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 22, 1979 • 32min
Sir Osbert Lancaster
Roy Plomley's castaway is cartoonist Sir Osbert Lancaster.Favourite track: Ein' Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott by Johann Sebastian Bach
Book: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Luxury: Live sturgeon
Dec 15, 1979 • 32min
Norman Mailer
Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Norman Mailer.Favourite track: Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major by Ludwig van Beethoven
Book: Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
Luxury: Stick of the best marijuana
Dec 8, 1979 • 32min
Elisabeth Soderstrom
Roy Plomley's castaway is soprano Elisabeth Soderstrom.Favourite track: The Age Of Gold by Dmitri Shostakovich
Book: The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
Luxury: Bed
Dec 1, 1979 • 32min
Charles Causley
Roy Plomley's castaway is poet Charles Causley.Favourite track: The Play Of Daniel Overture by Ensemble Hortus Musicus
Book: Life of Johnson by James Boswell
Luxury: Piano
Nov 24, 1979 • 33min
Peter Shaffer
Roy Plomley's castaway is playwright Peter Shaffer.Favourite track: Piano Concerto No. 9 In E Flat by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Book: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
Luxury: Claude Monet, Dawn on the Seine
Nov 17, 1979 • 31min
Michael Palin
Roy Plomley's castaway is actor and writer Michael Palin.Favourite track: Nimrod by Edward Elgar
Book: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
Luxury: Bed
Nov 10, 1979 • 29min
Marti Caine
Roy Plomley's castaway is actress and musician Marti Caine.Favourite track: Coming Home by Marshall Hain
Book: Glory Road by Robert Heinlein
Luxury: Bath with solar-heated water and bubble bath
Nov 3, 1979 • 31min
Sian Phillips
Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Sian Phillips.Favourite track: Summer by Alexander Glazunov
Book: Scouting For Boys by Robert Baden-Powell
Luxury: Solar-powered refrigerator full of champagne
Oct 27, 1979 • 33min
Roald Dahl
Roy Plomley's castaway is children's writer Roald Dahl.Favourite track: Agnus Dei by Johann Sebastian Bach
Book: The New Oxford Book of English Verse by Helen Gardner
Luxury: Still, grapevine cuttings and tobacco seeds
Oct 20, 1979 • 31min
Rex Harrison
Roy Plomley's castaway is actor Rex Harrison.Favourite track: A Lull At Dawn by Barney Bigard and his Orchestra
Book: A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell
Luxury: Painting equipment for oils and watercolours
