Desert Island Discs

The castaway in Desert Island Discs is the explorer Christina Dodwell. Born in West Africa, she spent her early years running wild in the Bush. When her family returned to Camberley and the restriction of English boarding schools, Christina reacted by being expelled from a large number of them. She later ran away from the restrictions of London life in search of adventure on the African subcontinent, and she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her subsequent travels, the exhilaration of the lone voyager, the joy and the fear.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: One Of These Days by Pink Floyd Book: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran Luxury: Pen and paper

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is as old as this century and is said to be the last survivor of the much written-about Bloomsbury set. She is Frances Partridge and she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her colourful life, unconventional beliefs and friendships with such influential writers and philosophers of her time as Bertrand Russell, Wittgenstein, EM Forster, Lytton Strachey and Maynard Keynes. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Sinfonia Concertante In E Flat For Volin & Viola by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Memoirs by Duc de Saint-Simon Luxury: Flower press

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his reputation as something of a bruiser, his childhood as the son of a Northamptonshire miner and about his aspirations to the top job in politics - a job which would crown a career which has encompassed six senior Cabinet posts in under 10 years.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Night In Tunisia by Charlie Parker Book: The Life of Lord Melbourne by Lord David Cecil Luxury: Tenor sax

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the gardener Rosemary Verey. Passionate about planting and growing flowers and herbs as a child in the 1930s, it wasn't until the 1950s, with her four children away at school, that she began a serious study of horticulture. Completely self-taught, she has gone on to develop a career designing some of Britain's most beautiful gardens and numbers Prince Charles and Elton John amongst her clients.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Papillons by Robert Schumann Book: A Celebration of Gardens by Sir Roy Strong Luxury: Waterproof pens, paper and folders

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Douglas Adams, creator of the anarchic world conjured up by The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how, as a child, he found it difficult to communicate with the adult world, and didn't speak until he was four years old. But as his confidence grew, he set his sights on being a nuclear physicist - an ambition later replaced by a burning desire to be John Cleese in Monty Python's Flying Circus. In fact, he has become a hugely-successful author, a passionate amateur naturalist and a rock star manque.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Book: Omnibus of Golfing Stories by P G Wodehouse Luxury: Martin D28 left-handed guitar

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the founder of the Hospice Movement Dame Cicely Saunders. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her schooldays at Roedean, how she trained as a nurse and much later, as a doctor. When she was 29 she fell in love with a young patient dying of cancer, who bequeathed her a legacy of £500. Starting with that bequest, she raised enough money for a new kind of hospice dedicated to care for the dying. There are now 190 similar hospices throughout the country.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Symphony No 7 in A Major by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations Luxury: Pen and paper

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the playwright Willy Russell. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the route his career has taken - from hairdressing, via teaching in Toxteth to a living as one of the country's most successful dramatists. He'll also be talking about his play about the Beatles, John, Paul, George, Ringo & Bert, which, 20 years ago, transferred to the West End and became a huge hit and how, since then, Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine and Blood Brothers have all brought him success and acclaim.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: I Get Along Without You Very Well by Hoagy Carmichael Book: A Latin Primer Luxury: English meadow with an oak tree

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the internationally-acclaimed composer Sir Harrison Birtwistle. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his childhood in Lancashire, the solitude he craves when he writes his music and how he copes with the difficulties audiences encounter with some of his compositions. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Sherry by Frankie Valli Book: A Latin Primer Luxury: Chainsaw

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Ian Hislop. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the seven turbulent years of his editorship of Private Eye, as well as his early attempts at stand-up comedy before he became somewhat more successful at sit-down comedy as team captain of BBC TV's Have I Got News For You?[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Marriage Of Figaro Se Vuol Ballare, Signor Contino by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Civilisation by Kenneth Clarke Luxury: Frosties

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Dr Oliver Sacks. Now a distinguished Professor of Neurology, he was immortalised by Robin Williams in the film Awakenings. Inspired by Dr Sacks' book of the same name, it tells the story of the summer of 1969, when the catatonic patients he was treating at the time responded to an apparent miracle drug and came alive. He'll be talking about the excitements and disappointments of that summer and also about some of the 100s of extraordinary case histories which have formed the basis of his many other books. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Chu Chin Chow Here Be Oysters by Martin Lawrence Book: Dictionary of Musical Themes Luxury: Scuba diving kit