Desert Island Discs

Latest Episodes:

Sir Magdi Yacoub Jun 18, 1995

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of the great pioneers of heart transplant surgery - Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub.

He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his dedication to his patients, whether heart transplants are now routinely successful and about some of the earlier controversies which his experimental surgery has attracted. He will also be describing his early ambitions to be a doctor, which were discouraged by his father, and how important music is to him. He often has it playing in the operating theatre.

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

Favourite track: Fantasia For Piano In D Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Pluto's Republic by Sir Peter Meddower Luxury: Hammock

John Lee Hooker Jun 11, 1995

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of the oldest and deepest voices in rock music - the legendary bluesman John Lee Hooker. The son of a preacher man, he was brought up in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and his first guitar was made from an old inner tube tied to the barn door. By the age of 14, he had his own guitar and ran away to Memphis with two dollars in his pocket for a life touring small blues clubs.

With hits like Boom Boom, Dimples and Boogie Chillun, he has been one of the major influences on rock stars like Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones.

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

Favourite track: Goin Down Slow by B.B. King & Bobby Bland Book: A book with pictures (of pretty women) Luxury: His guitar

Brian Blessed Jun 04, 1995

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the actor Brian Blessed.

He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about Z Cars - the series which first brought him to public prominence in the 1960s, about his friendship with the actress Katherine Hepburn and his obsession with climbing mountains - mountains like Everest and Kilimanjaro - when he isn't acting.

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

Favourite track: Rite of Spring The Adoration Of Earth by Igor Stravinsky Book: In Search of the Miraculous by Peter Ouspensky Luxury: Scarf given to him by the Dalai Lama

Marianne Faithfull May 28, 1995

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Marianne Faithfull. Singer and actress, she was the original 1960s wild child.

At the age of 17, when she was still a convent schoolgirl in Reading, she shot to fame with the hit single As Tears Go By; written for her by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. She was Mick Jagger's mistress, she hung out with Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, she was young, beautiful and rich and she seemed to have it all. But the glamorous life of the pop star turned into a nightmare of drugs, homelessness, suicide attempts and broken marriages.

The daughter of an Austrian baroness, her life has been full of myths and legends. She'll be telling Sue Lawley about the years of recovery, how she's found happiness in Ireland and her hopes for a Man Friday on her desert island.

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

Favourite track: Small Axe by Bob Marley & The Wailers Book: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Luxury: Pen from Aspreys with attached magnifying glass

Sir Bernard Ingham May 21, 1995

Show notes

Sue Lawley's castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Sir Bernard Ingham. For 11 years, one month and five days, almost from when she came to power to the day she left office, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Mrs Thatcher. A former card-carrying member of the Labour Party, he became her Chief Press Secretary, adviser and supporter.

He was accused by the media of crossing the line between civil service impartiality and political support on that fateful day in Paris in November 1990, just 36 hours before she lost the leadership election. He'll be telling Sue Lawley about his childhood in Yorkshire, his training as a journalist on the Hebden Bridge Times, his transition to Press Secretary for Tony Benn, Maurice MacMillan and Barbara Castle. In 1979, no-one was more astonished than he when he was headhunted to become one of Mrs Thatcher's closest advisers, and finally one of the most influential members of her team.

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

Favourite track: Violin Concerto in B Minor - Andante by Edward Elgar Book: Times Atlas of the World Luxury: Colin Cowdrey's bowling machine

Neil Simon May 14, 1995

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of America's most successful playwrights. Since he opened Come Blow Your Horn on Broadway in 1961, Neil Simon has written at least a play a year, and they include Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, Lost in Yonkers, as well as the hit musicals Sweet Charity and They're Playing Our Song.

He'll be telling Sue Lawley about his childhood in the Bronx, his days in the army, and how as one of New York's most famous literary sons, he now spends most of his time in Los Angeles.

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

Favourite track: A Foggy Day by Fred Astaire Book: How To Swim Luxury: Large harmonica

Dr George Carey May 07, 1995

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr George Carey. The son of a hospital porter, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his childhood in London during the war, his interrupted schooling which meant he left school at 15 with no qualifications and how when he decided he wanted to enter the church, he went on to acquire a clutch of 'O' and 'A' Levels in the space of a year.

Never one to shirk a challenge, he'll also be describing his feelings when he was invited to become Archbishop of Canterbury and discussing some of the issues which face the church today.

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

Favourite track: O Praise Ye The Lord (Laudate Dominum) by Hubert Parry Book: Four Quartets by T S Eliot Luxury: Computer and an empty bottle

Pete Waterman Apr 30, 1995

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week has a classic rags-to-riches story to relate. Born into a poor family in Coventry, record producer Pete Waterman is nowadays estimated to be worth at least 60 million pounds, and is the proud possessor of 10 Ferraris, 15 Jaguars and several houses and railway engines.

He'll be telling Sue Lawley how, with no formal education - and still unable to do joined-up writing - he and his company wrote and produced enough hit records in the mid-1980s to have one in the Top Forty every week for four years.

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

Favourite track: Tannhauser Overture by Richard Wagner Book: R.C.T.S. History of Great Western Railway Engines Luxury: Havana cigars and matches

George Lloyd Apr 23, 1995

Show notes

The castaway choosing his eight desert island discs this week will also be relating a story of early triumph, 25 years of obscurity and a revival of fortunes at the age of 81 which has made him one of the country's most successful classical composers. He is George Lloyd, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the shell-shock and bad luck which put paid to his early promise - his years growing carnations and mushrooms - and then, thanks to the late John Ogdon's intervention, his re-emergence to a rapturous reception by both the public and the musical establishment.

He'll also be describing the unexpected places where his music has been enjoying an airing - could it really be true that his symphonies are now to be heard in discos and pubs?

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

Favourite track: Jesu Joy Of Man's Desiring by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Piers Plowman (In Middle English) by William Langland Luxury: Romney's portrait of Lady Hamilton

Hugh Grant Apr 16, 1995

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the actor Hugh Grant.

The star of the enormously successful Four Weddings and a Funeral, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his life before he was propelled into international celebrity status. Now firmly established as a cinematic symbol of a certain type of Englishman, he had his first big break in the Merchant Ivory film Maurice, after stints in repertory at Nottingham, writing commercials and filming what he calls Europuddings in Spain, where he met his girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley.

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

Favourite track: Something Stupid by Frank & Nancy Sinatra Book: King Ottokar's Sceptre (The Adventures of Tin Tin) by Herge Luxury: Supply of handkerchiefs

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