List of Desert Island Discs episodes (2011–present)
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 since 2011 are listed here.
Desert Island Discs takes two short breaks, in (the northern) spring and summer. BBC Radio 4 broadcasts new programmes for approximately 42 weeks each year on Sunday mornings, usually with a repeat transmission 5 days later. On Remembrance Sunday (in November) the programme is not broadcast but that week's programme gets a single airing in the Friday repeat slot.
2011
| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 January 2011 | Tony Iveson | A volume of W. Somerset Maugham's short stories | Two established vines and a tin bath to make wine | more |
| 9 January 2011 | Gyles Brandreth | The complete plays of Anton Chekhov | Michelangelo's Pietà | more |
| 16 January 2011 | Rt Hon Alex Salmond | The complete works of Robert Burns | A sand wedge and endless golf balls for playing golf | more |
| 23 January 2011 | Betty Driver | Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier | Eau de Soir perfume by Sisley | more |
| 30 January 2011 | Jon Snow | Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin | A set of watercolours and an endless supply of paper | more |
| 6 February 2011 | Howard Jacobson | Oxford Book of English Verse | A never ending supply of pressed shirts and trousers | more |
| 13 February 2011 | Celia Imrie | Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | A cut glass crystal chandelier with candles | more |
| 20 February 2011 | Lawrence Dallaglio | Ripley's World by Andy Ripley | A great big jar of Marmite | more |
| 27 February 2011 | Dame Anne Owers | An anthology of British poetry | A solar powered word processor | more |
| 3 April 2011 | Martin Sheen | The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | Golf clubs | more |
| 10 April 2011 | Terry Gilliam | Dictionary | A mirror | more |
| 17 April 2011 | Felicity Green | Finishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim | A bronze sculpture by Giles Penny | more |
| 24 April 2011 | Cath Kidston | The Larousse French/English Dictionary | Hot water bottle | |
| 1 May 2011 | Professor David Phillips | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Piano with music | more |
| 8 May 2011 | Molly Parkin | The History of the Colony by Sophie Parkin | Her entire outfit including her Andrew Logan brooch | more |
| 15 May 2011 | Kwame Kwei-Armah | The complete works of August Wilson | A basic word processor | more |
| 22 May 2011 | Debbie Harry | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Paints and paper | more |
| 29 May 2011 | Roger Waters | All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy | Grand piano | more |
| 5 June 2011 | Alfie Boe | A tropical recipe book | His own drum kit | more |
| 12 June 2011 | Andrea Levy | Roget's Thesaurus | Mosquito repellent | more |
| 19 June 2011 | Len Goodman | An anthology of British poetry | Set of golf clubs and balls | more |
| 26 June 2011 | Dame Harriet Walter | The complete works of Isabella Bird | Flute | more |
| 3 July 2011 | Tony Robinson | Middlemarch by George Eliot | Luxury mattress and pillow | |
| 10 July 2011 | Reverend John Graham | The complete works of Saki | A telescope | more |
| 17 July 2011 | Michael McIntyre | The Complete Prose of Woody Allen | Pen | |
| 24 July 2011 | Heather Rabbatts | Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen | A solar powered digital photo album | |
| 31 July 2011 | Danny Baker | The Most of S J Perelman | His blue suede shoe | more |
| 18 September 2011 | Martin Clunes | Puckoon by Spike Milligan | An electric guitar | more |
| 25 September 2011 | Arthur Edwards | A photographic album with pictures of his family | An inexhaustible supply of tea and a kettle | |
| 2 October 2011 | Anne Wood | Cotillion by Georgette Heyer | Paper, pen and watercolours to record the plant life on the island | more |
| 9 October 2011 | Vidal Sassoon | The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | A dozen bottles of Vidal Sassoon hair shampoo | more |
| 16 October 2011 | Michael Johnson | The biggest possible encyclopaedia | McLaren SLR sports car with petrol | |
| 23 October 2011 | Mark Gatiss | The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | A Victorian bath and hot water | |
| 30 October 2011 | Victor Adebowale | The Complete Works of Wole Soyinka | His saxophone | more |
| 6 November 2011 | Francesca Simon | The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope | A cappucino maker | more |
| 18 November 2011 | Anna Scher | Poem of the Day | A bespoke statue of Archbishop Desmond Tutu | more |
| 20 November 2011 | Robert Hardy | The Great Warbow by Robert Hardy and Matthew Strickland | Young Girl in Profile, 1495 - De Predis | more |
| 27 November 2011 | Bear Grylls | Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe | A laminated photo of his family | more |
| 4 December 2011 | Sir Martin Sorrell | The Talmud | Cricket bat, ball and stumps | more |
| 11 December 2011 | Eve Pollard | Maritime Intelligence and Publications | Tweezers | more |
| 18 December 2011 | Baron Fellowes of West Stafford | The complete works of Anthony Trollope | Two enormous casks of Chateau Margaux | |
| 30 December 2011 | Professor Brian Cox | Classic Electrodynamics by John David Jackson | A coffee machine | more |
2012
| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2012 | Terry Wogan | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Bottles, pens and paper | more |
| 8 January 2012 | Dame Monica Mason | A special compilation of all of David Attenborough's books | A torch | more |
| 15 January 2012 | Paul Johnson | A big atlas | Watercolour paints and paper | more |
| 22 January 2012 | Vikram Seth | An anthology of poems to include ones by Chinese poet Du Fu | Calligraphy materials | |
| 29 January 2012 | Sir David Attenborough | Shifts and Expidents of Camp Life by W B Lord | A piano | |
| 5 February 2012 | Denise Lewis | Oprah: An Autobiography by Oprah Winfrey | Sex and the City DVD boxset | |
| 12 February 2012 | James Corden | A guide to learning the piano | A piano | more |
| 19 February 2012 | John Prescott | Smile Though Your Heart Is Breaking by Pauline Prescott | A Bontempi keyboard | |
| 26 February 2012 | Brian Moore | Germinal by Émile Zola | A football | |
| 4 March 2012 | Patsy Rodenburg | A large anthology of poetry | An endless supply of tea | more |
| 11 March 2012 | Jackie Mason | The Complete Works of Sholem Aleichem | An easy chair | more |
| 18 March 2012 | Anna Ford | Staying Alive: Real Poems for Unreal Times | Endless supply of leaf tea, teapot, mug and semi-skimmed milk | more |
| 25 March 2012 | Jamie Cullum | On the Road by Jack Kerouac | A huge stack of white paper and pencils | more |
| 6 May 2012 | Tim Minchin | Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut | Robotic sex doll | more |
| 13 May 2012 | Baroness Hollins | 100 Masterpieces of Art | Her clarinet | more |
| 20 May 2012 | Peter Ackroyd | The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis | Pen and paper | more |
| 27 May 2012 | Denise Robertson | A book on practical survival | An endless supply of pens and paper | more |
| 3 June 2012 | Margaret Rhodes | Reader's Digest - The Most Amazing Gardens in Britain and Ireland | Her favourite blue jersey | more |
| 10 June 2012 | Doreen Lawrence | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou | An artist's workshop | |
| 17 June 2012 | Ahdaf Soueif | Keepers of the Flame by Ian Hamilton | Paper and coloured pens | more |
| 24 June 2012 | John Bishop | Family photo album | Lifetime's supply of toothbrushes and toothpaste | more |
| 1 July 2012 | Charles Jencks | The Act of Creation by Arthur Koestler | 3D printer | more |
| 8 July 2012 | Martina Navratilova | The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand | A pillow her mother made for her | |
| 15 July 2012 | Simon McBurney | And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos by John Berger | A pillow with the smell of his family | more |
| 22 July 2012 | Akram Khan | The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy | A skipping rope | more |
| 29 July 2012 | Mary Berry | RHS A-Z Encyclopaedia of Garden Plants | Cashmere rug | more |
| 5 August 2012 | Baroness Campbell of Surbiton | A very large atlas | A customised wheelchair | more |
| 12 August 2012 | Craig Brown | The 11th edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica | Conjouring set | more |
| 23 September 2012 | Goldie Hawn | The Art of Loving by Erich Fromm | Lip gloss | more |
| 30 September 2012 | Ade Adepitan | Chronicles of the Lensmen by E. E. Smith | Basketball court with hoop and ball | more |
| 7 October 2012 | Celia Birtwell | Tropical Flowering Plants by Kirsten Albrecht Llamas | A luxurious bed | more |
| 14 October 2012 | Noah Stewart | The Joy of Cooking | A spa with whirlpool | more |
| 21 October 2012 | Mona Siddiqui | A top ten short story collection featuring Mansfield, Maugham, Chekhov and Hemingway | Tea, milk and sugar | more |
| 28 October 2012 | Hilary Devey | Never Look Back | An endless supply of Cointreau with ice in a crystal glass | more |
| 4 November 2012 | Tidjane Thiam | The Brothers Karamazov by Fydor Dostoyevsky | Solar-powered ice cream maker | more |
| 16 November 2012 | Blanche Marvin | The Golden Bough by James Frazer | Paper, pens and pencils | more |
| 18 November 2012 | John Lloyd | The Book on the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts | A whirligig festooned with flower seeds | more |
| 25 November 2012 | Edmund de Waal | The collected poems of Wallace Stevens | An espresso machine | more |
| 2 December 2012 | Dustin Hoffman | The complete works of Charles Dickens | An endless bar | more |
| 9 December 2012 | Eric Pickles | If This Be a Man by Primo Levi | Kettle, tea service and container of Earl Grey tea | more |
| 16 December 2012 | Sister Wendy Beckett | An enormous book of logical puzzles | Refrigerated tabernacle | |
| 23 December 2012 | Dawn French | Puckoon by Spike Milligan | Her daughter's teddy bear | |
| 30 December 2012 | Anya Hindmarch | Grimm's fairy tales | Yellow rotating pencil and a book of unlined paper |
2013
| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 January 2013 | Sir Howard Stringer | The short stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald | An easy chair | more |
| 13 January 2013 | Martin Carthy | The collected works of Charles Dickens | His guitar | more |
| 20 January 2013 | Beryl Vertue | A book of family photographs | Acoustic guitar and a book of instructions | more |
| 27 January 2013 | Aung San Suu Kyi | Abhidharma | A never-ending supply of different coloured roses | more |
| 3 February 2013 | Sir Terry Leahy | The complete works of Charles Dickens | Tea | more |
| 10 February 2013 | Julie Burchill | This Is Uncool: The 500 Greatest Singles Since Punk and Disco by Garry Mulholland | Alcohol still | more |
| 17 February 2013 | Jonathan Agnew | City of Joy by Dominique Lapierre | Lawnmower with an endless supply of fuel | more |
| 24 February 2013 | Uta Frith | Book of hours from Sir John Soane's museum | Her doll's house | more |
| 3 March 2013 | Rankin | Tuulitastic by Rankin | Pluto and Persephone by Berini | more |
| 10 March 2013 | David Almond | Arabian Nights | Japanese notebooks and pens | more |
| 17 March 2013 | Julie Goodyear | Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach | Her mother's bus pass | more |
| 24 March 2013 | Jasvinder Sanghera | I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou | Her father's milk churn | more |
| 31 March 2013 | Sir Sydney Kentridge | The Jeeves Omnibus by P G Wodehouse | An endless supply of coffee and a machine to make it with | more |
| 12 May 2013 | Damien Hirst | The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors Even, Again | A work of art by Roger Hiorns called “Untitled 2009” | more |
| 19 May 2013 | Alice Walker | Human Race Get Off Your Knees: The Lion Sleeps No More by David Icke | Solar powered vitamix | more |
| 26 May 2013 | Deborah Bull | The Encyclopedia of the Human Brain | Will Tuckett's Pleasure's Progress | more |
| 2 June 2013 | Sir Mervyn King | Complete illustrated catalogue of the National Gallery | Telescope | more |
| 9 June 2013 | Conrad Anker | The complete works of Jack London | Rope and rack | more |
| 16 June 2013 | Alexandra Shulman | Penguin Book Of Love Poetry by Jon Stallworthy | An endless supply of Miss Dior Eau du Toilette | more |
| 23 June 2013 | Hugh Laurie | An encyclopaedia | A double set of throwing knives | more |
| 30 June 2013 | Steven Pinker | Oxford English Dictionary | Carbon fibre bicycle | more |
| 7 July 2013 | Jane Somerville | The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy | Hot bath every day with Rose Geranium bath essence by Floris | more |
| 14 July 2013 | Val McDermid | The Complete Works of Robert Louis Stevenson | Solar-powered laptop used solely for playing games | more |
| 21 July 2013 | Russell Brand | The Bhagavad Gita | Stuffed effigy of Noel Gallagher | more |
| 28 July 2013 | Mary Robinson | The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing | Solar cooker and fridge | more |
| 4 August 2013 | Eve Stewart | The Complete Works of Charles Dickens | A lifetime supply of self-firing clay | more |
| 11 August 2013 | Daniel Kahneman | Thesaurus | Reclining chair | |
| 22 September 2013 | Zadie Smith | A la recherché du temps perdu by Marcel Proust | Goggles | |
| 29 September 2013 | Lee Mack | A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking | Coffee machine, coffee, fridge, milk and teaspoon | |
| 6 October 2013 | Carolyn McCall | Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen | Solar-powered iPad with all her photos | |
| 13 October 2013 | Chris Packham | The complete works of F. Scott Fitzgerald | Binoculars | |
| 20 October 2013 | Jeremy Hutchinson | The complete works of Thomas Hardy | The Tempest by Giorgione | |
| 27 October 2013 | Professor Tanya Byron | Emma by Jane Austen | A large piano | |
| 3 November 2013 | Sir Ken Robinson | India's Summer by Therese | A large quad bike with a solar panel | |
| 15 November 2013 | Alfred Brendel | Aphorisms by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg | Romanesque chapel adjacent to Montmajour Abbey in Provence | |
| 17 November 2013 | Malorie Blackman | Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte | Bicycle | more |
| 24 November 2013 | Ed Miliband | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams | Weekly delivery of a Chicken Tikka takeaway | more |
| 1 December 2013 | Clare Balding | Encyclopedia of nature | Thermos mug with tea, milk and sugar | |
| 8 December 2013 | Barbara Hulanicki | Roget's Thesaurus | Sketch book | more |
| 15 December 2013 | Gillian Clarke | Anthology of poetry | Brynmawr writing desk | more |
| 22 December 2013 | Miranda Hart | The Complete Works of Margaret Luce | Wimbledon Centre court, racquet, balls and a ball machine | more |
| 29 December 2013 | Ant and Dec | The Collected Works of William Boyd (for Ant) and High Fidelity by Nick Hornby (for Dec) | A blow up chair (for Ant) and tweezers (for Dec) |
2014
| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 January 2014 | Ray Mears | A blank book to record his Desert Island findings | A huge pair of speakers | more |
| 12 January 2014 | Nicola Benedetti | Long Walk to Freedom - her personal copy by Nelson Mandela | Violin in its case with some pieces of sheet music | |
| 19 January 2014 | Reverend Rose Hudson-Wilkin | The Complete Works of Maya Angelou | Large collection of earrings | |
| 26 January 2014 | Sir Ben Ainslie | Great Expectations by Charles Dickens | A flight simulator | |
| 2 February 2014 | Bob Harris | A fictional book about cricket statistics | A greenhouse | |
| 9 February 2014 | Dame Elish Angiolini | Oxford Anthology of Poetry | A photograph of all the people she loves | |
| 16 February 2014 | Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean | Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (for Torvill) and Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Theodor Seuss (for Dean) | Jo Malone moisturizer (for Torvill) and endless supply of coffee and digestive biscuits (for Dean) | |
| 23 February 2014 | Professor Hugh Montgomery | SAS Survival Handbook of Survival by John Wiseman | A spear fishing kit | more |
| 2 March 2014 | Mairi Hedderwick | A book containing all the Ordnance Survey maps of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland | A wonderful bath that comes down from the skies | more |
| 9 March 2014 | Lord Richards of Herstmonceux | The complete works of Patrick O'Brian | Sailcloth | |
| 16 March 2014 | Murray Walker | How to Survive Anything, Anywhere: A Handbook of Survival Skills for Every Scenario and Environment by Chris McNab | A hammock and pillow | more |
| 23 March 2014 | Dame Claire Bertschinger | A book of monologues | A Swiss Army knife | more |
| 30 March 2014 | Sir Andre Geim | None | Amarone | more |
| 11 May 2014 | Jack Dee | A big comprehensive encyclopedia | Acoustic guitar | |
| 18 May 2014 | Alison Moyet | His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman | A bath | |
| 25 May 2014 | René Redzepi | Complete set of Mad magazine | One full day of snow | |
| 1 June 2014 | Biddy Baxter | The Traveller's Tree by Patrick Leigh Fermor | Toast and dripping | |
| 8 June 2014 | Tamara Rojo | Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez | Bed | more |
| 15 June 2014 | Raja Shehadeh | Arabian Nights | A packet of seeds | more |
| 22 June 2014 | Judy Murray | The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown | Moisturiser cream | |
| 29 June 2014 | Lily Allen | Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis | Husband's shirt with daughter's bunny sewn on to it | |
| 6 July 2014 | Sir Michael Marmot | Oxford English Dictionary (all 13 volumes and supplements) | Viola | |
| 13 July 2014 | Anne Reid | The Complete Works of George and Ira Gershwin | A piano | more |
| 20 July 2014 | Doug Allan | 1 Volume of Encyclopedia Britannica | Guitar | more |
| 27 July 2014 | Dame Wendy Hall | Complete printed out pages of Wikipedia | Spa and favourite spa products | |
| 3 August 2014 | Guy Garvey | The collected works of J D Salinger | Bushmill Irish whiskey and ice | |
| 10 August 2014 | Malcolm Gladwell | Selected works of Geoffrey Trease | Golf clubs and balls | |
| 21 September 2014 | Steve McQueen | The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin | Compass | |
| 28 September 2014 | Marin Alsop | Collected Works of Carl Jung | Pottery studio | |
| 5 October 2014 | Sally Wainwright | Female Fortune: Land, Gender and Authority by Jill Liddington | A small art shop full of goodies | more |
| 12 October 2014 | Sir Roy Strong | The Oxford Companion to the Garden by Patrick Taylor | His custom-built tricycle | |
| 19 October 2014 | Debbie Wiseman | The Penguin of English Verse | Grand piano, music manuscript paper and pencil | more |
| 26 October 2014 | Roger Graef | Lost and Found in Russia by Susan Richards | A piano with six books of Bartok’s Mikrokosmos | more |
| 2 November 2014 | Wendy Dagworthy | Raj Quartet by Paul Scott | A case of red lipstick and a fridge to keep it cool | more |
| 14 November 2014 | Captain Eric 'Winkle' Brown | The Moonlandings by Reginald Turnill | His 12 flight log books | |
| 16 November 2014 | John Agard | The book of hours | A roll up of organic tobacco | |
| 23 November 2014 | Theresa May | Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen | A lifetime subscription to Vogue | |
| 30 November 2014 | Damian Lewis | History of the World by J M Roberts | Whittling kit | |
| 7 December 2014 | Julie Bentley | If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor | Her photo albums | |
| 14 December 2014 | Sarah Millican | A survival book | Notebooks and pens | more |
| 21 December 2014 | Archbishop Justin Welby | The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | The complete series of The West Wing on DVD | more |
| 28 December 2014 | Ray Winstone | The Searchers by Alan Le May | A fishing rod | more |
2015
| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 January 2015 | Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell | A Teach Yourself Swedish book | Sketchbooks and pencils | more |
| 11 January 2015 | Jo Malone | The Hundred-Foot Journey by Richard C Morais | Chanel lip gloss | |
| 18 January 2015 | Dame Julia Cleverdon | The Penguin Complete Novels of Nancy Mitford | A 2,000 piece jigsaw of Venice | |
| 25 January 2015 | Professor Peter Piot | The Complete works of Hugo Claus | An old English rose | more |
| 1 February 2015 | Professor Angie Hobbs | The collected works of W B Yeats | A harp with teach yourself books and plenty of strings | more |
| 8 February 2015 | Dan Pearson | An encyclopedia of the local plants | The contents of his potting shed | more |
| 15 February 2015 | Mark Rylance | The Big Red Book: The Great Masterpiece Celebrating Mystical Love and Friendship by Rumi | A stand up bass | more |
| 22 February 2015 | Jonas Kaufmann | Das Königsprojekt by Carl Amery | A coffee machine | more |
| 1 March 2015 | Julia Samuel | Other Men's Flowers: An Anthology of Poetry edited by A P Wavell | A notebook and a pen her mother gave her | more |
| 8 March 2015 | Bryan Stevenson | The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | A piano | more |
| 15 March 2015 | Robin Millar | West with the Night by Beryl Markham | The pyramid stage at Glastonbury, complete with the sound system, lights and a guitar | |
| 22 March 2015 | Pat Albeck | Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy | A desk with two drawers full of art materials | |
| 29 March 2015 | Paul Hollywood | First Light by Geoffrey Wellum | Two pillows | more |
Notes
External links
- Desert Island Discs at BBC Radio 4
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