Desert Island Discs

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Peggy Mount Jun 09, 1996

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the actress Peggy Mount. Now 80 years old, and about to play the nanny in Uncle Vanya at Chichester this summer, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her long and distinguished career as one of the nation's favourite battleaxes. With her booming voice, and imposing figure, playing parts like the nurse in Romeo and Juliet and the headmistress in The Happiest Days of your Life, she has earned the affection of millions.

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

Favourite track: Portrait Of My Love by Matt Munro Book: Diary by Noel Coward Luxury: Tea in abundance

Gerry Robinson Jun 02, 1996

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is a businessman who started life as one of 10 children in a poor family in Donegal, moved with his family to London's East End and started his career at Matchbox Toys in Hackney. From there, he worked his way up the corporate ladder of several large companies until 10 years ago he organised and led a management buy-out of Compass - part of Grand Metropolitan.

Now extremely rich in his own right, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the controversy he then attracted. Known as 'The Caterer' because of his business background, he went on to acquire London Weekend Television and controversially to take over the Forte Group. He'll be discussing his early ambitions to be a priest, his days at a seminary, the high-achieving nature of his family and how he coped with the stress of the Granada takeover of the Forte Group.

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

Favourite track: Norma Casta Diva by Vincenzo Bellini Book: The History of the World by J M Roberts Luxury: Painting kit (easel, oils, brushes)

Michael White May 26, 1996

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the producer Michael White. Renowned for his theatrical flair - with a string of successes such as Sleuth, The Rocky Horror Show, O, Calcutta and A Chorus Line - he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the downside of show business as well as the euphoria of the successful first night. He'll also be describing his cosmopolitan but miserable childhood. Sent away to school in Switzerland alone and just seven years old because of chronic asthma, his early years were often lonely and confusing.

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

Favourite track: Coming In From The Cold by Bob Marley Book: A title by Marcel Proust Luxury: Bicycle

Janet Holmes à Court May 19, 1996

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Janet Holmes à Court. Recently named Businesswoman of the Year, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how, after the sudden death of her husband, the hugely rich Robert Holmes a Court, she was advised to sell up and retire to the beach. Before his death, he had just been starting to turn the tide which had run against him after he'd lost around £400 million in the stock market crash of 1987. Forgetting the beach, she proceeded to take up the reins of the business. Over the last six years, she has created an impressive commercial organisation out of cattle, construction and transport, she owns 10 theatres in London's West End and her cattle company is estimated to own about 1.1% of Australia's land mass. The owner of a desert island herself, she'll be contemplating exile far from the demands of the business world.

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

Favourite track: Fidelio by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Tourmaline by Randolph Stow Luxury: Jar of Vegemite

Hugh Laurie May 12, 1996

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway is actor and comedian Hugh Laurie.

Favourite track: Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison Book: A self-learn Italian book (slowly) Luxury: Family photo album

Pauline Quirke May 05, 1996

Show notes

BBC TV's Birds Of A Feather is one of the country's favourite comedy programmes, attracting audiences of 14 or 15 million on a Sunday evening. This week, one of its co-stars, Pauline Quirke, will be cast well away from Chigwell as she prepares to set sail for Radio 4's desert island.

Known more famously perhaps as Sharon of Sharon 'n' Tracey, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her poor upbringing in London's East End, her first role as a child arsonist at the age of 10 in Dixon of Dock Green and her most recent appearance as a 22-stone putative murderess in The Sculptress.

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

Favourite track: I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor Book: Crying With Laughter by Bob Monkhouse Luxury: Shampoo

Mitsuko Uchida Apr 28, 1996

Show notes

This week, Sue Lawley's desert island castaway is the pianist Mitsuko Uchida. She was born in Japan, but, when she was 12, her family moved to Vienna, where she fully immersed herself in the music that she has now become famous for playing - Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and in particular, Mozart. Her aim is to be always faithful to the composer whose work she is trying to interpret.

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

Favourite track: Cello Suite No 1 in G Major by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: A title, in Russian and English, by Leo Tolstoy Luxury: Piano

Hanif Kureishi Apr 21, 1996

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the novelist and playwright Hanif Kureishi. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his enormously successful screenplay for My Beautiful Laundrette, his novel - televised by the BBC - The Buddha of Suburbia and his love of pop music which he plays at full volume whilst writing.

He'll also be discussing the racial abuse which dominated his childhood in Bromley, where, as the son of an Indian father and an English mother, and the only Asian boy in his school, he was invited to instigate racial bullying, as often as finding himself to be its target.

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

Favourite track: In A Silent Way by Miles Davis Book: Complete Works by Sigmund Freud Luxury: Marijuana seeds

Viscount Rothermere Apr 14, 1996

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Viscount Rothermere. As proprietor of the Daily Mail, the Mail On Sunday, London's Evening Standard and a string of regional newspapers, he is the last of the hereditary grandees who once dominated the newspaper industry. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his family's long involvement with newspapers, about his own views on the ethical problems facing the press today and about his ability to see into the future.

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

Favourite track: How Ya Gonna Keep Em Down On The Farm by Eddie Cantor Book: Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri Luxury: A pair of scissors

Dickie Bird Apr 07, 1996

Show notes

This summer will see what will be a sad day in Test cricket history: Dickie Bird, who has umpired 65 Test matches, 92 one-day internationals and three world cup finals, will be umpiring his last Test match at Lords.

This week in Desert Island Discs, he will be talking to Sue Lawley about his church-going childhood in Barnsley, and his anxieties about punctuality - arriving as he has done at least four hours before time at Buckingham Palace, Chequers and The Oval.

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

Favourite track: The Way We Were by Barbra Streisand Book: Wisden Almanack for cricketers by Wisden Luxury: TV & satellite to watch Test matches