Desert Island Discs - TopPodcast.com

View Top 200 Chart

Back to Rankings Page

Desert Island Discs — Personal Journals
Desert Island Discs

Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.

Copyright: © (C) BBC 2023

Latest Episodes:

Martin Pipe Jul 18, 1999

Show notes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Martin Pipe. He has turned horse training into a science. His animals have the choice of a swimming pool, indoor canter and walking machine, while the on-site laboratory monitors their temperature, blood and weight throughout the day. Yet he retains his love for the horses themselves - a passion which has made him one of the most successful trainers in Britain.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Oh Carol by Neil Sedaka Book: Horse Management by R S Timmis Luxury: Winning post from Cheltenham race course

Paddy Moloney Jul 11, 1999

Show notes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Paddy Moloney. As the founder of the Chieftains he has taken Irish folk music around the world. No purist, some of his most popular pieces are influenced by other countries folk songs, most notably China, Spain and South America. He's collaborated with popular musicians too, sharing a stage with Mick Jagger, Elvis Costello and The Corrs.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Coast of Malabar by The Chieftains with Ry Cooder Book: The Book of Lempster (old Irish textbook currently in the Hague) Luxury: Tin whistle

Igor Aleksander Jul 04, 1999

Show notes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Profesor Igor Aleksander. He has been researching artificial conciousness for over 30 years. His first machine, Wisard, could recognise faces. His latest, Magnus, can think. He predicts that soon our computors will be so intelligent we won't be able to switch them off at the end of the day without feeling guilty.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Agnus Dei from Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi Book: Companions to the Mind by Richard Gregory Luxury: A virtual reality London Symphony Orchestra so he can conduct it

Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe MP Jun 27, 1999

Show notes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the Shadow Home Secretary Ann Widdecombe. Since the last election she has used her free time to write a novel, but has no plans to become a full time author since politics remains her passion. Some two years after she spiked Michael Howard's bid to become leader of the Conservative Party, she is herself being talked about as a possible Tory Leader.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: How Great Thou Are by Aled Jones Book: Collected Poems by Thomas Gray Luxury: (Hot) shower

James Dyson Jun 20, 1999

Show notes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is James Dyson. Today he's one of the richest men in Britain, but he began with an idea, a piece of cardboard and some sticky-backed plastic. Five years and more than 5,000 prototypes later, he was confident that he had invented a new type of vacuum cleaner. But that was to prove only the beginning of a long, drawn-out battle to get it licensed.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Slowdown by Wax On Wax Off Book: Olives: The Life and Love of a Noble Fruit by Mort Rosenslum Luxury: Olive Oil

John Barry Jun 13, 1999

Show notes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the film composer John Barry. The Pope is said to adore his soundtrack to Dances with Wolves. Although he's probably best known for the theme tunes he wrote for the Bond movies; including Goldfinger and Diamonds are Forever. In all, he's won five Oscars - not bad for a Yorkshire lad who happened to hit London just as it began to swing.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Symphony No.9 - Adagio by Gustav Mahler Book: Eternal Echoes by John O'Donohue Luxury: Grand piano

Chris Bonington Jun 06, 1999

Show notes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is Chris Bonington. In a climbing career spanning 48 years he has stood astride British mountaineering 'like a hairy colossus', climbing and leading expeditions as well as photographing and writing about them. Along the way he has seen many friends perish on the mountains and more than once narrowly escaped death himself.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Once I Had A Sweetheart by Joan Baez Book: History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Sir Winston Churchill Luxury: Power Book G3 (laptop computer)

Anthony Howard May 30, 1999

Show notes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the journalist Anthony Howard. He's worked on The New Statesman, The Observer and The Sunday Times, where as Obituaries Editor, he turned a previously dead-end job into a highly competitive art form. A regular television commentator, he probably inherited his gift for oratory from his father, a parson who gave stirring sermons.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: The Toasting Song (from La Traviata - Act One) by Giuseppe Verdi Book: Dictionary of National Biography Luxury: Camp bed

Christopher Bruce May 23, 1999

Show notes

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the artistic director of the Rambert Dance Company Christopher Bruce. As a child he was sent to dance lessons to strengthen his legs after polio had left them severely weakened. Ten years later he was the star of Ballet Rambert. Not content with being dubbed 'the Nureyev of contemporary dance' he went on to become one of the great choreographers, working all over the world before returning to the company as Director in 1994.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Piano Concerto No.2 by Sergei Rachmaninov Book: Teach yourself French Luxury: Suncream

Michael Green May 16, 1999

Show notes

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is Michael Green. As Chairman of Carlton Communications he is one of the most powerful men in British television and the driving force behind digital TV. In conversation with Sue Lawley, he talks about his life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Jersualem by Vangelis Book: The Complete Works by Sigmund Freud Luxury: Digital TV

Related Podcasts