Podcasts by Desert Island Discs: Archive 2000-2005

Courtney Pine from 2023-12-13T12:45:18.381934

Sue Lawley's castaway is jazz saxophonist Courtney Pine.

Favourite track: Guiltiness by Bob Marley and the Whalers Book: Beneath the Underdog by Charles Mingus Luxury: 1939 edition tenor s...

Kim Cattrall from 2004-12-26T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is the actress Kim Cattrall. Kim Cattrall became a household name in her forties as a result of playing man-eater, defiant singleton and PR mogul Samantha Jones in Sex and ...

Engelbert Humperdinck from 2004-12-19T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is the singer Engelbert Humperdinck. Engelbert Humperdinck is one of Britain's most successful entertainers. He is known as the King of Romance and has been at the top of t...

John Fortune from 2004-12-12T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is John Fortune.

John Fortune is one of Britain's most respected and enduring satirists. For the past 12 years he has been half of the award-winning double ...

Sir Bobby Robson from 2004-12-05T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Sir Bobby Robson. Sir Bobby Robson is one of the most enduring and popular faces in football. For more than five decades he has dedicated his life to the game ...

Tracey Emin from 2004-11-28T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the artist Tracey Emin.

Tracey Emin is one of the most successful and controversial artists to emerge during the 1990s. Her work was championed early on...

Clive Stafford Smith from 2004-11-21T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the death row lawyer Clive Stafford Smith.

Clive Stafford Smith spent more than 25 years representing people on death row. He's saved hundreds of lives ...

Matthew Bourne from 2004-11-19T09:00

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the internationally acclaimed choreographer Matthew Bourne. He was born in the East End of London in 1960. As a child, his great passion was musicals and stage sh...

Ann Leslie from 2004-11-07T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the distinguished foreign correspondent Ann Leslie. She has witnessed and reported on some of the most significant events of the past 30 years including the fa...

Matthew Pinsent from 2004-10-31T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent. Matthew Pinsent won his fourth Olympic gold medal at this summer's games in Athens. His first three were all won ro...

Jack Mapanje from 2004-10-24T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the poet Dr Jack Mapanje who is one of the most important living African poets. He was born into a poor household in a typical African village in 1944, when Ma...

Rt Hon Sir Menzies Campbell MP from 2004-10-17T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Liberal Democrat politician Sir Menzies Campbell. Born in Glasgow, he excelled at both academia and sports making it to the University in Glasgow and then ...

Anne Scott James from 2004-10-10T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the journalist and writer Anne Scott-James. Now in her 92nd year, Anne Scott-James came from a line of critics and writers and became one of the first women ca...

Desmond Morris from 2004-10-03T10:15

Sue's Lawley's castaway this week is the zoologist turned author and broadcaster Desmond Morris. He made his name with The Naked Ape first published in 1967 in which he persuasively argued the c...

Virginia McKenna from 2004-09-26T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actress and wildlife campaigner Virginia McKenna. She was born in London and, after spending five years of her childhood in South Africa to escape the Blit...

Joe Simpson from 2004-09-19T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the mountaineer Joe Simpson. He was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1960 where his father was stationed with the British Army. Over the next few years the family lived...

Hugh Masekela from 2004-07-11T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the world famous musician Hugh Masekela. As a boy growing up in the impoverished townships of South Africa, he was inspired to learn the trumpet after seeing K...

Rt Hon Michael Howard MP from 2004-07-04T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the leader of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard.

He was raised in an orthodox Jewish family in Llanelli, South Wales, where his parents ran ladies...

Tim Rice from 2004-06-27T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the world famous lyricist Sir Tim Rice. Sir Tim is best known for his collaborative work with Andrew Lloyd Webber creating some of the best loved musicals of r...

Diana Athill from 2004-06-20T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the writer and book editor Diana Athill. For nearly 50 years Diana Athill was involved in every aspect of publishing, from editing and even completely rewriti...

Karan Bilimoria from 2004-06-13T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the businessman Karan Bilimoria - who set up production of a beer designed to be drunk with Indian food, imported it to Britain - and is now selling it back to...

Geraldine James from 2004-05-30T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is one of Britain's best known actresses - Geraldine James. Geraldine James became a household name 20 years ago for her performance as Sarah Layton in the epic...

Sir Ken Adam from 2004-05-23T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the man who's designed some of the most famous film sets ever made. Sir Ken Adam was the production designer on seven of the James Bond films - including Dr ...

Pen Hadow from 2004-05-16T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the explorer Pen Hadow. Pen Hadow made polar history in 2003 by becoming the first man to walk solo and unsupported the 478 miles from the northern coast of ...

U A Fanthorpe from 2004-05-09T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is one of Britain's best loved poets - U A Fanthorpe. She was the first woman ever to be nominated for the post of Oxford Professor of Poetry and in 2003 was awa...

Graham Norton from 2004-05-02T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the larger than life TV presenter Graham Norton. He was recently voted the most powerful man in comedy with four Baftas and an international Emmy under his bel...

Antonio Pappano from 2004-04-25T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the conductor Antonio Pappano. He took over as music director of the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden two years ago following in the footsteps of Bernard Hai...

Bernard Cornwell from 2004-04-18T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Britain's most popular writer of historical fiction Bernard Cornwell. His work has sold more than five million copies in nine languages. His most famous charac...

Michael Morpurgo from 2004-04-11T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the widely respected children's author and the current Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo. He styles himself as a 'story-teller/writer' and the themes he exp...

Angela Gheorghiu from 2004-04-04T10:15

Angela Gheorghiu is one of the world's foremost sopranos, beautiful, a good actress and with a voice that critics say is close to perfect, she has been hailed as the next Maria Callas. She is th...

Jack Vettriano from 2004-03-28T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the artist Jack Vettriano.

Jack Vettriano is the painter of Britain's most popular work of art. More than a million prints and posters have been sold of...

Ralph Kohn from 2004-03-21T11:15

This week Sue's castaway is a man who's made a success of two entirely different careers. Ralph Kohn is a Jewish businessman who has won the Queen's Export Award for his work in the pharmaceutic...

Bill Nighy from 2004-03-14T11:15

This week Sue's castaway is the award winning actor Bill Nighy. Originally from Caterham in Surrey, he left school at 15 without any qualifications and ended up working at his local employment ...

Sir Gulam Noon from 2004-03-07T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is a businessman who brought authentic Indian foods to our supermarkets - Sir Gulam Noon. An instinctive businessman, he was brought up in a complex family situat...

Judith Kerr from 2004-02-29T11:15

This week Sue's castaway is Judith Kerr - a writer and illustrator known to generations of children both for her charming Mog picture-books and for her careful rendering of the life of a Jewish ...

John Cale from 2004-02-22T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is John Cale, a classically trained musician who went on to found one of the most influential bands of the 1960s, Velvet Underground. John Cale was brought up in ...

Sacha Distel from 2004-02-15T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is one of France's best known exports - the singer Sacha Distel.

Born into a loving family in 1930s Paris, his father was a Russian émigré who'd fled the R...

Sister Frances Dominica from 2004-02-08T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is a nun and a pioneer of the hospice movement. Sister Frances Dominica says she had always felt she was born to be a nurse and as a child would line up her dolls...

Rt Hon Lord Sainsbury from 2004-02-01T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is David Sainsbury, now Lord Sainsbury of Turville.

David Sainsbury who is a grocer and a politician is also one of Britain's richest men and was a multi-mi...

Paul Dacre from 2004-01-25T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is one of Britain's most powerful newspaper men - Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail.

He was brought up in a household where news, and the coverage of it...

Stephen Frears from 2004-01-18T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the film director Stephen Frears. His film credits include My Beautiful Launderette, When Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, Dangerous Liaisons, High Fidelity and, most...

Jimmy Tarbuck from 2004-01-11T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the entertainer Jimmy Tarbuck. Originally from Liverpool, he began his career as a redcoat at Butlins holiday camp. He went on to become a compere at the Londo...

Martha Lane Fox from 2004-01-04T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the dot-com millionaire and businesswoman Martha Lane Fox.

She says that as a child she was confident and bossy - tormenting her younger brother and, in...

Paul O'Grady from 2003-12-28T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is the entertainer Paul O'Grady. Best known as the 'Blonde Bombshell', Lily Savage, he's one of the most popular figures on television with his outrageous clothes and wigs....

Emmylou Harris from 2003-12-21T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the country rock singer Emmylou Harris. Born in Alabama in 1947, her musical influences were folk rather than country. Initially, she wanted to be an actress, ...

Nicholas Grimshaw from 2003-12-14T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw. An interest in engineering runs in the Grimshaw genes - one great-grandfather was responsible for seeing a proper drainage...

Pat Barker from 2003-12-07T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the Booker prize-winning novelist Pat Barker. Pat Barker was 39 when she had the phone call every writer dreams about - her first book, Union Street, was to be...

Henry Blofeld from 2003-11-30T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the cricket commentator Henry Blofeld. Blofeld's become known as much for his musings on pigeons, planes, double decker buses, tea ladies, cakes and his catchp...

Sir Christopher Meyer from 2003-11-23T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission Sir Christopher Meyer. Sir Christopher joined the PCC earlier this year after a glittering career in the diplom...

Jeremy Clarkson from 2003-11-16T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the motoring journalist and motor-mouth Jeremy Clarkson. He came from a comfortable background - his mother was a teacher and his father a travelling salesman....

Christopher Frayling from 2003-11-02T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is Professor Sir Christopher Frayling the Rector of the Royal College of Art and a champion of popular culture. He was born into an affluent family living in Lond...

Rt Hon Charles Kennedy MP from 2003-10-26T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the leader of the Liberal Democrats Charles Kennedy. Born in Inverness, Charles grew up on a croft near Fort William spending his early life learning how to sh...

Bill Cullen from 2003-10-19T10:15

This week, Sue Lawley's castaway is the Irish businessman and writer Bill Cullen. He was one of 14 children born to William Cullen and Mary Darcy. His childhood, in the tenement slums of inner-c...

Herbert Kretzmer from 2003-10-12T10:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the journalist and songwriter Herbert Kretzmer. Born in South Africa in 1925, he came to Europe after World War II. For a while he lived in Paris, playing pian...

Nigella Lawson from 2003-10-05T10:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the broadcaster, cook, mother and domestic goddess Nigella Lawson. She came from a privileged background - her father, the former Conservative chancellor Nigel...

Nick Hornby from 2003-09-28T10:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the internationally successful author Nick Hornby. Originally from suburban Maidenhead, his obsession with football, as chronicled in the autobiographical Feve...

Bryn Terfel from 2003-09-21T10:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel. Still only in his 30s, he's sung at the world's biggest opera houses and can pick and choose where he works and the produc...

Barbara Taylor Bradford from 2003-07-06T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the popular novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford. Born in Upper Armley, Leeds, by the age of 16 Barbara had graduated from the typing pool and was a cub reporter i...

Daniel Libeskind from 2003-06-29T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the architect Daniel Libeskind. Daniel Libeskind's parents were Polish Jews. Daniel himself was a prodigiously talented musician, but the family couldn't affor...

Bishop John Sentamu from 2003-06-22T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is The Bishop of Birmingham, John Sentamu. When John Sentamu was born, the sixth of 13 children, near Kampala in Uganda in 1949, he was so small the local bishop ...

Mark Tully from 2003-06-15T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the veteran broadcaster Mark Tully. Born in Calcutta and with ancestors who were involved in the Indian Mutiny, he has a love of India in his bones and has mad...

Vittorio Radice from 2003-06-08T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Vittorio Radice. Born in 1957 and brought up near Lake Como, Radice is the son of a furniture retailer. He surprised himself and his family by studying agricul...

Meera Syal from 2003-06-01T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actor and writer Meera Syal. She was born in the sixties after her parents had immigrated here from the Punjab and brought up in Essington, a Staffordshire...

Derek Brown from 2003-05-25T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Derek Brown the Director of the Michelin Red Guides which are the French bible for restaurants. The original Guide was invented in 1900 to help travellers in F...

Franco Zeffirelli from 2003-05-18T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the director Franco Zeffirelli. He was born the illegitimate son of a philandering businessman and a successful fashion designer, both of whom were married to ...

George Fenton from 2003-05-11T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the composer George Fenton, whose work includes music for Groundhog Day, Shadowlands, Cry Freedom, The Company of Wolves and The Fisher King. Born George Howe ...

Professor A H Halsey from 2003-05-04T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the sociologist and Oxford Emeritus Professor A H Halsey. Prof Halsey played a key part in the switch to comprehensives as an adviser to Labour Education Secre...

Rory Bremner from 2003-04-20T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the impressionist and satirist Rory Bremner. He was born in Edinburgh in 1961. A self-confessed show-off, he started doing impersonations at primary school, se...

Margaret Atwood from 2003-04-13T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the writer Margaret Atwood. Born just after the outbreak of the Second World War, Margaret Atwood spent much of her childhood in the Canadian outback where her...

David Gilmour from 2003-04-06T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. Gilmour grew up in Cambridge, where his father was a senior lecturer in zoology and his mother was also a lecturer and film editor...

Kristin Scott Thomas from 2003-03-30T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actress Kristin Scott Thomas. She was born in Redruth, Cornwall in 1960. Her father, a Naval pilot, was killed in a crash when she was five. Her mother mar...

Claude-Michel Schonberg from 2003-03-23T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the composer of the hit musicals Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, Claude-Michel Schönberg. Claude-Michel always knew he would be a composer. As a small boy grow...

Nick Danziger from 2003-03-16T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the photo journalist Nick Danziger. Nick was born in London but grew up in Monaco and Switzerland. He developed a taste for adventure and travel from a young a...

Vic Reeves from 2003-03-09T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the comedian Jim Moir, best known by the name of his alter ego Vic Reeves. Jim was born in Leeds but soon moved to Darlington with his family. He attended the ...

Gene Pitney from 2003-03-02T11:15

"Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the singer-songwriter Gene Pitney. Gene grew up in Rockville, Connecticut, the middle child of a large family. His father worked in the local mills and the fa...

George Clooney from 2003-02-23T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actor, George Clooney. George was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1961, the son of Nick Clooney, a TV newscaster. From the age of five, George spent time po...

Cornelia Parker from 2003-02-16T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the artist Cornelia Parker. Cornelia grew up in the country where she lived on a small holding looked after by her father. She spent much of her time mucking o...

Sir Ian McKellen from 2003-02-09T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actor Sir Ian McKellen. Ian grew up in Lancashire attending Wigan Grammar school and then Bolton School where he was Head Boy. His first trip to the theatr...

Paul Whitehouse from 2003-02-02T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the comedian and star of The Fast Show, Paul Whitehouse. Born in the Rhonda Valley in Wales, Paul and his family soon moved to Enfield where he grew up. Paul w...

Sir Trevor Nunn from 2003-01-26T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the theatre director Trevor Nunn. At the age of five Trevor had decided, to the great surprise of his parents, that he wanted to be an actor. He won his first ...

Professor Baruch Blumberg from 2003-01-19T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Professor Baruch Blumberg. Barry Blumberg was born in Brooklyn, New York in the 1920s, just before the economic depression in...

Gillian Anderson from 2003-01-12T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Gillian Anderson, best known for her role as Dana Scully in The X Files. Gillian was born in Chicago, Illinois. When she was two, she moved with her parents to...

George Foreman from 2003-01-05T11:15

George Foreman was born in Texas into a large but poor family. His earliest memories are of being hungry. He found school difficult and felt he was written off because of his scruffy clothes. He...

Patricia Cornwell from 2002-12-29T11:15

Patricia Daniels was born in 1956 in Miami, Florida. After her parents divorced she moved with her mother and two brothers to Montreat, North Carolina. Her mother suffered from depression and so...

Rowan Williams from 2002-12-22T11:15

Rowan Williams grew up in Swansea and Cardiff. He enjoyed reading, being outdoors and acting in school plays. He remembers attending church every day in Holy week, getting involved cleaning out ...

Sinead Cusack from 2002-12-15T11:15

Sinead Cusack was born in Ireland into a acting dynasty. Her first ambition, whilst at convent school, was to be a saint. But her behaviour didn't match her early aspiration: as a teenager she w...

Linton Kwesi Johnson from 2002-12-08T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. Linton Kwesi Johnson was born in 1950s rural Jamaica. He lived in a farming community and looked after the animals, helping with the sugar...

John Malkovich from 2002-12-01T11:15

John Malkovich makes his film directorial debut this year with The Dancer Upstairs. He's best known for his laconic sophistication in films such as Dangerous Liaisons, In the Line of Fire and Th...

Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP from 2002-11-24T11:15

Described by Lord Tebbit as "a remarkably normal family man with children", Iain has just completed twelve months as Leader of the Conservative Party - he was the first Leader to be elected by a...

Christopher Ondaatje from 2002-11-17T11:15

Christopher Ondaatje was born in the British colony of Ceylon and educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon. He moved to Canada and in 1964 was a member of the Canadian Olympic Bobsled te...

Marguerite Wolff from 2002-11-15T09:00

Marguerite Wolff has dedicated her life to performing all around the world. Sir Arthur Bliss composed for her and she studied under Louis Kentner. Marguerite was born into a musical family in Lo...

Rt Hon Robin Cook MP from 2002-11-03T11:15

Robin Cook was born in Larnarkshire, east of Glasgow; an only child whose father was a science teacher. In his teens the family moved to Edinburgh so that his father could take up a headmaster j...

P D James from 2002-10-27T11:15

P D James was born in Oxford, later moving to Ludlow on the Welsh Borders where she experienced a childhood which she says had more in common with a Victorian childhood than anything today. She ...

Carl Djerassi from 2002-10-20T10:15

Carl Djerassi was born in Vienna to an Austrian mother and Bulgarian father. Both parents were involved in the medical profession and, growing up surrounded by medical paraphernalia, he assumed ...

Paul Gambaccini from 2002-10-13T10:15

Paul Gambaccini was born in New York City in 1949 and revelled growing up to the sounds of the 1960s. He loved listening to the radio and chose to go to Dartmouth College in preference to Harvar...

Philip Pullman from 2002-10-06T10:15

Philip Pullman is the author of the celebrated His Dark Materials trilogy: Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. He was born in Norwich and spent his early years travelling a...

Dame Alicia Markova from 2002-09-29T15:30

Dame Alicia Markova was born Lilian Alice Marks in December 1910, in a two-bedroom flat in Finsbury Park, London. She began ballet classes because she was flat footed and knock kneed. Her natura...

Timothy Spall from 2002-09-22T10:15

Timothy Spall grew up in Battersea, South London. He found school pretty uninspiring and left with art as his only qualification. However, when he played the part of the Cowardly Lion in the sch...

Brian May from 2002-09-15T10:15

Brian May spent his childhood in Feltham near London and he learnt his first chords on his father's ukelele banjo. He soon progressed to the guitar, which he started learning when he was eight. ...

Alan Titchmarsh from 2002-07-07T10:15

Alan Titchmarsh was drawn to gardening from an early age in Ilkley, Yorkshire, making his first polythene greenhouse at the age of twelve and deciding he was going to be a gardener when he grew ...

Minette Walters from 2002-06-30T10:15

After Minette Walters' father died of injuries sustained in World War II she won a scholarship to Godolphin School, and eventually became Head Girl. From a young age she shunned girls' story boo...

Countess Elizabeth Longford from 2002-06-23T10:15

Elizabeth Harman was born in London in 1906. Her parents were both doctors, her mother was the niece of Joseph Chamberlain and cousin of Neville Chamberlain, the future Prime Minister. She was o...

Jan Morris from 2002-06-16T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is writer Jan Morris.

Leonard Rosoman from 2002-06-09T10:15

Leonard Rosoman's career saw him travel the world as an Official War Artist in the Second World War. He is also a member of the Royal Academy, an illustrator and teacher. The young Leonard dodge...

Sue Johnston from 2002-05-26T10:15

Sue Johnston has rarely been out of work since she made her name in Brookside. Her versatility is clear, with credits including such varied programmes as acclaimed drama Goodbye Cruel World; the...

Suggs from 2002-05-19T10:15

Suggs made his name as front man of 80s pop phenomenon Madness and impressed a whole generation with his unique style of singing, silly dancing and fondness for making the mundane the subject of...

Sir Aaron Klug from 2002-05-12T10:15

Sir Aaron Klug grew up in Durban, South Africa on the edge of the Bush, which provided him with enough snakes and monkeys to satisfy his curiosity. A bright child, he read anything that was avai...

Jude Kelly from 2002-05-05T10:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the theatre director Jude Kelly. Currently based at the West Yorkshire Playhouse - which under her creative directorship has become The National ...

Betty Jackson from 2002-04-28T10:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the fashion designer Betty Jackson. For three decades Betty Jackson has been at the cutting edge of the British Fashion scene and this year prese...

Wayne Marshall from 2002-04-21T10:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the organist Wayne Marshall. He describes himself as a virtuosic performer, preferring to play "loud and fast". The energy he brings to his perfo...

Sir Christopher Bland from 2002-04-14T10:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the Chairman of BT, Sir Christopher Bland. Passionately interested in business, Sir Christopher's business career maps a total of 18 different bu...

Fiona Reynolds from 2002-04-07T10:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the Director General of the National Trust, Fiona Reynolds. Passionate about the countryside, the job at the National Trust was a dream come true...

Gordon Ramsay from 2002-03-31T10:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the chef Gordon Ramsay, the only British chef in the country to have three Michelin stars, at his eponymous restaurant in London. He has recently...

Dorothy Rowe from 2002-03-24T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the psychologist Dorothy Rowe, author of groundbreaking books on depression such as Choosing not Losing, Breaking the Bonds and The Courage to Li...

Fay Godwin from 2002-03-17T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the landscape photographer Fay Godwin. Her evocative pictures brought Fay Godwin to the notice of the poet Ted Hughes and their collaboration Rem...

Dame Beryl Grey from 2002-03-10T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the ballerina, Dame Beryl Grey. When she joined Sadlers Wells at 14 she quickly took on leading roles and became Britain's first 'Baby Ballerina'...

Lord May from 2002-03-03T11:15

This week's Sue Lawley's castaway is the President of the Royal Society, Lord May. During his tenure as Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government, between 1995 and 2000, Bob May gained a repu...

Sue MacGregor from 2002-02-24T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is broadcaster Sue MacGregor.

Favourite track: Adagio by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: History of the World by J M Roberts Luxury: Unlimited supply of sun block (nice...

Kazuo Ishiguro from 2002-02-17T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the award-winning writer, Kazuo Ishiguro. Titles such as When We Were Orphans, An Artist of the Floating World and the Booker prize-winning The R...

Sir Paul Nurse from 2002-02-10T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is Sir Paul Nurse, the Director General of Science for the charity Cancer Research UK. Thanks to his work on the genes controlling the division of c...

David Linley from 2002-02-03T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is Viscount Linley. The son of Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon has always made a point of playing down his royal connections. Having set u...

Phyllis Sellick from 2002-01-27T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the pianist, Phyllis Sellick.

Phyllis Sellick enjoyed a glittering career as a solo performer but was just as well known as one half of a d...

Bob Worcester from 2002-01-20T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is pollster Bob Worcester.

Favourite track: Organ Symphony in C Minor: Finale by Camille Saint-Saëns Book: Globes at Greenwich by Elly Dekker Luxury: Celestial and te...

Susana Walton from 2002-01-13T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is Lady Walton. Within two weeks of meeting the composer Sir William Walton, Susana Gil Passo had accepted his marriage proposal and left her home i...

Sir Peter Morris from 2002-01-06T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is President of the Royal College of Surgeons Sir Peter Morris.

Favourite track: Piano Concerto No 21 in C Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: The Aubrey and Matu...

Ewan McGregor from 2001-12-30T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the actor Ewan McGregor. In the last 10 years, Ewan McGregor has become a star on both sides of the Atlantic, thanks to films such as Trainspotti...

Jamie Oliver from 2001-12-23T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is TV chef Jamie Oliver.

Favourite track: Only To Be With You by Roachford Book: Doesn't read books - needs notepaper and pens to write recipes Luxury: Leatherman - l...

Anne Fine from 2001-12-16T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the Children's Laureate Anne Fine. She wrote her first book because a blizzard prevented her going to the library and there was nothing to read i...

Cameron Mackintosh from 2001-12-09T11:15

When, at the tender age of eight, Sir Cameron Mackintosh went to see a production of Salad Days, he was so entranced that he introduced himself to the show's composer Julian Slade and decided im...

Rt Hon William Hague MP from 2001-12-02T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the Rt Hon. William Hague, MP for Richmond. He talks about his childhood in Yorkshire, his rapid rise within the Conservative party and his aspir...

Ken Follett from 2001-11-25T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the writer Ken Follett. Novels such as Eye of the Needle, The Pillars of the Earth and The Third Twin have put him in the best seller lists all o...

Billy Connolly from 2001-11-18T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the comedian and actor, Billy Connolly. His one-man shows continue to pack venues on both sides of the Atlantic and his performances in films suc...

Simon Schama from 2001-09-02T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the historian Simon Schama. Books such as The Embarrassment of Riches, Landscape and Memory and Citizens have won Simon Schama countless awards and critical ac...

Lord Roll from 2001-08-26T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Lord Roll.

Now in his 90s, Eric Roll is enjoying his third career as an investment banker. As a young man he was a talented academic, but he left univers...

Bruce Fogle from 2001-08-19T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the vet Bruce Fogle. His interest in the relationship between pets and their owners has turned Bruce Fogle into a best selling author on dog and cat behaviour....

Joss Ackland from 2001-08-12T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is actor Joss Ackland.

Favourite track: My Cup Runneth Over by Mary Martin and Robert Preston Book: The Diary of Samuel Pepys by Samuel Pepys Luxury: A huge jar of li...

Lord Deedes from 2001-08-05T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Lord Deedes. In a journalistic career spanning 70 years, Bill Deedes has witnessed and written about some of the most important milestones of the 20th century....

Claudia Roden from 2001-07-29T10:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the award-winning cookery writer Claudia Roden whose Book of Middle Eastern Food revolutionised Western attitudes to the cuisines of the Middle East. Her Book ...

Cormac Murphy O'Connor from 2001-07-22T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is Archbishop of Westminster Cormac Murphy O'Connor.

Favourite track: Praise to the Holiest by Edward Elgar Book: Lifelines by Seamus Heaney Luxury: Grand piano

Martin Bell from 2001-07-15T10:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is Martin Bell, who, after a distinguished career as a BBC foreign correspondent, became the Independent MP for Tatton in 1997. With politics now behind him, he t...

Peggy Seeger from 2001-07-08T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is folk singer-songwriter Peggy Seeger.

Favourite track: The Air from Suite No 3 in D Major by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: A Scots Quair by Lewis Grassic Gibbon Luxur...

Sir Stanley Kalms from 2001-07-01T10:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the businessman, Sir Stanley Kalms. Over the last fifty years he's turned Dixons, the small photographic studio his father opened in the 1930s, into one of Bri...

Sir Harry Kroto from 2001-06-24T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is chemist Sir Harry Kroto.

Favourite track: 3rd Movement of Symphony No4 in G Major by Gustav Mahler Book: Quantum Electro Dynamics Physics by Feynman Luxury: Airbr...

Frank McCourt from 2001-06-17T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is Pulitzer prize-winning writer Frank McCourt.

Favourite track: The Kyrie from St Cecilia Mass by Charles Gounod Book: Oxford Anthology of English Verse Luxury: A pa...

Sir Kyffin Williams from 2001-06-10T10:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the Welsh painter, Sir Kyffin Williams. It was only when he was invalided out of the army because of his epilepsy that Kyffin decided to paint. "You are not no...

Sir Thomas Allen from 2001-06-03T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is opera singer Sir Thomas Allen.

Favourite track: Act 3 of Meistersinger von Nurnberg by Richard Wagner Book: Under the Greenwood Tree by Thomas Hardy Luxury: Unlimi...

Sir Timothy Clifford from 2001-05-20T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is National Galleries of Scotland Director Sir Timothy Clifford.

Favourite track: La Ci Darem La Mano in Act 1 of Don Giovanni by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: A La R...

Sir John Sulston from 2001-05-13T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is biologist Sir John Sulston.

Favourite track: String Quartet in B flat major by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Oxford Anthology of English Verse Luxury: The microscope ...

Margaret Drabble from 2001-05-06T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is writer Margaret Drabble.

Favourite track: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth - (from Messiah) by George Frideric Handel Book: Old Wives Tale by Arnold Bennett Luxury: ...

Tasmin Little from 2001-04-29T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is violinist Tasmin Little.

Favourite track: Daphnis & Chloe by Maurice Ravel Book: Harry Potter book by J K Rowling or Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens Luxury: E...

Chris Tarrant from 2001-04-22T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is broadcaster Chris Tarrant.

Favourite track: Tequila Sunrise by Eagles Book: The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris Luxury: A lucky sixpence

Ronald Blythe from 2001-04-15T10:15

Admired as a keen observer and chronicler of rural life, Ronald Bythe is perhaps best known for his 'oral histories' - Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village, which won the Heinemann Award in...

Tanni Grey Thompson from 2001-04-08T10:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the paralympic athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson. Tanni Grey-Thompson has won medals in four Paralympic Games: when she was 19 she competed at Seoul and took the Bro...

Sir Alec Broers from 2001-04-01T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, Sir Alec Broers. As a professor of electrical engineering at the forefront of research into microchip techn...

Shirley Hughes from 2001-03-25T10:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the children's author and illustrator, Shirley Hughes. The many characters Shirley Hughes has created - such as Alfie, Lucy & Tom and Dogger - have been de...

Professor Peter Vanezis from 2001-03-18T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway on Desert Island Discs is the Regius Professor of Foresenic Medicine and Science at the University of Glasgow, Peter Vanezis.

Professor Vanezis has had a major role ...

Henry Sandon from 2001-03-11T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is broadcaster and porcelain expert Henry Sandon.

Favourite track: Salutation from Gerald Finzi 'Dies Natalis' by Gerald Finzi Book: A Shropshire Lad by A E Houseman ...

John Lill from 2001-03-04T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is pianist John Lill.

Record: Beethoven's String Quartet No.14 in C Sharp Book: Huge Tome on fauna and flora Luxury: Solar-powered piano

Charlie Watts from 2001-02-25T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts.

Favourite track: Dance of the Coachmen & Grooms -from 4th by Igor Stravinsky Book: Collected Poems 1934-52 by Dylan Thoma...

Professor Sir Richard Doll from 2001-02-18T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is epidemiologist Professor Sir Richard Doll.

Favourite track: Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin Book: Oxford Textbook of Medicine by D A Warrell Luxury: A down pil...

Griff Rhys Jones from 2001-02-11T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is actor and writer Griff Rhys Jones.

Favourite track: Un Di Felice from Act One of La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi Book: The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens Luxury:...

Sir John Mortimer from 2001-02-04T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is writer and barrister Sir John Mortimer.

Favourite track: Dio, Che Nell'alma Infondere from Act Two by Giuseppe Verdi Book: Oxford Book of English Verse by Chirstop...

Terry O'Neill from 2001-01-28T11:15

For forty years, the photographer Terry 0'Neill has been capturing the rich and famous on film - from Sir Laurence Olivier and Mick Jagger to Brigitte Bardot and Kate Moss. He talks to Sue Lawle...

Marguerite Patten from 2001-01-21T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the cookery writer Marguerite Patten. Known as the 'doyenne of British cookery', Marguerite Patten has written 167 cookery books and given thousa...

George MacDonald Fraser from 2001-01-14T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the writer George MacDonald Fraser. When George MacDonald Fraser decided to write about Flashman, the well-known bully in Tom Brown's Schooldays, he found the ...

Marquess Of Bath from 2001-01-07T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is the owner of Longleat, the Marquess Of Bath.

Favourite track: The Ode to Joy (Symphony No 9) by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Combined dictionary and thesaurus Luxury...

Stephen Sondheim from 2000-12-31T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is composer Stephen Sondheim.

Favourite track: Oh Bess, Oh Where's My Bess? by George Gershwin Book: The collected works by E B White Luxury: Piano

Norman Painting from 2000-12-26T12:04

Sue Lawley's castaway for this special edition of Desert Island Discs is Norman Painting, who has played Phil Archer in The Archers ever since its first episode in January 1951. He chooses eight...

Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell from 2000-12-24T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the astrophysicist Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell. Jocelyn Bell Burnell was only twenty-four when she made the discovery of a lifetime: As she was mapping the ...

Richard Briers from 2000-12-17T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is actor Richard Briers.

Favourite track: The Cuckoo and the Nightingale by George Frideric Handel Book: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Luxury: A huge supply o...

Tim Smit from 2000-12-10T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is Tim Smit, the co-founder of the Eden Project in Cornwall. Before Tim Smit thought of building the largest greenhouse in the world, he had already attracted pub...

Tina Brown from 2000-12-03T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the editor of Talk magazine, Tina Brown. Her reputation as a formidable magazine editor spans both sides of the Atlantic - with the revamp of Tat...

Albie Sachs from 2000-11-26T11:15

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is judge Albie Sachs. The Jail Diary of Albie Sachs, his account of being placed in solitary confinement by the South African authorities, highlighted the dangers...

Des Lynam from 2000-11-19T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is sports presenter Des Lynam.

Favourite track: In Party mood by West End Celebrity Orchestra Book: Encyclopaedia of Natural Medicine Luxury: A drumkit

J K Rowling from 2000-11-05T11:15

Sue Lawley's castaway is the writer and creator of Harry Potter J K Rowling.

Favourite track: First movement-Violin Concerto in D Major by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Book: SAS Survival Guide...

Ronald Harwood from 2000-08-27T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the writer Ronald Harwood. At the age of 17 Ronald Harwood left his home in South Africa and set sail for England, determined to become an actor. When that fai...

Christopher Lloyd from 2000-08-20T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the gardener and writer Christopher Lloyd. Well known for his forthright opinions, Christopher Lloyd has tended his family garden at Great Dixter in Sussex for...

Robert Swan from 2000-08-13T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the explorer and environmentalist, Robert Swan. When he was a boy Robert Swan became fascinated by Scott's attempt to conquer Antarctica and after university h...

Sir Norman Wisdom from 2000-08-06T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actor and comedian Sir Norman Wisdom. His cloth cap and tight-fitting jacket became his screen trademark in the 1950s and 1960s and characters like Norman ...

General Sir Charles Guthrie from 2000-07-30T10:15

This week, Sue Lawley's castaway on Desert Island Discs is General Sir Charles Guthrie.

Favourite track: The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves by Giuseppe Verdi Book: Vol 1 of biography of the D...

Sir Roger Penrose from 2000-07-23T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the mathematician Sir Roger Penrose. His prize-winning work with Stephen Hawking on the nature of black holes brought his name to public attention in the 1960s...

Rt Hon Michael Portillo MP from 2000-07-16T10:15

This week, Sue Lawley's castaway on Desert Island Discs is Michael Portillo.

Favourite track: Viene la Sera by Giacomo Puccini Book: Proust: Time Regained by Alain de Botton Luxury: Solar-...

Alan Parker from 2000-07-09T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Alan Parker. When Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone came out in 1975, it marked the beginning of a very successful and sometimes controversial career. Films like Midn...

Peter Nichols from 2000-07-02T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the playwright Peter Nichols. His award winning work, including Privates on Parade and A Day in The Death of Joe Egg has left audiences in stitches and sometim...

Dr Max Perutz from 2000-06-25T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Dr Max Perutz. When he left Austria in 1936 to study at Cambridge, his fellow students dismissed his ambition to decipher the structure of the protein haemoglo...

Donald Sutherland from 2000-06-18T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Donald Sutherland. He has acted in 104 films, including such classics as MASH, Don't Look Now and JFK. Tall and lanky as a child, he was called 'Goofus' or 'Du...

Clive James from 2000-06-11T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Clive James. Author, critic and television personality, he is presently contemplating his fourth autobiography - tracing the journey from his childhood in Aust...

Professor Géza Vermes from 2000-06-04T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Professor Geza Vermes . When he wrote Jesus the Jew in the early 1970s, it shocked the Christian world. He continued to examine Jesus through three more books,...

John Bird from 2000-05-28T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is John Bird. As a student, he changed the face of the Cambridge Footlights review by rejecting jokes on bed-makers and punting and writing a political review ins...

Dame Norma Major from 2000-05-21T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Dame Norma Major. In her book on the Prime Minister's residence, Chequers, she revealed how Neville Chamberlain would spend time measuring the girths of his fa...

Kathleen Turner from 2000-05-14T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Kathleen Turner. A versatile actress, she's been the femme fatal in films like Body Heat, parodied that role in comedies like Serial Mom, and played the romant...

Sir John Mills from 2000-05-07T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Sir John Mills. He was only six when he decided he wanted to be an actor. And now after seventy years in show business he is still touring the world with his o...

Sir Peter Bonfield from 2000-04-30T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Sir Peter Bonfield. The chief executive of British Telecommunications, it is said that when he left his previous company, its Japanese owner presented him with...

Leonard Slatkin from 2000-04-23T10:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the conductor Leonard Slatkin. An American, he is about to take on the mantle of chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra.

Renouned f...

Sir Anthony Caro from 2000-04-16T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Sir Anthony Caro. Universally regarded as the 'grand old man of British sculpture', in the 1950s he had learnt from his mentor Henry Moore that artistic rules ...

Claire Tomalin from 2000-04-09T10:15

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Claire Tomalin. A writer and literary editor, she is probably best known for a series of acclaimed biographies of women, including Mary Wollstonecraft, and Jan...

Harold Evans from 2000-04-02T10:15

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Harold Evans. One of the great campaigning journalists of all time, as editor of The Northern Echo in the 1960s he argued the the case for cervical smear tests fo...

Adrian Noble from 2000-03-26T10:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is Adrian Noble. Now the Artistic Director of The Royal Shakespeare Company, he says he learnt a lot about theatre from watching his father, an unde...

Al Alvarez from 2000-03-19T11:15

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Al Alvarez. In the late 1950s, as the influential poetry critic of the Observer, he favoured a style of writing which reflected the disarray of the times, in the ...

Colin Montgomerie from 2000-03-12T11:15

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Colin Montgomerie.

One of the biggest earners in the history of golf, he's ranked number three in the world. Despite having a natural talent for the game, h...

Robert McCrum from 2000-03-05T11:15

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Robert McCrum. The author of six highly acclaimed novels and literary editor of the Observer, he describes how he woke up one morning, at the age of 42, to a ragi...

Sheila Hancock from 2000-02-27T11:15

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Sheila Hancock. She first became a household name in the 1960s in the BBC sitcom The Rag Trade. Since then she has starred in everything from Carry On films to Ch...

Michael Holroyd from 2000-02-20T11:15

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Michael Holroyd. A respected biographer, as a boy, he sought refuge from an unhappy home in Maidenhead Public Library. It was there he discovered the work of Hugh...

Professor Stuart Hall from 2000-02-13T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is Professor Stuart Hall. Nearly 10 years after he came to England from Jamaica in 1951, he helped found the first Centre of Cultural Studies in Bir...

Simon Callow from 2000-02-06T11:15

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Simon Callow. He impressed the theatre world when he played Mozart in Amadeus, and won our hearts as the genial Scot, Gareth, in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Like...

Peter Melchett from 2000-01-30T11:15

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Peter Melchett. The executive director of Greenpeace, he has recently hit the headlines for his active opposition to genetically modified crops. Once a pillar of ...

Neil Jordan from 2000-01-23T11:15

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Neil Jordan. As a child he would cycle past Bram Stoker's house on his way to school, one of the reasons, perhaps, that he went on to direct the film Interview wi...

Ian McEwan from 2000-01-16T11:15

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is Ian McEwan.

A Booker Prize winner, he was once dubbed 'Ian Macabre' because of the dark nature of his stories. His first novel The Cement G...

Dr Jane Goodall from 2000-01-09T11:15

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Dr. Jane Goodall. She had no formal scientific qualifications when she first went to Africa to study the Gombe chimpanzees. But it was this lack of preconceptions...