The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Lady Soames, historian and only surviving child of Winston Churchill. A distinguished author and now Chairman of the Board of the National Theatre, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her extraordinary life - recalling her blissful childhood spent at Chartwell, the family's country home. She'll also be talking about the many state visits she made with her father and her husband - and remembering a conversation she had with General de Gaulle, who...
Mar 22, 1992•39 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is philosopher and historian Sir Isaiah Berlin. Born in Latvia 80 years ago, he was brought to England by his family when he was ten years old and barely able to speak English. He is now internationally regarded as one of the most brilliant scholars of his age. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his early years in Russia, his commitment to, and respect for, this country, and explaining the philosophical implications of liberalism - his guiding prin...
Mar 15, 1992•40 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is entrepreneur, newspaperman and public servant Jocelyn Stevens. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his love of life - he works in London and spends his weekends in Gstaad - and his impressive career: he revitalised Queen Magazine, launched Radio Caroline, saved the Evening Standard and served as Managing Director of Express Newspapers. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Si...
Mar 08, 1992•37 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is geneticist Dr Steve Jones. Eminent in his field, he's made a lifelong study of the evolution of the snail, the reproduction of the fruit fly and the sex life of the slug. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the study of genetics, reflecting on its disreputable past, analysing the problems of genetic engineering and discussing the research that inspired his recent Reith Lectures, particularly the evidence that proves that most of the world has des...
Mar 01, 1992•38 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is singer-songwriter Elvis Costello. Widely regarded as one of the best British songwriters of recent years, he comes from a musical family - both his father and grandfather were trumpeters. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his eclectic taste in music, comparing classical singers to pop stars, and choosing eight records, not for pleasure, but to provide sustenance on his desert island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive ...
Feb 23, 1992•37 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Sir Roger Bannister, the man who first ran the four-minute mile. Now an eminent neurologist, he is as proud of his research during the last 15 years into the effects of low blood pressure, as he is of his achievements on the athletics field. Master of Pembroke College, he's taken up sculling, and with a night school qualification in navigation as well, he'll be telling Sue Lawley how he plans to escape from the desert island. [Taken from the origi...
Feb 16, 1992•38 min
In memory of Robbie Coltrane. The actor was Sue Lawley's castaway in Desert Island Discs in 1992. He first became noticed in the early 1980s in television programmes such as The Comic Strip, The Young Ones and Saturday Night Live. After that he became an international star. He talked to Sue Lawley about, amongst other things, his love of Scotland, his passion for vintage cars and his fear of live performances. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island ...
Feb 09, 1992•37 min
This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is writer JG Ballard. Since the early 1960s, he has been well-known as a science fiction writer. But more recently he has reached an even wider audience with his autobiographical novels Empire of the Sun and The Kindness of Women. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his extraordinary life - his childhood in Shanghai, his adolescence spent in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp and how, after the sudden and tragic death of his wife, he raised his three young ...
Feb 02, 1992•36 min
Few people will be surprised to hear that the castaway in this week's special 50th anniversary edition of Desert Island Discs is the Prime Minister John Major. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his very happy childhood years, his more traumatic adolescence and his transformation into the perfect Conservative parliamentary candidate. He'll also be discussing his love of music and books, and revealing the luxury that was a surprise even to Sue Lawley. [Taken from the original programme material...
Jan 26, 1992•39 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of Britain's most well-known church leaders, the Right Reverend David Jenkins, the Lord Bishop of Durham. At the age of 60, after a career spent mainly as an academic theologian, he was catapulted into controversy: his views on the virgin birth and the resurrection caused outrage, and his opinions on the divisions between rich and poor infuriated politicians. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his surprise at the controversies he caused, and...
Jan 19, 1992•38 min
The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is actor, writer and director Steven Berkoff. Irreverent, energetic and compelling, his work has brought him an international reputation and his last West End production, Kvetch, was voted comedy of the year. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his love of drama and why it changed his life, his short spell in Hollywood playing archetypal villains and his time spent in Paris studying mime. [Taken from the original programme material for this archiv...
Jan 12, 1992•38 min
The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is actor Gorden Kaye. Lovers of British situation comedy knew him a long time ago as a familiar supporting figure in It Ain't Half Hot, Mum and Are You Being Served?, but for most people he has only one part: that of the French cafe owner Rene Artois in 'Allo 'Allo. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his childhood years in Yorkshire, his love of comedy and natural talent for it, and the loyalty of his audience through good and bad times. [Taken fro...
Dec 22, 1991•36 min
The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is writer Sue Townsend. Her most famous creation is Adrian Mole, and, in many respects, his life mirrors her own: like her hero, she comes from a poor but not deprived background and always nursed a secret ambition to be a writer. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her life and work and carefully selecting eight records which remind her of some of the most significant events in her life. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive...
Dec 08, 1991•42 min
The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is a man who, for the past 26 years, has earned his living by helping to alter the industrial landscape of northern Britain - steeplejack Fred Dibnah. Renowned for his philosophising as much as for his engineering expertise, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his life, which has been spent swinging from factory chimneys and wrestling behind the wheels of steam engines. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert I...
Dec 01, 1991•37 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the film critic Dilys Powell. She began reviewing films for The Sunday Times in 1939, and since then her forthright and pithy comments have served as a natural accompaniment to the pleasures of going to the cinema. Today, at the age of 90, she still reviews three or four films a week and she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her receipt of what she describes as "a very liberal education" from her lifelong devotion to the big screen. [Taken from th...
Nov 24, 1991•42 min
The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is scientist James Lovelock. The son of a South London gasman, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his passion for science and recalling some of the experiences he had whilst working on the American space programme, which eventually led him to invent the Gaia Theory - a theory which, amongst other things, argues that the human race is not necessary for the planet's survival. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Des...
Nov 17, 1991•42 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the man who brought the Folies Bergere to Britain and ran the Talk of the Town in its heyday - the theatrical impresario Lord Delfont. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his extraordinary life: he was raised in the East End of London, his family having settled there after escaping the pogroms in the Ukraine, and is now, at 82, the president of his own leisure corporation; worth £450 million. [Taken from the original programme material for this a...
Nov 10, 1991•36 min
The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the historian EP Thompson. As a lifelong peace campaigner, Edward Thompson enjoys making history as much as writing about it. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his disillusionment with the Communist Party, how and why he founded the magazine which has become The New Left Review, and enjoying his carefully-selected eight records. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Carol...
Nov 03, 1991•38 min
The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the American actor Alan Alda. The son of a vaudeville artist, he shot to fame portraying the wise-cracking, womanising Hawkeye in the television series M.A.S.H. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the part that transformed his life and his initial reluctance to accept it, his childhood years in the burlesque houses of America, and explaining why, despite being a millionaire, he continues to work. [Taken from the original programme material for ...
Oct 27, 1991•37 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Elizabeth Esteve-Coll, Director of one of Britain's most famous museums, the V & A. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her career at the V & A and the controversy she caused within her first year of office. She'll also be recalling how, at 19, she abandoned her university career and married a Spanish sea captain with whom she sailed the world. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] F...
Oct 20, 1991•38 min
The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is the film director John Schlesinger. Like many other British filmmakers, he learnt his craft at the BBC but soon moved on to directing feature films including A Kind of Loving, Far From the Madding Crowd and the Oscar-winning Midnight Cowboy. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his long and successful career, the controversy he caused with his films Darling and Sunday Bloody Sunday and choosing eight records to take to his island exile. [Taken fro...
Oct 13, 1991•37 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the Pakistani cricketer Imran Khan. Educated at Oxford and dividing his time between England and Pakistan, his fame extends well beyond the cricket field. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his faith - he is a devout Muslim - the constant speculation surrounding his love life and how his mother's death from cancer dramatically changed his life. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite...
Oct 06, 1991•35 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the photographer David Bailey. Born and bred in the East End of London, he took the fashion business by storm in the 1960s - discovering, photographing and often marrying some of the world's most beautiful women. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about success in the 1960s, the first time he saw Jean Shrimpton and his desire to carry on working, like his hero Picasso, until he's 90. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition...
Sep 29, 1991•37 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the conductor Klaus Tennstedt. When, at 45, he defected from East Germany, he was virtually unknown in the West. But three years later, after conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra, he was acclaimed as an international maestro. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his impressive musical career, his defection from East Germany and his battle against cancer of the vocal chords. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition o...
Sep 22, 1991•38 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of the most important figures in British industry today - the Director-General of the CBI John Banham. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his impressive and varied career, his passion for sailing and how he very nearly lost his life during the Fastnet Race of 1979. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Sanctus by Gabriel Fauré Book: The collected works by A E Houseman Lu...
Sep 15, 1991•37 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the writer Bernice Rubens. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her childhood with musically-gifted brothers and sister, and how, despite having written 17 novels - one of them won the Booker prize, another was also shortlisted - she still sees herself as merely a successful novelist who failed to become a musician. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: String Quintet C Major...
Sep 08, 1991•38 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the architect Maxwell Hutchinson. Unafraid of controversy, he attacked Prince Charles' criticisms of contemporary architecture - a move which secured him presidency of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his love of tower blocks and requiem masses, of 17th-century cottages and his desire to write a number one hit. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs...
Sep 01, 1991•37 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is playwright Alan Bleasdale. Often controversial, and always funny, Bleasdale's work focuses on life in Liverpool, a city he loves and whose characters people his most famous plays - Boys from the Blackstuff and GBH. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his intense love of family, his work and, as a self-confessed hypochondriac, he will be revealing some of his fears. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Isl...
Aug 25, 1991•35 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week will be the lawyer and politician Lord Shawcross. As Attorney General in the Labour government of 1945, he was responsible for leading the British prosecution case at the war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the atmosphere in that courtroom, his reasons for leaving the Labour Party and his unconventional upbringing. Now 89 years old, he'll also be recalling the days when he was known as 'handsome Hartley Shawcross', ...
Jul 07, 1991•42 min
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Ron Todd - leader of Britain's largest trade union, the Transport and General Workers' Union. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his childhood as the son of a Walthamstow street-market trader, his rejection of Catholicism and conversion to socialism and about how he feels about the modern Labour Party and the role of trade unions in the 1990s. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite ...
Jun 30, 1991•41 min
