC SEVEN: Electrical Storm - U2
DISC EIGHT: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - BeyoncéBOOK CHOICE: Teach Yourself Tap Dancing by Derek Hartley
LUXURY ITEM: A mask, snorkel and fins
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: High and Dry - RadioheadPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinleyDesert Island Discs has cast many wildlife experts and broadcasters away including Dr George McGavin, Professor Carl Jones, Sir David Attenborough and Dr Jane Goodall. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.
-
Sir Salman Rushdie, writer
21 december 2025 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringSir Salman Rushdie is a writer who has written over 20 books, seven of which have been nominated for the Booker Prize. In 1981 he won with his novel Midnight’s Children which also topped the polls for the 25th and 40th anniversaries of the prize, making it the most lauded novel in Booker history. Lees meer
He was born in Bombay in 1947 and educated at Rugby School in Warwickshire. After studying history at the University of Cambridge he worked as a copywriter at various advertising agencies before publishing his first novel Grimus in 1975. His breakthrough came with Midnight’s Children and he was one of 20 writers named on Granta magazine’s inaugural list of Best Young British novelists alongside writers including Martin Amis and AN Wilson.
He attracted considerable controversy with his fourth novel the Satanic Verses which won the Whitbread Award and was shortlisted for the Booker. Some Muslims considered the subject matter blasphemous and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman and the publishers of the book. Salman spent the following decade in hiding under police protection.
In 2022 he was stabbed multiple times while on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. He had been invited there to talk about keeping writers safe from harm. He survived devasting injuries – including the loss of his right eye – and wrote about the attack and its aftermath in his memoir Knife.
That same year he was awarded a Companion of Honour for services to literature.
Salman is married to the poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths and they live in New York. He has two grown up sons and two grandchildren.
DISC ONE: Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed
DISC TWO: Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan - Mohammed Rafi and Geeta Dutt
DISC THREE: Blowin’ in the Wind - Bob Dylan
DISC FOUR: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones
DISC FIVE: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston
DISC SIX: Me and Julio Down by the Sch… -
Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Computer Scientist
14 december 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringSir Tim Berners-Lee is a computer scientist and the inventor of the World Wide Web.
He was born in 1955, a golden year for technology innovators. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were also born in the same year.
A curious child, he learned about electronics from his train set and spent his pocket money on transistors. His first significant connecting invention was building an intercom as a teenager for the family home before moving on to build his first computer.
His parents were both mathematicians and coders who met whilst building one of the first commercially available computers in the early nineteen fifties.
Sir Tim came up with the idea of the World Wide Web whilst working at CERN and insisted that the technology be released to the world without commercial reward so that it would be free for everyone to use.
He was knighted for his world changing invention and also appointed to the Order of Merit. In 2016 he was given the Turing Award.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee divides his time between the US, the UK and Canada with his wife Rosemary, who is also a technology entrepreneur. Lees meerPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah TaylorDesert Island Discs has cast many computer scientists away over the years including Dame Wendy Hall and Sir Demis Hassibis. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.
-
Sally Mann, photographer and writer
7 december 2025 · 52 min
Beluister deze afleveringSally Mann is a photographer and a New York Times bestselling writer. She is best known for making large-format black and white photographs of the people and places in her immediate surroundings: her children, her husband, and the rural landscape of her home state and the American South.
Sally was born in Lexington, Virginia, the youngest of three children to Robert and Elizabeth Munger. Her father was a doctor and gave Sally his old Leica camera to play with.
After university, she wanted to be a poet but she spent more than a decade as a commercial photographer while starting a family of her own and exhibiting her work on a small scale. She published her first book of photographs in 1984. That same year, she began taking pictures of her three children for a series called Immediate Family, which brought her both renown as well as infamy for touching on ordinary moments in their daily lives – playing, sleeping, and eating, sometimes while naked – but also speaking to larger themes such as death and cultural perceptions of childhood, rendering familiar subjects “both sublime and disquieting”.
In the mid-1990s, she began to move away from the family pictures in favour of photographing the landscape around her.
Much of Sally’s body of work comes from observing what is closest at hand because, she says, “The things that are close to you are the things that you can photograph the best.”
She has explored the identity of the American South, and her relationship with her place of origin, as well as mortality and decay, and the effects of muscular dystrophy on her husband. In her latest book, Art Work, she considers the challenges and pleasures of the creative process.
Sally continues to live on the 800-acre family farm near Lexington with her husband Larry and a number of dogs. Lees meerDISC ONE: Köln, January 24, 1975, Part I - Keith Jarrett
DISC TWO: Take This Hammer - Odetta
DISC THREE: Trustful Hands - The Dø
DISC FOUR: O Holy Night. Composed by Adolphe Adam and performed by Co… -
Lorraine Kelly, broadcaster
30 november 2025 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringLorraine Kelly is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a mainstay of daytime television for over 40 years. She has hosted her own show Lorraine since its launch in 2010 and she was awarded a lifetime achievement BAFTA in 2024. Lees meer
Lorraine was born in Glasgow and later moved with her family to the new town of East Kilbride. She became a junior reporter at the East Kilbride News when she was in her teens and in 1983 joined the BBC as a researcher.
In 1984 she started at TV-am as a reporter covering Scottish news. During her time there she reported on some of the biggest stories in the UK including the Piper Alpha disaster and the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.
In January 1990 she became a co-presenter of Good Morning Britain on TV-am alongside Mike Morris. In 1996 Lorraine and Eamonn Holmes reported for GMTV on the Dunblane school shooting in which sixteen pupils and their teacher were killed. The tragedy left a lasting impact on Lorraine, who formed a lasting bond with several affected families. She returned to Dunblane in 2021 to mark the 25th anniversary with a commemorative documentary.
Lorraine lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband Steve.
DISC ONE: Starman - Davie Bowie
DISC TWO: Mama Said - Dusty Springfield
DISC THREE: Careful - Horse
DISC FOUR: Rock the Casbah - The Clash
DISC FIVE: Truth - Hue & Cry
DISC SIX: Warm Leatherette - Grace Jones
DISC SEVEN: Love is All Around - Wet Wet Wet
DISC EIGHT: That’s When He Told Her - The ProclaimersBOOK CHOICE: South: The Last Antarctic Expedition of Shackleton and the Endurance by Sir Ernest Shackleton
LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered digital photo album
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Careful - HorsePresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinleyThere are more than 2000 programmes in our archive available for you to listen to. We have cast away other journalists and presenters including Sir Terry Wogan, Christiane Amanpour, Lindsey Hilsum and Clive Myrie. You can find their episodes on BBC Sounds or…
-
Lennie James, actor
23 november 2025 · 52 min
Beluister deze afleveringLennie James is a British actor and writer. In 2025, he received the BAFTA for Leading Actor for his portrayal of Barrington Walker in the TV adaptation of Bernadine Evaristo’s novel Mr. Loverman. Lees meer
This award adds to his collection, which also includes accolades for writing. At seventeen, he wrote Trial and Error and won the National Youth Theatre–Texaco Playwriting Competition, earning the title of Most Prominent Playwright Under 21.
For a decade, Lennie played Morgan Jones in The Walking Dead and its spin-off Fear the Walking Dead, gaining such global recognition that he was even recognised by Vatican guards.
He also created and starred in the critically acclaimed Sky Atlantic drama Save Me, which premiered in 2018. Its second season, Save Me Too, won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Series in 2021.
Raised by his mother Phyllis, who emigrated from Trinidad to work as a nurse, Lennie faced hardship after her death when he was eleven. He and his brother Kestor were placed in a children’s home, and later Lennie moved into foster care after the home was sold by Wandsworth Council.
Encouraged by a youth theatre group, Lennie pursued acting and later trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.
He met his wife, Giselle, at seventeen in the same youth theatre group. They have three daughters and divide their time between the US and the UK.
DISC ONE: Touch The Hem Of His Garment - Gene Martin
DISC TWO: I Found Lovin’ - Fatback Band
DISC THREE: Doesn't Make It Alright - The Specials
DISC FOUR: Living For The City - Stevie Wonder
DISC FIVE: Any Old Time - Artie Shaw and his Orchestra with Billie Holiday
DISC SIX: For me... Formidable - Charles Aznavour
DISC SEVEN: Champagne Supernova - Oasis
DISC EIGHT: Try a Little Tenderness - Otis ReddingBOOK CHOICE: The Collected Novels of Toni Morrison
LUXURY ITEM: A guitar
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: For me... Formidable - Charles AznavourPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah TaylorDesert Island Discs has …
-
Mary Greenwell, makeup artist
16 november 2025 · 49 min
Beluister deze afleveringMary Greenwell is a makeup artist who has worked with some of the most famous faces in the world including Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, David Bowie and Cate Blanchett. Her less-is-more approach has won her plaudits in the beauty industry and she became Princess Diana’s makeup artist of choice. Lees meer
Mary was born in Sussex and left school at 16. By the mid-1970s she was living in Los Angeles where she started out on the door at the legendary Joe Allen restaurant, escorting the likes of Paul Newman and Jack Lemmon to their tables. She received her one and only makeup lesson from the award-winning Ilana Harkavi and shortly afterwards created a look for 12-year-old actor Brooke Shields.
Mary’s big break came when she moved to Paris in 1984 and began working with the original supermodels; Christy Turlingon, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Tatiana Patitz. In 1990 she met Princess Diana on a Vogue photo shoot and became her go-to makeup artist and friend.
In 2025 Mary was appointed an MBE for services to the beauty and fashion industries and her charity work.
Mary lives in London.
DISC ONE: Lay Lady Lay - Bob Dylan
DISC TWO: I Am Enough - Tallulah Rendall
DISC THREE: Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
DISC FOUR: Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed
DISC FIVE: Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
DISC SIX: Cold Little Heart - Michael Kiwanuka
DISC SEVEN: Diamonds - Rihanna
DISC EIGHT: Heroes - David BowieBOOK CHOICE: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima
LUXURY ITEM: A bed
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Am Enough - Tallulah RendallPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinleyThere are more than 2000 programmes in our archive available for you to listen to. We’ve cast away other hair and beauty experts including the makeup artist Pat McGrath, and hairdressers Vidal Sassoon and Trevor Sorbie. Cate Blanchett, one of Mary’s clients, is in our archive too. You can find their episodes on BBC Sounds or on our Desert Island Discs website.
-
Ronnie Wood, musician
9 november 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringRonnie Wood is a musician and artist who has been a major player on the UK music scene for over 60 years. In 1975 Ronnie became a member of the Rolling Stones, one of the most influential and enduring bands of the rock era. Lees meer
Ronnie’s parents were born and worked on barges moving cargo up and down the canals between Manchester, Stratford-upon-Avon and London. Ronnie and his two older brothers were the first in the family to be born on dry land.
Ronnie’s brothers, Ted and Art, were accomplished musicians and played in highly respected bands. Ronnie made his debut at nine-years-old when he played the washboard in Ted’s band during a performance at their local cinema. Ronnie formed his first band, The Birds, with some friends. In 1967 he joined the Jeff Beck Group with his lifelong friend Rod Stewart. Two years later they formed the Faces with the remaining members of the Small Faces.
Ronnie joined the Rolling Stones in 1975, replacing the band’s previous guitarist Mick Taylor. Ronnie’s love of art developed in childhood and he studied at Ealing College of Art. His work has been shown in exhibitions around the world.
Ronnie lives in Hertfordshire with his wife Sally and their two children.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Paula McGinleyDISC ONE: Guitar Shuffle - Big Bill Broonzy
DISC TWO: Shame, Shame, Shame - Jimmy Reed
DISC THREE: Smokestack Lightnin' - Howlin' Wolf
DISC FOUR: You Need Love - Muddy Waters
DISC FIVE: Adelaide - Frank Sinatra
DISC SIX: Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467: II. Andante \"Elvira Madigan\". Performed by Géza Anda (piano) and Camerata Salzburg (Orchestra)
DISC SEVEN: Roll Over Beethoven – Chuck Berry
DISC EIGHT: Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartneyBOOK CHOICE: Just for Today: Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts by Narcotics Anonymous
LUXURY ITEM: A chest containing art materials and a carpet
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Smokestack Lightnin' - Howlin' WolfThere are more than 2000 programmes in our archive available for y…
-
Angela Harding, artist
2 november 2025 · 52 min
Beluister deze afleveringAngela Harding is an artist, printmaker and illustrator. Based in Rutland, Angela’s work is inspired by the countryside of the British Isles, and in particular British birds. Alongside her many prints and artistic creations, her award-willing illustrations can be found adorning many a book cover. Lees meer
Angela was born in Stoke-on-Trent in June 1960, the middle of three daughters to Stephen and Joan Harding. It was an artistic household: her father, a headteacher, passed on his love of poetry to Angela, her mother taught pottery, and all three sisters would end up going to art college.
She left school at sixteen and, at her mother’s behest, did a pre-nursing course before pursuing her passion for art. She studied Fine Art at Leicester Polytechnic from where she graduated with a first in 1982.
After indulging her love of travel – both on her bike around Britain as well as on a Magic Bus across Europe – Angela spent twenty years working in the art world, from teaching to consultancy. During these years, she married and raised two children, then divorced and married her second husband, Mark.
In 2008, she made the life changing decision to pursue a career as a professional artist: she abandoned the media she had previously worked in and concentrated on linocuts and silkscreen printing.
She has worked as a magazine illustrator and today her prints can be found on everything from book covers to tea towels and greeting cards. Her advent calendars – first produced in 2015 – have become a collector’s item. She has also published several books of her own.
When she’s not on her boat sailing around the British Isles, Angela lives in Rutland, with her husband Mark and her whippet, Oaty.
DISC ONE: I Wanna Thank Ya (featuring Snoop Dogg) - Angie Stone
DISC TWO: The Thought Fox. Written and read by Ted Hughes
DISC THREE: Britten: Songs from \"Friday Afternoons\", Op. 7: Songs From Friday Afternoons, Op. 7: \"Cuckoo!\". Performed by Choir of Downside School, Purley, Viola Tunnard (… -
Michael Sheen, actor
26 oktober 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringMichael Sheen is an award-winning actor. Lees meer
After finding his love for the stage with the West Glamorgan Youth theatre as a teenager, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
He spent the 1990s making a name for himself as a stage actor, shining in the classics from Romeo and Juliet to Peer Gynt as well as in 20th century masterpieces such as Look Back in Anger and Amadeus, receiving several Olivier Award nominations along the way.
A relocation to the US in the early 2000s with his then partner, the actress Kate Beckinsale, and their young daughter Lily prompted a move into films. His breakthrough came in 2003 when he portrayed Tony Blair in a Stephen Frears film called The Deal. It was the beginning of what became an unlikely specialism: morphing into real people from recent history: Kenneth Williams, David Frost, Brian Clough, Chris Tarrant, and Prince Andrew – with two more outings as Tony Blair thrown in for good measure.
Michael was born in Newport, South Wales, in February 1969, the eldest of two children to Meyrick and Irene. He grew up in Port Talbot from the age of eight and considers it his hometown.
His first love was football, and he was spotted as youngster by an Arsenal talent scout to play for their youth team. His parents decided against moving the family to London and he turned to acting instead and graduated from RADA in 1991.
Alongside the classic dramas, his range extends to appearing in fantasy and science fiction films such as The Twilight Saga and Tron: Legacy.
Michael has said that the most meaningful project to him was a modern restaging of the passion play in Port Talbot in 2011, which involved the participation of a thousand local people, because it opened his eyes to the difficulties many of them were experiencing. He has since used his own money to fund the 2019 Homeless World Cup in Cardiff and set up an organisation which supports community groups.
Michael lives in Wales with his partner, the actress Anna Lundbe…
-
Maggie Alphonsi, broadcaster and former rugby player
14 september 2025 · 49 min
Beluister deze afleveringMaggie Alphonsi is a broadcaster and former rugby player. She was part of the England team which took home the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup and by the time she retired she’d won 74 caps for her country. Lees meer
Maggie was brought up in north London and when she was 14 her PE teacher suggested she give the sport of rugby union a try. Maggie joined her local amateur club Saracens and relished the freedom she felt at being able to capitalise on her power and strength on the pitch.
Her first chance to play for England came when she was 19. Maggie started out as a number 12 and then later changed position to become a number seven or openside flanker. This role allowed her to showcase her tackling skills. She was part of the England team which won seven consecutive Six Nations tournaments and retired shortly after winning the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
She became the first female former player to commentate on the men’s game and to join the Rugby Football Union’s Council. In 2012 she was appointed an MBE for services to rugby. She is part of the BBC’s commentating team for this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Maggie lives in High Wycombe with her wife Marcella and their two children.
DISC ONE: Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
DISC TWO: They Live in You - Samuel E. Wright (Mufasa) Ensemble - The Lion King, conducted by Joseph Church
DISC THREE: Stand by Me - Ben E. King
DISC FOUR: Woman - Andreya Triana
DISC FIVE: Wake Me Up - Avicii
DISC SIX: You Gotta Be – Des’ree
DISC SEVEN: World in Union - Kiri Te Kanawa
DISC EIGHT: I’m Coming Out - Diana RossBOOK CHOICE: The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on life's journey by Hana Yasmeen Ali and Muhammad Ali
LUXURY ITEM: A family photo
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Fast Car - Tracy ChapmanPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Professor Dame Carol Robinson, scientist
7 september 2025 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringProfessor Dame Carol Robinson is a scientist who was the first female professor of Chemistry at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities. She has been awarded scientific prizes from all over the world for her pioneering work studying complex macromolecules using an instrument called the mass spectrometer. Lees meer
Carol was drawn to science as a child growing up in Folkstone where she started collecting flowers and shells before moving on to breeding mice because she was fascinated by their genetic makeup. She grew to love chemistry in particular and pored over the periodic table in her bedroom.
She left school at 16 and joined Pfizer, the pharmaceutical and biomedical company, as a laboratory technician. At Pfizer she began working with the mass spectrometer which measures the mass of all the atoms in a particular sample. She studied for an ONC and HNC in Chemistry in the evenings and at weekends and later gained a PHD in Chemistry from Cambridge University.
She was appointed DBE in 2013 for services to science and industry. In 2021 she founded the Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, an interdisciplinary science institute dedicated to studying structures and materials at an ultra-small scale.
Carol has three children from her first marriage and lives in Oxfordshire with her second husband David.
DISC ONE: Girl on Fire - Alicia Keys
DISC TWO: She’s Leaving Home - The Beatles
DISC THREE: Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2, Op. 64b: I. Montagues and Capulets - Dance of the Knights. Performed by London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado
DISC FOUR: Sonnet - The Verve
DISC FIVE: Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones
DISC SIX: Golden Brown - The Stranglers
DISC SEVEN: Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin
DISC EIGHT: The Scientist - ColdplayBOOK CHOICE: The Herbal Apothecary: 100 Medicinal Herbs and How to Use Them by JJ Pursell
LUXURY ITEM: A portable mass spectrometer
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Stairway to Heaven - Led ZeppelinPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer… -
Harry Hill, comedian
31 augustus 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringHarry Hill is a comedian, writer and broadcaster best known for presenting popular television shows including You’ve Been Framed, Junior Bake Off and the multi award-winning TV Burp. Lees meer
He was born Matthew Hall in Surrey and brought up in Kent. He became a Cub Scout and got a taste for performing when he was nine after playing Widow Twankey in the Christmas pantomime.
In 1983 he started studying medicine at St George’s Medical School in London and began work as a trainee doctor in 1988. He wrote and performed in medical revues during this time and comedy became his true passion. In 1990 he made the decision to follow his heart and leave medicine to try his luck as a stand-up.
In 1993 Harry got his first show on BBC Radio 4 – Harry Hill’s Fruit Corner. Four years later he starred in his own television series on Channel 4 which allowed him to channel his off-the-wall humour in a series of wildly unpredictable comedy sketches.
In 2001 he started writing and presenting Harry Hill’s TV Burp on ITV which looked back at the week’s television output in a series of comedy sketches and inventive parodies. The show won three BAFTAs, three Royal Television Society awards, a Rose d’Or and Seven British Comedy Awards.
Harry lives in London with his wife Magda. They have three children.
DISC ONE: Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) - Benny Hill
DISC TWO: Have I The Right - The Honeycombs
DISC THREE: Grandad’s Flannelette Nightshirt - George Formby
DISC FOUR: Gay Bar - Electric Six
DISC FIVE: Life During Wartime - Talking Heads
DISC SIX: Hey Bulldog - The Beatles
DISC SEVEN: Never Give Up on Love - Steve Brown
DISC EIGHT: Life Is The Name Of The Game - Bruce ForsythBOOK CHOICE: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
LUXURY ITEM: A bucket and spade
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Never Give Up on Love - Steve BrownPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Monica Dolan, actor
24 augustus 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringMonica Dolan is a BAFTA and Olivier award winning actor. She is equally at home playing a wrongfully accused postmistress in Mr Bates Vs the Post Office as she is playing the serial killer Rosemary West.
Alongside her many roles in TV, stage and screen, Monica has also written and performed in her award winning one woman play B*easts. Lees meerBorn in 1969, Monica was the youngest of four children and was brought up in Woking. Her parents were Irish and had studied science and came to the UK in the early sixties. It was a very academic family and Monica found her passion for drama when she joined a teenage acting group. She went on to study drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Since leaving drama school, she has had a very successful career and is known for her ability to master different accents and dialects. When she played the press officer, Tracy Pritchard in the comedyW1A, her Welsh accent was so convincing viewers thought she really was Welsh.
Her critically acclaimed career on TV stage and screen has seen her portray the fictional evil Anne Branson in BBC 1’s Sherwood, which earned her another BAFTA nomination. During the COVID pandemic, she gave a mesmeric performance as a grieving widow in The Shrine by Alan Bennett and because of restrictions at the time was her own makeup artist and costume designer.
Monica lives in London with her beloved husky, Velma.
DISC ONE: The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) - The Banana Splits
DISC TWO: That's Entertainment - The Jam
DISC THREE: Nothing - Priscilla Lopez (as Diana Morales), A Chorus Line Orchestra, conducted by Don Pippin
DISC FOUR: Love and Affection - Joan Armatrading
DISC FIVE: MacArthur Park - Richard Harris
DISC SIX: The Night - Diane Chorley
DISC SEVEN: Us Amazonians - Kirsty MacColl
DISC EIGHT: South American Getaway (From "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid") - Burt BacharachBOOK CHOICE: Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna
LUXURY ITEM: A walk-in wardrobe
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Love and Affec… -
Gustavo Dudamel, conductor
17 augustus 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringGustavo Dudamel is a Venezuelan conductor, violinist and composer. He is known for bringing humour and joy to the podium. He is currently director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and in 2026 will take up the post of music director of the New York Philharmonic, following in the footsteps of Gustav Mahler and Leonard Bernstein. Lees meer
Gustavo was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela in 1981, the son of a trombonist who played in a salsa band, and his mother who was a singing teacher. Growing up in a musical household, young Gustavo used to gather his toys together and put them on the floor in the shape of an orchestra, put a record on and conduct.
His parents enrolled five year old Gustavo in the El Sistema music programme and he learned the violin. After showing a flair for conducting he eventually became the conductor of the Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra.
After winning the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Germany in 2004, his talent was spotted on a global stage. He was appointed the director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2008.
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor -
Ash Atalla, producer
10 augustus 2025 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringAsh Atalla is a television producer whose first hit was the BBC sitcom The Office, starring Ricky Gervais. He followed it up with the IT Crowd, People Just Do Nothing, Big Boys and Stath Lets Flats. His haul of awards from these programmes include six BAFTAs, four Royal Television Society awards, a Golden Globe and an Emmy. Lees meer
Ash was born in Cairo and when he was six months old he contracted polio. He has been a wheelchair user all his life and believes the challenges he faced in his early life ignited his drive and ambition.
Ash graduated from the University of Bath with a degree in Business Administration and became a stockbroker for an investment bank. It was a fleeting career as he soon realised he wasn’t a natural when it came to numbers. His next stop was the BBC where he eventually joined the comedy department.
Ash produced both series of The Office and, after leaving the BBC, moved on to the award-winning Channel 4 comedy series the IT Crowd and later the BBC’s People Just Do Nothing, the sitcom about a London pirate radio station.
He co-founded the production company Roughcut TV in 2007 and recently produced the six-part drama series Little Disasters, starring Jo Joyner and Diane Kruger.
Ash lives in London.
DISC ONE: Everything She Wants - Wham!
DISC TWO: Enta Omri (“You Are My Life”) - Umm Kulthum
DISC THREE: At Night - Shakedown
DISC FOUR: Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins
DISC FIVE: My Ever Changing Moods - The Style Council
DISC SIX: Handbags and Gladrags – Rod Stewart
DISC SEVEN: The Universal - Blur
DISC EIGHT: The Girl is Mine - Michael Jackson and Paul McCartneyBOOK CHOICE: Rewire Your Anxious Brain: Stop Overthinking, Find Calm, and Be Present by Nick Trenton
LUXURY ITEM: An Indian restaurant
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: The Girl is Mine - Michael Jackson and Paul McCartneyPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Carol Klein, gardener
3 augustus 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringCarol Klein is a gardener, broadcaster and longtime contributor to BBC Gardeners’ World. She is a six time Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner, a certified RHS Horticultural Hero and was awarded the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour. Lees meer
Born in 1945 in Lancashire, Carol was the eldest of three children and her love of gardening was evident when she used to bring soil in from the outside as a toddler, and make a garden on the lino floor of her mum’s kitchen.
She began her career as an art teacher, working for many years in London schools. After meeting her husband, Neil, they eventually moved to Devon to buy a house and create a garden. They have lived in Glebe Cottage for forty seven years and it’s been the base for Carol’s former plant business as well as the location for some of her TV programmes.
Carol never intended to be a professional gardener. She followed that path after becoming a parent and deciding not to return to her teaching career. After first growing plants successfully for local markets, she then started entering professional garden shows up and down the country winning six Chelsea gold medals in the process.
Carol lives in Devon with her husband Neil.
DISC ONE: Feeling Good - Nina Simone
DISC TWO: Not Fade Away - Buddy Holly
DISC THREE: Corrina, Corrina - Bob Dylan
DISC FOUR: Let’s Stay Together - Al Green
DISC FIVE: Perfect Day - Lou Reed
DISC SIX: Tutti Frutti - Little Richard
DISC SEVEN: Skylark (Alauda Arvensis)
DISC EIGHT: Radio, Radio - Elvis Costello & The AttractionsBOOK CHOICE: Flora Britannica by Richard Mabey
LUXURY ITEM: A bottle of perfume
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Skylark (Alauda Arvensis)Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor -
Sir Gregory Doran, director
27 juli 2025 · 53 min
Beluister deze afleveringSir Gregory Doran is the former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He spent a total of thirty five years with the RSC directing fifty productions in the UK and abroad. He’s been called “one of the great Shakespeareans of his age” and has won multiple awards for his work. Lees meer
Born in 1958, Greg was brought up near Preston and played a number of female Shakespeare roles when he was a young pupil attending an all-boys secondary school.
He went on to study English and Drama at Bristol University followed by a stint studying classical acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
After a few bit parts in TV sitcoms and a spell at Nottingham Playhouse, Sir Greg decided that he would prefer to carve out a career as a director. He went on to stage some of the most critically acclaimed theatre productions – including an all-black cast of Julius Caesar and took Titus Andronicus to South Africa.
More recently, he has been touring the globe on his Shakespeare’s First Folio tour to look at as many different copies of the texts as possible.
He survives his husband, the actor Sir Anthony Sher whom he met in 1987 whilst they were both part of a production of the Merchant of Venice at the RSC in Stratford. Sir Greg lives in London.
DISC ONE: Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17, Act 1: Duetto. "Son nata a lagrimar" (Cornelia, Sesto) Composed by Georg Friedrich Händel and performed by Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto) Philippe Jaroussky (counter tenor) Oreo 55 (Orchestra)
DISC TWO: Sicut cervus – The Choir of Preston Catholic College
DISC THREE: Born Free - Matt Monro
DISC FOUR: It’s Raining Men - The Weather Girls
DISC FIVE: Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes - Paul Simon
DISC SIX: J.S. Bach: Cantata \"Ich habe genug\" BWV 82: I. \"Ich habe genug, ich habe den Heiland\". Performed by Thomas Quasthoff (bass-baritone), Berliner Barock Solisten, conducted by Rainer Kussmaul
DISC SEVEN: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K.414: 2. Andante. Composed by Mozart and performed by Alfred… -
Norma Percy, film-maker
20 juli 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringNorma Percy is a documentary film-maker. She has been making programmes for over three decades and her productions have featured a range of political leaders from Tony Blair and Bill Clinton to Mikhail Gorbachev and Slobodan Milošević. Lees meer
Her film-making method, which she developed alongside her colleague Brian Lapping, tells the stories of our times by taking viewers into the room where the big decisions were made, with the people who made them.
Norma was born in New York City and majored in Government at Oberlin College in Ohio. In 1963 she moved to London where she studied at the London School of Economics, before finding a job in the House of Commons as a researcher for the MP John Mackintosh.
In 1972 she became a researcher for Brian Lapping, working on the Granada series State of the Nation. Later she produced The Second Russian Revolution and the award-winning Watergate – a five-part BBC series about the Watergate scandal.
Her programmes have won an Emmy, two BAFTAs and four Royal Television Awards. Norma lives in London with her husband, the geneticist Professor Steve Jones.
DISC ONE: Be Prepared - Tom Lehrer
DISC TWO: Waltz in C sharp-minor, Op.64 No. 2. Composed by Frederic Chopin and performed by Khatia Buniatishvili
DISC THREE: Well, Did You Evah? - Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra
DISC FOUR: Hard Day’s Night - The Beatles
DISC FIVE: Never Say No - The Fantasticks New Off-Broadway Cast
DISC SIX: Swan Lake, Op. 20, TH.12 / Act 3: The Black Swan. Composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and performed by Erich Gruenberg (violin), London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Bonynge
DISC SEVEN: It Ain’t Me Babe - Joan Baez
DISC EIGHT: Political Science - Randy NewmanBOOK CHOICE: In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
LUXURY ITEM: A hot shower
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: It Ain’t Me Babe - Joan BaezPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Lord Alf Dubs, politician and campaigner
13 juli 2025 · 53 min
Beluister deze afleveringLord Alf Dubs is a Labour peer and former MP. He came to the UK from Prague in 1939 on one of the Kindertransport trains organised by Sir Nicholas Winton which rescued mostly Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia. Lees meer
Alf was born in Prague in 1932. His father was from a Jewish background and was brought up in what was then Northern Bohemia while his mother came from Austria. His father left Prague for London as soon as the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939. In June, when he was six-years-old, Alf was put on a Kindertransport train, arriving at Liverpool Street station two days later where he was met by his father. His mother eventually joined them in London the day before war broke out.
Alf studied Politics and Economics at the London School of Economics and was elected as the Member of Parliament for Battersea South in May 1979. He lost his seat in 1987 and the following year he was appointed director of the Refugee Council, becoming the first refugee to head up the charity.
In March 2016 Alf tabled an amendment to the 2016 Immigration Act (known as the Dubs Amendment) which asked the Government to accept 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children into the UK. The amendment passed but the Government closed the scheme the following year after accepting 480 children.
In 2016 Alf received the Humanist of the Year award by Humanists UK of which he is also a patron. In 2021 his Czech citizenship was restored making him the first Czech-British member of the House of Lords.
DISC ONE: It's Easy To Remember (Take 4) - John Coltrane Quartet
DISC TWO: Smetana: Má Vlast, JB1:112: 2. Vltava. Performed by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek
DISC THREE: She's Leaving Home - The Beatles
DISC FOUR: Bandiera Rossa - Canzoniere del Lame
DISC FIVE: Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 1 in D Major, K. 412: I. Allegro. Performed by Barry Tuckwell (French horn), Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, conducted by Neville Marriner
DISC SIX: Danny Boy - Danie… -
Professor Lucy Easthope, emergency planner
6 juli 2025 · 52 min
Beluister deze afleveringProfessor Lucy Easthope is an adviser on disaster recovery and planning. Lees meer
She’s an expert in planning for and reacting to major incidents: natural disaster, terrorist attacks, pandemics and fires, and is the visiting Professor of Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the University of Bath.
Born in Merseyside in 1978, Lucy cites the impact of watching the Hillsborough football disaster on TV as a child as one of the driving reasons of her decision to pursue a career in disaster management. Her work has involved working in mortuaries, attending fatal accidents and training teams to react to emergencies.
Alongside her career, Lucy has written two books about emergency planning and disaster recovery.
Lucy lives in Shropshire with her husband and two children.
DISC ONE: Lose Yourself - Eminem
DISC TWO: Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy. Performed by Matthew Steynor (organ) and The Choir of Queens' College Cambridge, conducted by James Weeks
DISC THREE: Overture And A Prisoner Of The Crusades (From Chains To Freedom) Composed by Michael Kamen and performed by Greater Los Angeles Orchestra, conducted by Patti Fidelibus
DISC FOUR: Tender - Blur
DISC FIVE: Trustfall - Pink
DISC SIX: Fast Car - Tracy Chapman
DISC SEVEN: Something’s Missing - Come From Away Company
DISC EIGHT: Thunderstruck - AC/DCBOOK CHOICE: The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden
LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered torch
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Tender - BlurPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor -
Romesh Ranganathan, comedian and broadcaster
29 juni 2025 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringRomesh Ranganathan is a comedian and BAFTA-winning broadcaster who has been a fixture on British television screens for the past decade. In addition to his TV shows and stand-up tours he presents the Weakest Link on BBC One, Radio Two’s Saturday morning show and another weekly Radio Two programme in which he shares his passion for hip hop music. Lees meer
Romesh was born in Crawley in West Sussex where he still lives. His parents came to the UK from Sri Lanka in 1975. His father Ranga was an accountant who spent time in prison for fraud during Romesh’s teenage years. At that point Romesh and his brother were brought up by their mother Sivashanthini – known as Shanthi – who has appeared alongside Romesh on several of his television programmes.
In 2001 Romesh became a maths teacher at the school where he’d previously been a pupil. A few years later he started taking part in open mic evenings where he developed his skills as a stand-up. In 2011 he quit his teaching job to pursue a career in comedy.
He has spoken candidly about his own mental health and in 2023 he became a patron of the charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
Romesh lives in Crawley with his wife Leesa and their three sons.
DISC ONE: Lose Yourself - Eminem
DISC TWO: Let’s Hear it for the Boy - Deniece Williams
DISC THREE: The Power of Love - Huey Lewis & The News
DISC FOUR: Through the Wire - Kanye West
DISC FIVE: Broken Clocks - SZA
DISC SIX: Back at One - Brian McKnight
DISC SEVEN: I Wish - Stevie Wonder
DISC EIGHT: Bring the Noise - Public EnemyBOOK CHOICE: Life of Pi by Yann Martel
LUXURY ITEM: An unlimited supply of aubergine curry
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Back at One - Brian McKnightIf you are suffering distress or despair and need support, including urgent support, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Abdulrazak Gurnah, writer
22 juni 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringAbdulrazak Gurnah is emeritus Professor of Post-Colonial Literatures at the University of Kent and the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Lees meer
Born in Zanzibar in 1948, the second of six children, Abdulrazak grew up in the dying days of the island’s status as a British protectorate before independence was declared in 1963. The revolution which followed made Zanzibar an undesirable and unsafe place to live in for young men of Arab heritage. In 1967, he left to seek opportunities in Britain.
He subsidised his studies through a series of low paid jobs which included strawberry picking, factory work and time as a hospital porter. In the evenings he was studying at night school and after gaining a PhD in English, he joined the University of Kent, eventually becoming a Professor.
Alongside his academic career, Abdulrazak was writing and it took him twelve years to find a publisher for his 1987 debut novel, Memory of Departure.
He has published ten more novels since then, including 1994’s Paradise and 2001’s By the Sea (short and longlisted for the Booker Prize respectively) which explore themes of exile, displacement, belonging and colonialism. He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature for his body of work and “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fates of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”.
He lives in Kent, with his wife, the Guyanese-born scholar, Denise de Caires Narain.
DISC ONE: Hit the Road Jack - Ray Charles
DISC TWO: Petite Fleur - Sidney Bechet
DISC THREE: Nipepee - Seif Salim
DISC FOUR: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7 - 1. Allegro maestoso. Composed by Clara Schumann. Performed by Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano) and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Holly Mathieson
DISC FIVE: A Day in the Life - The Beatles
DISC SIX: Kaira - Toumani Diabaté
DISC SEVEN: So What - Miles Davis
DISC EIGHT: Folon - Salif KeitaBOOK CHOICE: That Glimpse of Truth: The 100 Finest S…
-
Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu, scientist
15 juni 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringProfessor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu is Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at University College London and President of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge. Lees meer
She has devoted her career to harnessing the potential of nanoparticles – which are less than a thousandth of the width of a human hair - to take medicines to hard-to-reach areas of the body such as the back of the eye and the brain. Using nanoparticles in this way is said to increase the efficacy of medicines and reduce side effects.
Ijeoma was born in London where her parents had settled from Nigeria. At 13 she moved with her family to Nigeria where she developed an enduring love of chemistry.
In 2010 she co-founded a pharmaceutical company Nanomerics with her husband. The company is currently developing eyedrops to treat blindness and a nasal spray to target pain which she hopes will go some way to addressing the opioid crisis. Earlier this year Ijeoma was appointed a DBE in the King’s New Years Honours List.
Ijeoma lives in Cambridge with her husband Andreas.
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinleyDISC ONE: Chop My Money (I Don’t Care) - P-Square
DISC TWO: Joromi - Sir Victor Uwaifo
DISC THREE: Love to Love You Baby - Donna Summer
DISC FOUR: Zombie - Fela Kuti
DISC FIVE: Coat of Many Colours - Dolly Parton
DISC SIX: I Have Nothing - Whitney Houston
DISC SEVEN: Touch Me in The Morning - Diana Ross
DISC EIGHT: I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today - The Crusaders with Joe CockerBOOK CHOICE: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
LUXURY ITEM: A variety of seeds
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today - The Crusaders with Joe Cocker -
Danny Dyer, actor
8 juni 2025 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringActor Danny Dyer became a household name when he joined the cast of EastEnders as Mick Carter, landlord of the Queen Victoria pub. He recently stole the show from some stiff competition playing Freddie Jones in the television adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel Rivals which won him a Royal Television Society Award for Best Supporting Actor. Lees meer
Danny was born in Custom House, East London in 1977. He loved drama at school and, with his teacher’s encouragement, he signed up for after-school classes in north London which were run by a charity called Wac Arts. When he was 14 he was cast in the television drama Prime Suspect 3 alongside Helen Mirren and David Thewlis.
He went on to star in a series of films including Human Traffic and Football Factory. In 2000 he played the waiter in Harold Pinter’s new play Celebration and went on to appear in two other productions by the playwright - No Man's Land and The Homecoming.
In 2013 he took over the Queen Vic and his performances earned him three National Television Awards. He appeared on the BBC genealogy programme Who Do you think you Are? in 2016 and discovered he was descended from King Edward III and related to Thomas Cromwell.
Danny lives in Essex with his wife Jo. They have three children and three grandchildren.
DISC ONE: Slave to Love - Bryan Ferry
DISC TWO: Rebel Yell - Billy Idol
DISC THREE: Move Closer - Phyllis Nelson
DISC FOUR: Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd
DISC FIVE: Playing with Knives - Bizarre Inc
DISC SIX: Columbia - Oasis
DISC SEVEN: Nebraska - Lucy Rose
DISC EIGHT: Wicked Game - Chris IsaakBOOK CHOICE: Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft: A Handbook of Survival
LUXURY ITEM: A Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Playing with Knives - Bizarre IncPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Lindsey Hilsum, journalist
27 april 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringLindsey Hilsum is a multi-award-winning journalist who has been a foreign correspondent for the past four decades. She has been Channel 4’s international editor for the past 22 years and has reported on every continent except Antarctica. Lees meer
After studying French and Spanish at University, she worked as an aid worker in Mexico and Kenya before becoming the East Africa stringer for the BBC World Service.
After realising her calling was journalism she devoted her career to covering events around the world including the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the 2003/4 war in Iraq.
She also spent two years in Beijing as the China correspondent for Channel 4 News.
Among her many awards for her work, she has been named Amnesty International Journalist of the Year, RTS Specialist Journalist of the Year and has received the Charles Wheeler Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to broadcast journalism. She is also the author of three books.
When she is not abroad reporting, Lindsey lives in London.
Presenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor
.DISC ONE: Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen
DISC TWO: Carey - Joni Mitchell
DISC THREE: Shauri Yako - Orchestra Super Mazembe
DISC FOUR: Summertime - Billie Holiday and her Orchestra
DISC FIVE: Hurricane - Bob Dylan
DISC SIX: The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto (Arr. for Violin & Chinese Orchestra): Andante cantabile "Transformation" Composed by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang and performed by Lü Siqing and the Taipei Orchestra, conducted by Yiu-kwong Chung
DISC SEVEN: Piece of My Heart - Big Brother and the Holding Company and Janis Joplin
DISC EIGHT: Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Fairport ConventionBOOK CHOICE: Collected Poems by W H Auden
LUXURY ITEM: A Tang Dynasty horse
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Carey - Joni Mitchell -
Donna Ockenden, midwife
20 april 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringDonna Ockenden is a former clinical midwife who led the Ockenden Review which revealed, at the time, the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history. Published in 2022, the review highlighted serious failings in maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust which contributed to the deaths of more than 200 babies and nine mothers. Lees meer
Donna grew up in the village of Aberaman in the Welsh Valleys. She experienced a complicated childhood which included a period living in a homeless shelter along with her mother and four siblings. She is also a survivor of sexual abuse and believes her background helped her develop a tenacity and determination which she went on to apply to her work.
She completed her nursing training in Swansea and Neath and trained as a midwife at the Portsmouth School of Midwifery. In 2015 she became Senior Midwifery Adviser to the Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
In May 2022 she was appointed chair of the independent review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust which will be published next year. It is already the largest investigation into a single service in the NHS, hearing evidence from over 2,000 families so far.
Donna lives in Chichester with her two cats.
Details of organisations offering information and support with child sexual abuse or child bereavement are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
DISC ONE: We’ve Only Just Begun - The Carpenters
DISC TWO: Bye Bye Baby - Bay City Rollers
DISC THREE: Ukulele Lady - Ethel Merman
DISC FOUR: Isn’t It Amazing - Hothouse Flowers
DISC FIVE: If Only - Hazel O’Connor
DISC SIX: I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse Flowers
DISC SEVEN: We’ll Keep a Welcome - Harry Secombe
DISC EIGHT: Francesca - HozierBOOK CHOICE: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
LUXURY ITEM: Red lipstick
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse FlowersPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Professor Carl Jones, conservation biologist
13 april 2025 · 53 min
Beluister deze afleveringProfessor Carl Jones is a conservation biologist who is best known for saving the Mauritius kestrel from extinction. He is the scientific director of Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, chief scientist at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and an honorary professor in ecology and conservation biology at the University of East Anglia. Lees meer
He was born in Carmarthen in Wales and was fascinated with animals from an early age, rearing rescued common kestrels, owls and hawks in his back garden. He studied biology at North-East London Polytechnic and, after learning about the plight of the Mauritius kestrel, he was determined to go out to the country to try to save the bird.
He arrived in Mauritius in 1979 when there were only two known breeding pairs left in the wild. By the time he left in 1999 he’d established a captive breeding programme and today hundreds of Mauritius kestrels fly over the islands where he spent decades pioneering his, sometimes controversial, methods. Today the Mauritius kestrel is the national bird.
He is also responsible for saving from extinction three species of reptiles, a fruit bat and several plants.
He was appointed an MBE for his work in 2004 and in 2016 he won the prestigious Indianapolis Prize – the world’s leading award for animal conservation.
Carl lives in Carmarthen with his wife and two children and assorted animals including two Andean condors called Carlos and Baby.
DISC ONE: Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf Opus 67 - The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
DISC TWO: Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. Narrated by Richard Burton and performed by Meredith Edwards, Gwenllian Owen and Gwenyth Petty
DISC THREE: Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll - Ian Dury
DISC FOUR: La Rivière Noire - John Kenneth Nelson
DISC FIVE: Asimbonanga - Johnny Clegg & Savuka
DISC SIX: Sega lakordeon – Rene oule bwar mwa - La Troupe de l’Union
DISC SEVEN: Londonderry Air - Beatrice Harrison
DISC EIGHT: Clear Sky - Catrin FinchBOOK CHOICE: The Collected W…
-
Cyndi Lauper, singer-songwriter
6 april 2025 · 49 min
Beluister deze afleveringCyndi Lauper is a multi-award winning singer and songwriter. She has sold more than fifty million records, won an Emmy for acting and her musical Kinky Boots earned her a Tony and an Oliver award. Lees meer
Born in 1953, Cyndi grew up in a blue collar neighbourhood in New York. Her mother loved music and art and took her children to free exhibitions in New York which inspired Cyndi. As a very young girl, Cyndi listened to her mother’s extensive record collection and mimicked the voices she heard from musicals and operas.
After a difficult family home life due to her mother’s turbulent marriages, Cyndi found solace in music and began writing songs when she was ten.
She left home at seventeen determined to make it in the music industry. She started out as a singer in bands, whilst supporting herself doing a series of jobs. Early in her career, she lost her voice for almost a year after trying to make herself heard over amps which were too loud. Success eventually came when she released her debut solo album She’s So Unusual in 1983 – the first album by a female artist to spawn four consecutive US Top 5 singles.
Cyndi lives in New York with her husband, David who is an actor. They met on a set of a film and rock legend Little Richard officiated their wedding.
DISC ONE: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Composed by Claude Debussy and performed by The Orchestre National de Lyon
DISC TWO: All That Meat and No Potatoes - Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars
DISC THREE: Puccini, “Un bel di, vedremo” (“One fine day, we shall see”) from Act II of Madame Butterfly. Performed by Maria Callas with Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, conducted by Herbert von Karajan
DISC FOUR: Getting to Know You - Marni Nixon
DISC FIVE: I Want Hold Your Hand - The Beatles
DISC SIX: A Sailboat in the Moonlight - Billie Holiday And Her Orchestra
DISC SEVEN: One Way or Another - Blondie
DISC EIGHT: Hound Dog - Big Mama ThorntonBOOK CHOICE: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
LUXURY ITEM: A l… -
William Boyd, writer
30 maart 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringWilliam Boyd is the author of eighteen novels, five short story collections and numerous screenplays. His first published novel, A Good Man in Africa, was inspired by his childhood in West Africa. He is well known for writing ‘whole life’ novels including Any Human Heart which he adapted as a BAFTA-winning television series. Lees meer
He was born in Accra in Ghana where his Scottish father worked as a doctor, specialising in tropical medicine. In 1964 the family moved to Ibadan, Nigeria where he witnessed the Nigerian Civil War – the Biafran War – which had a profound effect on him both personally and professionally.
He read English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Glasgow and became a lecturer in English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. During this period he wrote novels and short stories on the side until his breakthrough novel, A Good Man in Africa, was published in 1981.
In 2005 he was appointed CBE for services to literature.
William lives in London with his wife Susan and over 10,000 books.
DISC ONE: Sunday - Mandy Patinkin (George), Sunday in the Park with George Original Broadway Cast Ensemble and Orchestra
DISC TWO: Sorry Sorry - Femi Kuti
DISC THREE: Away Down the River - Alison Krauss
DISC FOUR: Que reste-t-il de nos amours - Charles Trenet
DISC FIVE: Daniel - Elton John
DISC SIX: Britten: Violin Concerto, Op. 15: 1. Moderato con moto. Performed by Janine Jansen (violin) London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi
DISC SEVEN: Brahms: Horn Trio In E Flat, Op. 40 - 1. Andante - Poco più animato. Performed by György Sebök (piano) Arthur Grumiaux (violin), Francis Orval (horn)
DISC EIGHT: Al Otro Lado del Río - Jorge DrexlerBOOK CHOICE: Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
LUXURY ITEM: A piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Daniel - Elton JohnPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Sir Jony Ive, designer
23 maart 2025 · 52 min
Beluister deze afleveringSir Jony Ive is a designer who is best known for his pioneering work at Apple alongside his friend and colleague, the late Steve Jobs. Jony’s creative vision is behind some of the company’s seminal products which have transformed the way we live today including phones, music players and watches. Lees meer
He was born in Chingford in east London and loved drawing and spending time in his father’s workshop where the two of them made the young Jony’s Christmas presents including a go-kart, a treehouse and a toboggan.
He studied Industrial Design at Newcastle Polytechnic and moved to San Francisco to work for Apple in 1992. In 1997 Steve Jobs returned to the company, having been ousted several years earlier, and the two of them set about revolutionising the landscape for home computers with the creation of the iMac.
In 2019 Jony set up his own company LoveFrom with the industrial designer Marc Newson. In 2023 Jony and his team designed a foldable Red Nose for Comic Relief and in the same year the company launched a scholarship programme aimed at increasing representation in the design industry.In 2012 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to design and enterprise.
DISC ONE: Really Saying Something (US Extended Version) - Bananarama, Fun Boy Three
DISC TWO: De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da - The Police
DISC THREE: Main Theme - Carter Takes a Train - Roy Budd
DISC FOUR: Singin’ in the Rain - Harry Ive
DISC FIVE: Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
DISC SIX: Define Dancing - Thomas Newman
DISC SEVEN: Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L.75: 3. Clair de lune. Composed by Claude Debussy and performed by Claudio Arrau (piano)
DISC EIGHT: "40" - U2BOOK CHOICE: The complete set of Jeeves & Wooster novels by P G Wodehouse
LUXURY ITEM: A bed
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: "40" - U2Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Mina Smallman, activist
16 maart 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringWilhelmina – Mina – Smallman is an activist who campaigns for the safety of women and girls and police reform. She is a former teacher and priest who was the first woman of colour to be an archdeacon in the Church of England. Lees meer
In 2020 her daughters Bibaa and Nicole were murdered as they celebrated Bibaa’s 46th birthday in Fryent Country Park. It later came to light that two policemen, who were guarding the crime scene, had posed for and posted selfies with Bibaa and Nicole’s bodies in the background. They were later jailed for misconduct.
When friends first reported her daughters missing the police didn’t launch an official search for them and it was their loved ones who eventually found Bibaa and Nicole. Mina’s anger at the failings of the Metropolitan Police, led her to start her fight for justice. In 2021 an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report, highlighted the Met’s failings and advised the force to apologise to Mina and her family.
Mina was brought up in London. She was a drama teacher for over 20 years before training for the priesthood. She was ordained in 2006 and took up her first job as vicar at Christ Church on the Thames View estate in Barking. In 2013 she was appointed the first woman archdeacon of Southend in the Diocese of Chelmsford. She retired as an archdeacon in 2016.
DISC ONE: Silly Games – Janet Kay
DISC TWO: Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 / Pt. 3 - 43. Air: I know that my Redeemer liveth
Performed by Dame Joan Sutherland (Soprano), London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
DISC THREE: Easy Terms - Barbara Dickson
DISC FOUR: Amazing Grace - The Pipes And Drums Of The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon
DISC FIVE: We Are The World - USA for Africa
DISC SIX: Miss Independent - Ne-Yo
DISC SEVEN: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
DISC EIGHT: I Look To You - Whitney HoustonBOOK CHOICE: Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
LUXURY ITEM: Hair moisturiser
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Look To You - Whitne… -
Stephen Mangan
9 maart 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringActor Stephen Mangan is castaway by Lauren Laverne in an extended edition. Lees meer
Stephen is an award-winning actor who is also a presenter and writer. His prolific career includes comedic roles in TV hits Green Wing; Episodes and Adrian Mole.
He also plays the much loved Nathan in BBC drama The Split and has appeared in many award winning theatre productions in the UK and on Broadway.
Born in London to Irish immigrant parents, Stephen studied Law at Cambridge University.
His passion though was for acting and after taking time out to care for his mother, he spent three years at RADA before pursuing a successful career on stage, screen and film.
Stephen lives in London with his wife and three sons.
DISC ONE: King of the Road - Roger Miller
DISC TWO: I Recall A Gypsy Woman - Don Williams
DISC THREE: Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) - John Lennon
DISC FOUR: Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Fairport Convention
DISC FIVE: Stayin Alive - Bee Gees
DISC SIX: Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: II. Adagio assai. Composed by Maurice Ravel and performed by Martha Argerich (piano) and Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Claudio Abbado
DISC SEVEN: Rhapsody in Blue. Composed by George Gershwin and performed by New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta
DISC EIGHT: (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher - Jackie WilsonBOOK CHOICE: Collected Works of Seamus Heaney
LUXURY ITEM: A piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Stayin Alive - Bee GeesPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah TaylorA BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in February 2025.
-
Nemone Lethbridge, lawyer and writer
2 maart 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringNemone Lethbridge is a barrister who was called to the bar in 1956. One of very few female barristers working at the time, she encountered misogyny and was one of the trailblazers for women working in the legal profession who followed behind her.
At her first Chambers, she wasn’t allowed to share a toilet with her male colleagues and had to use the facilities in a nearby café. It was hard for her to find work and for some time she represented the Kray twins.
After her marriage to a writer, and former convicted criminal was revealed, she was forced to leave the legal profession and they moved to Greece for a number of years where both of them had careers as writers having their work filmed for the BBC.
Nemone returned to the Bar in 1981 and continues to do pro bono work at 92 years old.
She lives in London. Lees meerDISC ONE: Go Down, Moses - Paul Robeson
DISC TWO: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - The Choir of King’s College Cambridge
DISC THREE: Scarborough Fair – Simon & Garfunkel
DISC FOUR: I Wanna Go Back to Dixie - Tom Lehrer
DISC FIVE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 3: "Sull’aria ... Che soave zeffiretto"
Performed by Edith Mathis (soprano), Gundula Janowitz (soprano), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin and conducted by Karl Böhm
DISC SIX: Strose to Stroma sou – Mikis Theodorakis
DISC SEVEN: September Song - Gracie Fields
DISC EIGHT: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: Chorale. Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Arr. for Piano) (Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Lang LangBOOK CHOICE: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
LUXURY ITEM: A doll
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 3: "Sull’aria ... Che soave zeffiretto". Performed by Edith Mathis (soprano), Gundula Janowitz (soprano), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin and conducted by Karl BöhmPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor -
Nick Cave, singer and writer
23 februari 2025 · 49 min
Beluister deze afleveringNick Cave is a singer and writer who, with his band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, has released emotionally intense and provocative music since the mid-Eighties. He is also a novelist, composer and has written film scripts and soundtracks along with his writing partner and Bad Seed Warren Ellis. Lees meer
Nick grew up in Wangaratta, Australia the third of four children. He formed his first band, the Boys Next Door, in 1973 while he was at school. He studied fine art at the Caulfield Institute of Technology in Melbourne but left to pursue music. In 1980 the band relocated to London, renaming themselves the Birthday Party on the flight over. In 1984 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ released their debut album, From Her to Eternity, and they have gone on to put out a further 17 albums.
In 2015 Nick lost his son Arthur who died after accidentally falling off a cliff and seven years later his eldest son Jethro died. In 2018 Nick started the Red Hand Files, an online blog in which he answers questions posed by his fans, to try and articulate his feelings about grief. He has described it as a “strange exercise in communal vulnerability and transparency.”
In 2017 he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia.
DISC ONE: Metal Guru - T. Rex
DISC TWO: My Father - Nina Simone
DISC THREE: (I’m) Stranded - The Saints
DISC FOUR: It Serves You Right to Suffer - John Lee Hooker
DISC FIVE: Something on Your Mind - Karen Dalton
DISC SIX: Girl from the North Country - Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash West
DISC SEVEN: I Am a God – Kanye West
DISC EIGHT: Morning Dew - Tim RoseBOOK CHOICE: The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
LUXURY ITEM: A suit
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Am a God – Kanye WestPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Harriet Wistrich, lawyer
16 februari 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringHarriet Wistrich is one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers. In 2016 she founded the Centre for Women’s Justice and over the course of her career, she has won landmark victories in very difficult legal cases. She has helped women imprisoned after killing their abusers regain their freedom. She’s also represented women seeking justice from the Metropolitan Police over their deployment of undercover police officers who have had relationships and children with female activists. Lees meer
After studying PPE at Oxford, Harriet moved to Liverpool and began her career working in film and documentaries. She retrained as a lawyer in her early thirties and in 1990 co-founded the pressure group Justice for Women.
Harriet lives in London with her partner, the journalist Julie Bindel.
DISC ONE: I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
DISC TWO: No Woman, No Cry (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 1, 1977) - Bob Marley and the Wailers
DISC THREE: Puff the Magic Dragon - Gregory Isaacs
DISC FOUR: Rumanian Freilach - Daniel Ahaviel
DISC FIVE: Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
DISC SIX: Ain’t Nobody - Chaka Khan
DISC SEVEN: Police And Thieves - Junior Murvin
DISC EIGHT: Shame Shame Shame - Shirley & CompanyBOOK CHOICE: Middlemarch by George Eliot
LUXURY ITEM: A fridge with an endless supply of white wine
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Will Survive - Gloria GaynorPresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Sarah Taylor -
Laurie Anderson, artist
9 februari 2025 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringLaurie Anderson is an artist and performer who came to fame in the UK with her 1981 hit O Superman. Her work spans music, film and multimedia projects which interrogate our relationship with technology and tell stories about the world we live in. Lees meer
She was born in Chicago in 1947, the second-oldest of eight children, and started learning the violin when she was five. She studied Art History at Barnard College in New York and took a Masters in Sculpture at Columbia University.
In the 1970s she was part of the downtown New York art scene and her friends and contemporaries included Philip Glass, Gordon Matta-Clark and the choreographer and dancer Trisha Brown. One of Laurie’s first performance art pieces featured a symphony played by car horns.
In 1992 she met Lou Reed, the singer and songwriter who fronted the Velvet Underground. They were together for 21 years until his death in 2013. Laurie is the head of Lou’s archive which is at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and open to anyone who wants to learn more about his musical adventures.
In 2024 Laurie was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award at the Grammys and a Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication.
DISC ONE: Pony Time - Chubby Checker
DISC TWO: Gracias a la vida - Violetta Parra
DISC THREE: Tusen Tankar - Triakel
DISC FOUR: Part 1 - Philip Glass Ensemble, conducted by Michael Riesman
DISC FIVE: Flibberty Jib - Ken Nordine with the Fred Katz Group
DISC SIX: Doin' the Things That We Want To - Lou Reed
DISC SEVEN: Washington, D.C - The Magnetic Fields
DISC EIGHT: Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago – Soul CoughingBOOK CHOICE: Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov
LUXURY ITEM: A dog collar
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Gracias a la vida - Violetta ParraPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Mark-Anthony Turnage, composer
2 februari 2025 · 52 min
Beluister deze afleveringMark-Anthony Turnage is a composer of contemporary classical music. Once called “Britain’s hippest composer”, he has been in a rock band, got drunk with Francis Bacon, and tackled anything from drug abuse to football in his works.
Mark was born in June 1960 in the Thames estuary town of Corringham in Essex. His musical talent was nurtured by his parents and he studied composition at the junior department at the Royal College of Music from aged fourteen. There he met the composer Oliver Knussen who became his tutor, mentor, and life-long friend.
His first performed work, Night Dances, written while still at the Royal College, won a prize and heralded Mark’s evolution into what one critic calls “one of the best known British composers of his generation, widely admired for his highly personal mixture of energy and elegy, tough and tender”.
Greek, his debut opera, a reimagining of the Oedipus myth whose protagonist is a racist, violent and foul-mouthed football hooligan, shocked the establishment, which flinched, but accepted “Turnage, the trouble-maker” as a forceful voice.
Over the past four decades he has sustained a distinguished and productive career that has seen him working closely with conductors of the stature of Bernard Haitink, Esa-Pekka Salonen and, particularly, Simon Rattle. He has been attached to prestigious institutions, such as English National Opera and both the BBC and Chicago symphony orchestras, and has written a vast range of music for many different instruments and ensembles.
His influences include soul, gospel, all sorts of jazz and the great symphonic works of the repertoire. He has written operas, ballets, concertos, chamber pieces and choral works together with orchestrating a football match.
His key works include Three Screaming Popes and Blood on the Floor (both inspired by Francis Bacon paintings, and the latter containing an elegy for his younger brother, Andrew, who died of a drug overdose in 1995), as well as more operas including one … Lees meer -
Marianela Núñez, ballerina
26 januari 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringMarianela Núñez is a Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet and Opera. Born in Argentina in 1982, Marianela knew she wanted to be a ballet dancer from the age of five and joined the Teatro Colón Ballet School in Buenos Aires when she was eight. Lees meer
She dedicated herself to becoming a professional ballerina and had the full support of her parents despite having to leave home at fifteen to join the Royal Ballet in the UK. After spending a year at the Royal Ballet School and learning English from watching episodes of Friends, she joined the corps de ballet and worked her way up the company to become Principal Dancer.
She has danced the lead roles in the ballet repertoire on the London stage and around the world as a guest artist. In 2018, she celebrated her 20th anniversary with the Royal Ballet with a performance of lead roles in Giselle, The Winter’s Tale, Manon, Marguerite and Armand, and Swan Lake in her anniversary year. Director of The Royal Ballet Kevin O’Hare called her “one of the greats of her generation”.
Marianela has many awards for her dancing including the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 2013. She lives in London with her two cats.DISC ONE: Adíos Nonino (“Goodbye Grandad”) - Astor Piazzolla
DISC TWO: Hoy Puede Ser Un Gran Dia (“Today Could Be a Great Day”) - Joan Manuel Serrat
DISC THREE: Dancing Queen - ABBA
DISC FOUR: Don’t Stop Me Now - Queen
DISC FIVE: Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66, TH 13 / Act 1: 8a. Pas d'action: Introduction (Andante) - Adagio ("Rose Adagio") Performed by The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Mark Ermler
DISC SIX: Adam: Giselle / Act 2: Lever du soleil et arrivée de la cour. Performed by The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Richard Bonynge
DISC SEVEN: Count on Me - Bruno Mars
DISC EIGHT: I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny NashBOOK CHOICE: The Collected Works of Jorge Luis Borges
LUXURY ITEM: A cashmere blanket
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: T… -
Gareth Southgate OBE, football manager
19 januari 2025 · 51 min
Beluister deze afleveringGareth Southgate OBE is the most successful England men’s football manger in the modern game. Lees meer
He holds the record as the man who has represented England in more games than anyone else, with 102 games as men's senior team manager, 57 caps as a player and 37 as men's under-21 head coach, leading to a total of 196 games in which he has been involved as a player or coach.
It’s a remarkable career and one which shows his resilience and determination. Ever since he joined a football team as a schoolboy, he dreamed of being a footballer and perhaps one day, wearing the England shirt. He was rejected by Southampton as a teenager and was determined to come back and succeed. He managed to do that, playing for Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough as a defender and midfielder. After his playing career ended he went into management eventually becoming one of the England national team’s most successful managers. Along the way, his different approach to leadership in sport, together with his quest to understand what is Englishness makes him one of the most impressive football managers in England’s history.
Southgate is an Ambassador for The Prince's Trust and Help for Heroes.
DISC ONE: The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby and the Range
DISC TWO: Rainy Days and Mondays - Carpenters
DISC THREE: Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears
DISC FOUR: The Whole of the Moon - Waterboys
DISC FIVE: One - Mary J. Blige, U2
DISC SIX: Shape of You (Stormzy Remix) - Ed Sheeran
DISC SEVEN: Someone Like You - Adele
DISC EIGHT: Experience - Ludovico EinaudiBOOK CHOICE: The Chimp Paradox by Dr Steve Peters
LUXURY ITEM: Coffee
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Experience - Ludovico EinaudiPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor -
Cher, singer and actor
12 januari 2025 · 49 min
Beluister deze afleveringCher has been a global star for over six decades. Her career has spanned music, television and film and throughout that time her outfits have made flamboyant fashion statements. Lees meer
She was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California and had a peripatetic childhood. Her mother married six times and with each new husband the family moved house.
In 1962, when she was 16, Cher met Sonny Bono in a coffee shop. She moved in with Sonny as his housekeeper and personal assistant and began singing backing vocals for his boss, the music producer Phil Spector. In 1965 Sonny and Cher released I Got You Babe which reached number one in the US and UK charts – knocking the Beatles off the top of the chart.
Cher is an award-winning actor who has starred in films including Silkwood, Mask and Moonstruck. In October 1998 she released her 22nd studio album Believe – the title track remains the biggest-selling number one by a solo female artist in British chart history.
DISC ONE: Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum
DISC TWO: Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley
DISC THREE: A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes - Ilene Woods
DISC FOUR: Evil - Stevie Wonder
DISC FIVE: You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ - The Righteous Brothers
DISC SIX: I Can’t Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt
DISC SEVEN: Minute By Minute - The Doobie Brothers
DISC EIGHT: A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam CookeBOOK CHOICE: The Saracen Blade by Frank Yerby
LUXURY ITEM: An eyelash curler
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam CookePresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Ebony Rainford-Brent, former England cricketer
5 januari 2025 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringFormer cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent is the first Black woman to play for England and she was part of the team which won the Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2009. Today she is a broadcaster and cricket commentator for Channel 4, Sky Sports and the BBC’s Test Match Special. Lees meer
Ebony was born in south London and as a child it was football that caught her attention, especially Liverpool FC and her hero Robbie Fowler. At primary school she was encouraged to have a go at cricket through a charity called Cricket For Change which was set up to encourage more state school children into the sport. Holding a bat in her hands for the first time, she hit the ball as hard as she could and, as she watched it soar through the air, she was hooked.
Ebony started out playing for Surrey Cricket Club’s Under 11’s team as a bowler. In 2003 a serious back injury forced her to stop playing and she thought her sporting career was over. She was determined to prove the medics wrong so she retrained as a batswoman as batting was easier on her back.
In 2007 she made her debut for England and two years later was part of the World Cup-winning team. In 2020 Ebony joined forces with Surrey Cricket Club and founded the African-Caribbean Engagement Programme (ACE) to build grassroots cricket programmes for young people in black communities across the UK. In 2021 she was awarded an MBE for her services to cricket and charity.
DISC ONE: Cold Sweat - James Brown
DISC TWO: Girlie Girlie - Sophia George
DISC THREE: Pass Me Over - Anthony Hamilton
DISC FOUR: A Long Walk - Jill Scott
DISC FIVE: Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin
DISC SIX: Never Forget - Take That
DISC SEVEN: Superheroes - Stormzy
DISC EIGHT: Work To Do - The Isley BrothersBOOK CHOICE: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
LUXURY ITEM: A drum kit
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: A Long Walk - Jill ScottPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Mark Steel, comedian
29 december 2024 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringMark Steel is a writer, comedian and radio presenter. Lees meer
His performing career began as a poet in the alternative comedy scene in the early eighties at the Comedy Store. A regular presenter on Radio 4, he began his award winning series, Mark Steel’s in Town in 2009.
Alongside his performing career, he’s been a regular newspaper columnist writing for the Guardian and Independent Newspapers.
Mark was born in 1960 and adopted at ten days old by Doreen and Ernie. He grew up in Swanley, Kent and left home at 18 to live in a squat in Crystal Palace.
After his own son was born, Mark spent many years tracing his birth parents and eventually met up with his genetic father who had been a professional gambler and a friend of Lord Lucan.
Mark has two children and lives in London.DISC ONE: My Boy Lollipop - Millie Small
DISC TWO: Janie Jones - The Clash
DISC THREE: San Quentin (Live at San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA - February 1969) - Johnny Cash
DISC FOUR: Killing in the Name - Rage Against The Machine
DISC FIVE: Trøllabundin - Eivør Pálsdóttir
DISC SIX: Love Me or Leave Me - Nina Simone
DISC SEVEN: Into My Arms - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
DISC EIGHT: 1977 - Ana TijouxBOOK CHOICE: Wisden Cricketers' Almanack
LUXURY ITEM: A piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Love Me or Leave Me - Nina SimonePresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor -
Steven Knight, writer
8 september 2024 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringSteven Knight CBE is a screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television.
He is best known for creating the TV series Peaky Blinders but he has also turned his hand to feature films, novels, comedy and even gameshows. He co-created the global TV quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire.
His first film, Dirty Pretty Things, was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards; Peaky Blinders won a BAFTA for Best Drama Series and his writing influences are eclectic. His subjects include chess, cooking, Dickens, Diana, Princess of Wales; the origins of the SAS and a Star Wars sequel.
Steven was born in 1959, the youngest of seven children to George and Ida Knight. He grew up in Birmingham where his father hoped that his five sons would follow him into the blacksmith’s business.
After studying English at University College London, Steven returned to Birmingham and began his career writing radio commercials. He was soon back down in London working at Capital Radio which then led to a career writing comedy for TV, then novels, and eventually screenplays.
He is as respected in Hollywood as he is in the UK and more recently he has been instrumental in setting up a new TV and Film studio complex in Birmingham, Digbeth Loc.
He is married with seven children and lives in Gloucestershire. Lees meerDISC ONE: I Want You - Bob Dylan
DISC TWO: Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald
DISC THREE: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise. Performed by Worcester Cathedral Choir / Worcester Festival Choral Society, directed by Donald Hunt
DISC FOUR: Redemption Song - Bob Marley & The Wailers
DISC FIVE: A Different Corner - George Michael
DISC SIX: Messetchinko Lio (You, Little Moon) - Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares
DISC SEVEN: Red Right Hand - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
DISC EIGHT: Keep Right On Until the End of the Road - Harry LauderBOOK CHOICE: The Greek Myths by Robert Graves
LUXURY ITEM: A solar powered laptop
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Keep Right On Until the End of the Road - Harry Laude… -
Mark Knopfler, musician
1 september 2024 · 48 min
Beluister deze afleveringMark Knopfler OBE is one of the UK’s most successful rock musicians and composers. He co-founded the band Dire Straits and their album Brothers in Arms is one of the bestselling albums of all time with 30 million copies sold. Alongside the many successes of Dire Straits, Mark has also composed hit songs for other artists like Private Dancer for Tina Turner and many soundtracks including Local Hero which features the perennial favourite Going Home. Lees meer
He first worked as a journalist on the Yorkshire Evening Post and was briefly an English lecturer in Essex before moving to a flat in Deptford with his brother and John Illsey. Dire Straits was born and became one of the UK’s most successful bands before Mark called time in 1995 and pursued his own solo career.
In recent years, Mark invested some of his money to build one of the UK’s best recording studios to record his own music in alongside being a destination for other artists.
He lives in London with his wife and still visits his studio most days to make music.
DISC ONE: Ol’ Man River - Ray Charles
DISC TWO: Red Sails in the Sunset – Dean Martin
DISC THREE: Wonderful Land - The Shadows
DISC FOUR: Write Me a Few Lines - Mississippi Fred MacDowell
DISC FIVE: Duquesne Whistle - Bob Dylan
DISC SIX: Deborah’s Theme - Ennio Morricone
DISC SEVEN: Cleaning Windows - Van Morrison
DISC EIGHT: Jessye ’Lisabeth - Bobbie GentryBOOK CHOICE: The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald
LUXURY ITEM: A guitar
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Duquesne Whistle - Bob DylanPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah Taylor -
Sarah Raven, gardener and writer
25 augustus 2024 · 52 min
Beluister deze afleveringSarah Raven is one of Britain’s best known gardeners. Since her debut book, The Cutting Garden in 1996 she has written for national newspapers and magazines and shared her gardening knowledge as a broadcaster. Lees meer
Sarah’s love for gardening started with her family. Her father John was a Classics scholar at Cambridge and a keen amateur botanist and her mother Faith introduced Sarah to the joys of cutting and arranging flowers.
Following her father’s death when she was just seventeen, Sarah read History at the University of Edinburgh before deciding to pursue a career as a doctor. It was whilst she was on maternity leave from her medical training that Sarah began to cultivate her own garden which led to her first book, The Cutting Garden.
After the success of her first book, Sarah set up her eponymous business which has evolved from a kitchen table start-up to successful global brand. Sarah continues to write, her latest book, A Year Full of Pots was published earlier this year.
Sarah lives in East Sussex with her husband, the writer Adam Nicholson. She has three stepsons and two daughters.
DISC ONE: See My Baby Jive - Wizzard
DISC TWO: Dashing White Sergeant - Jimmy Shand
DISC THREE: Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds
DISC FOUR: You Can Dance (If You Want To) - Go Go Lorenzo & The Davis Pinckney Project
DISC FIVE: September - Earth, Wind and Fire
DISC SIX: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You - Andy Williams
DISC SEVEN: Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time) - Elton John
DISC EIGHT: Spring 1. Composed by Antonio Vivaldi, recomposed by Max Richter and performed by Daniel Hope (violin) with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, conducted by André de RidderLuxury: An ever-cleaning linen sheet bed with a hot (and cold) water bottle
Book: The Flowers of Crete by John Fielding & Nicholas Turland
Castaway’s Favourite: September - Earth, Wind and FirePresenter: Lauren Laverne
Producer: Mugabi Turya -
David Nicholls, writer
18 augustus 2024 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringThe writer David Nicholls is best known for his 2009 novel One Day which has sold 6 million copies, been made into a film and a Netflix series which reached the top 10 in 89 countries. He’s written six novels and his work as a screenwriter has won him a BAFTA and an Emmy nomination. Lees meer
He was born in 1966 and studied Drama and English Literature at Bristol University. This partly inspired his novel Starter for Ten. After university he spent one year in New York studying acting before returning to the UK to try and forge a career as an actor. He spent three years at the National Theatre but was mostly an understudy which inspired his novel Understudy.
After a few years, David left acting and pursued a writing career and had success as a TV screen writer. Alongside his award-winning career as a TV writer he has won many prizes for his novels.
David lives in London with his partner, Hannah and their two children.
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Sarah TaylorDISC ONE: I Say a Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin
DISC TWO: Cloudbusting - Kate Bush
DISC THREE: Life on Mars? - David Bowie
DISC FOUR: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Glenn Gould (piano) Coyote - Joni Mitchell
DISC FIVE: Coyote - Joni Mitchell
DISC SIX: We Belong Together - Rickie Lee Jones
DISC SEVEN: Who Knows Where The Time Goes? - Fairport Convention
DISC EIGHT: Protection - Massive Attack featuring Tracey ThornBOOK CHOICE: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
LUXURY ITEM: A piano and sheet music
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Say a Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin -
Errollyn Wallen, composer
11 augustus 2024 · 52 min
Beluister deze afleveringErrollyn Wallen is one of the world’s most performed living composers. Her work, which includes 22 operas, orchestral, chamber and vocal works, was played at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in 2012 and at Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees. She was the first black woman to have a piece featured in the BBC Proms and the first woman to receive an Ivor Novello award for Classical Music for her body of work. Lees meer
Errollyn was born in Belize in Central America and was brought up in North London. The passion for music came early to her - as a baby she sang in her cot - and later she enjoyed free music lessons at her local primary school. She fell in love with the piano at five and went on to have formal lessons four years later.
She studied music and dance at Goldsmith’s, University of London and took a Master’s in composition at King’s College London. After working as a session musician, Errollyn formed her own band Ensemble X whose motto is “we don’t break down barriers in music…we don’t see any”. In 1990 she composed a tribute to Nelson Mandela to mark his release from prison.
In 2020 she was awarded a CBE for services to music in The Queen’s New Year’s Honours.
Errollyn lives and works in a lighthouse at Strathy Point in the north of Scotland.
DISC ONE: Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, 4th Movement: Allegro Con Brio. Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and performed by André Previn (piano) with the London Symphony Orchestra
DISC TWO: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - Ella Fitzgerald
DISC THREE: L'Oiseau de Feu (The Firebird) (1910 Ballet Score) ('Fairy-tale Ballet In Two Tableaux For Orchestra') Introduction. Composed by Igor Stravinsky and performed by Bergen Philharmonic, conducted by Andrew Litton
DISC FOUR: I Am Sitting In a Room - Alvin Lucier
DISC FIVE: Bach, Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor BWV 1043 (II movement)
Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman (violin) with the New York… -
Rob Delaney, actor and comedian
4 augustus 2024 · 50 min
Beluister deze afleveringRob Delaney is a comedian, writer and actor who is best known for the television series Catastrophe, which he co-wrote and co-starred in alongside Sharon Horgan. He has also appeared in Hollywood blockbusters including Deadpool and Mission Impossible. Lees meer
Rob was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Marblehead on the north shore. He studied for a degree in Musical Theatre at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and began writing comedy material after he graduated. In 2014, he moved to London to co-write and shoot the first series of Catastrophe and has been in the UK ever since. The series won Rob and Sharon a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society Award for comedy writing.
In 2016 Rob’s one-year-old son Henry was diagnosed with a brain tumour and after undergoing surgery and intense treatment Henry died in 2018. In the throes of his grief Rob wrote his best-selling book A Heart That Works which was a tribute to his son, his family and the NHS.
Rob lives in north London with his wife and three sons.
DISC ONE: Galician Overture - The Chieftains
DISC TWO: This Is To Mother You - Sinéad O’Connor
DISC THREE: Chopin, Nocturne No 11 in G minor. Composed by Frédéric Chopin and performed by Maurizio Pollini (piano)
DISC FOUR: Bluer Than Midnight - The The
DISC FIVE: Hey - Pixies
DISC SIX: Fire in the Hole - Steely Dan
DISC SEVEN: Plainclothes Man - Heatmiser
DISC EIGHT: Rock Lobster - The B-52sBOOK CHOICE: The Collected Works of Alice Munro
LUXURY ITEM: A piano
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: This Is To Mother You - Sinéad O’ConnorPresenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley -
Professor Patricia Wiltshire, forensic scientist
28 juli 2024 · 52 min
Beluister deze afleveringProfessor Patricia Wiltshire is a forensic ecologist who specialises in palynology – the study of pollen. Her expertise has led her to work with every police force in Britain and helped solve some of the country’s most notorious crimes including the Soham murder case in which two young girls were killed by school caretaker Ian Huntley. Lees meer
Patricia was born in Cefn Fforest, a mining village in the Sirhowy Valley, north of Cardiff. She studied botany at King’s College London as a mature student and later worked as an environmental archaeologist, helping to reconstruct ancient environments by analysing the pollen and other remains in the soil.
In 1994 Hertfordshire police asked her to help them with a murder case. A man had been found dead in a ditch and the police had tyre tracks and a vehicle and they needed to prove that the car in question had made the tracks. Patricia’s analysis of the pollen and spores found in the car helped to convict the killers and started her career as a forensic ecologist.
Patricia is married to Professor David Hawksworth, a renowned mycologist, and they sometimes work on criminal investigations together.
DISC ONE: Nocturnes, Op. 27: No. 2 in D-Flat Major. Composed by Frédéric Chopin and performed by Arthur Rubinstein
DISC TWO: My Foolish Heart - Billy Eckstine
DISC THREE: Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets
DISC FOUR: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 (Allegro movement) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Orchestra Mozart, conducted by Claudio Abbado
DISC FIVE: Myfanwy - The Treorchy Male Voice Choir
DISC SIX: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 "Elvira Madigan": III. Allegro vivace assai. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Murray Perahia (piano / conductor) and English Chamber Orchestra
DISC SEVEN: And I Love Her - The Beatles
DISC EIGHT: Love Will Keep Us Together - Neil SedakaBOOK CHOICE: Childrens Encyclopedia Volume Set by Arthur Mee
LUXURY ITEM: A cooking pot
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Noct…