

Desert Island Discs
BBC Radio 4
Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Dec 11, 1988 • 35min
Charles Dance
This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is actor Charles Dance. A man once termed "the thinking woman's crumpet", it's a description he doesn't take too seriously. But he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his matinee idol image, his early days as an aspiring actor and the role which turned him into an international star - the dashing Guy Perron in the widely-acclaimed TV series The Jewel in the Crown.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: La Bottega Dei Miracoli by Nicola Poivanni
Book: A Dream in the Luxembourg by Richard Aldington
Luxury: Guitar

Dec 4, 1988 • 38min
Lady Warnock
The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a philosopher, academic and mistress of Girton College, Cambridge; but Lady Mary Warnock is perhaps best known for her work in the public arena, on committees looking at a wide range of ethically-controversial subjects, including embryo research and animal experimentation.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about these difficult areas and also her early days as an academic when she was also bringing up five children. Throughout her life, music has also been a dominant theme and she'll be carrying out the difficult task of choosing eight records to accompany her to the desert island.Favourite track: My Beloved Spake by Henry Purcell
Book: The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope
Luxury: Pen and paper

Nov 27, 1988 • 35min
Stephen Fry
The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a man who prefers to shun any sort of label, but has already attracted quite a number of them - writer, actor, raconteur, wit - but it is as a so-called 'alternative comedian' that Stephen Fry has been most remarkable, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his somewhat chequered past and his highly successful present.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Magic Fire Music (Die Walkure) by Richard Wagner
Book: The Jeeves Omnibus by P G Wodehouse
Luxury: Suicide pill

Nov 20, 1988 • 32min
Bob Champion
Sue Lawley's castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is jockey Bob Champion - a man who, against all the odds, fought back after he was diagnosed as having cancer to win one of the most coveted prizes in his field - in 1981 he rode Aldaniti to a stunning victory in the Grand National. He'll be talking about his passion for riding, his fight against his illness and the two children who, contrary to all medical predictions, he has since fathered.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon and Garfunkel
Book: Fraser's Horse Book by Alistair Fraser
Luxury: A bronze statue of the racehorse Aldaniti

Nov 13, 1988 • 33min
Bob Hoskins
The castaway on this week's Desert Island Discs is a man who has reached the top of his profession through a fantastically varied number of routes - steeplejack, trainee accountant, circus fire-eater and hotel porter are just a few of them. Now one of the hottest properties in the film business on both sides of the Atlantic, actor Bob Hoskins will be talking to Sue Lawley about his image as a tough cockney lad, which has been prompted by such films as Mona Lisa and The Long Good Friday, and the role that took him to fame: Arthur Parker in Dennis Potter's TV series Pennies From Heaven.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Adagio For Strings by Samuel Barber
Book: Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
Luxury: Telescope

Nov 6, 1988 • 39min
Sir Claus Moser
The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a man of quite extraordinary diversity. Now Warden of Wadham College, Oxford, his other jobs have included chairing the Board of the Royal Opera House and leading the government's Central Statistical Office under three Prime Ministers. But it is his passionate love of music, however, which has dominated his life throughout his many careers, and he'll be undertaking the difficult task of selecting just eight records to accompany him to the desert island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Marriage Of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Book: A volume by James Thurber
Luxury: Concert grand Steinway piano

Oct 30, 1988 • 35min
Germaine Greer
The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a writer and academic who's most renowned for her views on women, sex and human relations. She's Germaine Greer - someone who's often described as the 'high priestess of feminism'. As she approaches her 50th birthday, she'll be discussing with Sue Lawley whether her views have mellowed over the years, and how her aspirations have changed since the publication of her book The Female Eunuch.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Piece De Clavecin by Francois Couperin
Book: The Oxford English Dictionary
Luxury: Hot spices

Oct 23, 1988 • 37min
Rt. Hon. Michael Foot
The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a man who has been described as "the nicest Prime Minister we never had". He may never have made it as Prime Minister, but Michael Foot has had a long and illustrious career, representing his Welsh constituency for many years, and becoming leader of the Labour Party in 1980. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his passion for politics, books and music.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Barber Of Seville - Una Voce Poco Fa by Gioacchino Rossini
Book: Don Juan by Lord Byron
Luxury: Alarm clock encased in Welsh tinplate

Oct 16, 1988 • 34min
Cilla Black
This week's castaway on Desert Island Discs reveals her three remaining burning ambitions in life: to make a number-one record, to become a grandmother and to be treated as a real sex symbol - all this with 25 years of singing and compering success behind her. She's matchmaker supreme Cilla Black, and she'll be talking about her legendary early days in Liverpool, her subsequent career and her family.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Long and Winding Road by The Beatles
Book: Fables by Aesop
Luxury: Manicure set and nail varnish

Oct 9, 1988 • 37min
Terry Wogan
Shy, lazy, self-effacing: this is the way this week's castaway on Desert Island Discs describes himself to Sue Lawley. So how come he ventured to the Radio Show at Earl's Court to choose his eight records to accompany him to the island? Well, you can find out how Terry Wogan just can't resist the challenge of a real, live audience, and also hear his ruminations on solitude, show business and shyness.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: My Love Is Like A Red, Red Rose by Irene Sharp
Book: The collected works by P G Wodehouse
Luxury: Radio-cassette player and language tapes


