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.
Episodes
The actor and comedian Kathy Burke was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2010.
She came to prominence when she appeared in Kevin and Perry TV sketches opposite Harry Enfield. Perry, the prepubescent schoolboy, was a role she was able to draw on from her own years as a teenager. What saved her, she says, was the arrival of punk music.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The actor Stephen Mangan was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2025.
He made his breakthrough on television playing Adrian Mole in The Cappuccino Years in 2001. Although he was glad to get the part, he describes being cast by Adrian Mole's creator, Sue Townsend, as a somewhat disconcerting experience.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The singer songwriter Nick Cave was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2025.
He has written huge hits such as "Into My Arms" and "Where the Wild Roses Grow", but songwriting doesn't come easily to him. His notebooks are full of what he describes as "bad stuff", and he'd like them to be burned after his death, thank you very much. The best way to approach the job, he says, is in office hours and wearing a suit.
You can listen to the full ...
The actor and writer Meera Syal was cast away by Sue Lawley in 2003.
She was awarded a Damehood earlier this year, but Meera Syal rose to prominence as one of the writers of the TV series Goodness Gracious Me. It came at a time in the 1990s when the perception of the British Asian experience was changing and, she says, held a mirror up to British society.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The BBC's chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2022.
She has reported from many war-torn countries, including Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq, but says she doesn't want to be defined by war. Instead, she is interested in the human cost of conflict. When she arrives in a place, she embeds herself in the lives of the local people; discovering what she calls the “heat and dust” of a so...
The former England manager Gareth Southgate was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2024.
He was 25 when he made his debut for the England team. By the time he retired from international football, he had been capped 57 times. As England manager, he led the team to two finals in the European Championships, further than they had come in more than five decades since 1966.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The actor Michael Sheen was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2025.
He has portrayed many real people on stage including Tony Blair, Brian Clough and David Frost, though never Jack Nicholson. That was his father's department, who had a second career impersonating the actor, which started around the time Nicholson played the Joker in the 1989 Batman film.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
Record producer Rick Rubin was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2022.
He is responsible for shaping the sound of artists such as the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Beastie Boys and is credited with reinvigorating the career of Johnny Cash in the 1990s, but you're more likely to see him reclining on a sofa than hunched over a mixing desk when he's hard at work. He explains what he listens for in a piece of music.
You can hear the full ep...
The writer and journalist Caitlin Moran was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2017.
Her journey took her from a three-bedroom council house in Wolverhampton, where she lived with her parents and seven siblings, to becoming a columnist for The Times newspaper and writing her own sitcom. She explains why she feels it's important to highlight the experience of those raised on benefits like herself.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC S...
The comedian Romesh Ranganathan was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2025.
He’s a BAFTA-winning broadcaster, standup, actor and writer who has been a fixture on British TV screens for the past decade. He talks about finding the sweet spot in his comedy and how discussing the perils of parenting on stage has resulted in cult hero status for his middle son.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The wheelchair athlete Tanni Grey-Thompson was cast away by Sue Lawley in 2001.
She recalls the pressure to do well at the Sydney Olympics and the relief when she managed to clinch four gold medals, but the long-distance phone call home to live-stream the medal ceremony nearly broke the bank.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The film director Greta Gerwig was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2023.
Growing up in what she calls a "culturally ravenous" family, the young Greta was inspired by her parents' record collection as much as trips to concert halls and theatres, but although she was always putting on shows to entertain friends and family, she never expected to have a professional career in the arts.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The playwright James Graham was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2024.
He was a shy and quiet child who enjoyed nothing more than watching soap operas on TV. So what was he doing taking his "stripping vicar" ice-dancing routine on tour?
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The Olympic heptathlete Jessica Ennis-Hill was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2021.
She recalls pushing herself in her final event at the London 2012 Olympics, the 800-metre race, and how throwing her hands up in the air as she crossed the finish line had not been part of the plan.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The actor Warwick Davis was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2016.
When his grandmother heard an advertisement on the radio looking for short people to play Ewoks in the next Star Wars film, she immediately thought of Warwick, but by the time his mother phoned the film studio, all the roles had been cast. Her powers of persuasion must have been quite something because, aged 11, Warwick found himself on set, dressed in a furry costume, a...
The singer-songwriter Lily Allen was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2014.
Although her school reports painted a mixed picture of Lily's academic achievements, a singing teacher spotted her vocal talent and encouraged her to perform. She brought the house down with a song from the Disney film Dumbo.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The film director Steven Spielberg was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2022.
He gave the world Jaws, ET and Jurassic Park, but Steven Spielberg got his start in the film business when he went on a bus tour of Universal Studios. He also explains why the frequently malfunctioning mechanical shark in Jaws was really a blessing in disguise.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The writer Malorie Blackman was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2013.
Although she has published more than 70 books for children and young adults - among them her hugely popular Noughts and Crosses series - getting her start as a published author was hard - 82 rejection letters had thudded onto her door mat before she had her first manuscript accepted for publication. She still remembers the day that 83rd letter arrived.
You can listen ...
The World Snooker Champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2023.
He remembers being dropped off unaccompanied at snooker halls across East London by his father as a young boy and learning to play grown men at adult tables - and beating them.
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
The cookery writer Delia Smith was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2023.
She fell in love with her husband, the editor Michael Wynn-Jones, over a shared love of food and football and recalls how she came to be known for her catchphrase, "Let's be havin' you!"
You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.
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