Desert Island Discs

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the racehorse trainer Jenny Pitman. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the empathy she feels for the horses she trains and her relationship with their owners. She won the Grand National in 1983 with Corbiere, and she has twice trained the winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In 1995 her charge, Royal Athlete, won the Grand National, crowning her spectacular success as a trainer.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: A Four Legged Friend by Roy Rogers Book: Veterinary Notes For Horse Owners by M Horace Hayes Luxury: Television set

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the advertising man, Maurice Saatchi. He and his brother Charles created what became the biggest advertising agency in the world. Saatchi & Saatchi masterminded the Conservative victory in 1979 with their slogan 'Labour isn't working'.He'll be telling Sue Lawley about the heady days of the 1980s - a red Ferrari would be delivered unannounced to the best names in the business, with the offer of a job with Saatchi & Saatchi. Then, last year, he fell from grace when a boardroom shake-up meant he had to leave the company he had so lovingly created.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Die Dreigroschenoper Surabaya Johnny by Kurt Weill Book: Hamlet (1897 edition) by William Shakespeare Luxury: Virtual-reality headset

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is a man who spans our century. Aged 91, Max Nicholson has enjoyed careers in conservation, politics, journalism and the Civil Service.But his great passion remains ornithology. As a tiny boy, his parents took him one rainy afternoon to see the stuffed birds in the Natural History Museum, and there his great obsession was born. He was a conservationist before anyone understood the idea of ecology. He's played major parts in the founding of the Nature Conservancy Council, the World Wildlife Fund and Sites of Special Scientific Interest.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Symphony No 6 In F Major Op 68 by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Phenomenon of Man by Pierre Teilhard De Chardin Luxury: Binoculars

Sue Lawley's castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is the celebrated American writer John Updike. His novels include Rabbit Run (and three Rabbit follow-ups), Couples and The Witches of Eastwick.He is both poet and historian, famous for charting the changes in post-war American society such as increasing marital breakdown and changing attitudes to death. He started his writing career by selling stories to the New Yorker magazine - something his mother had tried for years but had never succeeded. And he'll be telling Sue Lawley about how he overcame a bad stutter, how he has learnt to control his psoriasis and how now, aged 63, he finally feels normal; part of the gang he never was as a teenager. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Sing, Sing, Sing by The Benny Goodman Orchestra Book: Complete Works by Marcel Proust Luxury: Silken tent (for luxury, not survival)

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the actress Wendy Richard, one of the best-known faces on British television. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about a career which started with the Arthur Haines show in the 60s, and took her through a whole series of long-running television programmes - The Newcomers, Are You Being Served? and its sequel Grace and Favour. However, it was 10 years ago that she took the part which was to bring her her greatest popularity - Pauline Fowler in EastEnders.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Land Of Hope And Glory by Edward Elgar/Benson Book: Wilt by Tom Sharpe Luxury: Tapestry to make

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, the sixth Duke of Westminster. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the responsibilities and pleasures of being one of the country's richest men. Having enjoyed an idyllic childhood on the banks of Loch Ern in County Fermanagh, it was a rude shock to be transplanted to an English prep school at the age of seven. The comparatively early death of his father then meant that by the time he was just 19 he was managing one of Britain's greatest estates, and by 27 he owned it. He'll be discussing the pleasures and the perils of his position, why he is no longer a member of the Conservative Party and his hopes and dreams for his four-year-old son and heir, Hugh.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Albatross by Fleetwood Mac Book: Through Russian Snows by G A Henty Luxury: Telescope

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is clothes designer Jasper Conran. Son of Sir Terence Conran and Shirley Conran, he has art, design and business in his blood and was always determined to make his own way in the world of fashion without parental influence. He has said, "in a family like mine, if you're not successful, you drown".He'll be telling Sue Lawley about his difficult childhood of nannies and his public school where he was bullied for being overweight, all of which he overcame to win a scholarship to the prestigious Parsons School of Art in New York. After that, his career took off and, at the age of 27, he was named Designer of the Year. By the late 1980s he was almost bankrupt and had to re-invent his business to a 1990s-type smaller and more manageable outfit.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Tosca Vissi D' Arte by Giacomo Puccini Book: Tales by Hoffman Luxury: Vintage Krug Champagne (endless supply)

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of the great pioneers of heart transplant surgery - Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub.He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his dedication to his patients, whether heart transplants are now routinely successful and about some of the earlier controversies which his experimental surgery has attracted. He will also be describing his early ambitions to be a doctor, which were discouraged by his father, and how important music is to him. He often has it playing in the operating theatre.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Fantasia For Piano In D Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Pluto's Republic by Sir Peter Meddower Luxury: Hammock

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of the oldest and deepest voices in rock music - the legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker. The son of a preacher man, he was brought up in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and his first guitar was made from an old inner tube tied to the barn door. By the age of 14, he had his own guitar and ran away to Memphis with two dollars in his pocket for a life touring small blues clubs.With hits like Boom Boom, Dimples and Boogie Chillun, he has been one of the major influences on rock stars like Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Goin Down Slow by B.B. King & Bobby Bland Book: A book with pictures (of pretty women) Luxury: His guitar

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the actor Brian Blessed.He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about Z Cars - the series which first brought him to public prominence in the 1960s, about his friendship with the actress Katherine Hepburn and his obsession with climbing mountains - mountains like Everest and Kilimanjaro - when he isn't acting.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Rite of Spring The Adoration Of Earth by Igor Stravinsky Book: In Search of the Miraculous by Peter Ouspensky Luxury: Scarf given to him by the Dalai Lama