Desert Island Discs

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Simon Murray Jan 04, 2009

Show notes

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the adventurer and businessman Simon Murray. What many of us would struggle to do over three life-times he has managed in one - as a teenager, nursing a broken heart and determined to prove himself, he joined the French Foreign Legion. Fighting in the Algerian war, he risked his life many times over; combat was at close quarters and was very bloody.

Next, he set his sights on business - he ran some of the most well-known companies in South East Asia and was one of Chris Patten's key allies during the handover of Hong Kong. Then, in his 60s and looking for a new challenge, he chanced upon the idea of polar adventure, and went on to become the oldest person to walk unsupported to the South Pole. But after all this, his greatest achievement, he says, is his marriage. Perhaps it's no surprise that his wife of 43 years, Jennifer, is the first woman to have flown a helicopter solo around the world. These days their three children try to curb their enthusiasm for dangerous pursuits. But, Simon snorts, the couple simply say: "we're not listening."

This programme contains descriptions that some listeners may find disturbing.

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

Favourite track: O Soave Fanciulla (Oh beautiful maiden) by Giacomo Puccini Book: Cautionary Tales by Hilaire Belloc Luxury: Lots of paper, pencil and pencil sharpener.

Baroness Haleh Afshar Dec 28, 2008

Show notes

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is Baroness Haleh Afshar. An expert in Middle Eastern Affairs, she's a professor of politics and women's studies and Islamic law as well as being a cross-bench peer. She grew up in Iran and France living a life of huge privilege but, inspired by reading Jane Eyre, she decided she needed to learn to stand on her own two feet. She came to Britain as a boarding school pupil when she was 14 and has made her home here.

She has been an outspoken critic of the Iranian regime and, coming from a long line of independent-minded women, that's little surprise. Her mother campaigned for women to have the vote while her grandmother refused to wear the veil. Though in her grandmother's case, that was because she thought she was too pretty to be covered up.

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

Record: Prelude to Bach's Cello Suite No.1 Book: Collected poems by Hafiz Alternate to Bible: Koran Luxury: A rose bush.

James Nesbitt Dec 21, 2008

Show notes

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is James Nesbitt. He is one of our most popular and successful actors and his long list of credits includes Cold Feet, Bloody Sunday, Jekyll and Murphy's Law. In this warm and illuminating interview he recalls his childhood in County Antrim where he grew up in a close-knit, rural community. He was the only boy and the youngest of four children and, when he was told he was 'spoilt', says he always understood that it meant the same as 'loved'.

His father was the headmaster of the local primary school and there was an expectation that his children would follow him to become teachers. But James was a keen actor and says it is only now, in his 40s, that he can look back clearly and see he always felt an affinity to being on the stage. The first role he was cast in was as the Artful Dodger in Oliver. It's a character, he jokes, that has stayed with him through many of the roles he has taken on since.

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

Favourite track: Come Fly With Me by Frank Sinatra Book: Collected writings by James Lawton Luxury: A bottle of chilled Sancerre for every night.

Michael Deeley Dec 14, 2008

Show notes

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the Oscar-winning film producer Michael Deeley. Over the past 40 years he's been involved in some of the most highly acclaimed movies we've seen, including Don't Look Now, The Deer Hunter and The Italian Job. Yet his job is one that's barely understood. Neither the artistic visionary nor the star player the producer, he says, is the person who is the ramrod-figure who causes a film to be made - buying the rights to stories, hiring actors, finding locations and overseeing the production. He fell into it - he'd always thought he'd be a diplomat or a lawyer - but a casual job ended up being a career of many decades standing. He says rather modestly, "I just found I had the knack".

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

Favourite track: I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That) by Meat Loaf Book: Decent translation of the Koran Luxury: Two hundred cases of vintage wine.

Marcus du Sautoy Dec 07, 2008

Show notes

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the mathematician Marcus du Sautoy.

A professor of mathematics at Oxford University and a fellow of New College, he has recently been named as the next Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science. He has always been driven to try to demystify and popularise his field. It's clearly a task he takes seriously - his father has recently enrolled on an Open University course in maths and, he admits, when he took his young son to visit the Alhambra in Spain, he challenged him to find the 17 forms of plane symmetry in the palace.

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

Favourite track: The Prelude to Parsifal by Richard Wagner Book: The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse Alternative to Bible: Mahabharata Luxury: My own trumpet.

Michael Eavis Nov 30, 2008

Show notes

Kirsty Young's castaway on Desert Island Discs this week is Michael Eavis.

It's more than 30 years since he launched the Glastonbury Festival at his dairy farm in Somerset. Back in 1970, the headline act was Marc Bolan. His fee for appearing was just £500 and party-goers were given all the milk that the farm's herd of Friesians produced.

Over the years Michael risked losing his farm in order to fund the festival, faced years when the event was mired in mud and was criticised for booking a hip-hop act to top this year's bill. But, he says, he always felt compelled to keep the Glastonbury Festival going and now it attracts 180,000 people each year and brings millions of pounds into the local economy.

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

Favourite track: How Great Thou Art by Elvis Presley Book: Blake by Peter Ackroyd Luxury: A mouth organ with instruction book.

Janet Street-Porter Nov 23, 2008

Show notes

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is Janet Street-Porter. Born, she says, with 'frilly teeth, big glasses and beige hair' she also came with a healthy measure of ambition, brains and creativity and she used those talents to pioneer a new style of television.

In this personal interview, she describes how, as she gets older, she can't bear to look in a mirror and see traces of her mother; how her shyness can make it difficult for her to walk into a room full of strangers and that what she likes best is to be walking in the hills, in the rain and sleet, mulling over ideas for her next project. She may be a pensioner with a good body of work behind her, but, she says, her mind is on the career that lies ahead.

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

Favourite track: Always on My Mind by Pet Shop Boys Book: Larousse Gastronomique by Hamlyn Luxury: Notebook and Pens.

David Davis MP Nov 16, 2008

Show notes

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the Conservative politician David Davis. Born just before Christmas in 1948 to a single mother he was brought up in poverty in first York and then London. He says that he learnt early on the importance of not running away from a challenge and his grandfather and step-father taught him how to face up to his own fears.

He went on to join the SAS through the territorial army and, during his career at Westminster, has earned the nicknames 'Bone Crusher' and 'Bovver Boy'. Yet he shocked his own party when, in June last summer, he stood down as Shadow Home Secretary and announced he was going to campaign against what he saw as a fundamental assault by the government on our civil liberties. In this personal interview, he describes the anxieties that beset him as he made that decision - and the extent to which his political life changed as a result of it.

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

Favourite track: Un Bel Di - One Fine Day by Kiri Te Kanawa Book: The complete works by Iain Banks Luxury: A magic wine cellar which never runs out.

Allan Ahlberg Nov 14, 2008

Show notes

Kirsty Young's castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of our best-loved children's authors, Allan Ahlberg. He started writing stories for children at his wife Janet's suggestion - she wanted someone to write the words so that she could provide the illustrations. They went on to produce more than three dozen picture books together including The Jolly Postman, Each Peach Pear Plum and Peepo! and their books sold in their millions.

In this moving programme, Allan describes the impact of Janet's diagnosis, how she faced up to the knowledge that she was dying and how, after her death, he worked through his grief by compiling another book - a very personal collection about her life and work.

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

Favourite track: Closing Time by Leonard Cohen Book: Selected Stories by Alice Munro Luxury: A wall to kick a football against.

Shami Chakrabarti Nov 02, 2008

Show notes

Kirsty Young's castaway this week is the director of Liberty, Shami Chakrabarti. A pithy and incisive speaker, she is rarely out of the media spotlight and has been voted 'one of our most inspiring political figures'. She joined Liberty the day before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and, as the events unfolded on the television screens, it was, she says, impossible to predict just how much they would shape the civil rights debate in the years that followed. For her, it was not just a matter of philosophical or political principle - her son was born soon after the attacks and his birth, she says, influenced her own feelings: "I understood more what it is to be afraid, what it is to really worry about whether your family are going to be blown up on the underground."

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

Favourite track: I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be Free by Nina Simone Book: To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee Luxury: A private screening room with movies.

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