''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...
. It was first broadcast on the
BBC Forces Programme
The BBC Forces Programme was a national radio station which operated from 7 January 1940 until 26 February 1944.
History Development
Upon the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939, the BBC closed both existing National and Regional ra ...
on 29 January 1942.
Each week a guest, called a "
castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (usually, but not always, music), a book and a luxury item that they would take if they were to be cast away on a
desert island
A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...
, whilst discussing their life and the reasons for their choices. It was devised and originally presented by
Roy Plomley
Francis Roy Plomley, ( ; 20 January 1914 – 28 May 1985) was an English radio broadcaster, producer, playwright and novelist. He is best remembered for devising the BBC Radio series ''Desert Island Discs'', which he hosted from its inception i ...
. Since 2018 the programme has been presented by
Lauren Laverne
Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton; born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author and singer. She was the lead singer and additional guitarist in the alternative rock ba ...
.
More than 3,000 episodes have been recorded, with some guests having appeared more than once and some episodes featuring more than one guest.
An example of a guest who falls into both categories is
Bob Monkhouse
Robert Alan Monkhouse (1 June 1928 – 29 December 2003) was an English comedian, writer and actor. He was the host of television game shows including ''The Golden Shot'', '' Celebrity Squares'', '' Family Fortunes'' and '' ''Wipeout'.
Ear ...
, who appeared with his co-writer
Denis Goodwin
Denis Ian Goodwin (19 July 1929 – 26 February 1975) was a radio and television comedy scriptwriter and actor, best known for his writing partnership with Bob Monkhouse, with whom he also compèred the ''Smash Hits'' programme on Radio Luxemb ...
on 12 December 1955 and in his own right on 20 December 1998.
When ''Desert Island Discs'' marked its 75th year in 2017, ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' called the show a radio classic. In February 2019 a panel of broadcasting industry experts named it the greatest radio programme of all time.
Format
Guests are invited to imagine themselves
cast away
''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in ...
on a
desert island
A desert island, deserted island, or uninhabited island, is an island, islet or atoll that is not permanently populated by humans. Uninhabited islands are often depicted in films or stories about shipwrecked people, and are also used as stereot ...
, and choose eight recordings, originally gramophone records, to take with them; discussion of their choices permits a review of their life. Excerpts from their choices are played or, in the case of short pieces, the whole work. At the end of the programme they choose the one piece they regard most highly. Guests are also automatically given the ''
Complete Works of Shakespeare'' and either the
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
or another appropriate religious or philosophical work. They are then prompted to select a third book to accompany them. Popular choices include
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
and
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
. Actress
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
, who has
macular degeneration
Macular degeneration, also known as age-related macular degeneration (AMD or ARMD), is a medical condition which may result in blurred or no vision in the center of the visual field. Early on there are often no symptoms. Over time, however, som ...
, was permitted to take an
audiobook
An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements.
Spoken audio has been available in sc ...
in place of a printed manuscript.
Guests also choose one luxury, which must be inanimate and of no use in escaping the island or allowing communication from outside.
Roy Plomley
Francis Roy Plomley, ( ; 20 January 1914 – 28 May 1985) was an English radio broadcaster, producer, playwright and novelist. He is best remembered for devising the BBC Radio series ''Desert Island Discs'', which he hosted from its inception i ...
enforced these rules strictly. He did, however, grant a special dispensation to
Princess Michael of Kent
Princess Michael of Kent (born Baroness Marie-Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz, 15 January 1945) is a member of the British royal family of German, Austrian, Czech and Hungarian descent. She is married to Prince Michael of Kent, ...
, who chose her pet cat.
[ ] The rules are, however, less strictly enforced today; for instance,
John Cleese
John Marwood Cleese ( ; born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Emerging from the Cambridge Footlights in the 1960s, he first achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and as a scriptwriter and ...
was allowed to take
Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries.
Palin w ...
with him, on the condition that he was dead and stuffed. Examples of luxuries have included champagne and a piano, the latter of which is one of the most requested luxuries.
After Plomley's death in 1985, the programme was presented first by
Michael Parkinson
Sir Michael Parkinson (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his television talk show '' Parkinson'' from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007, as well as other talk shows and programmes both in the U ...
, then from 1988 to 2006 by
Sue Lawley and from 2006 to 2018 by
Kirsty Young
Kirsty Jackson Young (born 23 November 1968) is a Scottish television and radio presenter.
From 2006 to 2018 she was the main presenter of BBC Radio 4's ''Desert Island Discs''. She presented ''Crimewatch'' on BBC One from 2008 to 2015.
Early ...
.
Young was replaced by
6 Music
BBC Radio 6 Music is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC, specialising primarily in alternative music. BBC 6 Music was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years. It is available onl ...
presenter
Lauren Laverne
Lauren Cecilia Fisher (née Gofton; born 28 April 1978), known professionally as Lauren Laverne, is an English radio DJ, model, television presenter, author and singer. She was the lead singer and additional guitarist in the alternative rock ba ...
, who interviewed Olympic diver
Tom Daley
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
for her first show, broadcast on 30 September 2018. Laverne was initially drafted in as an interim presenter while Young was suffering from
fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia (FM) is a medical condition defined by the presence of chronic widespread pain, fatigue, waking unrefreshed, cognitive symptoms, lower abdominal pain or cramps, and depression. Other symptoms include insomnia and a general hyp ...
; she was appointed permanently in July 2019 when Young announced her decision not to return.
Notable guests
The first castaway was
Vic Oliver
Victor Oliver von Samek (8 July 1898 – 15 August 1964) was an Austrian-born British actor and radio comedian.
Early life
He was born in Vienna into a Jewish family, the son of Baron Viktor von Samek. He studied medicine at Vienna University but ...
, and several castaways, including
Celia Johnson,
Arthur Askey
Arthur Bowden Askey, (6 June 1900 – 16 November 1982) was an English comedian and actor. Askey was known for his short stature (5' 2", 1.58 m) and distinctive horn-rimmed glasses, and his playful humour incorporating improvisation ...
,
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas f ...
,
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger (; 16 February 1926 – 25 July 2003) was an English film and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for ''Midnight Cowboy'', and was nominated for the same award for two other films ('' Darling'' an ...
,
Kenneth Williams
Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Car ...
,
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in the UK for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in December 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekd ...
,
Brian Rix
Brian Norman Roger Rix, Baron Rix, (27 January 1924 – 20 August 2016) was an English actor-manager, who produced a record-breaking sequence of long-running farces on the London stage, including ''Dry Rot'', '' Simple Spymen'' and ''One for ...
,
David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
,
John Mortimer,
Adele Leigh
Adele Leigh (15 June 1928 – 23 May 2004) was an English operatic soprano, later the wife of the Austrian ambassador in London.
Early life
Leigh was born in Hackney, East London on 15 June 1928. Her father left when she was two and she was bro ...
and
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director and writer. He first came to prominence in the 1980s as one half of the comic double act Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring ...
have been cast away more than once. The most requested piece of music over the first 60 years was "Ode to Joy", the last movement of
Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is a choral symphony, the final complete symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven, composed between 1822 and 1824. It was first performed in Vienna on 7 May 1824. The symphony is regarded by many critics and musi ...
. One of the most remarked broadcasts was
Elisabeth Schwarzkopf
Dame Olga Maria Elisabeth Friederike Schwarzkopf, (9 December 19153 August 2006) was a German-born Austro-British soprano. She was among the foremost singers of lieder, and is renowned for her performances of Viennese operetta, as well as the op ...
's 1958 selection of seven of her own recordings. This record was subsequently beaten by British pianist Dame
Moura Lympany
Dame Moura Lympany DBE (18 August 191628 March 2005) was an English concert pianist.
Biography
She was born as Mary Gertrude Johnstone at Saltash, Cornwall. Her father was an army officer who had served in World War I and her mother original ...
on her second appearance on the programme on 28 July 1979 when all eight of her selections were of her own recordings. In the early 1970s, Roy Plomley attempted to interview
Alistair MacLean
Alistair Stuart MacLean ( gd, Alasdair MacGill-Eain; 21 April 1922 – 2 February 1987) was a 20th-century Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers and adventure stories. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, most notably '' The ...
, but mistakenly interviewed a member of the Ontario Tourist Bureau with the same name − who had never written a book. The programme was never broadcast. In January 1981,
Princess Margaret appeared as a castaway on the show.
Opening theme
Plomley originally wanted the sounds of "surf breaking on a shore and the cries of sea birds" to open and close each programme. However, Leslie Prowne, the head of popular record programmes at the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
, was concerned that it lacked definition and insisted that music should also be used. Plomley and the series' producer Frederic Piffard selected "
(who appeared on the show in 1951). The tune has been used since the first transmission in 1942. The sound of
has accompanied the music except for a period of time in 1964 when tropical bird sounds were used.
Until late September 2009, ''Desert Island Discs'' could not be heard on the BBC's
service, which allows most programmes to be heard up to a week after transmission. The programme's website stated that this was due to rights issues, as explained in ''
'' in 2006.
It was announced on 27 September 2009 that an agreement had been reached as a result of which the programme would be available to stream via the iPlayer. The first episode available through the iPlayer was with
. Subsequently, the programme was also made available as a podcast, beginning with the edition broadcast on 29 November 2009, which featured
. However, due to music clearance issues, the music selections on the podcast versions are reduced to only playing for around 30 seconds or so (and in rare instances are unavailable, as mentioned in an announcement made by the presenter at the appropriate point of the programme).
On 30 March 2011, the BBC placed more than 500 episodes from the show's archive online to listen to via iPlayer. Other episodes have since been added, both new and old.
In the early years of the BBC, programmes were broadcast live and were not usually recorded. This, in addition to the BBC's policy of only retaining a limited number of broadcasts, means very few episodes from the first 20 years of the show are known to exist; the earliest episode still in existence was broadcast on 25 April 1951 and features actress
. Several extracts were preserved for posterity at the request of the guests, such as an extract featuring
'' (1940), gives his view on the changing landscape of the film industry and briefly discusses his then forthcoming film ''
'' (1960).
In 2022 over 90 recordings, previously thought to be lost, were rediscovered by the audio collector Richard Harrison. These recordings date from the period 1952 to 1988 and feature many notable celebrities of the era including
. These recordings have been made available for streaming via
, the successor to iPlayer for audio content.
*''Desert Island Discs'' (1977, by Roy Plomley)
*''Plomley's Pick'' (1982, by Roy Plomley)
*''Desert Island Lists'' (1984, compiled by Roy Plomley and Derek Drescher)
*''Sue Lawley's Desert Island Discussions'' (1990, by Sue Lawley)
* ''Desert Island Discs: 70 Years of Castaways'' (2012, by Sean Magee, foreword by Kirsty Young)
* ''Desert Island Discs: Flotsam & Jetsam'' (2012, by