List of Desert Island Discs episodes (1981–1990)
The BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs invites castaways to choose eight pieces of music, a book (in addition to the Bible – or a religious text appropriate to that person's beliefs – and the Complete Works of Shakespeare) and a luxury item that they would take to an imaginary desert island, where they will be marooned indefinitely. The rules state that the chosen luxury item must not be anything animate or indeed anything that enables the castaway to escape from the island, for instance a radio set, sailing yacht or aeroplane. The choices of book and luxury can sometimes give insight into the guest's life, and the choices of guests between 1981 and 1990 are listed here.
1981[]
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
3 January 1981 | Robin Cousins | Shōgun by James Clavell | Marzipan | more |
10 January 1981 | John Fowles | Dictionary of National Biography | Field glasses | more |
17 January 1981 | Princess Margaret | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Piano | more |
24 January 1981 | Joan Plowright | Three novels by Aldous Huxley | Piano | more |
31 January 1981 | Jeffrey Archer | Reunion by Fred Uhlman | Plasticine model of Roy Plomley and a pin | more |
7 February 1981 | Mary O'Hara | The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | Tennis practice equipment | more |
14 February 1981 | David Broome | Collected Speeches by Winston Churchill | Wine | more |
21 February 1981 | Frederic Raphael | Bilingual edition of poetry by Giorgos Seferis | Painting materials | more |
28 February 1981 | Carla Lane | Dictionary of quotations | French Shampoo | more |
7 March 1981 | Daniel Massey | Ego by James Agate | Wine | more |
14 March 1981 | Peter Nichols | Collected essays by George Orwell | Vibraphone | more |
21 March 1981 | Russell Harty | A History of Craven by Thomas Dunham Whitaker | Flagpole and Union Jack | more |
28 March 1981 | Patricia Ruanne | The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | Sunglasses | more |
4 April 1981 | Gary Glitter | Times Concise Atlas | Elastoplast | more |
11 April 1981 | Sir Fitzroy Maclean | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Writing materials | more |
18 April 1981 | Princess Grace of Monaco | Plays by George Kelly | Pillow | more |
25 April 1981 | Stewart Granger | Collected works by Ernest Hemingway | Gold statuette of Winston Churchill | more |
2 May 1981 | Sir Frederick Ashton | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Cards | more |
9 May 1981 | Buddy Rich | Story of O by Pauline Réage | Ferrari | more |
16 May 1981 | John Gielgud | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | more | |
23 May 1981 | Edmund Rubbra | Winnie-the-Pooh by A. A. Milne | Music manuscript paper | more |
30 May 1981 | Eric Shilling | Collin's Albatross Book of Verse by Louis Untermeyer | Astronomical telescope | more |
6 June 1981 | William Whitelaw | The World That Fred Made by Bernard Darwin | Bath with a hot water system | more |
13 June 1981 | Richard Leakey | Touch the Earth by T. C. McLuhan | Pillow | more |
20 June 1981 | Giuseppe Di Stefano | Maria by Arianna Stassinopoulos | Roulette table | more |
27 June 1981 | Morris West | Meditations Upon Our Human Condition by John Donne | Pencils and paper | more |
4 July 1981 | Gloria Swanson | The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran | Telephone | more |
11 July 1981 | Gillian Lynne | French language course | Eyelash curler | more |
18 July 1981 | Carl Sagan | Boy Scout handbook | Reflecting telescope | more |
25 July 1981 | Roger Moore | Noble House by James Clavell | Video player and films of family | more |
1 August 1981 | Julian Lloyd Webber | History of Leyton Orient F.C. | Cello | more |
8 August 1981 | Terry Hands | Dictionary | Cello | more |
15 August 1981 | Sebastian Coe | The Penguin Dorothy Parker by Dorothy Parker | Bed | more |
22 August 1981 | Paul Eddington | Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Martin Ross | Boathouse at Dawn by Ivon Hitchens | more |
29 August 1981 | Frank Oz | Complete works by Emily Dickinson | Clean sheets | more |
5 September 1981 | Alan Jones | Eagle in the Sky by Wilbur Smith | Australian lager | more |
12 September 1981 | Jessye Norman | The Diary of Virginia Woolf | Perrier water | more |
19 September 1981 | Malcolm Muggeridge | Writings by Samuel Johnson | Beehive | more |
26 September 1981 | James Mason | Ada by Vladimir Nabokov | Guitar | more |
3 October 1981 | Beaux Arts Trio | Books about gardening, painting and boat handling | Violin and strings and piano | more |
10 October 1981 | Montserrat Caballé | Record box | more | |
17 October 1981 | Elspeth Huxley | Novels by P. G. Wodehouse | Camera and film | more |
24 October 1981 | Joseph Cotten | Gardening manual | Boat building book | more |
31 October 1981 | Patrick Lichfield | Book with blank cork pages | Astronomical telescope | more |
7 November 1981 | Glyn Daniel | Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | Wine | more |
14 November 1981 | James Clavell | Koran | more | |
21 November 1981 | Diana Dors | Her autobiography | Chocolates | more |
28 November 1981 | Douglas Bader | Complete works by Alfred, Lord Tennyson | Sand iron and golf balls | more |
5 December 1981 | Alan Howard | Piano manual | Piano | more |
12 December 1981 | Jack Higgins | Four Quartets by T. S. Eliot | Writing materials | more |
19 December 1981 | Helene Hanff | Memoirs by Louis de Rouvroy | Scrabble | more |
26 December 1981 | George Lascelles | Anthology of poetry | Typewriter | more |
1982[]
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
2 January 1982 | Trevor Brooking | Crossword puzzles and pencils | Golf clubs and balls | more |
9 January 1982 | Martin Gilbert | The document volumes of the Churchill biography by Martin Gilbert | Drawings of his two children | more |
16 January 1982 | Angela Rippon | Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen | Watercolours. brushes and paper | more |
23 January 1982 | Frankie Howerd | David Copperfield by Charles Dickens | Cross given to him by his mother | more |
30 January 1982 | Paul McCartney | Linda's Pictures by Linda McCartney | Guitar | [ more] |
6 February 1982 | Professor J K Galbraith | Personally compiled anthology | Typewriter and paper | more |
13 February 1982 | Sir Christopher Leaver | Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians | Wine cellar | more |
20 February 1982 | Petula Clark | The short stories of John Steinbeck | Piano | more |
27 February 1982 | John Osborne | Holy Living and Holy Dying by Jeremy Taylor | Piano and an instruction book | more |
6 March 1982 | Dame Eva Turner | Inferno by Dante Alighieri | Castanets | more |
13 March 1982 | George Chisholm | The novels of P G Wodehouse | Engraved glass and supply of bitter lemon | more |
20 March 1982 | Lord Bernard Miles | The Odyssey by Homer | Box of notebooks, pencils and sharpeners | more |
27 March 1982 | Sir William Walton | The Education of a Gardener by Russell Page | Funicular for hills | more |
3 April 1982 | Richard Armstrong | Piano Sonatas by Beethoven | Piano | more |
10 April 1982 | Julia McKenzie | Act One by Moss Hart | Painting materials | more |
17 April 1982 | Brian Aldiss | Rasselas by Dr Samuel Johnson | Time machine | more |
24 April 1982 | Dorothy Dunnett | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | Guitar | more |
1 May 1982 | Jenny Agutter | Oxford Book of English Verse | Oriental rug | more |
8 May 1982 | Lucia Popp | The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann | Teddy bear | more |
15 May 1982 | Julian Symons | Bleak House by Charles Dickens | Couch | more |
22 May 1982 | Marti Webb | Illustrated dictionary | Piano | more |
29 May 1982 | Desmond Hawkins | Field guide to the birds of the island | Binoculars | more |
5 June 1982 | Delia Smith | The autobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux | Writing materials | more |
12 June 1982 | Sir Anton Dolin | Friends and Memories by Sir Anton Dolin | Electric razor | more |
19 June 1982 | Eric Newby | Dictionary of National Biography | Whisky | more |
26 June 1982 | Joss Ackland | Dictionary | Video player with cassettes of old movies | more |
3 July 1982 | John Mortimer | Oxford Book of English Verse | Bath | more |
10 July 1982 | Captain Jacques Cousteau | Essays by Michel de Montaigne | Stone from the stomach of a fossilised dinosaur | more |
17 July 1982 | Pamela Stephenson | Buddhist scripture by Dama Pada | Television set with satellite link-up | more |
24 July 1982 | Lyall Watson | Pears Cyclopaedia | Film projector and 20 western films | more |
31 July 1982 | George Martin | Manual on practical engineering | Clavichord | more |
7 August 1982 | Dame Janet Baker | Persuasion by Jane Austen | Pencils and paper | more |
14 August 1982 | Donald Sinden | A History of Architecture on the Comparative Method by Sir Banister Fletcher | His favourite picture in the Walker Art Gallery | more |
21 August 1982 | Carl Davis | The short stories of Anton Chekhov | Shampoo | more |
28 August 1982 | Duke and Duchess of Devonshire | The books of Beatrix Potter and Chambers' Biographical Dictionary | New potatoes and aftershave | more |
4 September 1982 | Claire Bloom | A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust | Coffee and espresso machine | more |
11 September 1982 | James Loughran | Comprehensive world airways timetable | Drawing and painting equipment | more |
18 September 1982 | Carlo Curley | Cookery book by Julia Child | Pipe organ | more |
25 September 1982 | Wilbur Smith | The Oxford English Dictionary | Brass bedstead and feather mattress | more |
2 October 1982 | David Lloyd Jones | The Journal of Edmond de Goncourt | more | |
9 October 1982 | N.Busch, J.Kuchmy, M.Parry, M.Wilson | - | - | more |
16 October 1982 | Geoffrey Grigson | The Oxford English Dictionary | Pate de foie gras | more |
23 October 1982 | Mike Harding | The New Oxford Book of English Verse | Ordnance Survey maps and set of books about the Fells | more |
30 October 1982 | Lord Tonypandy | The Methodist hymn book | Writing materials | more |
6 November 1982 | Thomas Allen | Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë | Golf clubs and balls | more |
13 November 1982 | Rosamond Lehmann | The letters of the Marquise de Sevigne | Writing materials | more |
20 November 1982 | P D James | Middlemarch by George Eliot | Claret | more |
27 November 1982 | Helen Mirren | The Bhagavad Gita | Silk underwear | more |
4 December 1982 | Alan Price | The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame | Piano | more |
18 December 1982 | György Ligeti | Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll | The Garden Of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch | more |
25 December 1982 | Mary Ellis | Encyclopaedia | Writing materials | more |
1983[]
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 January 1983 | Rachel Billington | Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy | Writing materials | more |
8 January 1983 | Steve Davis | The Throwback and Wilt by Tom Sharpe | Snooker table | more |
15 January 1983 | Baroness Maria von Trapp | True funny stories in German | Statue of Madonna and Child, 17th Century | more |
22 January 1983 | Gwyneth Jones | The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran | Piano with bath salts | more |
29 January 1983 | Tim Severin | Pax Britannica by Jan Morris | Herb garden | more |
5 February 1983 | Beryl Reid | Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor | Silk garment | more |
12 February 1983 | Zandra Rhodes | Mrs Beeton's Household Management | Sketchbook, pens and pencils | more |
19 February 1983 | James Ivory | A La Recherche Du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust | Shower with hot water | more |
26 February 1983 | Tom Keating | Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari | Mattock | more |
5 March 1983 | Kenneth Macmillan | The Rack by | Godiva chocolates from Belgium | more |
12 March 1983 | Douglas Reeman | The Admiralty Seamanship Manual | Orchid-growing kit | more |
19 March 1983 | Michael Wood | Other Men's Flowers by Lord Wavell | Pair of field glasses | more |
26 March 1983 | Jan Morris | Her own book on Venice | Astronomical telescope with 'Catalogue of Nebulae' | more |
2 April 1983 | James Fox | Colour reproduction of Renaissance artists | Watercolour equipment | more |
9 April 1983 | Ruggiero Ricci | The letters of Beethoven | The Plowden Guarneri violin | more |
16 April 1983 | Geoffrey Moorhouse | The Dictionary of National Biography | Recording of curlews and Indian spices | more |
23 April 1983 | Max Boyce | I Can't Stay Long by Laurie Lee | Oil-painting equipment | more |
30 April 1983 | A N Wilson | The Golden Treasuary by Francis Palgrave | Bed and blankets | more |
7 May 1983 | Arthur English | Britain's Heritage by John Julius Norwich | Weekend in Paris | more |
14 May 1983 | Alan King-Hamilton | Barclay's World of Cricket by Jim Swanton | Television set | more |
21 May 1983 | Terry Wogan | His favourite books by P G Wodehouse | Vodka | more |
28 May 1983 | Sinéad Cusack | The novels of John le Carré | Writing materials | more |
4 June 1983 | Raymond Briggs | The Complete Works of Beachcomber | Billiard table with snooker balls and cue | more |
11 June 1983 | Sir Peter Pears | A book by E M Forster | Painting from his collection | more |
18 June 1983 | Fleur Cowles | Blank paper | Painting materials | more |
25 June 1983 | Peter Maxwell Davies | Ulysses by James Joyce | Music manuscript paper and pens | more |
2 July 1983 | Terry Jones | The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer | Pencil and paper | more |
9 July 1983 | Julian Bream | more | ||
16 July 1983 | Sir John Pritchard | Lucia novels by E F Benson | Italian wine | more |
23 July 1983 | John Gunter | The Complete Works of Flann O'Brien | More William Walton records | more |
30 July 1983 | Keith Waterhouse | A year's supply of the Exchange & Mart | Solar-powered television, video and eight films | more |
6 August 1983 | Sir Frederick Gibberd | Scrapbook of poetry | Bottle of sleeping tablets | more |
13 August 1983 | Peter Bull | Brideshead Revisited (in Greek) by Evelyn Waugh | Crystal ball | more |
20 August 1983 | Malcolm Bradbury | If on a Winter's Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino | Word processor | more |
27 August 1983 | Cindy Buxton and | A book on explorers and Johnny Livingstone's Seagull by Richard Bach | Cow and a box of soap | more |
3 September 1983 | Paul Jones | Political works and music criticism by George Bernard Shaw | Harmonica | more |
10 September 1983 | Charlotte Lamb | Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen | Typewriter and paper | more |
17 September 1983 | Lionel Hampton | Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy | Tape recorder | more |
24 September 1983 | Ian Richardson | Book of quotations | Large supply of paper and pencils | more |
1 October 1983 | Rosemary Sutcliff | Kim by Rudyard Kipling | Flowers delivered daily by bottle | more |
8 October 1983 | Mollie Harris | The five-volume works by Anthony Wood | Union Jack | more |
15 October 1983 | Topol | Great Treasury of Western Thought by Mortimer J Adler | Artist's kit | more |
22 October 1983 | Linda Esther Gray | Anthology of poetry | Garlic, chocolate and wine | more |
29 October 1983 | Sir Ranulph Fiennes | The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations | Tube of Antisan cream | more |
5 November 1983 | Shirley MacLaine | Dictionary and hexalingual thesaurus | Blank paper | more |
12 November 1983 | Sir Peter Hall | The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians | Photograph of his children | more |
19 November 1983 | Sir Hugh Greene | The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | Portable typewriter and much paper | more |
26 November 1983 | Thomas Keneally | Oxford Book of 20th Century English Verse by Philip Larkin | Collection of The Times crosswords | more |
3 December 1983 | Marvin Hamlisch | Phone book | Picture of his mother when she was 17 | more |
10 December 1983 | John Piper | The Complete Works of William Blake | Pianola | more |
17 December 1983 | James Stewart | Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe | Family photo album | more |
31 December 1983 | M M Kaye | Indian Tales by Rudyard Kipling | Writer's kit |
1984[]
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
7 January 1984 | Bertice Reading | The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran | King size brass bed with mattress | more |
14 January 1984 | David Gower | Compendium of wines | Video cassettes of Rumpole of the Bailey | more |
21 January 1984 | Quentin Crewe | Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | Potter's wheel | more |
28 January 1984 | Princess Michael of Kent | Histories by Herodotus | Cat | more |
4 February 1984 | Stubby Kaye | His diary | Hard hat | more |
11 February 1984 | Lord Elwyn-Jones | English Social History by G M Trevelyan | Comic collage by Pearl Binder | more |
18 February 1984 | Woody Herman | Music is My Mistress by Duke Ellington | Jaguar XJ6 | more |
25 February 1984 | Michael York | No book chosen | Telescope | more |
3 March 1984 | Gerald Priestland | The poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins | Air conditioner | more |
10 March 1984 | Don McCullin | One year of issues of The Times | Mirror | more |
17 March 1984 | Michael Quinn | Le Repertoire de la Cuisine by Louis Saulnier | Pair of waterwings | more |
24 March 1984 | Honest Ed Mirvish | Complete Webster's English Dictionary | Barbecue | more |
31 March 1984 | Paul Tortelier | The Cathedrals of France by Auguste Rodin | Photograph of his wife | more |
7 April 1984 | Christopher Reeve | The Inner Reality by Paul Brunton | Scuba-diving equipment | more |
14 April 1984 | Lucy Irvine | Language Made Plain by Anthony Burgess | Mosquito coils and an apple pip | more |
21 April 1984 | David Lodge | Ulysses by James Joyce | Nymph in a Landscape by Palma Vecchio | more |
28 April 1984 | Leo McKern | Encyclopaedia | Watercolours and hot-pressed paper | more |
5 May 1984 | Rosalind Plowright | The collected works of William Wordsworth | Windsurfer | more |
12 May 1984 | Hugh Johnson | The Complete Works of P G Wodehouse | Writing materials and many bottles | more |
30 June 1984 | Zubin Mehta | The Gathas by Zarathustra | Van Eyck's Triptych from Ghent Cathedral | more |
7 July 1984 | Lord Rothschild | Book on pure mathematics | Pad of A4 paper | more |
14 July 1984 | Vlado Perlemuter | The Complete Plays of Molière | Painting of Louvre | more |
21 July 1984 | Natalia Makarova | The poetry of Aleksandr Pushkin | Wine – Chateau Margot 1961 | more |
28 July 1984 | Sir Alfred Ayer | The Life of Johnson and A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides by James Boswell | Le Moulin de la Galette by Renoir | more |
4 August 1984 | Gayatri Devi | Omnibus of books by James Heriot | Can of insect repellent | more |
11 August 1984 | Ron Goodwin | The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran | Tuba | more |
18 August 1984 | William Rushton | Anthology by G K Chesterton | Piano | more |
25 August 1984 | Ved Mehta | 11th edition of Encyclopædia Britannica | No luxury chosen | more |
1 September 1984 | George Abbott | Encyclopaedia | Writing paper | more |
8 September 1984 | Catherine Cookson | Her own autobiography | Piano | more |
15 September 1984 | Gerry Cottle | I Love You, Honey, but the Season's Over by Connie Clausen | Juggling clubs | more |
22 September 1984 | Alfred Eisenstadt | A book of quotations | Camera | more |
29 September 1984 | John Hurt | The Complete Works of Lewis Carroll | Pillow | more |
6 October 1984 | John Surman | Set of Wisden | Vat of Bordeaux wine | more |
19 October 1984 | Michael Ffolkes | - | - | more |
20 October 1984 | Jonathan Lynn | Collection of Jeeves & Wooster novels by P G Wodehouse | Pen and paper | more |
27 October 1984 | David Rendall | The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran | Wine – Chateau Lascombes 1966 | more |
3 November 1984 | Tom Sharpe | Oxford Book of English Verse | Ton of snuff | more |
10 November 1984 | Vernon Handley | The Principles of Art by R G Collingwood | Sodastream and gas cylinders | more |
17 November 1984 | David Puttnam | The Wisden Anthology of Cricket by Benny Green | Goose down pillow | more |
24 November 1984 | Robin Hanbury-Tenison | The Oxford Companion to English Literature | Cask of claret | more |
1 December 1984 | Miklós Rózsa | Collected Poems of Endre Ady | Manuscript paper and pens | more |
8 December 1984 | Sir John Burgh | Encyclopædia Britannica | Transistor radio | more |
15 December 1984 | Ray Cooney | more |
1985[]
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
5 January 1985 | Sir Michael Tippett | Blank pages | Egg timer | more |
12 January 1985 | Tom Stoppard | Inferno (in two languages) by Dante Alighieri | Plastic football | more |
19 January 1985 | John Harvey-Jones | The Loom of Language by Frederick Bodmer | Trap (minus donkey) | more |
26 January 1985 | Madhur Jaffrey | Blank book | Whiskey | more |
2 February 1985 | Julie Walters | The Magus by John Fowles | Telephone | more |
9 February 1985 | Elly Ameling | The poetry of Paul Verlaine | Buddha statue | more |
16 February 1985 | Michael Elkins | The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell | Electric typewriter | more |
23 February 1985 | Anthony Hopkins | The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald | Piano | more |
2 March 1985 | Jorge Bolet | Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes | Camera | more |
9 March 1985 | Alison Lurie | Oxford Book of English Verse | Telephone | more |
16 March 1985 | Gordon Beningfield | Manual on how to swim | Sketchbook, paints and pencils | more |
23 March 1985 | Richard Eyre | Partridge's Dictionary of Slang | Saxophone | more |
30 March 1985 | Jimmy Savile | Mail order catalogue | Havana cigar | more |
6 April 1985 | Doris Stokes | The Complete Andy Capp | Photograph album of family, friends and pets | more |
13 April 1985 | Joseph Allen | A number of Sherlock Holmes novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | Family pocket watch | more |
20 April 1985 | Robert Burchfield | more | ||
27 April 1985 | Barbara Taylor Bradford | Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë | Family photograph album | more |
4 May 1985 | Rt Hon David Steel MP | Do-it-yourself manual | Cathedral organ | more |
11 May 1985 | Sheila Steafel | Dictionary | Artist's equipment | more |
1986[]
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
5 January 1986 | Alan Parker | The collected poems of Sir John Betjeman | Suntan lotion | more |
12 January 1986 | Nigel Kennedy | Wisden Almanack | Violin | more |
19 January 1986 | Maureen Lipman | The collected works of Jane Austen | A parking meter and caravan | more |
26 January 1986 | Roy Hattersley | Shakespearean Tragedy by A. C. Bradley | Boy writer's set | more |
2 February 1986 | Dennis Taylor | A joke book | Limitless supply of yoghurt | more |
9 February 1986 | Bruce Oldfield | The Destiny of Darcy Dancer, Gentleman by J. P. Donleavy | Cigarettes | more |
16 February 1986 | Ben Kingsley | Unknown | Telescope | more |
23 February 1986 | Selina Scott | Hawk Moon by Sam Shepard | Hairbrush | more |
2 March 1986 | John Dankworth | The Exchange & Mart | Solar-powered synthesizer | more |
9 March 1986 | Beryl Bainbridge | The Worst Journey in the World by Apsley Cherry-Garrard | Old-fashioned diary with pens | more |
16 March 1986 | Ron Pickering | The Guinness Book of Records | Typewriter | more |
23 March 1986 | Rt Hon Shirley Williams | The collected poems of W. B. Yeats | Computer | more |
30 March 1986 | Jane Glover | The Letters of Virginia Woolf | Bathroom with many full cupboards | more |
6 April 1986 | Arthur Hailey | Webster's International Dictionary | Hot water | more |
25 May 1986 | Bobby Robson | Roget's Thesaurus | Set of golf clubs and endless supply of balls | more |
1 June 1986 | Elton John | Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice | Telephone | more |
8 June 1986 | Ismail Merchant | The works of E. M. Forster, P. D. James and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala | Cooking range | more |
15 June 1986 | Max Hastings | The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame | Word processor linked to a Fleet Street newspaper | more |
22 June 1986 | Jackie Stewart | The Guinness Book of Records | Blank book and pen | more |
29 June 1986 | Anne-Sophie Mutter | Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe | Stradivarius violin | more |
6 July 1986 | Brian Redhead | A commentary on the Bible by Arthur Pink | Taj Mahal | more |
13 July 1986 | Sir David Wilson | The Diary of Samuel Pepys | Refrigerator | more |
20 July 1986 | Sir Geoffrey Howe | The Good Food Guide | Computer bridge game | more |
27 July 1986 | Roger Vadim | Death on the Installment Plan by Louis-Ferdinand Céline | Chess computer | more |
3 August 1986 | Norman Lewis | The Histories by Herodotus | Spirit stove | more |
10 August 1986 | Virginia Holgate | A do-it-yourself manual | Never-ending supply of smoked salmon | more |
17 August 1986 | Jane Lapotaire | The I Ching | Pencils and paper | more |
24 August 1986 | Stan Barstow | À la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust | Paper and pens | more |
31 August 1986 | Auberon Waugh | Other Men's Flowers by Lord Wavell | Vine | more |
7 September 1986 | Andrew Davis | Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift | Collection of Apostle spoons | more |
14 September 1986 | James Herbert | Anthology including The History of Mr Polly by H. G. Wells | Grand piano | more |
21 September 1986 | Suzi Quatro | Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand | Piano | more |
28 September 1986 | Richard Condon | Boy Scout annual | Calendar watch | more |
5 October 1986 | Sir Ian MacGregor | Encyclopædia Britannica | Thermos jug | more |
12 October 1986 | Sir Fred Hoyle | Handbook of physics | Portable telescope | more |
19 October 1986 | Phil Edmonds | Book on flora and fauna of the island | Royal Jamaica cigars | more |
26 October 1986 | Albert Roux and Michel Roux | Cookery books | Books on how to manage people and ivory carving | more |
2 November 1986 | Jeremy Irons | A construction manual | Camera and film | more |
9 November 1986 | Kingsley Amis | Oxford English Dictionary | Scotch whisky | more |
16 November 1986 | Hal Prince | Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe | Bouillabaisse with langouste and wine | more |
23 November 1986 | John Ridgway | The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame | Shaving kit | more |
30 November 1986 | Nigel Hawthorne | Teach yourself French | Pencils and paper | more |
7 December 1986 | Jackie Collins | The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald | Photograph of her family | more |
14 December 1986 | Benny Green | A Quartet of Comedies by H. G. Wells | Saxophone | more |
1987[]
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
4 January 1987 | Tony Bennett | Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | Suit | more |
11 January 1987 | James Prior | Times Atlas of the World | Golf clubs and balls | more |
18 January 1987 | Jeremy Lloyd | Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome | Guitar | more |
25 January 1987 | Baroness Ryder of Warsaw | The autobiography of Wilfred Owen | Pillow | more |
1 February 1987 | Peter Fluck and Roger Law | by Luis Buñuel | Margaret Thatcher's resignation speech | more |
8 February 1987 | Victoria Wood | The collected works of Arthur Marshall | Cinema organ | more |
15 February 1987 | Sir Michael Hordern | History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill | Elm tree | more |
22 February 1987 | Ken Russell | The Prelude by William Wordsworth | Quart of brandy | more |
1 March 1987 | Sir Nicholas Goodison | Unknown | Unknown | more |
8 March 1987 | Johnny Mathis | Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell | Golf bag | more |
15 March 1987 | Dora Bryan | Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome | Stuffed dog | more |
22 March 1987 | David Penhaligon | A cricketing Almanack | 30 foot of steel | more |
29 March 1987 | Peter Alliss | History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill | Sand-yacht | more |
5 April 1987 | Anthony Andrews | The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde | Piano | more |
12 April 1987 | Julian Critchley | An Omelette and a Glass of Wine by Elizabeth David | Case of wine | more |
19 April 1987 | Michael Bogdanov | Pocket Wine Book 1987 by Hugh Johnson | 50-pound jar of Marmite | more |
26 April 1987 | Frank Bough | Barclays World of Cricket by Jim Swanton | Contact lenses | more |
28 June 1987 | Terence Stamp | The Joy of Cooking | Duvet | more |
5 July 1987 | Robert Maxwell | A book on Plato | Chess computer game | more |
12 July 1987 | Elaine Paige | The Complete Works of Charles Dickens | Piano | more |
19 July 1987 | Lucinda Green | Unknown | Unknown | more |
26 July 1987 | Kenneth Williams | The Golden Treasury by Francis Palgrave | Crate of Cologne | more |
2 August 1987 | Maya Angelou | The Negro Caravan | Painting of Kumasi Market by John T. Biggers | more |
9 August 1987 | Frances Edmonds | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams | Bollinger '69 | more |
16 August 1987 | Susan George | Will You Be My Friend? by James Kavanaugh | Four poster bed | more |
23 August 1987 | Edna O'Brien | Encyclopædia Britannica | Cristal champagne | more |
30 August 1987 | Lord Montagu | The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | Windsurfing board | more |
6 September 1987 | Kitty Godfree | The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins | Bicycle | more |
13 September 1987 | Joanna Lumley | A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell | Specially-commissioned John Ward painting of family and friends | more |
20 September 1987 | Peter West | Oxford Dictionary of Quotations | Set of gardening tools | more |
27 September 1987 | Jacques Loussier | Beasts, Men and Gods by Ferdinand Ossendowski | Piano | more |
4 October 1987 | Lulu | Where Are You Going? by Swami Muktananda | Telephone | more |
11 October 1987 | Lord Killanin | A Vanished Arcadia by Robert Bontine Cunninghame Graham | Olympic gold medal and award | more |
18 October 1987 | Sir James Callaghan | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Telescope and star-gazing book | more |
25 October 1987 | Bernard Levin | The Michelin Guide to France | Laptop computer | more |
1 November 1987 | Bamber Gascoigne | Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne | Carpentry tools | more |
8 November 1987 | Sue Lawley | French Provincial Cooking by Elizabeth David | Iron and ironing board | more |
15 November 1987 | Robert Carrier | The Alexandria Quartet by Lawrence Durrell | Tajine | more |
22 November 1987 | Barry Cryer | The Complete Works of J. B. Priestley | Tape recorder with a cassette of recordings from home | more |
29 November 1987 | Vernon Scannell | Compiled anthology of English poetry | Enormous amount of A4 paper | more |
6 December 1987 | Antony Sher | Blank book or journal | Pens, charcoal and paints | more |
13 December 1987 | Lew Grade | The Antiquary by Walter Scott | Crate of Montecristo cigars | more |
1988[]
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
10 January 1988 | Adele Leigh | Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll | Loofah | more |
17 January 1988 | Rt. Hon. Michael Heseltine | The Dictionary of Trees and Shrubs | Mosquito net | more |
24 January 1988 | Gemma Craven | Floyd on Fish by Keith Floyd | Manicure set | more |
31 January 1988 | Lord Donoughue | Unknown | Unknown | more |
7 February 1988 | Margaret Kelly – Miss Bluebell | History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Winston Churchill | Her first dress worn on stage | more |
14 February 1988 | William Davis | The Dictionary of Samuel Johnson | Telescope | more |
21 February 1988 | Dennis Potter | Spycatcher by Peter Wright | Train set | more |
28 February 1988 | Stephanie Beacham | The Ascent of Man by Dr Jacob Bronowski | Photograph of her children | more |
6 March 1988 | James Burke | The works of Homer | Guitar and strings | more |
13 March 1988 | Brendan Foster | The Lakeland Peaks (photographs) by W. A. Poucher | Tea | more |
27 March 1988 | Lord Hailsham | The works of Homer | Bathtub and some soap | more |
3 April 1988 | Jane Asher | Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy | Hot bath with extra tap for cold champagne | more |
10 April 1988 | Arthur Scargill | Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain | The Mona Lisa | more |
17 April 1988 | Mary Archer | Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust | Needles, cotton and material | more |
24 April 1988 | Michael Gambon | Republician Party Reptile by P. J. O'Rourke | Car (in which to listen to music) | more |
1 May 1988 | Neil Kinnock | Essays on Equality by R. H. Tawney | Radio 4 | more |
8 May 1988 | Peggy Makins | The biggest atlas in the world | Little rosebush | more |
15 May 1988 | Rowan Atkinson | Uncle Fred in Springtime by P. G. Wodehouse | Car (to clean) | more |
22 May 1988 | Anita Roddick | Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy | Comfortable bed with pillows and sheets | more |
29 May 1988 | Rabbi Lionel Blue | The biggest volume of pure maths | Toilet bag | more |
5 June 1988 | Anton Mosimann | Opera di M. Bartolomeo Scappi (recipe book of the Pope's chef in 1525) | Steamer for cooking | more |
12 June 1988 | Rt. Hon. Douglas Hurd | Oxford Book of 20th Century English Verse | Champagne | more |
19 June 1988 | Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies | No other book requested | Large bottle of toilet water | more |
26 June 1988 | Jeremy Isaacs | A compilation of Benny Green | Frogman's outfit and snorkel | more |
3 July 1988 | Dr David Owen | His own anthology of poems | Hot bath | more |
10 July 1988 | David Essex | The Guinness Book of Records | Set of cricket equipment | more |
17 July 1988 | Dame Edna Everage | Filofax | Madge Allsop | more |
24 July 1988 | Lord Armstrong | The collected works of Jane Austen | Music manuscript paper, pencil and rubber | more |
31 July 1988 | Joan Turner | Introduction to the Devout Life by Francis de Sales | Baked beans | more |
7 August 1988 | Reverend Ian Paisley | Foxe's Book of Martyrs | High-powered radio | more |
14 August 1988 | Patricia Neal | A collection of short stories | Toothbrush and toothpaste | more |
21 August 1988 | Lord Dacre of Glanton | The collected Works of Virgil | Paper, pen and ink | more |
28 August 1988 | Anita Dobson | The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde | Bed | more |
4 September 1988 | Alfred Wainwright | Two photographs (one of his wife; one of 1928 Blackburn Rovers team) | Mirror | more |
11 September 1988 | Peter Donohoe | The Complete Scripts of Billy Connolly | Waterbed | more |
18 September 1988 | Salman Rushdie | Arabian Nights | Unlisted radio telephone | more |
25 September 1988 | Trevor Huddleston | Oxford Book of English Verse | Binoculars | more |
2 October 1988 | Athene Seyler | The Disinherited by Gareth Jones | Case of champagne | more |
9 October 1988 | Terry Wogan | The collected works of P. G. Wodehouse | Radio-cassette player and language tapes | more |
16 October 1988 | Cilla Black | Aesop's Fables | Manicure set and nail varnish | more |
23 October 1988 | Michael Foot | Don Juan by Lord Byron | Alarm clock encased in Welsh tinplate | more |
30 October 1988 | Germaine Greer | The Oxford English Dictionary | Hot spices | more |
6 November 1988 | Claus Moser | Volume of James Thurber | Concert grand Steinway piano | more |
13 November 1988 | Bob Hoskins | Catch-22 by Joseph Heller | Telescope | more |
20 November 1988 | Bob Champion | Fraser's Horse Book | A bronze statue of the racehorse Aldaniti | more |
27 November 1988 | Stephen Fry | Jeeves Omnibus by P. G. Wodehouse | Suicide pill | more |
4 December 1988 | Baroness Warnock | The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope | Pen and paper | more |
11 December 1988 | Charles Dance | A Dream in the Luxembourg by Richard Aldington | Guitar | more |
18 December 1988 | Edward Heath | A volume of the works of Impressionist painters | Suntan lotion | more |
1989[]
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 January 1989 | Most Rev Robert Runcie | The Odyssey by Homer | Rocking chair | more |
8 January 1989 | Twiggy | Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy | Cold cream | more |
15 January 1989 | Tony Benn | Das Kapital by Karl Marx | Kettle and teabags | more |
22 January 1989 | Boy George | Photograph album | Radio receiver | more |
29 January 1989 | Joan Armatrading | Why Didn't They Ask Evans? by Agatha Christie | Guitar | more |
5 February 1989 | Rocco Forte | The Divine Comedy by Dante | Snooker table | more |
12 February 1989 | Jeffrey Tate | The collected works of Jane Austen | National Gallery painting from the | more |
19 February 1989 | Enoch Powell | Old Testament (in Hebrew and Greek) | Smoking device to smoke fish | more |
26 February 1989 | David Hare | Larousse Gastronomique | Cricket bat and bowling machine | more |
5 March 1989 | Dame Josephine Barnes | The scores of all music chosen in a bound volume | Word processor | more |
12 March 1989 | Gerald Scarfe | Anything by Capability Brown | River painting by Turner | more |
2 April 1989 | Sir Stephen Spender | Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust | Painting or sculpture by son with photograph of daughter | more |
9 April 1989 | Leslie Grantham | Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe | Metal detector | more |
16 April 1989 | Lord Jenkins | Who's Who | Case of Bordeaux wine | more |
23 April 1989 | Miriam Rothschild | Encyclopædia Britannica | Bag of wildflower seeds | more |
30 April 1989 | Lady Redgrave | Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë | Case of champagne | more |
7 May 1989 | Lenny Henry | Catch-22 by Joseph Heller | Graphic novels (comics) | more |
14 May 1989 | Thora Hird | Scene and Hird by Thora Hird | Cleansing milk | more |
21 May 1989 | Katharine Hamnett | I Ching | Aircraft carrier | more |
28 May 1989 | Sir Nicholas Henderson | Guy de Maupassant's short stories | Sculpture from the Louvre and box of different seeds | more |
4 June 1989 | Richard Branson | Teach yourself Japanese phrase book | Notebooks and pens | more |
11 June 1989 | Jonathon Porritt | Bleak House by Charles Dickens | Fountain pen | more |
18 June 1989 | Maria Aitken | Fun in a Chinese Laundry by Josef von Sternberg | Amazonian rain-maker | more |
25 June 1989 | Joan Collins | The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde | Large bottle of suntan oil and moisturiser | more |
2 July 1989 | Mark McCormack | Les Misérables by Victor Hugo | Suntan lotion | more |
9 July 1989 | Ned Sherrin | No Bed for Bacon by Caryl Brahms | Seed potatoes | more |
16 July 1989 | Sir Thomas Armstrong | No other book requested | Clavichord | more |
3 September 1989 | Dame Vera Lynn | A book on edible fruits and vegetables | Watercolour paints, brushes and paper | more |
10 September 1989 | Eric Clapton | Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens | Guitar | more |
17 September 1989 | Penelope Lively | Moby Dick by Herman Melville | Binoculars | more |
24 September 1989 | John Ogdon | The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins | Steinway piano | more |
1 October 1989 | Lucinda Lambton | The Dictionary of National Biography | Word processor | more |
8 October 1989 | Jack Lemmon | A Play in the Fields of Our Lord by Peter Matheson | Piano | more |
15 October 1989 | Alan Plater | Smell of Sunday Dinner by Sid Chaplin | Writing materials | more |
22 October 1989 | Colin Thubron | A Year of Grace by Victor Gollancz | Scuba-diving equipment | more |
5 November 1989 | Ian Botham | Encyclopaedia of species of fish of the world | Fishing rod | more |
12 November 1989 | Michael Codron | Caroline and Charlotte by Alison Plowman | Jigsaw puzzles | more |
19 November 1989 | Seamus Heaney | Ulysses by James Joyce | Doc Martens boots | more |
26 November 1989 | Lady Mosley | Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust | Soft pillow | more |
3 December 1989 | Rt. Hon. Nigel Lawson | The poetry of John Donne | Radio receiver | more |
17 December 1989 | Pauline Collins | Teach yourself physics | Paper, pencils and paints | more |
24 December 1989 | The Duchess of Kent | A do-it-yourself manual | Lamp with solar batteries | more |
31 December 1989 | Dirk Bogarde | Akenfield by Ronald Blythe | Distillery | more |
1990[]
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
---|---|---|---|---|
7 January 1990 | Dennis Skinner | Let's Face the Music by Benny Green | Bike | more |
14 January 1990 | John Peel | A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell | Football | more |
21 January 1990 | Sir Robin Day | Oxford Book of English Verse | Magnum of champagne | more |
28 January 1990 | Lord Weidenfeld | The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens | Armchair with coffee machine and rescue signal | more |
4 February 1990 | Sarah Miles | I Ching | Word processor | more |
11 February 1990 | Michael Tilson Thomas | Collected Poems of Rainer Maria Rilke | Yahama computerised concert grand piano | more |
18 February 1990 | John Pilger | Catch-22 by Joseph Heller | Typewriter | more |
25 February 1990 | John Sessions | David Copperfield by Charles Dickens | A 78rpm record of The Laughing Policeman to smash on the rocks | more |
4 March 1990 | Sir Ian Trethowan | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Champagne | more |
11 March 1990 | Professor Sir George Porter | Non-Equilibrium Thermo Dynamics by Prigogine | Computer, pen and paper | more |
18 March 1990 | Richard Rogers | The Odyssey by Homer | His wife Ruth, but if this is disallowed then a painting | more |
25 March 1990 | Rt Hon John Biffen MP | Wisden Cricketers' Almanack | Rain gauge | more |
15 April 1990 | Sir Crispin Tickell | Guide to Science by Asimov | Solar-powered telescope | more |
22 April 1990 | Mary Wesley | Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez | Denis Healey or large double bed with pillows | more |
29 April 1990 | June Whitfield | A do-it-yourself manual | Supply of cocoa butter and hat | more |
6 May 1990 | Prue Leith | The Barchester novels by Anthony Trollope | Jeroboam of champagne | more |
13 May 1990 | Molly Keane | A bound copy of the Spectator magazines | A bed, netted from snakes and flies | more |
20 May 1990 | Jonathan Pryce | Short stories of Bernard MacLaverty | Endless supply of rum punch | more |
27 May 1990 | David Blunkett | Anthology of verse by Robert Graves | Radio/cassette machine | more |
3 June 1990 | Ken Dodd | The Times atlas of the world | A box of scented soap | more |
10 June 1990 | Maeve Binchy | Teach yourself bridge | Photograph album | more |
17 June 1990 | Harold Fielding | Great Murder Trials of the 20th Century by Sir David Napley | Large bag of sugar | more |
24 June 1990 | George Carman | The Golden Treasury by Francis Palgrave | Painting of the Grand Canal in Venice | more |
1 July 1990 | Kaffe Fassett | Reflections by Hermann Hesse | Diary and pen | more |
8 July 1990 | Peter Jonas | City of God by Saint Augustine | Cyanide, in a joint, in champagne truffle in a fridge | more |
15 July 1990 | Jean Rook | The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy | Computer | more |
2 September 1990 | Robin Knox-Johnston | Books identifying birds and fish | Video recorder and tapes of the Queen Mother's parade | more |
9 September 1990 | Lord Charteris | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Set of wood-carving tools | more |
16 September 1990 | Ruth Westheimer | Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell | Large box of marrons glaces | more |
23 September 1990 | Barbara Windsor | A book about Hollywood | Writing materials and Union flag | more |
30 September 1990 | Gary Lineker | Wisden Cricketers' Almanack | Bowling machine | more |
7 October 1990 | John Thaw | The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame | Large comfortable armchair | more |
14 October 1990 | Clive Jenkins | Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe | Video player and tape of Citizen Kane | more |
21 October 1990 | Ernie Wise | The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens | Yellow Rolls Royce | more |
28 October 1990 | Nicholas Snowman | Smiley's People by John le Carré | Coffee machine | more |
4 November 1990 | Lord Annan | The Iliad in Greek and English by Homer | Bath essence | more |
11 November 1990 | Baroness Castle of Blackburn | The collected works of William Morris | Typewriter | more |
18 November 1990 | Elizabeth Welch | Who's Who in the Theatre | Photo of her mother | more |
25 November 1990 | Baroness Trumpington | George V by Kenneth Rose | The crown jewels (so someone will look for her) | more |
2 December 1990 | Sir Eduardo Paolozzi | A tropical plant book in Italian with English gloss | Hurdy gurdy | more |
23 December 1990 | Brian Keenan | The Life, Times and Music of an Irish Harper by Donal O'Sullivan | Pencil | more |
30 December 1990 | Keith Floyd | Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake | Pair of handmade blue suede shoes | more |
Categories:
- Desert Island Discs
- Lists of British radio series episodes
- 1980s in the United Kingdom
- 1980s in British music