Desert Island Discs: Archive 1986-1991

The castaway this week is Kenneth Williams who, for 40 years, has occupied a unique place on stage, screen and radio. In conversation with Michael Parkinson, he recalls his long career which has ranged from working on radio classics like Hancock's Half Hour and Round the Horne to being a regular member of the cast in the Carry On films.

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

Favourite track: 1st Movement from Spring Sonata by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Golden Treasury by Francis Palgrave Luxury: Crate of Cologne

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel. For over 20 years the guru of pop fans, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his life at public school, his work as a DJ in the States in the early 1960s, his family, his passion for Liverpool Football Club and, of course, his lifelong passion for pop music.

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

Favourite track: Teenage Kicks by The Undertones Book: Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell Luxury: Football

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is television cook Keith Floyd. Renowned for his garrulous charm as much as for his culinary expertise, he'll be describing the chronicle of failure that dogged him through spells in the Army, as a cub reporter, as an antiques dealer and as a restaurateur. He'll also be talking to Sue Lawley about his passion for good food, music and the elusive nature of romantic happiness.

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

Favourite track: Hey Jude by The Beatles Book: Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake Luxury: Pair of handmade blue suede shoes

Last August the world rejoiced at the liberation of a man who, to all intents and purposes, had vanished from its face more than four years previously. A pale and gaunt Brian Keenan emerged from a captivity of appalling deprivation and isolation after being kidnapped in Beirut by Islamic extremists.

This week on Desert Island Discs, he will be talking to Sue Lawley about those lost years, when, often blindfolded, chained and alone, he relived his life, conjuring up forgotten sights and sounds through imagined magical music, or by singing half-remembered lines from songs with John McCarthy when they were allowed to share their captivity.

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

Favourite track: Dweller On The Threshold by Van Morrison Book: The Life Times and Music of An Irish Harper by Donal O'Sullivan Luxury: Pencil

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of the great European artists of today - Eduardo Paolozzi. One of his positions is Her Majesty's Sculptor In-ordinary for Scotland - a post rather like the Poet Laureate for Sculpture, but with no duties attached to it. But such eminence in the artistic world is in stark contrast to Sir Eduardo's humble beginnings as the son of Italian immigrants who had an ice-cream shop in Edinburgh. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his boyhood, when he was sent to Fascist youth camps in Italy for three months at a time, and the subsequent imprisonment and vilification which fell upon him and his family at the outbreak of war in 1940. He'll also be contemplating his years at the Slade and his flight to the artistic freedom of the Paris of Giacometti, Leger and Picasso.

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

Favourite track: L'Enfant Et Les Sortileges by Maurice Ravel Book: A tropical plant book in Italian with English gloss Luxury: Hurdy gurdy

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs rejoices in the title of the Baroness Trumpington of Sandwich in the County of Kent.

A tireless campaigner on myriad issues, she brings to her work a commodity which is often in short supply in political life - a healthy sense of humour. Among other things, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her career, during which she has risen from being Mayor of Cambridge to Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food - all without taking a single exam.

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

Favourite track: I'll Follow My Secret Heart by Noel Coward Book: George V by Kenneth Rose Luxury: Crown jewels (so someone will look for her)

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the black American singer Elisabeth Welch, who, in a career spanning 60 years, made famous such songs as Love For Sale, Soloman and Stormy Weather. Her first big break came in 1931 in the Broadway show The New Yorkers. The show made her a star and also gave her the lasting friendship of Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. Having been the toast of London, Paris and New York in pre-war years, her music still appeals across the generations.

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

Favourite track: Just One Of Those Things by Frank Sinatra Book: Who's Who In The Theatre Luxury: Photo of mother

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the Baroness Castle of Blackburn - better known to most people as Barbara Castle. For 34 years she served as the Labour member for the constituency of Blackburn, and she rose to high office in the Wilson governments of the 1960s and 1970s. As the first woman Transport Minister, she introduced, amidst great controversy, the breathalyser and the motorway speed limit. She was also at the centre of legislation over equal pay for women. Then, 10 years ago, she opted out of domestic politics and into the European cauldron.

Now retired from that too, and recently having celebrated her 80th birthday, she'll be looking back over her long and passionate political career, and forward to making her mark on the House of Lords.

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

Favourite track: I Have A Dream Speech by Martin Luther King Book: The collected works by William Morris Luxury: Typewriter

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is a man who, among many other achievements, gave his name to a famous report in the 1970s on the future of broadcasting - Lord Annan. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his long and distinguished career which has ranged through the Cabinet War Office, King's College Cambridge, The Royal Opera House and London University - as well as recalling many friends and acquaintances from his university days, from EM Forster to the notorious Guy Burgess.

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

Favourite track: 7th Symphony Final Movement by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Iliad in Greek & English by Homer Luxury: Bath essence

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the General Director of the South Bank, Nicholas Snowman. Very much a man of the arts, and a determined apostle of all things new, he founded the University Opera Society when he was at Cambridge and the London Sinfonietta when he left. He then moved to Paris, where he was appointed Artistic Director of the Pompidou Centre.

His latest post at the South Bank has attracted considerable controversy, with one critic describing his concert programme as "seriously unattractive". He'll be discussing his vision of the South Bank's musical future with Sue Lawley and talking about his achievement of establishing, for the first time, a resident orchestra in Britain's largest arts centre.

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

Favourite track: String Quintet No 4 In G Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Smiley's People by John Le Carre Luxury: Coffee machine

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is comedian Ernie Wise. Since Eric Morecambe's death six years ago, Ernie has had to carve out a show business career on his own, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about life as Wise without Morecambe, as well as looking back on the highs and lows of a partnership of nearly fifty years, during which time Morecambe and Wise sang, danced and joked their way to the top of the tree.

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

Favourite track: Bring Me Sunshine by Morecombe And Wise Book: Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens Luxury: Yellow Rolls Royce

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of the most colourful and controversial members of Britain's trade union movement. He is the former General-Secretary of The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs - Clive Jenkins. Now retired, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about a career which has encompassed disappointment but also considerable triumph, as well as looking back on his Methodist working-class upbringing in South Wales, and the path he trod from there to a position where he wielded extensive power and influence in the tough world of industrial relations.

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

Book: Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe Luxury: Video player and tape of Citizen Kane

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is an actor who rose to fame by portraying two rather different sorts of policemen on the nation's television screens. John Thaw, though a versatile stage actor, having appeared at the Royal Court and played with the Royal Shakespeare Company, is best known for the roles of Jack Reegan in the Sweeney, and, more recently, the morose but music-loving Inspector Morse. A passionate lover of classical music himself, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his early childhood in Lancashire, his marriage to actress Sheila Hancock and his aversion to the perils of stardom.

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

Record: Erbarme Dich, Mein Gott (St Matthew Passion) Book: The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame Luxury: Large comfortable armchair

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the captain of the England football team Gary Lineker. Apprenticed to Leicester City at the age of 16, he turned professional at 18, then went on to play for England. In 1985 he was bought by Everton for £800,000. One year and 40 goals later, he was bought by Barcelona for more than two million pounds.

He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his extraordinary skill as a footballer, his reputation for immaculate behaviour both on and off the football field and the agony of England's defeat in this year's World Cup.

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

Favourite track: Soul Limbo (Sig. Tune For Test Match Special) by Booker T And The MGs Book: Wisden Almanack for cricketers Luxury: Bowling machine

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is the effervescent actress Barbara Windsor. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her early life in London's East End, the Carry On films for which she is, of course, best known, and the strain of a tumultuous private life often hidden behind the public facade of an irrepressibly good-humoured cockney sparrow.

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

Favourite track: Extract from The Secret Life Of Anthony Hancock by Galton & Simpson Book: A book about Hollywood Luxury: Writing materials and a Union flag

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is sex therapist Dr Ruth Westheimer.

Born in Germany in the late 1920s, her Jewish family sent her out of the country as the Nazis rose to power. Sent to the safe but lonely confines of a Swiss orphanage, she was never to see her family again. Then, after living in Israel and studying in Paris, she eventually took American citizenship. Then, 10 years ago, she emerged from obscurity to become a national celebrity. As an unemployed college lecturer in her early 50s, her appearances on radio and television, where she handed out explicit but common-sense advice on sex and its problems, brought her fame and fortune. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her early life, her adventures in Paris and Israel and the satisfactions of her present job.

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

Favourite track: There Was A Time by Joel Westheimer Book: Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell Luxury: Large box of marrons glacés

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a pillar of the British Establishment, Lord Charteris of Amisfield.

Educated at Eton and Sandhurst, he became, at the age of 36, Private Secretary to the young Princess Elizabeth, whom he was to serve for nearly 30 years, retiring only after when, as Queen Elizabeth the Second, she celebrated her Silver Jubilee. After leaving the royal household, he went back to Eton, where he has been Provost for the last 12 years. Among many things, Lord Charteris will be talking to Sue Lawley about the job of Private Secretary to the Queen, and how the Eton of today differs from the Eton he attended as a schoolboy some 50 years ago.

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

Favourite track: Emperor Concerto by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Luxury: Set of wood-carving tools

The Desert Island Discs guest this week is someone who should be particularly suited to castaway life - Robin Knox-Johnston was the first man to sail single-handedly non-stop around the world. Since then, he has spent much of his time at sea visiting many islands, deserted or otherwise, and recently he undertook a voyage using only those navigational instruments available to sailors 500 years ago. Very much the adventurous master mariner, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the perils and pleasures of life at sea.

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

Favourite track: Land Of Hope And Glory by Edward Elgar/Benson Book: Books identifying birds and fish Luxury: Video recorder and tapes of Queen Mother's parade

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs claims to be the highest-paid woman journalist in Britain - one of a disappearing species. The star columnist Jean Rook has shared her life for eighteen years with the millions of readers of her national newspaper column. And it's been life that has embraced tragedy as well as triumph - over the last three years she has written in her column about her experiences of breast cancer and widowhood. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the ups and downs of her life and career.

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

Favourite track: Eton Boating Song by Eton College Book: Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy Luxury: Computer

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the General Director of the English National Opera Peter Jonas. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his teenage ambition to run a great opera house, his subsequent rejection from the London Coliseum when he applied to sweep the stage there, and his return as its director some 11 years later. He'll also be talking about his fight against Hodgkin's Disease, his eleven years as personal and administrative assistant to Sir Georg Solti in Chicago and his plans for the future of the English National Opera.

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

Favourite track: Die Meistersinger Act 1 Prelude by Richard Wagner Book: City of God by Saint Augustine Luxury: Cyanide, in a joint, in champagne truffle, in a fridge

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the man who can be credited with having made knitting glamorous. Designer and knitter Kaffe Fassett will be talking to Sue Lawley about the inspiration for his extraordinary bold and simple designs which have brought him fame and fortune the world over, and also waxing lyrical over the colours and patterns he uses, which reflect Byzantine carpets, Roman glass or just simple fruit, vegetables and shells. He'll also be talking about his bohemian childhood in California and the route which turned him into an Anglophile and led him to an exhibition of his work at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

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

Favourite track: Vespers by Claudio Monteverdi Book: Reflections by Hermann Hesse Luxury: Diary and pen

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is one of the country's most expensive and sought-after barristers - George Carman QC. A virtuoso of the courtroom, he has made his name successfully defending the famous - from former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe to well-known show business names like Peter Adamson, Maria Aitken and Ken Dodd. He will be talking to Sue Lawley about his perception of the key to successful advocacy and making a definitive judgement on the eight records he would take to his desert island.

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

Favourite track: Violin Concerto in D Major by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Golden Treasury by Francis Palgrave Luxury: Painting Of Grand Canal In Venice"

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is theatrical impresario Harold Fielding. The name behind a dazzling array of hit musicals like Half A Sixpence, Charlie Girl, Sweet Charity and Barnum, his failures have been nearly as spectacular as his successes - his production of Ziegfeld crashed two years ago, making a loss of more than two million pounds, and this year his new musical with Petula Clark had to close early. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the highs and lows of show business life and about the stars he has looked after, such as Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich and Ginger Rogers, to name but a few.

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

Favourite track: Piano Concerto in A Minor - Opening by Robert Schumann Book: Great Murder Trials of 20th Century by Sir David Napley Luxury: Large bag of sugar

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is novelist Maeve Binchy. During her Catholic childhood in a small Irish village, she nurtured an ambition, not just to lead a life of religious devotion, but to become a saint. Later on, she aspired to the legal profession, where her horizons stretched far beyond barristers and briefs to, at the very least, Chief Justice of Ireland. But it was ultimately as a writer that Maeve Binchy achieved enormous success, with novels like Light a Penny Candle and many others making her name as one of the most successful popular authors of her time. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her childhood in Ireland, the loss of her religious faith and her ultimate success as an author of popular fiction.

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

Favourite track: The Brendan Theme by Liam O'Flynn Book: Teach Yourself Bridge Luxury: Photograph album

Tickling sticks, diddy men, Knotty Ash - all these can mean but one thing: that this week's Desert Island Discs castaway is comedian Ken Dodd. Though his professional debut took place some 36 years ago, Mr Dodd still proclaims himself a mere spring chicken of 35 or, at a pinch, 36. As befits most jesters, he has had his share of troubles along with the laughter. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his library of books on humour, the loyalty of his audience through good and bad times and his early years in Knotty Ash, where he still lives in his childhood home.

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

Favourite track: For The Good Times by Perry Como Book: Times Atlas of the World Luxury: A box of scented soap

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a politician. Elected to Sheffield City Council at the age of 22, he went on to become its leader for seven years, after which he made the smooth and successful transition to Parliament, where he now sits on the opposition front bench as local government spokesman. Beside him sits his guide dog Offa, because David Blunkett has been blind since birth.

He will be talking to Sue Lawley about his struggles to get his 'O' and 'A' Levels and eventually his degree, his time in local and now national politics and the many problems he has overcome to reach his present position.

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

Book: Anthology of Verse by Robert Graves Luxury: Radio/cassette machine

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is actor Jonathan Pryce. Since the early 1970s, he has taken on many guises and received many plaudits. He was called the new Brando when he appeared on Broadway, and his Shakespearian roles - Hamlet and Macbeth - elicited comparisons with the late Lord Olivier. Most recently, he has diversified from classical roles, feature films and television plays to take a new path with an all-singing, award-winning performance in the West End's biggest hit of the year - Miss Saigon. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his accidental entry into the acting world and the pitfalls and pleasures of his profession.

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

Favourite track: Cello Quintet In C by Franz Schubert Book: Short Stories by Bernard MacLaverty Luxury: Endless supply of rum punch

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is one of the most highly acclaimed writers of today. The author of Good Behaviour, Time After Time and Loving and Giving, she began writing in the early 20s using the pseudonym MJ Farrell to conceal her identity from her sporting friends in Ireland, where she was born and grew up. It was a world of snobbery and decaying aristocracy which she portrays in her books with excruciating accuracy. Then, after a period in the early 50s as a successful playwright, she fell silent, to emerge 25 years later under her real name, Molly Keane, and went on to achieve huge success and literary recognition. Now 86, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her childhood, her books and her Ireland.

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

Favourite track: Greensleeves by James Galway Book: A bound copy of the Spectator magazines Luxury: A bed, netted from snakes and flies

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Prue Leith, professional cook, restaurateur and, most recently, mass caterer, with a brasserie in Hyde Park and cream teas in Hampton Court. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her childhood in South Africa, her family's lack of interest in food, her own conversion to the delights of cooking good food and her early days running a catering company from a bedsit in Earl's Court.

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

Favourite track: Symphony No 6 (Pastoral) by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Barchester Novels by Anthony Trollope Luxury: Jeroboam of champagne

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is one of the most familiar and best-loved figures of British comedy over the last 40 years - June Whitfield. Whether as Eth, with her boyfriend Ron, in the Glums in the 1950s, or June, with Terry Scott, in Terry and June, her consummate professionalism has brought laughter and fun to millions of people. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her early career as well as her most recent one as what has been described as Britain's answer to Jane Fonda, presenting a keep-fit TV programme for the over-60s.

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

Favourite track: The Trolley Song by Judy Garland Book: A do-it-yourself manual Luxury: Supply of cocoa butter and hat

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is novelist Mary Wesley. Although she has written poetry and prose throughout her life, it was not until she was a widow in her 70s, struggling to make ends meet, that she had her first book, Jumping the Queue, published. That was eight years ago, and since then she has gone on to write six more best-sellers like The Camomile Lawn and Not That Sort of Girl. Mary Wesley will be talking to Sue Lawley about the pleasures and perils of her late arrival to literary fame and choosing eight records to accompany her to her desert island.

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

Favourite track: Symphony No 7 - Final Movement by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Luxury: Denis Healey or large double bed with pillows

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is Sir Crispin Tickell, Britain's Ambassador to the United Nations. As well as being an ambassador, he is also a passionate meteorologist and conservationist - a cool diplomat who's made himself an expert on global warming. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his many postings, passions and pastimes.

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

Favourite track: String Quartet No 1 by Johannes Brahms Book: Guide To Science by Asimov Luxury: Solar-powered telescope

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the Rt Hon John Biffen MP. One of the most popular men at Westminster and a dedicated parliamentarian, he will be talking to Sue Lawley about his early passion for history and politics, his later dismissal from the cabinet by Mrs Thatcher, and also discussing the current debate surrounding the leadership of the Conservative Party.

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

Favourite track: The English Character (speech) by Stanley Baldwin Book: 1946 Wisden Almanack for cricketers Luxury: Rain gauge

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is one of Britain's leading and most controversial architects Richard Rogers. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about two of his most celebrated designs - the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the Lloyds Building in London - and describing how his passion for the new and the innovative has brought him into disagreement with many critics, including Prince Charles, with whom he shares a passionate concern for the quality of our built environment.

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

Favourite track: Piano Concerto No 24 Second Movement by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: The Odyssey by Homer Luxury: His wife, Ruth, but if this is disallowed then a painting

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is scientist Professor Sir George Porter. Currently President of the Royal Society, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his route from the local school - a tin shack called the Tin Lizzie, in the mining village in which he was born - to Nobel Prize winner for chemistry in 1967, and discussing the parlous state of science and science teaching in the 1990s.

[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: Non-Equilibrium Thermo Dynamics by Prigogine Luxury: Computer, paper and pen

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is Sir Ian Trethowan. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his days as a copy boy earning 27/6d on the Daily Sketch, his early journalistic career, his transition from television presenter to manager of BBC Radio, and some of the dramas and crises which characterised his days as Director-General of the BBC. A lifelong opera lover, he'll also be choosing eight records for his island idyll.

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

Favourite track: Der Rosenkavalier (Hab Mirs Gelobt) Final Act by Richard Strauss Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Luxury: Champagne

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is, by his own account, very difficult to classify - his talents span comedy, writing, acting and improvisation. He has appeared in the television adaption of Porterhouse Blue and can be heard on Spitting Image as the voice of Norman Tebbitt and Lord Olivier. He has also appeared in the West End as Napoleon, as well as playing nearly forty supporting roles. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his meteoric rise to fame since he abandoned the academic world just eight years ago.

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

Favourite track: Symphony No 2 -The End by Gustav Mahler Book: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens Luxury: A 78rpm record of The Laughing Policeman (to smash on the rocks)

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the journalist John Pilger. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his arrival in this country from Australia 28 years ago, and how he went on to become one of the best-known and often most contentious foreign correspondents on the Daily Mirror during the 1960s. His reporting of events from all over the world, but most notably Cambodia, has brought him fame and admiration, as well as criticism and controversy for his campaigning style. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about these issues.

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

Favourite track: Blue Moon Of Kentucky by Elvis Presley Book: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller Luxury: Typewriter

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the American conductor and virtuoso Michael Tilson Thomas. As well as being an internationally recognised musician, his passion for music and his desire to bring his own enthusiasm to as wide an audience as possible have made him something of a television star in America. In this country, he has been principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra for nearly two years, and has been called the most exciting American conductor since Leonard Bernstein.

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

Favourite track: Vespers by Claudio Monteverdi Book: Collected Poems by Raine Maria Rilke Luxury: Yamaha computerised concert grand piano

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the actress Sarah Miles. Discovered at the tender age of 18 by Sir Laurence Olivier, and picked by him to play opposite him in Term of Trial, she went on to entertain and entrance in films like The Servant, Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines and, perhaps most famously, Ryan's Daughter. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her professional and private life - both of which have been characterised by a fair degree of turmoil and turbulence.

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

Favourite track: Negro Spiritual by Miles Book: I Ching Luxury: Word processor

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a publisher; a man who came to this country 52 years ago with a 16/6d postal order in his pocket and very poor English. Over half a century later, he is a cultured and successful businessman, renowned for his glittering parties and wide circle of eminent friends, many of whom write books for him. He is Lord Weidenfeld, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his rise from being an impoverished immigrant, to becoming one of Britain's leading intellectual and social figures.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Don Giovanni - The Quintet by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens Luxury: Armchair with coffee machine & rescue signal

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is Sir Robin Day. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about going with his father to hear Churchill speak at a political rally when he was a boy, recalling his days at post-war Oxford, the early days at ITN and his long association with politicians in front of the microphone.

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

Favourite track: The Drinking Song by Giuseppe Verdi Book: The Oxford Book of English Verse Luxury: Magnums of champagne

This week's castaway is Dennis Skinner MP. Recently described as the backbenchers' backbencher, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about Parliament and politics and choosing eight records to accompany him on his solitary island adventure.

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

Favourite track: Daddy, What Did You Do in the Strike? by Peggy Seeger Book: Let's Face the Music by Benny Green Luxury: Bike

In this week's edition of Desert Island Discs the castaway is film actor and writer Dirk Bogarde. Among many other things, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about why life as a national heart-throb has never really suited him, about his many years living in Provence and about the film of which he himself is most proud - Visconti's Death in Venice.

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

Favourite track: 5th Symphony 4th Movement by Gustav Mahler Book: Akenfield by Ronald Blythe Luxury: Distillery

The castaway in this week's edition of Desert Island Discs is Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent. After a lifelong devotion to music, she will be whittling down her choice of eight records with great difficulty. Now Patron of the Leeds Piano Competition and the Yehudi Menuhin School, as well as President of the Royal Northern College of Music, the Duchess of Kent studied music herself until she was twenty-five. Her Royal Highness will be talking to Sue Lawley about her love of music, her Yorkshire childhood and her prolific work for charity.

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

Favourite track: Ave Verum Corpus by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: A do-it-yourself manual Luxury: Lamp with solar batteries

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is actress Pauline Collins. As someone who has been entertaining television audiences for over twenty years in popular series like Emergency Ward 10 and Upstairs, Downstairs, she has simultaneously pursued a theatrical career which recently burgeoned into huge success with her portrayal of Shirley Valentine - the trapped Liverpool housewife who finds escape on a Greek island. It's a part which has won her great acclaim both on the stage and in the recent film version. Pauline Collins will be talking to Sue Lawley about the international star status Shirley Valentine has brought her and recalling milestones and memories of her career.

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

Favourite track: Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy Book: Teach yourself physics Luxury: Papers, pencils, paints

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his boyhood and his memories of university life, as well as his subsequent journalistic and political experiences, including the more recent upheavals in his political career.

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

Favourite track: Clarinet Quintet In A Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: The collected works by John Donne Luxury: Radio receiver

This episode of Desert Island Discs exists for reference, as part of the most complete possible archive resource of programmes from the long-running series, and was broadcast in 1989. The castaway is Diana Mosley, a Mitford girl who married Sir Oswald Mosley, the leader of the British Union of Fascists. During the interview with Sue Lawley, Lady Mosley discusses her contentious continued denial of the Holocaust and admiration for Adolf Hitler, along with her and her husband’s imprisonment during most of the war years and her close friendship with the neighbours who shared her subsequent exile in France, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

[Programme information updated February 2022]

Favourite track: Die Walküre by Richard Wagner Book: Books by Marcel Proust Luxury: Soft pillow

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is Seamus Heaney, a Catholic Ulsterman who has been acclaimed by many as the best Irish poet since Yeats. He was recently elected Oxford Professor of Poetry, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his idyllic rural childhood as the eldest of nine children, his transition to university life and the sources of his poetic inspiration.

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

Favourite track: Quartet No 13 in B Flat Major by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Ulysses by James Joyce Luxury: Doc Marten boots

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is theatrical producer Michael Codron. During the 30 years he has been in the business, some of Britain's most eminent modern playwrights - John Mortimer, Alan Ayckbourn and Tom Stoppard for example - started their writing careers under his patronage. He's also turned his hand to popular entertainment in the form of hit plays like Crown Matrimonial and There's a Girl in my Soup. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his successes as well as his failures, and the risky but compulsive character of show business life.

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

Favourite track: Symphony No 1 in C by Georges Bizet Book: Caroline and Charlotte by Alison Plowman Luxury: Jigsaw puzzles

If you were told that this week's Desert Island Discs castaway took ballet lessons as a child, was a moderately angelic choirboy and now plays golf, badminton and cricket, as well as walking long distances for charity, the name of Ian Botham might well not spring immediately to mind. But it will indeed be Mr Ian Botham who'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his exploits on and off the cricket field, as well as discussing his ambition to captain the England team again.

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

Favourite track: I'm Still Standing by Elton John Book: Encyclopaedia of species of fish of the world Luxury: Fishing rod

The castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is novelist and travel writer Colin Thubron. Author of books on the Middle East, China and Russia, he will be divulging to Sue Lawley some of the delights and dangers of his many experiences, as well as sharing his passion for music.

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

Favourite track: Love Duet (from Creation) by Franz Joseph Haydn Book: A Year of Grace by Victor Gollancz Luxury: Scuba-diving equipment

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is playwright Alan Plater. He has been writing plays for radio, television, theatre and cinema since the early 1960s, having served his apprenticeship on Z-Cars in the days of live television drama. Since then, he has been associated with major television adaptions like The Barchester Chronicles and Fortunes of War.

He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his work, as well as recalling his childhood in the north of England in the 1930s and 1940s - an idyllic time for him despite the inconveniences of the Depression and the Blitz.

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

Favourite track: Fine & Mellow by Billie Holiday Book: Smell of Sunday Dinner by Sid Chaplin Luxury: Writing materials

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is veteran actor Jack Lemmon. With nearly 50 films to his name, including comedy classics like The Odd Couple and Some Like It Hot, as well as more serious films like Missing and The China Syndrome, he's also an accomplished jazz pianist, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his passion for music and the vital part it has played in his life.

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

Favourite track: Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin Book: A Play in the Fields of our Lord by Peter Matheson Luxury: Piano

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a woman of many passions - passions for places, people and the past. She is photographer Lucinda Lambton, and she'll be sharing her love of the unusual and the beautiful with Sue Lawley.

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

Favourite track: Quartet (from Act 2 of Fidelio) by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Dictionary of National Biography Luxury: Word processor

This week's Desert Island Discs will be a form of tribute to the pianist John Ogdon, who died last month.

In the programme, you can hear about his early musical life and his enormous success on the international music scene - a success which was cut short by a devastating nervous breakdown which brought his career to a halt. During his conversation with Sue Lawley, he talked about that illness, his eventual recovery and subsequent return to the concert platform and recording studios.

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

Favourite track: Symphony No 1 in B Minor 1st Movement by William Walton Book: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins Luxury: Steinway piano

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is one of Britain's leading writers, Penelope Lively. Author of eight novels, two of which were shortlisted for the Booker Prize and one which won her the prize in 1987, Moon Tiger, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her early childhood in Egypt, her philistine English boarding school and the sources of inspiration for her characters and books.

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

Favourite track: Ruhe Sanft, Mein Holdes Leben (from Zaide) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Moby Dick by Herman Melville Luxury: Binoculars

The castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is one of the legendary figures of the British rock music scene - guitarist Eric Clapton. Once known, blasphemously, as 'God', with prolific graffiti announcing 'Eric Clapton is God', he played with, among others, the Yardbirds, Cream and Blind Faith. Dealing successfully with years of alcohol and drug-related problems, he's still one of rock's superstars, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his passion for music and his life of turmoil.

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

Favourite track: Purple Rain by Prince Book: Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens Luxury: Guitar

As part of Radio 4's commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War, the castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs will be Dame Vera Lynn.

She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her own wartime experiences - as the now-legendary 'forces sweetheart' she performed in front of servicemen as far away as Burma, and as close to home as London's Regent's Park, and since then she has been constantly in demand all over the world for her singing and her songs, reviving as they do wartime memories both happy and sad.

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

Favourite track: Room 504 by Vera Lynn Book: A book of edible fruits and vegetables Luxury: Watercolour paints, brushes and paper

This week's castaway is Sir Thomas Armstrong, formerly Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, and now 91 years old. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his many years of teaching and performing music, judging music competitions and carrying out the almost impossible task of choosing just eight records to take to the mythical island from a lifetime filled with music from an early age.

Favourite track: Brigg Fair by Frederick Delius Luxury: Clavichord

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is something of a show business all-rounder - the moving spirit behind BBC TV's That Was the Week That Was, director of the musical Side by Side by Sondheim and currently presenter of Radio 4's Loose Ends. He is, of course, Ned Sherrin, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his idyllic childhood as a Somerset farmer's son, and the many different turns his life has subsequently taken.

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

Favourite track: As Time Goes By by Elisabeth Welch Book: No Bed For Bacon by Caryl Brahms Luxury: Seed potatoes

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is the man who, as well as transforming Wimbledon into a multi-million pound industry, manages the professional lives of some of the biggest Wimbledon names - Ivan Lendl and Martina Navratilova, for example. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his formidable business and management skills and how he is now applying them to the world of classical music, taking on clients like Kiri Te Kanawa and Itzhak Perlman.

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

Favourite track: Drive All Night by Bruce Springsteen Book: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo Luxury: Suntan lotion

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is someone who, over the last seven years, has become a superstar of the small screen, playing the venomous Alexis Carrington in the television soap opera Dynasty. She is, of course, Joan Collins, and she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about Alexis, as well as her many other roles, working with such great names as Jack Hawkins, Bette Davis, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. That's Joan Collins, discussing Hollywood, husbands and the pursuit of happiness.

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

Favourite track: Intermezzo (from Manon Lescaut) by Giacomo Puccini Book: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Luxury: Large bottle of sun tan oil and moisturiser

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is actress Maria Aitken, who will be talking to Sue Lawley about her current reputation as the finest exponent of Noel Coward's leading ladies and her film roles; among them John Cleese's wife in A Fish Called Wanda. She'll also be discussing her many other careers as writer, chatshow hostess and journalist.

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

Favourite track: Duet (from La Traviata) by Giuseppe Verdi Book: Fun in a Chinese Laundry by Josef von Sternberg Luxury: Amazonian rain maker

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is Director of Friends of the Earth Jonathon Porritt. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his passionate commitment to the preservation of the planet, and also confessing that, even though he is seen by many as the guru of self-sufficiency and all things green, he would be totally at a loss when it came to surviving island life.

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

Favourite track: Humpback Whale Music by Humpback Whales Book: Bleak House by Charles Dickens Luxury: Fountain pen

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is ideally suited to speculate on the pleasures and perils of island life, owning, as he does, his own island. He's Richard Branson, tycoon and entrepreneur, who made his first million while still in his teens, having left school at 15. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his family, his business philosophy and also his daredevil exploits with power boats and hot air balloons.

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

Favourite track: In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins Book: Teach yourself Japanese phrase book Luxury: Notebooks and pens

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is one of the country's leading former diplomats, Sir Nicholas Henderson. He has served in Britain's embassies all over the world - including Poland, West Germany and Paris, but was most prominent as our man in Washington during the Falklands War. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the pleasures and pitfalls of this somewhat nomadic, but nevertheless glamorous existence, and choosing eight records to accompany him on this, his final posting.

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

Favourite track: Concerto No 19 In F Major Third Movement by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Short Stories by Guy de Maupassant Luxury: Sculpture from The Louvre and a box of different seeds

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is one of Britain's most successful fashion designers - Katharine Hamnett.

She started in the business 10 years ago with a £500 loan, and now runs a company with a £10 million turnover. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the connection between politics and fashion, and also about her famous baggy white t-shirts, which bear political and ecological slogans, and the memorable occasion when she wore one of them on a visit to 10 Downing Street.

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

Favourite track: Big Head by Max Bygraves Book: The I Ching Luxury: Aircraft carrier (to decorate)

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is one of Britain's greatest and best-loved character actresses, Thora Hird. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her lifelong involvement with the theatre - she first appeared on the stage at eight weeks old - and discussing more recent roles, such as Doris in Alan Bennett's play A Cream Cracker Under the Settee; a part which this year won her the BAFTA award for best television actress.

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

Favourite track: Onward Christian Soldiers by The Harry Simeone Chorale Book: Scene & Hird by Thora Hird Luxury: Cleansing milk

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is one of Britain's most popular comedians, Lenny Henry. His talent emerged at the age of 16, when he was one of the star turns on New Faces, and he has since gone from strength to strength - appearing in television programmes like TISWAS and Three of a Kind, doing unforgettable imitations as well as creating his own characters.

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

He'll be giving Sue Lawley glimpses of these characters as well as talking about his time with the Black and White Minstrels, and his most recent role, as one of the moving forces behind Comic Relief, when he and fellow comedians banded together to raise millions of pounds for the people of Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.

Favourite track: I Just Called To Say I Love You by Stevie Wonder Book: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller Luxury: Graphic novels (Comics)

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is someone who now sits at the head of one of this country's most famous theatrical dynasties - the remarkable Redgraves. But Lady Redgrave, as Rachel Kempson, is also a highly-regarded actress in her own right - still treading the boards at the age of 78 - and she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her long career on the stage, her marriage to Sir Michael Redgrave and the pitfalls and pleasures of a family which now encompasses three generations of acting talent.

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

Favourite track: If The Heart Of A Man by Michael Redgrave Book: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Luxury: Case of champagne

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is biologist and conservationist Miriam Rothschild. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her lifelong fascination with all forms of natural life, including her passion for fleas, worms and butterflies, and also how she welcomes the prospect of exile to the mythical island as an opportunity to discover and investigate unlimited flora and fauna.

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

Favourite track: Cello Suite No 5 - Prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Encyclopaedia Britannica Luxury: Bag of wild flower seed

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is Lord Jenkins of Hillhead - formerly Roy Jenkins.

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

He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his long and varied political career, which has encompassed periods as Chancellor of the Exchequer, Home Secretary and this country's first President of the European Commission. He'll also be looking back on his Welsh origins and the early days of the Social Democratic Party, of which he was a founding member, as well as challenging his popular image as a claret-drinking intellectual.

Favourite track: Theme (from Enigma Variations) by Edward Elgar Book: Who Was Who Luxury: Case of Bordeaux wine

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is an actor who rose to fame on the nation's television screens as the landlord in the BBC television series Eastenders - the volatile and villainous Dirty Den. He's Leslie Grantham, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about life after Dirty Den now that he has left the series, and also his time in prison when he served an 11-year sentence for a crime he committed as a teenage soldier.

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

Favourite track: Test Pilot Sketch (from Hancock's Half Hour) by Galton & Simpson Book: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Luxury: Metal detector

In this week's Desert Island Discs, one of the most eminent English poets of this century, Sir Stephen Spender, talks to Sue Lawley about his radical and often flamboyant past, and his friendships with such notable literary figures as Christopher Isherwood, WH Auden and Virginia Woolfe.

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

Favourite track: String Quartet in A Minor by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust Luxury: Painting or sculpture & photograph of daughter

Sue Lawley's castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the satirical cartoonist Gerald Scarfe. Renowned for his grotesquely exaggerated portrayals of political figures and issues, he will be talking about his isolated childhood, which was dominated by chronic asthma, and how, with no formal art training, he has now become one of the most eminent artists of our time, branching out from drawing his instantly-recognisable caricatures into the world of theatre, rock and opera.

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

Favourite track: Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: A title by Capability Brown Luxury: River painting by Turner

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is Dame Josephine Barnes, who, ten years ago, was the first woman to become President of the British Medical Association. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her long and brilliant career in a traditionally male-dominated world, and her battles to improve the care of women in pregnancy and childbirth, both before and after the advent of the National Health Service.

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

Favourite track: I Was Glad by Hubert Parry Book: The scores of all music chosen in a bound volume Luxury: Solar-powered word processer

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is the playwright and theatre director David Hare - a man who has made his name with plays like Pravda, Plenty, Lickin' Hitler and, most recently, The Secret Rapture. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the impact of the theatre on post-war Britain and his own role as one of the leading writers of left-wing intellectual drama.

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

Favourite track: Young and Foolish by Mabel Mercer Book: Larousse Gastronomique Luxury: Cricket bat & bowling machine

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the Rt Hon Enoch Powell - politician, poet and classical scholar. He'll be looking back on some of the incidents and issues which have made him one of the most controversial politicians in post-war Britain - among them, his so-called Rivers of Blood speech on immigration policy, and his exhortation to the electorate to vote Labour after his resignation over Britain's entry into the EEC.

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

Favourite track: The Renunciation of Siegfried (from Götterdämmerung) by Richard Wagner Book: Old Testament In Hebrew & Greek Luxury: Smoking device to smoke fish

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is Jeffrey Tate, principal conductor of the English Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Opera House, and chief guest conductor of the Geneva Opera. Until the age of 27, his chosen profession was medicine, but once a fully-qualified doctor, he switched his career to become one of the most sought-after conductors of his time - both in Britain and abroad. This is an achievement impressive enough in itself, but doubly so given that since childhood he has suffered from a condition which has resulted in curvature of the spine and a paralysed left leg, which means that, for the most part, he conducts sitting on a high stool.

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

Sue Lawley will be talking to Jeffrey Tate about his transition from medicine to a stunning musical career and the problems he has overcome to achieve such extraordinary success.

Favourite track: I'll Be Seeing You by Billie Holiday Book: The collected works by Jane Austen Luxury: Nativity painting from the National Gallery

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the chief executive of Britain's largest hotel and catering chain, an empire which extends from motorway cafes to the grandest hotels in London and Paris. He is Rocco Forte, and he'll be talking about the famed Forte dynasty, his renown as a one-time playboy and his company's continuing battle for ownership of the elusive Savoy hotel.

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

Favourite track: Dies Irae by Giuseppe Verdi Book: Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri Luxury: Snooker table

This week's castaway on the mythical desert island is someone who welcomes the isolation her exile can offer - she is singer and songwriter Joan Armatrading. An intensely shy and private person, renowned for her powerfully emotional songs, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her first impressions of England when she arrived here as a small girl 31 years ago from the Caribbean. She'll also be discussing her music, and the fame which it has brought - something she still finds surprising, and often quite overwhelming.

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

Favourite track: Madame George by Van Morrison Book: Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie Luxury: Guitar

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is someone who has experienced the delights of international stardom and acclaim, and the misery of failure when his fame turned sour and his popularity plummeted. The flamboyant Boy George will be talking to Sue Lawley about the ups and downs of his professional and private life.

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

Favourite track: It Must Be Love by Madness Book: Photograph album Luxury: Radio receiver

Sue Lawley's castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is the Rt Hon Tony Benn MP.

He'll be discussing his long and turbulent career as one of this country's most eloquent socialists - he served in every Labour government of the 1960s and 1970s. He'll also be talking about the many stories that have always surrounded him: is it true, for example, that he is 'wired for sound' and records every conversation he has? And has he really drunk enough cups of tea in his lifetime to displace the QE2?

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

Favourite track: Madrigal by Stephen Benn Book: Das Kapital by Karl Marx Luxury: Kettle and teabags

Sue Lawley's castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is someone who's face graced the covers of fashion magazines the world over more than 20 years ago when she was still a teenager.

The name 'Twiggy' was synonymous with *the* look of the 1960s - waif-like and doe-eyed. Today, she has matured into a successful actress, singer and dancer, and she'll be talking about those early, heady days, and how she managed to survive the media hype that surrounded her wherever she went.

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

Favourite track: Yesterday by The Beatles Book: Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Luxury: Cold cream

The first castaway of 1989 in this week's Desert Island Discs is one of Britain's most senior church leaders - the Most Reverend Robert Runcie, the 102nd Archbishop of Canterbury. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his Liverpool childhood and his war years when, as a tank commander, he won the military cross.

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

Favourite track: The Sanctus Book: The Odyssey by Homer Luxury: Rocking chair

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is a man who has, at times, endured a different isolation from that imposed by the mythical island. But along with his frequently turbulent political career, he has also enjoyed the close companionship of his fellow crew members when captaining his yacht to resounding victories, as well as conducting some of the greatest orchestras in the world. Former Prime Minister the Rt Hon Edward Heath will be discussing his many achievements - political, nautical and musical - as well as his plans for the future in Desert Island Discs.

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

Favourite track: Prisoners' Chorus by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Volume of the works of the Impressionist painters Luxury: Suntan lotion

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is actor Charles Dance. A man once termed "the thinking woman's crumpet", it's a description he doesn't take too seriously. But he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his matinee idol image, his early days as an aspiring actor and the role which turned him into an international star - the dashing Guy Perron in the widely-acclaimed TV series The Jewel in the Crown.

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

Favourite track: La Bottega Dei Miracoli by Nicola Poivanni Book: A Dream in the Luxembourg by Richard Aldington Luxury: Guitar

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a philosopher, academic and mistress of Girton College, Cambridge; but Lady Mary Warnock is perhaps best known for her work in the public arena, on committees looking at a wide range of ethically-controversial subjects, including embryo research and animal experimentation.

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

She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about these difficult areas and also her early days as an academic when she was also bringing up five children. Throughout her life, music has also been a dominant theme and she'll be carrying out the difficult task of choosing eight records to accompany her to the desert island.

Favourite track: My Beloved Spake by Henry Purcell Book: The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope Luxury: Pen and paper

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a man who prefers to shun any sort of label, but has already attracted quite a number of them - writer, actor, raconteur, wit - but it is as a so-called 'alternative comedian' that Stephen Fry has been most remarkable, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his somewhat chequered past and his highly successful present.

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

Favourite track: The Magic Fire Music (Die Walkure) by Richard Wagner Book: The Jeeves Omnibus by P G Wodehouse Luxury: Suicide pill

Sue Lawley's castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is jockey Bob Champion - a man who, against all the odds, fought back after he was diagnosed as having cancer to win one of the most coveted prizes in his field - in 1981 he rode Aldaniti to a stunning victory in the Grand National. He'll be talking about his passion for riding, his fight against his illness and the two children who, contrary to all medical predictions, he has since fathered.

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

Favourite track: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel Book: Fraser's Horse Book by Alistair Fraser Luxury: A bronze statue of the racehorse Aldaniti

The castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is a man who has reached the top of his profession through a fantastically varied number of routes - steeplejack, trainee accountant, circus fire-eater and hotel porter are just a few of them. Now one of the hottest properties in the film business on both sides of the Atlantic, actor Bob Hoskins will be talking to Sue Lawley about his image as a tough cockney lad, which has been prompted by such films as Mona Lisa and The Long Good Friday, and the role that took him to fame: Arthur Parker in Dennis Potter's TV series Pennies From Heaven.

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

Favourite track: Adagio For Strings by Samuel Barber Book: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller Luxury: Telescope

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a man of quite extraordinary diversity. Now Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, his other jobs have included chairing the Board of the Royal Opera House and leading the government's Central Statistical Office under three Prime Ministers. But it is his passionate love of music, however, which has dominated his life throughout his many careers, and he'll be undertaking the difficult task of selecting just eight records to accompany him to the desert island.

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

Favourite track: The Marriage Of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: A volume by James Thurber Luxury: Concert grand Steinway piano

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a writer and academic who's most renowned for her views on women, sex and human relations. She's Germaine Greer - someone who's often described as the 'high priestess of feminism'. As she approaches her 50th birthday, she'll be discussing with Sue Lawley whether her views have mellowed over the years, and how her aspirations have changed since the publication of her book The Female Eunuch.

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

Favourite track: Piece De Clavecin by Francois Couperin Book: The Oxford English Dictionary Luxury: Hot spices

The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a man who has been described as "the nicest Prime Minister we never had". He may never have made it as Prime Minister, but Michael Foot has had a long and illustrious career, representing his Welsh constituency for many years, and becoming leader of the Labour Party in 1980. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his passion for politics, books and music.

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

Favourite track: The Barber Of Seville - Una Voce Poco Fa by Gioacchino Rossini Book: Don Juan by Lord Byron Luxury: Alarm clock encased in Welsh tinplate

This week's castaway on Desert Island Discs reveals her three remaining burning ambitions in life: to make a number-one record, to become a grandmother and to be treated as a real sex symbol - all this with 25 years of singing and compering success behind her. She's matchmaker supreme Cilla Black, and she'll be talking about her legendary early days in Liverpool, her subsequent career and her family.

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

Favourite track: The Long and Winding Road by The Beatles Book: Fables by Aesop Luxury: Manicure set and nail varnish

Shy, lazy, self-effacing: this is the way this week's castaway on Desert Island Discs describes himself to Sue Lawley. So how come he ventured to the Radio Show at Earl's Court to choose his eight records to accompany him to the island? Well, you can find out how Terry Wogan just can't resist the challenge of a real, live audience, and also hear his ruminations on solitude, show business and shyness.

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

Favourite track: My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose by Irene Sharp Book: The collected works by P G Wodehouse Luxury: Radio-cassette player and language tapes

Sue Lawley's castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the actress Athene Seyler. She first appeared on the stage 80 years ago as Rosalind in As You Like It - a part she can still recite - and now, at 99, she looks back with pleasure on her many happy years as one of Britain's finest comic actresses.

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

Favourite track: Du Bist Wie Eine Blume by Robert Schumann Book: The Disinherited by Gareth Jones Luxury: Case of champagne

The castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is a monk, a man at peace with solitude, but whose life has been spent fighting the cause of the oppressed and dispossessed, from South Africa to London's East End. He is Bishop Trevor Huddleston, former Bishop of Stepney and President of the Anti-Apartheid Movement. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his long and varied life.

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

Favourite track: Fidelio - The Prisoners Chorus by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Oxford Book of English Verse Luxury: Binoculars