Desert Island Discs: Archive 2005-2010
247 episodes - English - Latest episode: over 13 years ago - ★★★★★ - 126 ratingsGuests are invited to choose the eight records they would take to a desert island
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Episodes
Sandie Shaw
December 26, 2010 12:00 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the singer Sandie Shaw. With her melodic, velvety voice, bare feet and Sassoon bob she was the epitome of everything that was swinging about the '60s. She was just 17 when she first topped the charts with Always Something There to Remind Me and went on to become Britain's first Eurovision winner with Puppet on a String. She loathed the song at the time, but has recently come to terms with it after recording a new version which is, she says, rather forlorn. Alo...
Nick Park
December 19, 2010 12:00 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the Oscar-winning animator Nick Park. His most famous creations are Wallace and Gromit: Gromit the silent but wise dog; Wallace, his well meaning owner with notably less brain-power. They now hold the same place in the nation's heart at Christmas that Morcambe and Wise once occupied. They are old-fashioned and quintessentially British - as familiar as bread and butter, or hoping the rain holds off - but their appeal is international. The world they inhabit is on...
Sir Torquil Norman
December 12, 2010 12:00 - 35 minutes - 32.5 MBKirsty Young's castaway week is the aviator, inventor and arts patron, Sir Torquil Norman. He comes from a family where derring-do is in the DNA - his grandfather was a pioneering airman, his grandmother an adventurer and his father also a keen pilot. Torquil ended up in the toy trade where the skills needed were, he says, a close attention to detail combined with the outlook on life of a seven year old. He was, he admits, perfectly qualified. In retirement he set about his biggest proje...
Frances Wood
December 05, 2010 12:00 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the writer and historian Frances Wood. As head of the Chinese collection at the British Library she is the gatekeeper to some of the rarest printed texts in the world. Her life has been immersed in the language and culture of the Far East and, along the way, she's spent time learning how to throw hand-grenades, plant rice in the paddy-fields and bundle Chinese cabbages. She was in China in the final months of Mao Zedong's regime and remembers being aware of the...
Robert Harris
November 28, 2010 12:00 - 37 minutes - 34 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the best-selling writer Robert Harris. He was, apparently, a political junkie from a young age; he was just six when he wrote the essay: 'Why me and my dad don't like Sir Alec Douglas Home' and he also had an early realisation that he wanted to grow up to be a writer. His first novel - Fatherland - imagined a world after the Nazis had won World War II. It sold more than three million copies and made him a household name. "I can remember I wrote the opening senten...
Alice Cooper
November 21, 2010 12:00 - 36 minutes - 33.2 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the rock musician Alice Cooper. As a teenager he says it was British music that he tuned in to - listening to The Beatles, The Yardbirds and The Who. He realised that while rock music had many heroes, there were few villains - that was the territory he marked out for himself. He developed his trademark look - blackened eyes, straggly hair and glamorous clothes - and set about designing live shows that were gleefully gory and macabre. While critics have descri...
Anna Del Conte
November 19, 2010 09:45 - 36 minutes - 33.3 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the cookery writer Anna Del Conte. Born to a wealthy Milanese family, she arrived in Britain in 1949 where her Italian ingenuity with food was sorely needed in a nation still facing rationing and no olive oil. Her books, starting with Portrait of Pasta in 1976, helped to change all that, and established her as a food hero for younger cooks like Nigella Lawson and Delia Smith. She has still more to teach however: whatever you do, she says, you shouldn't serve bo...
Ian McMillan
November 07, 2010 12:00 - 37 minutes - 34.2 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the poet and broadcaster Ian McMillan. Thirty years ago he was working in a factory gluing together tennis ball halves. Then he got a grant, chucked in his job and devoted himself to writing and performing. These days he's known as the Bard of Barnsley and his appeal stretches from the terraces of his local football club to the balcony of the London Coliseum... he is poet in residence at both Barnsley FC and the English National Opera... He still lives in the...
Nick Clegg
October 24, 2010 11:00 - 36 minutes - 33.5 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. Of his career, he says: "Joining the Liberal Party was a no brainer for me - when you're a young man, you don't get a calculator out saying 'Am I going to get to power?' you get propelled forward by idealism". Yet this week more than any other, critics have questioned whether his interest in power has meant his ideals have had to take a back seat. In this candid conversation, he describes the ...
Michael Mansfield
October 17, 2010 11:00 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the barrister Michael Mansfield. He is one of Britain's leading QCs - the Birmingham six, the Marchioness disaster, the Stephen Lawrence trial and the death of Jean Charles de Menezes are only a handful of the high profile cases he's been involved in. He describes himself as a 'radical lawyer' and says he's been educated by the cases he's taken on. He has become, he says, increasingly angry and radical over the years. "I do feel that reputation, standing up for p...
Sarah Doukas
October 10, 2010 11:00 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the founder of Storm model agency, Sarah Doukas. She has never, she says, had a normal career - after running away from school, she ran bric-a-brac stalls in London and Paris and then lived in America before returning to Britain. She enjoyed a stint as a model herself (her speciality, at only five feet two inches tall, was perching on car bonnets so they seemed bigger in advertising pictures). But she discovered she had a knack for spotting future talent and is b...
Johnny Vegas
October 03, 2010 11:00 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the entertainer Johnny Vegas. As a stand-up comic he made his name as one of the most brilliant and unpredictable acts on the circuit. His stage persona was a belligerent drunk who would heckle his own audience. But the more successful he became, the more the similarities between his own life and his stage character seemed to blur. "I found popularity through self-destruction" he says, "and that can be quite addictive". In recent years, he has cut down on his dri...
Sir Tom Jones
September 26, 2010 11:00 - 36 minutes - 33 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the singer Sir Tom Jones. In a career spanning fifty years he's sold 150 million albums and his hits have included It's Not Unusual, What's New Pussycat? and Delilah. As a child it was assumed he'd follow in his father's footsteps and become a miner. But he developed TB when he was twelve and doctors warned his parents against sending their only son to the pit; they said his lungs were too weak. Now aged seventy, he has no plans to retire. "Singing's like breathi...
Kathy Burke
August 15, 2010 10:15 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBFrom Lady Gaga to The Specials. Actor and director Kathy Burke shares her castaway choices with Kirsty Young. She became a household name for her comedy performances, working with Harry Enfield to create the characters Kevin and Perry. She won critical acclaim for serious roles and picked up the Best Actress award at Cannes for her portrayal of an abused wife in the film "Nil By Mouth". Kathy's early life had been tumultuous - her mother died before she was two and her father was often dr...
Lord David Cobbold
August 08, 2010 10:15 - 34 minutes - 31.8 MBKirsty Young's castaway on Desert Island Discs is Lord David Cobbold. He was just 32 years old when he took over the ancestral pile Knebworth House and he succeeded in turning a crumbling corner of the establishment into one of the best rock concert venues in the world. Over the past forty years, everyone from Led Zeppelin to Paul McCartney to Robbie Williams has played there. The concerts have not only allowed him to keep the house in private hands, but have also given him a front-row sea...
Jimmy Mulville
August 01, 2010 10:15 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBKirsty Young's castaway is Jimmy Mulville. He began his life in comedy as a performer and writer but success in front of the camera clearly wasn't enough - he set up the production company Hat Trick and has turned out a huge number of hits, including "Have I Got News for You", "Father Ted" "Room 101" and "Outnumbered". But he says that for many years he was a ticking time bomb - he became addicted to drugs and alcohol and, after triumphing over them, also fought cancer. These days, he is ...
Lynn Barber
July 25, 2010 10:15 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the interviewer Lynn Barber. A master of the profile interview, her razor-sharp observations have earned her the nickname the Demon Barber and won her a stack of awards. Although critics say her articles are hatchet jobs, she disagrees: "I think that people are well served by quite blunt or quite rude questions because it forces them to fight back and come back strongly," she says. Producer: Leanne Buckle Record: Macushla sung by John McCormack Book: The Compl...
Tim Robbins
July 18, 2010 10:15 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the Oscar-winning actor, writer and director Tim Robbins. His film credits include The Shawshank Redemption, Dead Man Walking, The Hudsucker Proxy and Mystic River. Brought up in an artistic and creative household in New York's Greenwich Village, he was always encouraged to sing and perform. After talking politics around the dinner table as a teenager he would, on occasion, spend his evenings working the lights for the local drag act. Indeed it was on stage, ra...
Dr Gwen Adshead
July 11, 2010 10:15 - 38 minutes - 34.8 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the forensic psychotherapist Dr Gwen Adshead. A consultant at Broadmoor Hospital, it is her job to try to understand the behaviour of some of the most vilified people in our society. The Victorian institution in Berkshire is home to more than two hundred men; all people who have been convicted or accused of the most dangerous violent behaviour. Her life outside work seems impossibly normal - bringing up her children, singing in a choir and gardening fill her sp...
Dame Fanny Waterman
July 04, 2010 10:15 - 39 minutes - 36.4 MBKirsty Young's castaway is Dame Fanny Waterman. It was during a sleepless night, more than forty years ago, that she came up with the idea of launching a piano competition in Leeds. Since then it's become a world renowned event and been a springboard for many of our most celebrated pianists including Radu Lupu and Murray Perahia. Although she is now 90 years old, she still teaches masterclasses and continues to be involved with every detail of the competition. "They call me Field Marshal ...
Tony Adams
June 27, 2010 10:15 - 36 minutes - 33.8 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the footballer Tony Adams. He's one of the few people who know at first hand the pressures and joys of captaining the England team. And, after signing as a schoolboy for Arsenal, he is the only man ever to have led a championship winning team across three decades. The drama and successes of his life have been as remarkable off the pitch as on it. He found sporting glory despite being an alcoholic and even served time in prison for drink-driving. But his journey...
Lewis Gilbert
June 20, 2010 10:15 - 37 minutes - 34 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the film director Lewis Gilbert. His career started in the 1920s when he was a child actor in silent movies. Over the next seven decades, he went on to direct Hollywood blockbusters as well as landmark British films. His directing credits include Reach for the Skies, Alfie, Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine - as well as three Bond films. Depite his numerous successes, though, he remains haunted by the film he didn't make: he spent years working with Lionel Bar...
Frank Skinner
June 13, 2010 10:15 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the comedian Frank Skinner. As a football-obsessed comic whose stand-up routines were peppered with details of his personal life, he became the poster-boy for the 'Loaded' generation. Beneath the surface, though, he seems to be full of contradictions. He was expelled from school when he was a teenager - but went on to gain a masters degree; he has long been obsessed with Elvis Presley - but now says he feels a tingle when he goes to the opera. Although he had lon...
Gyorgy Pauk
May 30, 2010 10:15 - 37 minutes - 34.8 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the violinist Gyorgy Pauk. In a career spanning fifty years, he has played with all the best orchestras and continues to teach masterclasses around the world. He grew up in Hungary and, after both his parents were taken to labour camps, he was brought up by his grandmother. His parents died during the war and it was, says Gyorgy, a miracle that he and his grandmother survived in the Budapest ghetto. For years afterwards, he says, he would carry food with him be...
Dame Stephanie Shirley
May 23, 2010 10:15 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MBEntrepreneur Dame Stephanie Shirley joins Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs. As a child, she escaped Nazi Germany on the Kindertransport - travelling across Europe for two days in a train with a thousand children and just two adults. She went on to set up a computer programming company which made her a millionaire many times over. But she has given away most of her fortune and now is an ambassador for philanthropy. Her determination throughout it all, she says, has been to prove that her...
Rob Brydon
May 16, 2010 10:15 - 34 minutes - 31.5 MBThe comedian and actor Rob Brydon joins Kirsty Young on Desert Island Discs. Growing up in Port Talbot, South Wales, he discovered performing when he was a teenager and says he came alive when he was on stage: so much so that he left school with only a couple of O Levels. For years, he made a comfortable but unfulfilling living recording voice-overs and working on a television shopping channel. He always dreamed of working in comedy, though, and eventually it was 'Marion and Geoff' and the...
Fay Weldon
May 09, 2010 10:15 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBThe writer Fay Weldon joins Kirsty Young to choose her Desert Island Discs. The author of dozens of novels, essays and radio and TV dramas, she says she spends so much time inventing characters and storylines that the distinction between fact and fiction has become blurred. As a child, Fay Weldon believed she had a second sight - seeing people who weren't there and hearing voices that no-one else could hear. As an adult, her perceptive nature has served her well too and she says: "I thin...
Emma Thompson
March 28, 2010 10:15 - 37 minutes - 34.3 MBKirsty Young's castaway is Emma Thompson. Sense and Sensibility, The Remains of the Day, Much Ado About Nothing and Howards End are just a handful of her notable screen credits in a dazzling career that has seen her pick up Oscars for both acting and writing. She appears to have pulled off that rare trick of being both a star and one of us - she famously keeps her brace of Oscars in the downstairs loo, still lives across the road from her mum and holidays in a cottage in Scotland where, sh...
Frank Cottrell-Boyce
March 21, 2010 11:15 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the writer Frank Cottrell Boyce. His film credits include Hilary and Jackie, Welcome to Sarajevo and 24 Hour Party People. He's also written TV soaps, radio and stage plays and children's novels. These days children are his main audience and, as a father of seven himself, he should know what they want. He not only tests his ideas on them, but they keep him focused: 'I need them in the house to make sure I'm not watching telly, or having a four-hour bath - the fa...
Duncan Bannatyne
March 14, 2010 11:15 - 35 minutes - 32.1 MBKirsty Young's castaway is entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne. He made his name appearing on the TV show Dragons' Den as a no-nonsense investor with an eye for the bottom line. He made his fortune in nursing homes, health clubs and hotels. Quite something, given that aged 30 he was a deck chair attendant who had been thrown out of the Royal Navy for attempting to throw his commanding officer overboard. He says, 'When you've got a criminal record, no qualifications, no references, the best option...
Maggie Aderin-Pocock
March 07, 2010 11:15 - 35 minutes - 32.9 MBKirsty Young's castaway is space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock. She has, she says, a special relationship with the moon, one that started when she first saw The Clangers as a small child. As a teenager she made her own telescope so she could study the moon more closely. Now she makes highly technical optical equipment for satellites, but says she still harbours desires to go into space - her dream job is building a telescope on the moon. She says: 'From the age of three, I wanted to get in...
June Spencer
February 28, 2010 11:15 - 38 minutes - 35.6 MBKirsty Young's castaway is actress June Spencer. She is one of the best-loved matriarchs in broadcasting. As Peggy Woolley in The Archers, she's the only original member of the cast still in the show. It's 60 years this spring since the pilot episodes were first broadcast and, although she is now aged 90, June has no plans to retire. She says, 'It's a great bonus for me that The Archers has run as long as it has, and I've gone along with it.' Record: Concierto de Aranjuez played by John Wi...
Sir Clive Woodward
February 21, 2010 11:15 - 35 minutes - 32.4 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the former England rugby coach Sir Clive Woodward. He took England to World Cup glory in 2003, becoming the first ever northern hemisphere side to win the trophy. He well understands the pressure and the glory of top-flight sport, which is just as well, as he's now Director of Elite Performance for Team GB's 2012 Olympic effort. He says, 'It is the coach's job to refuse to compromise. If you do, you will come second'. Record: Take That, Greatest Day Book: Dav...
Professor Jim Al-Khalili
February 14, 2010 11:15 - 34 minutes - 32 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili. He's spent his adult life studying sub-atomic particles - and trying to explain them to the rest of us. He fell in love with physics when he was a teenager growing up in Iraq. With an Iraqi father and English mother, the Baghdad he spent his early years in was cosmopolitan and vibrant but, once Saddam Hussein came to power, his parents realised the family would have to flee, and he has lived and worked in Britain for the pa...
Gok Wan
February 07, 2010 11:15 - 34 minutes - 31.4 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the stylist Gok Wan. Dispensing fashion advice and hugs in equal measure, he aims, he says, to 'make women feel like women, not like turkeys'. Yet although he made his name as a stylist, his special talent isn't for fashion, but for gaining people's trust. He understands only too well the emotional journey he is asking women to make; the first person he had to transform was himself, and that, he says, is very much work in progress. Record: The Promise Book: Beau...
Mary Beard
January 31, 2010 11:15 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the classicist Mary Beard. A professor at Cambridge, she's that rare thing: a university academic who writes for the masses. Her popular books, blog, articles and reviews have led to her being called 'Britain's best-known classicist'. But while her research is steeped in the ancient world, her commentary is all about the here and now. The classical world speaks to us, she says, and makes us see our own world differently. Record: It's All Over Now, Baby Blue - ...
Frank Warren
January 24, 2010 11:15 - 34 minutes - 31.3 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the boxing promoter Frank Warren. He has managed and promoted some of the biggest names in the sport, including Joe Calzaghe, Prince Naseem Hamed, Ricky Hatton and the Olympic medal winner Amir Khan. Over the past three decades he has lost fortunes and remade them, survived an assassination attempt and even a run-in with Mike Tyson. Boxing has been good to him, he says, but now he says he wants to find something that will nourish his soul too. Record: Don't Wor...
James Ellroy
January 17, 2010 11:15 - 39 minutes - 36 MBKirsty Young's castaway is American crime writer James Ellroy. His books have been translated into 30 languages and, according to the New York Times, he is the author of some of the most powerful crime novels ever written. But the case that has dominated his life and much of his writing was the murder of his mother when he was just ten years old. In the years since, he has tried to find a way of getting to know and understand her. Record: Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 29 'Hammerklavier...
Mary Portas
January 10, 2010 11:15 - 35 minutes - 32.7 MBKirsty Young's castaway is Mary Portas. She's made an art-form out of turning heads, and her galleries have been the enormous plate-glass windows of Harrods, Topshop and Harvey Nichols. These days she brings retail therapy to small traders, helping them to hold their own against the high street's big names. Record: Casta Diva from Norma Book: The works of Rumi, Persian poet and philosopher Luxury: 'A set of different fragrances from the people I love'.
John Copley
January 03, 2010 11:15 - 37 minutes - 34.7 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the opera director John Copley. Throughout his sixty year career he's worked with all the greats at the major opera houses of the world. He introduced Luciano Pavarotti to a London audience, charmed Georg Solti with his piano playing and was even called upon to stand in for Maria Callas. He was just ten years old when he first saw an opera and he loved it straight away; "I caught opera," he says, "like the measles". Record: Janet Baker singing Handel's Ariodante...
David Tennant
December 27, 2009 11:15 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the actor David Tennant. He has been voted the best Dr Who ever and has redefined the Time Lord for a generation of parents and children. As a child he was a huge fan of the programme; he reckons he only ever missed one episode, wore a long stripy scarf and queued up to meet Tom Baker and get his autograph. As a role, he says, it appealed not just to his adult self but to the eight-year-old boy who was just below the surface [Taken from the original programme ...
Sir Michael Caine
December 20, 2009 11:15 - 35 minutes - 32.2 MBKirsty Young's castaway this Christmas is Sir Michael Caine. In a film career that has spanned more than four decades he has won two Oscars; his credits include Alfie, The Italian Job, Hannah and Her Sisters and Educating Rita. As well as discussing his remarkable life in films, he describes how the Queen used to cut through his back garden on her way to the horse races, discusses the secrets of a happy marriage and reveals the tricks for cooking perfect roast potatoes this Christmas. [Ta...
Lord Coe
December 13, 2009 11:15 - 37 minutes - 34.4 MBKirsty Young's castaway is Sebastian Coe. It is more than a quarter of a century since his rivalry with fellow middle-distance runner Steve Ovett enraptured the nation. After retiring from the racetrack, he enjoyed a career in politics. Now, though, his focus is on the Olympics once again - not on individual medals this time, but ensuring the 2012 games in London are a success. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Record: The Cl...
Baroness Scotland
December 06, 2009 11:15 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the Attorney General, Baroness Scotland. She is the government's chief law officer, a position as significant as it is isolated. She was on course to be the first female High Court judge before a life in politics intervened and she joined the government. Before she took on her current role she thought she understood the pressures that came with it. In fact, she says, that only became evident once she was in office: 'It is a huge responsibility and it is, and it a...
Morrissey
November 29, 2009 11:15 - 32 minutes - 29.5 MBKirsty Young's castaway is Morrissey. As the lead singer of The Smiths he captivated a generation of angst-ridden teenagers and, a quarter of a century later, he remains the outsider's outsider. As a child, he was enthralled by the emotion and beauty in pop music. He discovered the joy of public performance when, as a six-year-old boy, he stood on a table and started singing. But from an early age he felt he had to avoid everything conventional life had to offer. 'I just didn't want the n...
Sir Stuart Rose
November 22, 2009 11:15 - 36 minutes - 33.7 MBKirsty Young's castaway is Sir Stuart Rose. As the boss of Marks and Spencer, he has held a national institution - and the nation's knickers - in his hands. After seeing off a hostile takeover bid and revamping its tired image, he is regarded by many as the store's saviour. Now, after five years in one of the top jobs on the high street, his successor has been announced and, in this timely interview, Sir Stuart looks to the future and considers where life might take him next. [Taken from th...
Julia Donaldson
November 15, 2009 11:15 - 36 minutes - 33.1 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the children's author Julia Donaldson. The Gruffalo is her best known creation. Published 10 years ago, it's become a modern classic; it has sold more than four million copies, won an armful of awards and been turned into a film. But Julia nearly gave up when she was half way through writing it, and only the encouragement of her son persuaded her to continue. Its latest accolade is that BBC listeners have just voted it their favourite book for reading out loud at b...
Anthony Julius
November 13, 2009 09:00 - 36 minutes - 33.6 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the lawyer and writer Anthony Julius. He was already renowned in legal circles when, in 1996, he moved into the public arena, representing Princess Diana in her divorce. He became her confidante and, after her death, one of the founders of her memorial fund. Of the high profile cases he has fought, he says. "You're on a higher wire, stared at by a larger number of people, but in the end, the only audience that matters is your own client." [Taken from the original ...
Jerry Springer
November 01, 2009 11:15 - 34 minutes - 31.9 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the talk show host Jerry Springer. His life has been split between serving the public and outraging them. His first career was in politics where, as a life-long Democrat, one of his early jobs was working with Bobby Kennedy. Then he found global fame with his controversial TV programme, The Jerry Springer Show. He says that in politics and in his TV show, he is always on the side of the powerless and disenfranchised. It's a philosophy, he says, he learned from his ...
Professor Colin Pillinger
October 25, 2009 11:15 - 34 minutes - 31.7 MBKirsty Young's castaway is the scientist Professor Colin Pillinger. A world-class planetary scientist, his first job was for NASA, analysing the lunar samples brought back by Apollo 11. He is best known, though, for being the public face of Beagle 2, the daring mission to search for life on Mars. Although Beagle 2 was unsuccessful, he is adamant that the mission was not a failure. Now it is hoped that the technology developed for the mission to Mars can be used to diagnose TB faster than has...