Desert Island Discs

Lauren Laverne talks to the musician Thom Yorke in a programme first broadcast in 2019.

Sue Lawley talks to the primatologist Dr Jane Goodall in a programme first broadcast in 2000. Jane Goodall died in October 2025, at the age of 91.

Raymond Briggs began his career as an illustrator after studying art at the Slade School. He first achieved fame through his picture books for children, Father Christmas and Fungus the Bogeyman, but has since moved into the adult world with When the Wind Blows, in which an elderly couple struggle to survive a nuclear attack.As he told Roy Plomley when they met to choose his eight records, he has now turned this most recent picture book into a stage play.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Boogie Rocks by Albert Ammons Rhythm Kings Book: The complete works by Beachcomber Luxury: Billiard table with snooker balls and cue

Sir Ranulph Fiennes has had many adventures since he was removed from the SAS for the illegal use of explosives, but without a doubt his greatest exploit was the Transglobe Expedition. Swamps, deserts and arctic ice fields were just some of the many hazards he encountered on the first round-the-world journey via the two poles.In conversation with Roy Plomley, he describes some of his exploits and chooses the eight records he would take to the mythical island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Book: The Oxford Book of Quotations Luxury: Tube of Antisan cream

Si King is a broadcaster and cook, best known as one half of the duo The Hairy Bikers. Together with his onscreen cooking partner and real-life best friend Dave Myers, the pair travelled over 650,000 miles around the world on motor bikes filming their cooking exploits and they also wrote a number of bestselling cookbooks.Si was born in a pit village near Gateshead, the youngest child of three. His father had served in the arctic convoys and had met his wife whilst on shore leave in Newcastle when she was singing with a big band. Si’s father died when he was eight years old and Si and his mum, Stella, bonded by cooking together which led to his lifelong appreciation of food.His love of motorcycles started early when his uncle introduced him to his garage full of broken motorbikes that he enjoyed tinkering around with. Si fell in love with motorbikes and as a teenager used to give him mum a lift back from the shops.After leaving school, Si played drums in a band to earn a living, during which time he met his former wife, Jane. He became a father at 23 and soon began his television career as a runner on the children’s series Byker Grove. This opened the door to work in TV and film as a location manager, where he met make up artist Dave Myers on the set of a Catherine Cookson drama. After discovering they shared a passion for food and motorbikes, the pair developed the idea for a TV show that would see these two rather hairy motorcyclists travel around the world cooking for people. After Dave’s death in 2024, Si was involved in two commemorative “Dave Days” in which many thousands of riders from the motorbike community showed their support for Dave and his family by travelling in convoy from London to Dave’s home town of Barrow in Furness.Si King lives in the North East.DISC ONE: Winter Song - Lindisfarne DISC TWO: Boil the Breakfast Early - The Chieftains DISC THREE: Anonymous: Liturgy of Saint Anthony - Ad Missam - Introitus: Os justi meditabitur - Coro Gregoriano De Lisboa DISC FOUR: Stay With Me Till Dawn - Judie Tzuke DISC FIVE: Set The Fire To The Third Bar - Snow Patrol feat. Martha Wainwright DISC SIX: Still in Love with You (Live) - Thin Lizzy DISC SEVEN: On The Wire - Troy Cassar-Daley DISC EIGHT: Ask the Lonely - JourneyBOOK CHOICE: Combined works of William Dalrymple LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered fridge and rum CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Ask the Lonely - Journey Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah TaylorDesert Island Discs has cast other cooks away to the island over the years including Delia Smith, Nigella Lawson and Nigel Slater. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Joan Fontaine.Favourite track: Piano Concerto in A Minor by Edvard Grieg Book: Single-volume encyclopaedia Luxury: The Taj Mahal

Roy Plomley's castaway is botanist David Bellamy.Favourite track: The Better Land by Clara Butt Book: The Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkien Luxury: Linen sheets

Roy Plomley's castaway is historian Sir Arthur Bryant.Favourite track: The Magic Flute by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell Luxury: Painting of a little princess, by Velazquez

Roy Plomley's castaway is Editor of the Guinness Book of Records Norris McWhirter.Favourite track: Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1 in D Major by Edward Elgar Book: The National Dictionary of Biography Luxury: Roll of cloth

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor Robert Stephens.Favourite track: Speak The Speech, I Pray You (from Hamlet) by William Shakespeare Book: The collected works by Raymond Chandler Luxury: Tobacco plant

Roy Plomley's castaway is baritone Benjamin Luxon.Favourite track: Spem In Alium by Tallis Book: Collected stories by Idris Shah Luxury: A piano and music

Roy Plomley's castaway is director Elia Kazan.Favourite track: String Quartet in A Minor by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Iliad by Homer Luxury: 20 tons of pine needles

Roy Plomley's castaway is novelist and scriptwriter Allan Prior.Favourite track: Never Been Kissed In The Same Place Twice by Maddy Prior Book: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Luxury: Looking glass

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor Robert Powell.Favourite track: Symphony No. 5 In C Sharp Minor by Gustav Mahler Book: Modern English Usage by Henry W Fowler Luxury: Typewriter

Roy Plomley's castaway is photographer Norman Parkinson.Favourite track: La Vie En Rose by Grace Jones Book: The Unquiet Grave by Cyril Connolly Luxury: Life-size bronze statue of an Ama-Indian woman

Roy Plomley's castaway is dancer Sir Robert Helpmann.Favourite track: Bailero by Victoria De Los Angeles Book: Volume on boat building for beginners Luxury: Toothbrush and toothpaste

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor Dinsdale Landen.Favourite track: Sanctus by Gabriel Fauré Book: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Luxury: Champagne

Roy Plomley's castaway is rugby player Barry John.Favourite track: Myfanwy by Treorchy Male Voice Choir Book: Complete Penguin Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Luxury: Collection of assorted balls

Roy Plomley's castaway is pianist Vladimir Ashkenazy.Favourite track: Piano Concerto No. 27 In B Flat by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Blank book and pens Luxury: Well-programmed robot

Roy Plomley's castaway is zoologist David Attenborough.Favourite track: String Quintet In G Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life by William Barry Lord Luxury: Binoculars

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Lauren Bacall.Favourite track: My Mistress' Eyes (Sonnet 130) by William Shakespeare Book: Collected Short Stories by John Cheever Luxury: Sun tan lotion

Roy Plomley's castaway is singer Nana Mouskouri.Favourite track: Girl From The North Country by Bob Dylan Book: The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery Luxury: Telephone

Roy Plomley's castaway is cartoonist Sir Osbert Lancaster.Favourite track: Ein' Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon Luxury: Live sturgeon

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer Norman Mailer.Favourite track: Symphony No. 3 in E Flat Major by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges Luxury: Stick of the best marijuana

Roy Plomley's castaway is soprano Elisabeth Soderstrom.Favourite track: The Age Of Gold by Dmitri Shostakovich Book: The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir Luxury: Bed

Roy Plomley's castaway is poet Charles Causley.Favourite track: The Play Of Daniel Overture by Ensemble Hortus Musicus Book: Life of Johnson by James Boswell Luxury: Piano

Roy Plomley's castaway is playwright Peter Shaffer.Favourite track: Piano Concerto No. 9 In E Flat by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon Luxury: Claude Monet, Dawn on the Seine

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor and writer Michael Palin.Favourite track: Nimrod by Edward Elgar Book: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray Luxury: Bed

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress and musician Marti Caine.Favourite track: Coming Home by Marshall Hain Book: Glory Road by Robert Heinlein Luxury: Bath with solar-heated water and bubble bath

Roy Plomley's castaway is actress Sian Phillips.Favourite track: Summer by Alexander Glazunov Book: Scouting For Boys by Robert Baden-Powell Luxury: Solar-powered refrigerator full of champagne

Roy Plomley's castaway is children's writer Roald Dahl.Favourite track: Agnus Dei by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: The New Oxford Book of English Verse by Helen Gardner Luxury: Still, grapevine cuttings and tobacco seeds

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor Rex Harrison.Favourite track: A Lull At Dawn by Barney Bigard and his Orchestra Book: A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell Luxury: Painting equipment for oils and watercolours

Roy Plomley's castaway is soprano Josephine Barstow.Favourite track: Symphony No 9 by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy and Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy Luxury: Michelangelo's David

Roy Plomley's castaway is explorer Wilfred Thesiger.Favourite track: Pie Jesu by Gabriel Fauré Book: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon Luxury: Supply of acid drops

Roy Plomley's castaway is poet and broadcaster Pam Ayres.Favourite track: The New St George by John & Chris Leslie Book: The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth Luxury: Large basket of sugared almonds

Roy Plomley's castaway is thriller writer Ted Allbeury.Favourite track: Love Is The Sweetest Thing by Al Bowlly, Ray Noble and his Orchestra Book: The Unquiet Grave by Cyril Connolly Luxury: Writing paper and pencils

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer and critic Richard Buckle.Favourite track: Piano Quintet In A Major by Franz Schubert Book: Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy Luxury: Paper and pencils

Roy Plomley's castaway is portrait painter June Mendoza.Favourite track: Spring Symphony by Benjamin Britten Book: The Penguin Chronology of the Modern World by Neville Williams Luxury: Canvases, brushes and paint

Roy Plomley's castaway is actor Peter Barkworth.Favourite track: Symphony No. 1 in A Flat by Edward Elgar Book: His diaries to date Luxury: Beautifully bound blank book and ballpoint pens

Roy Plomley's castaway is writer and broadcaster Barry Norman.Favourite track: Symphony No. 5 In C Minor by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The World of Jeeves by P G Wodehouse Luxury: Typewriter, paper and a desk with cricket balls in the drawers

Roy Plomley's castaway is opera singer Boris Christoff.Favourite track: Prendi I'Anel Ti Dono (from La Sonnambula) by Vincenzo Bellini Book: The Poetry by Yuarroros

Roy Plomley's castaway is historian Countess Elizabeth Longford.Favourite track: Air (from Water Music Suite) by Handel/Harty Book: Utopia by Thomas Moore Luxury: Tapestry making kit

Besides choosing the eight records he would take to the mythical island, Sir Ralph Richardson talks to Roy Plomley about his early life in an insurance office, about some of the many films and plays in which he has acted, and about the National Theatre where he was appearing at the time.Favourite track: Clarinet Concerto in A by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Novels by Henry James Luxury: Pipes and tobacco

Roy Plomley's castaway is pianist Dame Moura Lympany.Favourite track: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor by Felix Mendelssohn Book: Book about growing flowers and vegetables on a desert island Luxury: Wine from own vineyard

Roy Plomley's castaways are scriptwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais.Favourite track: You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin Book: Teach yourself the guitar and Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne Luxury: Cards and a guitar

Roy Plomley's castaway is historian C Northcote Parkinson.Favourite track: The Old Hundredth by Coronation of HM Queen Elizabeth II Book: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon Luxury: Radio receiver

Roy Plomley's castaway is choreographer Glen Tetley.Favourite track: Laudamus Te by Claudio Monteverdi Book: Earthly Paradise by Colette Luxury: South American hammock

Roy Plomley's castaway is baritone Tito Gobbi.Favourite track: La Montanara by Tito Gobbi Book: Flowers of the World by Leslie Greenwood Luxury: Bar of gold

Roy Plomley's castaway is the writer Ed McBain.Favourite track: Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor by Sergei Rachmaninov Book: Streets of Gold by Ed McBain Luxury: Whisky

Roy Plomley's castaway is former Brain Of Britain and radio personality Irene Thomas.Favourite track: Soave Sia Il Vento by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Score of the opera Fidelio by Beethoven Luxury: Teddy bear stuffed with tea bags