Desert Island Discs

Alle afleveringen

2.000 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud

1. David Pountney

   22 februari 1998 · 38 min

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   Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the opera producer David Pountney. Alongside Mark Elder and Peter Jonas at the ENO, he tried to make opera more attractive to a wider audience. The opera stage, he says, shouldn't be treated like a mantle shelf filled with fragile objects. It's a versatile and robust art form which needn't be stuck in the past. So he staged Carmen in an automobile graveyard, with a pink Cadillac and a giant billboard, while his Hansel and Gretel was set in a 1950s housing project. Lees meer

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

   Favourite track: String Quartet No 2 'Intimate Letters' by Leos Janáček
   Book: Anthology: The English Year by Geoffrey Grigson
   Luxury: Croquet lawn

2. Richard Noble

   15 februari 1998 · 36 min

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   Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the man who broke the British land speed records, Richard Noble. His thirst for speed began when he was six years old and saw John Cobb's jet boat Crusader. Then, in the 1970s, he built his own jet-propelled car in his garage at home. He called it Thrust One, and wrote it off at over 200 miles per hour. Nine years later, he broke the land speed record with Thrust Two, reaching speeds greater than a Boeing 747. Last year he watched as his team, with Andy Green behind the wheel, broke the sound barrier. Lees meer

   Now firmly established alongside other champions of speed like John Cobb and Malcolm and Donald Campbell, Richard Noble chooses his Desert Island Discs.

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

   Favourite track: The Dambusters March by The Central Band of the RAF
   Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
   Luxury: Guitar

3. Colin Dexter

   1 februari 1998 · 37 min

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   Sue Lawley's castaway this week has murdered 75 people, and although he wants to retire, his fans are begging him for just one more. He's the creator of Inspector Morse, Colin Dexter. A Classics teacher before he began to write, it was a profession he immensely enjoyed until deafness forced him to quit. His other great loves are shared by his fictional hero, Morse. Both live for Wagner, crosswords and beer. Lees meer

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

   Favourite track: Immolation Scene from Act 5 of Gotterdammerung by Richard Wagner
   Book: The collected works by A E Houseman
   Luxury: Manicure set

4. Helena Kennedy QC

   25 januari 1998 · 37 min

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   Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the QC Helena Kennedy. In 1992 she published a book which drew attention to the way English law discriminates against women. She called it Eve was Framed. It began a debate into how we view defendants and victims and how our judges are trained. Born into a working-class family living on the south side of Glasgow, she recently entered the House of Lords. She says her father, a newspaper packer and an active trade unionist, would have been 'amused but proud'. Lees meer

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

   Favourite track: Cello Suite No 1 in G Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach
   Book: Aeneid by Virgil
   Luxury: Goose down duvet

5. John Tomlinson

   18 januari 1998 · 37 min

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   Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the British bass John Tomlinson. He is most famous as Wotan - ruler of the gods in Wagner's Ring Cycle. In fact, it's a role he has made so much his own that the composer's grandson says it could almost have been written with him in mind. Growing up in a Methodist family music was a natural part of life, yet he studied to be an engineer until the urge to sing became too powerful to ignore. Lees meer

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

   Favourite track: Concerto For Violin And Strings In D Minor Largo by Johann Sebastian Bach
   Book: Flora and Fauna of a Tropical Desert Island
   Luxury: A box of lenses

6. Paul Hogarth

   11 januari 1998 · 34 min

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   Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the artist and illustrator Paul Hogarth. He has portrayed A Year in Provence for Peter Mayle, depicted Doris Lessing's Africa and captured Majorca with Robert Graves. Lees meer

   Born into a working-class family, his parents disapproved of his two great loves - travel and drawing. In the face of their opposition, he won a scholarship to art school where he was drawn into radical politics, becoming a communist and abandoning both art and family to fight in Spain. A popular figure with writers, he could match Brendan Behan drink for drink, and survived a 30-year working relationship with Graham Greene. Now 80, he says he still has the urge to travel, and continues to draw on his rich and varied life.

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

   Favourite track: Far Horizons by Glyn Boyd Harte
   Book: Times Atlas of World History
   Luxury: Solar-powered Apple Mac

7. Professor Heinz Wolff

   4 januari 1998 · 34 min

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   Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the scientist Professor Heinz Wolff. He came to public attention when he presented the television programme The Great Egg Race, in which he challenged people to conquer engineering problems with a rubber band, a pencil and a pickled onion. In the 1970s while designing aids for disabled people, he devised the phrase 'Tools for Living' to describe his work. After all, as he points out, we all use tools to cope with our environment, whether as an astronaut, a diver or an elderly person. Lees meer

   It was his father who encouraged his enthusiasm for invention, sharing his Sunday afternoons experimenting with his chemistry set, or organising talks from physicists who had to hide their surprise at assessing the ideas of a six-year-old child. In the 80s he founded the Institute for Bioengineering at Brunel University. There he continued his inventions devising for example, a box for experimenting in outer space, a voice machine for people who can't speak and a safety system for deep-sea divers.

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

   Favourite track: The Man I Love by Joan Wolff
   Book: Collection of Landscape Pictures (with book)
   Luxury: A Collection Of Landscape Pictures

8. Glenda Jackson MP

   28 december 1997 · 36 min

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   Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the politician and Transport Minister Glenda Jackson. Politics is her third job. At 16, she left school to work in Boots. But it was as an actor that she reached the pinnacle of her profession, becoming an international star and winning Oscars for her roles in Women in Love and A Touch of Class. On television, she was the formidable Elizabeth R, but won our hearts as Cleopatra in Morecambe & Wise. Despite her vast acting experience, she admits that when she came to make her maiden speech in the House of Commons she had the worst attack of stage fright in her long career. Lees meer

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

   Favourite track: War Requiem Libera Me by Benjamin Britten
   Book: The History and Creation of a Japanese Sand Garden
   Luxury: A bath

9. Sir Harry Secombe

   21 december 1997 · 36 min

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   This is an archive edition of Desert Island Discs. What follows is what was said about the programme at the time: Lees meer

   Sue Lawley's castaway this week has celebrated more than 50 years as a professional performer - he's the comedian and singer Harry Secombe.

   At 76, he can still hit the cruel Cs, although these days he turns puce with the effort. He can still make an audience laugh itself silly and numbers Prince Charles among his many fans. He's most definitely the best raspberry-blower in the business. Today he recalls the early days of The Goon Show with Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Michael Bentine. He remembers the nights spent in review alongside those Windmill girls dressed only in beads - "and most of those were sweat". And he describes how presenting Highway and Songs of Praise has left him feeling humble.

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

   Favourite track: Fantasia On Greensleeves by Ralph Vaughan Williams
   Book: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
   Luxury: Guitar

10. Chris Haskins

    14 december 1997 · 34 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Chairman of Northern Foods, Chris Haskins. Until recently he was something of a curiosity - a big businessman who was also a lifelong supporter of Labour and enthusiastically pro-Europe. It was the Aldermaston marches in the late 1950s which influenced his political beliefs. Sent to report on them for the Irish Times, he was soon swept along by the protesters' enthusiasm and sense of purpose. Lees meer

    It was then too he learnt his organisational skills. When put in charge of sorting out accommodation for thousands of extra marchers, he fled to the pub. By the time he returned they had gone. Problem solved. He joined Northern Foods after falling in love with the owners' daughter. At that time, it was a small company providing milk for doorstep deliveries. Today, it's one of Britain's biggest food companies.

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

    Favourite track: Symphony No 9 In D Minor Adagio by Ludwig van Beethoven
    Book: The collected works by Sean O'Casey
    Luxury: Pen and paper

11. Paula Rego

    7 december 1997 · 35 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the artist Paula Rego. Born in Portugal, she was an only child, and spent her days sitting with the maids as they told tales around the kitchen table. Now she makes up stories about the people she knows and weaves them into her pictures. Like those early fairytales, her portraits always have a touch of danger about them. If you look the devil in the face, she says, face your fears and paint them - then they lose the power to scare you. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Da Me O Braco Anda Dai by Blanc/Barbosa
    Book: Tender Is The Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
    Luxury: Pencil and paper

12. Loyd Grossman

    30 november 1997 · 35 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the television presenter Loyd Grossman. His career has allowed him to peer through the keyholes of the rich and famous and comment on their homes. He once described Tony Blackburn's house as like that of a maiden aunt in Eastbourne. It's a formula which has lasted 14 years. Although he was well into his 20s before he learnt to cook, some 20 million viewers watch him as he deliberates, cogitates and digests the culinary efforts of his would-be masterchefs. As a boy his dream was to be a rock star or a historian. In the end, he gave up both, forsaking his study of the gin-drinking experiences of 18th-century Londoners and forgoing his evenings spent dodging beer cans thrown on stage. He turned instead to journalism and Harpers & Queen. It was by accident that he was picked out to present for the new fledgling television station, TVAM, but by the time they realised their mistake his TV career was launched. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper
    Book: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
    Luxury: Fishing rod

13. Thelma Holt

    23 november 1997 · 36 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the theatre producer Thelma Holt. Famed for introducing some of the best international productions to this country, she persuaded Dustin Hoffman to London's West End, brought Ingmar Bergman's Hamlet to the South Bank and premiered the work of the Japanese director Ninagawa in Britain. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Lazy Bones by Paul Robeson
    Book: Utopia by Thomas Moore
    Luxury: Rosary beads

14. Anthony Minghella

    9 november 1997 · 36 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the playwright and film director Anthony Minghella. He grew up on the Isle of Wight in a close-knit family of Italian descent, and says that he has never felt truly English. It is not surprising therefore that his most successful film explores questions of identity and nationality. That film, The English Patient, won nine Oscars. It is, he admits, unashamedly moving, since for him the purpose of fiction is to "exercise the emotional muscle". Music, too, plays an important part in his life. He listens to music as he writes and the structure of many of his plays and film scripts are influenced by it. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Mache Dich, Mein Herze, Rein by Johann Sebastian Bach
    Book: Collected Piano Works by Bach
    Luxury: Piano

15. John Julius Norwich

    2 november 1997 · 37 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the broadcaster and popular historian, John Julius Norwich. Closely associated with Venice, he talks about his love for the city and his battle to protect it from the rising waters of the Mediterranean. It's a passion he learnt from his parents - the diplomat and politician Duff Cooper and the beautiful socialite Lady Diana. As a boy he grew up surrounded by his mother's friends - artists and writers like Jean Cocteau and Noel Coward. Evelyn Waugh, too, frequently visited. But he was someone who his mother adored and his father barely tolerated. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Bassoon Concerto in B by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Book: The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
    Luxury: Laptop Computer

16. Richard Mabey

    26 oktober 1997 · 37 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the naturalist and writer Richard Mabey. A romantic at heart, he regrets that so much written about nature these days concentrates on the scientific. Unlike past writers like WH Hudson or Gilbert White, he says we rarely confess our feelings and emotions about the countryside. What interests him is our relationship with nature; how we name our streets and houses after flowers, why children still whack conkers, and the reasons we bring holly and mistletoe into our homes at Christmas. He himself has a special relationship with the nightingale - he describes how, in times of distress and depression, he can always find comfort in its song. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: La Delaissado (The Abandoned) by Joseph Canteloube
    Book: The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
    Luxury: Guitar

17. Richard Rodney Bennett

    19 oktober 1997 · 32 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the composer and performer Richard Rodney Bennett. A versatile musician, he is equally at home playing jazz, writing film scores or composing for the concert hall. He wants to give performers music which they want to play, so he has written percussion pieces for Evelyn Glennie and saxophone sonatas for John Harle and Stan Getz. "Nobody," he says, "needs another violin concerto from anybody". His film scores include Murder on the Orient Express, Far From the Madding Crowd and Four Weddings and a Funeral, but he confesses to having most fun when he's just singing jazz. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Violin Concerto by William Walton
    Book: The Atlantic book of British and American Poetry by Edith Sitwell
    Luxury: 6mm 36 inch circular knitting needle with a point at each end

18. Rose Tremain

    12 oktober 1997 · 36 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the novelist Rose Tremain. She began writing as a child soon after her father left home. It became a kind of therapy for her and she explains it's something she still turns to, especially in moments of crisis. Recognised for her ability to get right inside the minds of her characters, she offers the reader a view of the world through their eyes. In her book Sacred Country, we become a little girl who believes she's really a boy. In Restoration, we live the life of a 17th-century man. As a writer, she wants her work to feel dangerous, and so after extensive research she likes to forget it; keeping some facts and making others up. It's like playing a game with the reader, she says, a challenge to guess which is fact and which is merely fiction. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Dance Me To The End Of Love by Leonard Cohen
    Book: A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
    Luxury: Word processor

19. Jools Holland

    5 oktober 1997 · 34 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the musician and presenter Jools Holland. He first shot into the public eye when he made what he still calls "a bit of a verbal slip", and used a four-letter word on the teenage music show The Tube. These days he hosts a late night television programme, where he plays alongside such musical greats as Eric Clapton, Oasis and Tony Bennett. His own musical performance has evolved and expanded from the days when he and a mate would tour the pubs for a few pounds, a drink and a lot of adoration. In the 1970s he found success with his punk group, Squeeze. And he now fronts his own, 12-man rhythm and blues orchestra. A long way from where he began as a small boy, playing boogie woogie on his grandmother's pianola. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: (We're Gonna) Jump For Joy by Big Joe Turner
    Book: Four Books of Architecture by Andrea Palladio
    Luxury: Piano

20. Peter O'Sullevan

    28 september 1997 · 37 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week has been the voice of racing for half a century. Due to retire in November 1997, Peter O'Sullevan calculates that he has commentated on some 14,000 races. Lees meer

    After calling his last Grand National earlier this year he perhaps breathed a sigh of relief, because even after 50 broadcasts he admits to still finding the responsibility nerve-wracking. Horses have always been his life. He owns them, bets on them, writes about them and campaigns for their welfare, with the same enthusiasm that he had as a young boy riding with his grandparents' groom, Truelove.

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

    Favourite track: Piano Concerto 5 in E Flat Major by Ludwig van Beethoven
    Book: Ends and Means by Aldous Huxley
    Luxury: Bottle Of Calvados

21. Mike Leigh OBE

    21 september 1997 · 37 min

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    The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is the filmmaker and director Mike Leigh. He first came to public attention on a dark and stormy evening when 16 million people tuned to BBC1 to watch his film Abigail's Party. It was also the night that ITV was blacked out by a strike, there was a highbrow documentary on BBC2, and Channel 4 didn't exist. His recent films Secrets and Lies and Naked won top awards at Cannes, building on the recognition he received for his earlier, more gentle portrait of working-class life - Life is Sweet. He explains to Sue Lawley how his early films were inspired by the work of Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett and Francois Truffaut. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Clarinet Concerto in A Clarinet Concerto in A Major K622 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Book: One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
    Luxury: Lavatory and lavatory paper

22. Ursula Owen

    14 september 1997 · 36 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the editor and publisher, Ursula Owen. Twenty-five years ago she helped create Virago - the feminist publishing house which promotes women writers. A huge success, it became the focus of much attention when she and her colleague, Carmen Callil, fell out in what became a very public row. Recently, she has revamped the magazine Index on Censorship, which debates the issues surrounding freedom of speech and publishes the work of persecuted writers. The daughter of a Jewish family who fled to Britain from Nazi Germany, she was a quiet, reserved and conformist child. Her friends, she says, still wonder how she grew up to be such an outspoken, strong-minded and opinionated woman. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Der Rosenkavalier The Trio From Act Three by Richard Strauss
    Book: The collected works by Anton Chekhov
    Luxury: Family photo album

23. Sir Frank Kermode

    7 september 1997 · 36 min

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    The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is the literary critic, Sir Frank Kermode. One of the most influential teachers of his age, he is credited with bringing the new literary theory of Structuralism to this country. Something, as he admits to Sue Lawley, he now profoundly regrets. He traces his life, "lived like tumbleweed in the wind", from a short-sighted, studious boy growing up on the Isle of Man to King Edward Professor of English Literature at Cambridge University. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Cantata BWV 106 The Actus Tragicus by Johann Sebastian Bach
    Book: The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
    Luxury: Samuel Palmer's painting Moonlit Landscape

24. Cleo Laine

    31 augustus 1997 · 35 min

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    The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is the jazz singer Cleo Laine. Although driven by a great desire to be a performer, and travelling from one audition to another, she confesses to Sue Lawley that when her big break came, it wasn't jazz which attracted her, so much as the leader of the band - John Dankworth. Whether he spotted a cheap singer for the night, or recognised a great talent in the making, it was to be the start of a hugely successful partnership both professionally and personally. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Don't Look Back by Jacqueline Dankworth
    Book: The Jazz Revolution by John Dankworth
    Luxury: Perfume

25. Iain Banks

    24 augustus 1997 · 34 min

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    This week's castaway is an author. In his book The Wasp Factory, the teenage protagonist tortures insects, experiments with bombs and kills a brother and a cousin. But, says Iain Banks, that was "just a phase he was going through". He tells Sue Lawley how, as a writer, he has not developed the filters that most adults do and so views the world with childlike eyes, describing what he sees. And this world, he feels, is very often a violent and terrifying one. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Mohammed's Radio by Warren Zevon
    Book: The Complete Monty Python Television Scripts by Monty Python
    Luxury: Front Seat Of A Porsche

26. Eric Sykes

    22 juni 1997 · 37 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway is comedian Eric Sykes. Lees meer

    Favourite track: Messiah Hallelujah by George Frideric Handel
    Book: Ripley's Believe It Or Not by Ripley
    Luxury: A sand wedge golf club and a crate of golf balls

27. Christina Noble

    15 juni 1997 · 35 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway is campaigner Christina Noble. Lees meer

    Favourite track: This Is My Life by Shirley Bassey
    Book: The Book of Kells
    Luxury: Photo of an Irish cottage

28. Benjamin Zephaniah

    8 juni 1997 · 35 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is dub poet Benjamin Zephaniah. As well as talking about his work as a performance poet often working in prisons or schools, Benjamin recalls a time when he was illiterate. He also remembers Nelson Mandela's request to meet him at seven o'clock in the morning to brief him on Margaret Thatcher. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Take Five by The Dave Brubeck Quartet
    Book: Poetical Works of Shelley by Percy Shelley
    Luxury: Law of the land (so he could break it)

29. Joanna MacGregor

    1 juni 1997 · 36 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is concert pianist Joanna MacGregor. As well as talking about her work as a champion of New Music, Joanna remembers her childhood playing piano for gospel choirs and how she had to bribe her way onto the college Steinway with packets of cigarettes. In conversation with Sue Lawley, she talks about her life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives
    Book: The Sleep Walkers by Arthur Koestler
    Luxury: Sampler to record the noises of the island

30. Sian Phillips

    25 mei 1997 · 34 min

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    This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is actress Sian Phillips. Sian talks about her award-winning career and her most recent performance as Marlene Dietrich, as well as remembering her 20 years of marriage to Peter O'Toole. In conversation with Sue Lawley, she talks about her life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Cosi fan Tutte soave sia il vento by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Book: The Medical Care of Merchant Seamen by William Louis Wheeler
    Luxury: Pen and paper

31. Harry Enfield

    18 mei 1997 · 34 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is comedian Harry Enfield. As well as talking about characters such as Loadsamoney, Kevin the Teenager and Tory Boy, Harry reveals his reasons for not campaigning with Tony Blair at the general election. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Nabucco Overture To Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi
    Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens
    Luxury: Beer and a cigarette machine

32. David Wynne

    11 mei 1997 · 36 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is sculptor David Wynne. As well as talking about his sculptures Boy with a Dolphin and Guy the Gorilla, David explains how he researches his work by visiting the animals in the wild. This has led to some dangerous adventures. But David Wynne's work has its gentler moments - he also designed the hands on the back of the 50-pence piece. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Clarinet Concerto in A by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Book: The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer
    Luxury: Harmonica

33. Sir Martin Rees

    4 mei 1997 · 37 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is Astronomer Royal Sir Martin Rees. As well as choosing his eight records, book and luxury, Sir Martin will be discussing his work in cosmic evolution, or, to put it more simply, how the Earth and Solar System were formed. He tells of his belief that it is more difficult to understand a frog than the cosmos. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: In Paradisum by Gabriel Fauré
    Book: Collective Cartoons by Gary Larson
    Luxury: A Jefferson reclining chair

34. Andy Hamilton

    27 april 1997 · 34 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway is comedian and broadcaster Andy Hamilton. Lees meer

    Favourite track: Sloop John B by The Beach Boys
    Book: The Physics of Immortality by Frank J Tipler
    Luxury: Football

35. Saeed Jaffrey

    20 april 1997 · 33 min

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    This week's castaway on Desert Island Discs is an actor. In Britain, he's best known for his appearances in My Beautiful Laundrette, The Chess Players and The Jewel in the Crown. In India he's a megastar who can't walk the streets without being mobbed. Lees meer

    This morning Saeed Jaffrey traces a career which has taken him from India, to New York, to London and back home to India. Beginning with his childhood as the son of a brilliant mimic, he describes his early struggles to establish himself, and the famous stars he's met along the way.

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

    Favourite track: Hobo Blues by John Lee Hooker
    Book: Complete Works by Mirza Ghalib
    Luxury: Case of Black Label and Dom Perignon

36. Virginia Ironside

    30 maart 1997 · 34 min

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    This week's castaway on Desert Island Discs has all the qualifications she needs for her job. A journalist, she learnt her craft in the 1960s when she interviewed rock star legends like Mick Jagger, Jimmy Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Lees meer

    She's also a single mum, frequently experiences deep bouts of depression and finds that many of her lasting relationships are with alcoholics. The agony aunt Virginia Ironside describes to Sue Lawley how her life and her work are inseparably entwined.

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

    Favourite track: Hot Tomales by Will Grove-White
    Book: The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale
    Luxury: Big bag of plaster to make heads of friends

37. Peter Blake

    23 maart 1997 · 32 min

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    Only this week's castaway on Desert Island Discs could place the singer Madonna in the same picture as the Madonna and Child, or follow a painting of the National Gallery's 10 most beautiful faces with a collection of its nine prettiest bottoms. Today the pop artist Peter Blake explains to Sue Lawley how his work is inspired by his favourite things; like Marilyn Monroe and Max Miller for the Beatles' Sgt Pepper album cover in the 1960s, or his more recent painting of Tarzan and his family at the Roxy Cinema in New York. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: When The World Was Young by Peggy Lee
    Book: Lempieres' Dictionary by Lawrence Norfolk
    Luxury: A gym

38. Nina Campbell

    16 maart 1997 · 35 min

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    When designing the interior of Sunninghill for the Duke and Duchess of York, this week's castaway on Desert Island Discs rummaged through the cellars at Buckingham Palace in search of just the right treasure. She's also coloured Ringo Starr's library cranberry red, and suggested tasselled tie-backs for Rod Stewart. Nina Campbell is one of Britain's top interior designers and a devotee of the English country house style, although, as she admits to Sue Lawley this week, she never goes near the country - it's too wet and windy. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Design For Living by Flanders & Swann
    Book: A photograph album
    Luxury: A bed

39. Redmond O'Hanlon

    9 maart 1997 · 36 min

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    This week's castaway is an adventurer - the travel writer Redmond O'Hanlon. He's trekked to deserted mountain tops for a glimpse of the rare Borneo rhinoceros, paddled through river swamps to find the Congo's mythical monster, and, deep in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, he stayed with the most violent people on Earth, the Yanomari Indians. Lees meer

    Along the way, he's encountered scorpions, vipers and a giant catfish "which can take your foot off at the ankle", all in search of a story. As he tells Sue Lawley, although his long-suffering companions survive the journey, they vow never to travel with him again - not even to High Wycombe. He's planning a trip to New Guinea - so will Sue agree to accompany him?

    Some aspects of this programme may upset some listeners.

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

    Favourite track: Clarinet Quintet in A: 2nd Movement by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
    Luxury: A pair of green, insulated Leica binoculars 8 X 20

40. Dr Susan Greenfield

    2 maart 1997 · 34 min

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    It was while studying for a degree in psychology that this week's castaway decided to change the direction of her life and become a neuroscientist. As she dissected a slice of pickled brain, she found herself wondering whether this was the part that generated a love of Beethoven, or held the memory of a sunny, summer day. From that moment, she determined to try to discover how our personalities and thoughts derive from this slurry of soggy tissue. Twenty years later, Professor Susan Greenfield is now one of the foremost thinkers on the question of consciousness, and a leading researcher into the causes of Parkinson's disease. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: The Ode To Joy (Symphony No 9) by Ludwig van Beethoven
    Book: The Leopard by Giuseppe di Lampedusa
    Luxury: An endless supply of curry

41. Nico Ladenis

    23 februari 1997 · 36 min

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    The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is a chef. His food is the culinary equivalent of haute couture, but in the 1980s Nico Ladenis was known as much for his temper tantrums as his truffle sauce. His refusal to offer his customers salt and pepper, and his insistence as to how they should eat their meal, caught the headlines more frequently than his fine cooking. But, as he tells Sue Lawley, these days he has come out of the kitchen and become a cooler and much calmer man. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Onward Christian Soldiers by Sullivan/Baring-Gould
    Book: Beau Jeste by P C Wren
    Luxury: Cantona's Manchester United football shirt

42. Mary Benson

    16 februari 1997 · 40 min

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    This week's castaway on Desert Island Discs grew up in a conventional white South African family. Shielded from the true history of her country under apartheid, she played in the shadow of a Pretoria prison where many hundreds of black men and women were hanged, and never questioned what went on there. Then Mary Benson read the book Cry the Beloved Country. From that moment on, she became a ceaseless campaigner for the rights of black South Africans and dedicated her life to documenting their struggle. This week she talks to Sue Lawley about her search for a purpose to her life and chooses the music which has meant most to her. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Eroica Variations Opus 35 Fourth Bagatelles, Opus 126 by Ludwig van Beethoven
    Book: Unpublished Notes by Athol Fugard
    Luxury: Telescope

43. Terry Pratchett

    9 februari 1997 · 35 min

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    He's created a world full of wizards and witches, and his most popular character is Death. The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is one of Britain's best-selling authors. Terry Pratchett has written over 30 books, and sells more than one million copies each year. But as he tells Sue Lawley this week, he will never win the Booker Prize because, in this country, fantasy fiction is frowned upon. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Thomas The Rhymer by Steeleye Span
    Book: Edible Plants of the South Seas by Emile Massal
    Luxury: The Chrysler Building

44. Gene Wilder

    2 februari 1997 · 35 min

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    When this week's castaway was a child his mother had a heart attack. Her doctor gave him two pieces of advice. "Never", he said, "get angry with her. And always try to make her laugh". This was to have a profound effect on his life; affecting both his career and his personal relationships. Lees meer

    Gene Wilder talks to Sue Lawley and remembers his starring roles in films like Blazing Saddles and The Producers.

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

    Favourite track: Don't Explain by Nina Simone
    Book: The Notebooks of Captain Georges by Jean Renoir
    Luxury: Earl Grey tea

45. Irene Thomas

    26 januari 1997 · 38 min

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    She's an expert on sauce bottles, remembers the small print on British Rail timetables, and for 30 years she was a regular contestant on Radio 4's Round Britain Quiz. This week on Desert Island Discs, Irene Thomas tells Sue Lawley what she will do with her phenomenal memory now the programme is no longer broadcast. She recalls how she moved from opera singer, to the Black and White Minstrels, before becoming queen of the quiz shows at the age of 41. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Cosi fan Tutte Soave Sia Il Vento by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
    Book: Complete score of Fidelio by Mozart
    Luxury: Teddy bear stuffed with tea and lily of the valley

46. John Cleese

    5 januari 1997 · 34 min

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    Sue Lawley's castaway is comedian and actor John Cleese. Lees meer

    Favourite track: Easter Hymn from Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni
    Book: Stand By Your Man by Tammy Wynette
    Luxury: Michael Palin - stuffed

47. Martin Amis

    29 december 1996 · 38 min

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    Sue Lawley's guest on Desert Island Discs today is the writer Martin Amis. He describes his books as comedies, but, like London Fields and Other People, they are frequently dark and disturbing. Lees meer

    He says that he has no choice as to the subjects of his books. "They come from nowhere and feel like a little gulp in your digestive system". Although he admits that he's sometimes appalled by the characters he creates, writing itself is something he loves.

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

    Favourite track: Yesterdays by Buddy Rich
    Book: Complete Works by John Milton
    Luxury: Cable Television

48. Jennifer Saunders

    22 december 1996 · 32 min

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    The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is Absolutely Fabulous! Jennifer Saunders began "doing funny things with props" in the early 1980s. With her stage partner Dawn French, she toured the clubs and comedy venues making people laugh with acts like The Menopause Sisters. As part of the Comic Strip performers, she burst onto our TV screens as one of the famous, if rather manic, five. Lees meer

    Now through her characters Edina and Patsy, she has created a comedy classic. But as she tells Sue Lawley, Absolutely Fabulous came about because, having taken a year off from French and Saunders, the phone was ominously silent, and she had absolutely nothing else to do.

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

    Favourite track: I Didn't Have The Nerve To Say No by Blondie
    Book: Traveller's Prelude by Freya Stark
    Luxury: Tribute Heads By Elisabeth Frink

49. Ian Dury

    15 december 1996 · 34 min

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    Today's castaway on Desert Island Discs confused the rock critics in the late 1970s with songs like Sweet Gene Vincent, Reasons to be Cheerful and outraged the BBC with Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll. Ian Dury and the Blockheads were part vaudeville act and part punk rock band. In his songs, he created the characters Clevor Trever and Billericay Dickie and so invented the original Essex Man. He's also a painter and an actor, but as he reveals to Sue Lawley, he's writing songs again and hopes to be back in the charts soon. Lees meer

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

    Favourite track: Ramblin by Ornette Coleman
    Book: Macmillan Dictionary of Art
    Luxury: Mixing Desk - Solar Powered

50. Robert Winston

    8 december 1996 · 38 min

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    On Desert Island Discs today the castaway is Robert Winston. Lees meer

    As Professor of Fertility Studies at Hammersmith Hospital in London, he has been at the forefront of medical developments in his field. He pioneered the screening of embryos for genetic defects and has frequently made the headlines with his views that all women, including widows, lesbians and those who are HIV positive, should be considered for treatment.

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

    Favourite track: Goldberg Varations - Aria And Reprise From Variation by Johann Sebastian Bach
    Book: The Koran (in Arabic and English)
    Luxury: Glass And Tools To Make A Telescope