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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:

Lord Shawcross Jul 07, 1991

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week will be the lawyer and politician Lord Shawcross. As Attorney General in the Labour government of 1945, he was responsible for leading the British prosecution case at the war crimes tribunal in Nuremberg.

He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the atmosphere in that courtroom, his reasons for leaving the Labour Party and his unconventional upbringing. Now 89 years old, he'll also be recalling the days when he was known as 'handsome Hartley Shawcross', the best-looking man in public life.

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

Favourite track: Some Enchanted Evening by Ezio Pinza Book: They Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope Luxury: CD player / solar battery-powered radio

Ron Todd Jun 30, 1991

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Ron Todd - leader of Britain's largest trade union, the Transport and General Workers' Union. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his childhood as the son of a Walthamstow street-market trader, his rejection of Catholicism and conversion to socialism and about how he feels about the modern Labour Party and the role of trade unions in the 1990s.

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

Favourite track: Black And White Rag by Emmy Todd Book: The collected works by Robert Burns Luxury: Piano

John Hegarty Jun 23, 1991

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is responsible for many of the images which grace our television screens and billboards. He is advertising man John Hegarty, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about some of the slogans and scenarios he has created - from Vorsprung durch Technik to the Levi's advertisement which features the hero removing his trousers in a laundrette.

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

Favourite track: Stand By Me by John Lennon Book: The Crock of Gold by James Stephens Luxury: Clarinet

A S Byatt Jun 16, 1991

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the novelist and critic A S Byatt. Winner of the 1990 Booker prize for her novel 'Possession' - the story of a clandestine romance between two Victorian poets - she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the isolation of her school days as a highly academic child, the release of university life at Cambridge and her subsequent life at the forefront of the British literary world.

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

Favourite track: Jetzt Fand Ich's by Richard Wagner Book: A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust Alternative to Bible: King James Bible Luxury: Large filing cabinet full of A4 paper & pens

Derek Walcott Jun 09, 1991

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is poet and playwright Derek Walcott. Recent winner of the WH Smith award, and described by his admirers as one of the greatest contemporary exponents of the English language, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his early life in St Lucia - a place he frequently returns to, when not at his post of Professor of Poetry at Boston University.

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

Favourite track: You Can Call Me Al by Paul Simon Book: Ulysses by James Joyce Luxury: Carton of cigarettes

Marco Pierre White Jun 02, 1991

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week has been described as the 'enfant terrible' of the restaurant world. Marco Pierre White opened his first restaurant at the age of 27, where he established a reputation both for extraordinary culinary expertise and for outrageous behaviour.

He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the route which took him from the Leeds council estate where he was born nearly 30 years ago, to the moment when he became the youngest chef to be awarded two Michelin stars at his restaurant, Harvey's.

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

Favourite track: A Good Year For The Roses by Elvis Costello Book: Ma Gastronomie by Fernand Point Luxury: Picture of his daughter

Rt Hon John Smith May 26, 1991

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is a politician who is seen in many quarters as the Labour Party's strongest weapon in their battles with the government - John Smith, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer. A man of great resilience, he'll be telling Sue Lawley why he still loves politics in spite of the frustration of his years in opposition, his having a heart attack two and a half years ago and having to live for much of the time away from his beloved homeland of Scotland.

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

Favourite track: The Marriage Of Figaro - Final Aria by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Anthology of Poems Luxury: Case of champagne

John Simpson May 19, 1991

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is John Simpson. Recently honoured by the Royal Television Society as Journalist of the Year, he'll be talking about his life covering foreign affairs for the BBC. In that capacity, he has reported on most of the momentous upheavals of the last few years - from Tiananmen Square to the release of Nelson Mandela, from the fall of Ceausescu to the collapse of the Berlin Wall.

More recently, he was one of the very few journalists to stay on in Baghdad when the Allies began their bombardment of Iraq. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his time there, as well as his other - more frightening rather than thrilling - experiences as the BBC's Foreign Affairs Editor.

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

Favourite track: Il N'y A Plus D'Apres by Juliette Greco Book: A title in French by Marcel Proust Luxury: Flute

Cecil Lewis May 12, 1991

Show notes

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is an author and adventurer. Now 93 years old, Cecil Lewis will be talking to Sue Lawley about his extraordinary career, embracing his time as a fighter pilot during the First World War, his brush with the Red Baron, and later how he helped Lord Reith set up the BBC, which he then left for Hollywood where he was to win an Oscar for his screenplay of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion.

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

Favourite track: Adagio No 5 by Gustav Mahler Book: Sagittarius Surviving by C S Lewis Luxury: Fax machine

Dame Shirley Porter Apr 28, 1991

Show notes

The castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is Dame Shirley Porter, who, as Lady Porter, was the flamboyant leader of the ruling Conservative Group at Westminster City Council - a post she held from 1983 until she stepped down in April 1991. She'll be telling Sue Lawley about what it was that made her go into politics at the age of 40, about her campaign for cleanliness on the streets of the capital and about her plans for the future.

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

Favourite track: The Ode To Joy (Symphony No 9) by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: SAS Survival Manual Luxury: Large Swiss Army knife

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