Desert Island Discs

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Janet Holmes à Court. Recently named Businesswoman of the Year, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how, after the sudden death of her husband, the hugely rich Robert Holmes a Court, she was advised to sell up and retire to the beach. Before his death, he had just been starting to turn the tide which had run against him after he'd lost around £400 million in the stock market crash of 1987. Forgetting the beach, she proceeded to take up the reins of the business. Over the last six years, she has created an impressive commercial organisation out of cattle, construction and transport, she owns 10 theatres in London's West End and her cattle company is estimated to own about 1.1% of Australia's land mass. The owner of a desert island herself, she'll be contemplating exile far from the demands of the business world.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Tourmaline by Randolph Stow Luxury: Jar of Vegemite

Sue Lawley's castaway is actor and comedian Hugh Laurie.Favourite track: Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison Book: A self-learn Italian book (slowly) Luxury: Family photo album

BBC TV's Birds Of A Feather is one of the country's favourite comedy programmes, attracting audiences of 14 or 15 million on a Sunday evening. This week, one of its co-stars, Pauline Quirke, will be cast well away from Chigwell as she prepares to set sail for Radio 4's desert island.Known more famously perhaps as Sharon of Sharon 'n' Tracey, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her poor upbringing in London's East End, her first role as a child arsonist at the age of 10 in Dixon of Dock Green and her most recent appearance as a 22-stone putative murderess in The Sculptress.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor Book: Crying With Laughter by Bob Monkhouse Luxury: Shampoo

This week, Sue Lawley's desert island castaway is the pianist Mitsuko Uchida. She was born in Japan, but, when she was 12, her family moved to Vienna, where she fully immersed herself in the music that she has now become famous for playing - Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and in particular, Mozart. Her aim is to be always faithful to the composer whose work she is trying to interpret.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Cello Suite No 1 in G Major by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: A title, in Russian and English, by Leo Tolstoy Luxury: Piano

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the novelist and playwright Hanif Kureishi. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his enormously successful screenplay for My Beautiful Laundrette, his novel - televised by the BBC - The Buddha of Suburbia and his love of pop music which he plays at full volume whilst writing. He'll also be discussing the racial abuse which dominated his childhood in Bromley, where, as the son of an Indian father and an English mother, and the only Asian boy in his school, he was invited to instigate racial bullying, as often as finding himself to be its target. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: In A Silent Way by Miles Davis Book: Complete Works by Sigmund Freud Luxury: Marijuana seeds

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Viscount Rothermere. As proprietor of the Daily Mail, the Mail On Sunday, London's Evening Standard and a string of regional newspapers, he is the last of the hereditary grandees who once dominated the newspaper industry. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his family's long involvement with newspapers, about his own views on the ethical problems facing the press today and about his ability to see into the future. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: How Ya Gonna Keep Em Down On The Farm by Eddie Cantor Book: Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri Luxury: A pair of scissors

This summer will see what will be a sad day in Test cricket history: Dickie Bird, who has umpired 65 Test matches, 92 one-day internationals and three world cup finals, will be umpiring his last Test match at Lords. This week in Desert Island Discs, he will be talking to Sue Lawley about his church-going childhood in Barnsley, and his anxieties about punctuality - arriving as he has done at least four hours before time at Buckingham Palace, Chequers and The Oval.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Way We Were by Barbra Streisand Book: Wisden Almanack for cricketers by Wisden Luxury: TV & satellite to watch Test matches

Nearly 14 years ago, the young Simon Weston set off to serve with his regiment in the Falklands War. On 8th June 1982 in Bluff Cove, his ship was bombed, most of his friends were killed, but he survived.This week on Desert Island Discs, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about that shattering moment, his subsequent rehabilitation and how his disfigurement has affected his life.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong Book: Sharpe's Eagle by Bernard Cornwell Luxury: Daily newspapers

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is someone who has unexpectedly encountered professional acclaim late in her life. Singer Kyra Vayne could well be described as one of opera's forgotten voices - until this year when, thanks to the release of some previously-unknown recordings which had lived under her bed in Shepherd's Bush for 30 years, her voice reached a large new audience of admirers. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her reaction to the ecstatic reception given to her first CD, how she lived a life of obscurity working in a bank after she abandoned her career and about her life in pre-revolution Russia, where she and her family nearly starved to death before fleeing to England. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Symphony No 9 Final Movement by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: A culinary book Luxury: Peanuts and treats to tame animals and birds

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the Chairman of the National Westminster Bank Lord Alexander. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how he began his career as a jobbing barrister, doing all manner of work on the western circuit where he earned a reputation which took him to the top of his profession. Among many others, he won cases for Jeffrey Archer and Kerry Packer, and lost one for Ken Livingstone's GLC. In the 1980s he moved to the City as Chairman of the Takeover Panel and then, to his surprise, he was invited to become Chairman of the National Westminster Bank. Tipped by those who know him well to become the next Lord Chancellor if the Conservatives stay in power, he'll be discussing his past, present and future and contemplating castaway life.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Do You Hear The People Sing? by Claude-Michel Schonberg Book: Other Men's Flowers by Lord A P Wavell Luxury: Paints and canvas