Desert Island Discs

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David Hempleman Adams Aug 09, 1998

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the explorer David Hempleman Adams. This year he completed the Adventurer's Grand Slam. It took 18 years. When he reached the North Pole this April he had conquered the four main poles, and climbed the highest peaks in each of the seven continents. He was quite literally on top of the world.

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

Favourite track: Manha de Carnaval by Stan Getz Book: Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach Luxury: Saxophone

Ralph Steadman Aug 02, 1998

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the political cartoonist Ralph Steadman. His career was launched in 1961 with a five-pound cheque from the satirical magazine Private Eye. Later he collaborated with Hunter S Thompson and illustrated his Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. More recently he's begun to write and illustrate his own books - on Freud, Leonardo da Vinci and God.

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

Favourite track: Wish You Were Here by Theo Steadman Book: (The New) La Rousse Encyclopaedia of Mythology Luxury: Chisels

Chris De Burgh Jul 26, 1998

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the singer-songwriter Chris de Burgh. Best known for his ballad Lady in Red, he began his career playing to guests in the crumbling Irish castle which his family ran as a hotel. He 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: Kyrie from the Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramirez Book: Moonfleet by J Meade Falkner Luxury: Snorkel

Howard Brenton Jul 19, 1998

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway is the playwright Howard Brenton. In the 1960s he was part of a movement called the New Jacobeans. They took drama out of the drawing room and on to a bigger stage. Often controversial, in Romans in Britain he drew parallels with Northern Ireland and earned the wrath of Mary Whitehouse for what she described as "procuring the cast to commit immoral acts".

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

Favourite track: Weichet nur, Betrube Schatten, from the Wedding Cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Luxury: Champagne

Rt Hon Jack Straw MP Jul 12, 1998

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway is Home Secretary Jack Straw.

Favourite track: Soave Sia il Vento by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: The Franco Prussian War - the German Invasion of France 1870-1871 by Michael Howard Luxury: Saxophone

Sybille Bedford Jul 05, 1998

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the writer Sybille Bedford. Born the daughter of a German baron in 1911, her childhood brought her into contact with the great literary figures of her age - Aldous Huxley, Virginia Woolf and T S Eliot. She has received critical acclaim as a novelist, journalist and law reporter, covering the Lady Chatterley trial, the Auschwitz trial and the trial of Jack Ruby.

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

Favourite track: Slow Movement of 'Double' Violin Concerto in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: A La Recherche de Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust Luxury: A French restaurant in full working order

Jack Rosenthal Jun 28, 1998

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the playwright Jack Rosenthal. Bar Mitzvah Boy, and The Evacuees are among his many successes. His work often reflects his own life. He poured the grief he felt when his children left home into Eskimo Day, and touched a raw nerve with many parents who felt they had been left behind.

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

Favourite track: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor by Max Bruch Book: Finnegan's Wake by James Joyce Luxury: Clay for making sculpture

John Bird Jun 21, 1998

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of The Big Issue, John Bird. From a childhood in orphanages and approved schools, he has gone on to run the most successful street magazine in the world, with a circulation of over 250,000 a week in Britain and an overall turnover of some £24 million. With Big Issues in major cities all over Britain, Europe and the USA, he is returning his attention to his birthplace this time with his eye on becoming Mayor of London.

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

Favourite track: Caravan by Duke Ellington Book: Encyclopaedia of London by Ben Weinreb Luxury: Mont Blanc pen, notebook and ink

Bill Kenwright Jun 14, 1998

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the theatre producer Bill Kenwright. His West End successes include Shirley Valentine, Medea and Stepping Out. A gambler at heart, he continued to run Blood Brothers on Broadway despite a panning by the New York critics and it became a huge box office hit. An actor himself - most famously as Gordon Glegg in Coronation Street - he started producing in the provinces. There he lured audiences into the theatre by putting TV stars such as Pat Phoenix on stage - although sometimes he had to remind them that she wasn't Elsie Tanner.

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

Favourite track: Call To Arms (Everton FC and Z Cars Theme Tune) by Blueknowz Book: Everton - The Complete Record by Steve Johnson Luxury: Guitar"

Geoffrey Smith Jun 07, 1998

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the gardener and broadcaster Geoffrey Smith. He learnt his craft at his father's knee growing fruit and vegetables for the stately home where he worked. Later he learnt the science of horticulture at college and achieved top marks. He's always maintained the promise he made to himself as a boy: to spend his life outdoors. Except, of course, when he enters a studio for Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time.

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

Favourite track: Dawn Chorus Book: History of viticulture, with instructions on how to make wine Luxury: Bundle of prunings from a good vineyard so he can plant his own vines

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