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Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst 

BBC Radio 4


Eight tracks, a book and a luxury: what would you take to a desert island? Guests share the soundtrack of their lives.


Desert Island Discs

Before his career in broadcasting, Ade was an international wheelchair basketball player who won a gold medal at the 2005 Paralympic World Cup.

He spoke to Kirsty about a fashion faux pas he made on his first day at school.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Ade Adepitan on his first day at school

Ruth is perhaps best known as Nessa from Gavin and Stacey, the show she co-created with James Corden.

She told Lauren about her early career struggles and how she got her foot on the acting ladder.

You can listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds.

Ruth Jones on her start in acting

The Oscar-winning actor Tom Hanks was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2016.

Tom’s parents split up when he was five, and he went to live with his father. By the age of 10 he'd lived in 10 different houses in five different cities.Tom spoke to Kirsty about his complicated childhood, his parents’ divorce and how he managed his overwhelming feelings of loneliness.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Tom Hanks on loneliness

In 2013 the Scottish writer Val McDermid was cast away by Kirsty Young.

Crime fiction is Val's chosen genre, and the millions of novels she sells examine and dissect the darkest recesses of human behaviour. Val spoke to Kirsty about her childhood love of libraries.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Val McDermid on her childhood love of libraries

The activist Malala Yousafzai was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2021.

Malala was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize when she was 17, becoming the youngest winner in its history. She spoke to Lauren about why equal access to education for girls matters so much to her and her family.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Malala on campaigning for equal access to education

In 2016 the novelist Jilly Cooper was cast away by Kirsty Young.

Jilly is perhaps best known as the author of Rivals but her writing career also spans newspaper columns, non-fiction books on class, marriage and animals in war, and novels that sell in their millions. Jilly told Kirsty Young about her theory on what makes a successful marriage.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Jilly Cooper on the secret to a successful marriage

The former footballer and pundit Ian Wright was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2020.

Born to Jamaican parents in south-east London, Ian grew up with his mother and stepfather. His biological father had left the family before Ian was two years old. Things at home were difficult, and Ian spent as much time as possible outside playing football. Ian spoke to Lauren about his childhood love of football and how one inspirational teacher, Mr. Pigden, changed everything.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Ian Wright on his inspirational teacher

Maggie Alphonsi is a broadcaster and former rugby player. She was part of the England team which took home the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup and by the time she retired she’d won 74 caps for her country.

Maggie was brought up in north London and when she was 14 her PE teacher suggested she give the sport of rugby union a try. Maggie joined her local amateur club Saracens and relished the freedom she felt at being able to capitalise on her power and strength on the pitch.

Her first chance to play for England came when she was 19. Maggie started out as a number 12 and then later changed position to become a number seven or openside flanker. This role allowed her to showcase her tackling skills. She was part of the England team which won seven consecutive Six Nations tournaments and retired shortly after winning the Women’s Rugby World Cup.

She became the first female former player to commentate on the men’s game and to join the Rugby Football Union’s Council. In 2012 she was appointed an MBE for services to rugby. She is part of the BBC’s commentating team for this year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup.

Maggie lives in High Wycombe with her wife Marcella and their two children. 

DISC ONE: Fast Car - Tracy Chapman 
DISC TWO: They Live in You - Samuel E. Wright (Mufasa) Ensemble - The Lion King, conducted by Joseph Church
DISC THREE: Stand by Me - Ben E. King 
DISC FOUR: Woman - Andreya Triana 
DISC FIVE: Wake Me Up - Avicii 
DISC SIX: You Gotta Be – Des’ree
DISC SEVEN: World in Union - Kiri Te Kanawa 
DISC EIGHT: I’m Coming Out - Diana Ross 

BOOK CHOICE: The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on life's journey by Hana Yasmeen Ali and Muhammad Ali 
LUXURY ITEM: A family photo 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Fast Car - Tracy Chapman 
 
Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley

Maggie Alphonsi, broadcaster and former rugby player

Professor Dame Carol Robinson is a scientist who was the first female professor of Chemistry at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities. She has been awarded scientific prizes from all over the world for her pioneering work studying complex macromolecules using an instrument called the mass spectrometer.

Carol was drawn to science as a child growing up in Folkstone where she started collecting flowers and shells before moving on to breeding mice because she was fascinated by their genetic makeup. She grew to love chemistry in particular and pored over the periodic table in her bedroom.

She left school at 16 and joined Pfizer, the pharmaceutical and biomedical company, as a laboratory technician. At Pfizer she began working with the mass spectrometer which measures the mass of all the atoms in a particular sample. She studied for an ONC and HNC in Chemistry in the evenings and at weekends and later gained a PHD in Chemistry from Cambridge University.

She was appointed DBE in 2013 for services to science and industry. In 2021 she founded the Kavli Institute for NanoScience Discovery, an interdisciplinary science institute dedicated to studying structures and materials at an ultra-small scale.

Carol has three children from her first marriage and lives in Oxfordshire with her second husband David. 

DISC ONE: Girl on Fire - Alicia Keys 
DISC TWO: She’s Leaving Home - The Beatles 
DISC THREE: Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet Suite No. 2, Op. 64b: I. Montagues and Capulets - Dance of the Knights. Performed by London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Claudio Abbado 
DISC FOUR: Sonnet - The Verve 
DISC FIVE: Wild Horses - The Rolling Stones 
DISC SIX: Golden Brown - The Stranglers 
DISC SEVEN: Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin 
DISC EIGHT: The Scientist - Coldplay 

BOOK CHOICE: The Herbal Apothecary: 100 Medicinal Herbs and How to Use Them by JJ Pursell
LUXURY ITEM: A portable mass spectrometer 
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley

Professor Dame Carol Robinson, scientist

Harry Hill is a comedian, writer and broadcaster best known for presenting popular television shows including You’ve Been Framed, Junior Bake Off and the multi award-winning TV Burp.

He was born Matthew Hall in Surrey and brought up in Kent. He became a Cub Scout and got a taste for performing when he was nine after playing Widow Twankey in the Christmas pantomime.

In 1983 he started studying medicine at St George’s Medical School in London and began work as a trainee doctor in 1988. He wrote and performed in medical revues during this time and comedy became his true passion. In 1990 he made the decision to follow his heart and leave medicine to try his luck as a stand-up.

In 1993 Harry got his first show on BBC Radio 4 – Harry Hill’s Fruit Corner. Four years later he starred in his own television series on Channel 4 which allowed him to channel his off-the-wall humour in a series of wildly unpredictable comedy sketches.

In 2001 he started writing and presenting Harry Hill’s TV Burp on ITV which looked back at the week’s television output in a series of comedy sketches and inventive parodies. The show won three BAFTAs, three Royal Television Society awards, a Rose d’Or and Seven British Comedy Awards.

Harry lives in London with his wife Magda. They have three children. 

DISC ONE: Ernie (The Fastest Milkman in the West) - Benny Hill 
DISC TWO: Have I The Right - The Honeycombs 
DISC THREE: Grandad’s Flannelette Nightshirt - George Formby 
DISC FOUR: Gay Bar - Electric Six 
DISC FIVE: Life During Wartime - Talking Heads 
DISC SIX: Hey Bulldog - The Beatles 
DISC SEVEN: Never Give Up on Love - Steve Brown 
DISC EIGHT: Life Is The Name Of The Game - Bruce Forsyth 
 
BOOK CHOICE: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
LUXURY ITEM: A bucket and spade
CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Never Give Up on Love - Steve Brown 

Presenter Lauren Laverne
Producer Paula McGinley

Harry Hill, comedian

This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is playwright Alan Plater. He has been writing plays for radio, television, theatre and cinema since the early 1960s, having served his apprenticeship on Z-Cars in the days of live television drama. Since then, he has been associated with major television adaptions like The Barchester Chronicles and Fortunes of War. 

He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his work, as well as recalling his childhood in the north of England in the 1930s and 1940s - an idyllic time for him despite the inconveniences of the Depression and the Blitz.

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

Favourite track: Fine & Mellow by Billie Holiday
Book: Smell of Sunday Dinner by Sid Chaplin
Luxury: Writing materials

Alan Plater

Lyt når som helst, hvor som helst

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