Desert Island Discs is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.[1]
Each week a guest, called a "castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordings (usually, but not always, music), a book and a luxury item that they would like to take if they were to be cast away on a desert island, whilst discussing their life and the reasons for their choices. It was devised and originally presented by Roy Plomley, then presented by Michael Parkinson, Sue Lawley, Kirsty Young and Lauren Laverne (more detail later and in the box on the right).
More than 3,400 episodes have been recorded, with some guests having appeared more than once and some episodes featuring more than one guest.[2] An example of a guest who falls into both categories is Bob Monkhouse, who appeared with his co-writer Denis Goodwin on 12 December 1955 and in his own right on 20 December 1998.[3]
When Desert Island Discs marked its 75th year in 2017, The Guardian called the show a radio classic.[4] In February 2019 a panel of broadcasting industry experts named it the greatest radio programme of all time.[5]
Format
Guests are invited to imagine themselves cast away on a desert island, and choose eight audio recordings (originally gramophone records) they would like to take with them; discussion of their choices permits a review of their life. Excerpts from their choices are played or, in the case of short pieces, the whole work. At the end of the programme, they are asked to choose the one piece they regard most highly. Guests are also automatically given the Complete Works of Shakespeare and either the Bible or another appropriate religious or philosophical work, and then prompted to select a third book to accompany them. Popular choices include Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. The actress Judi Dench, who has macular degeneration, was permitted to take an audiobook in place of a printed manuscript.[6][7]
Guests also choose one luxury, which must be inanimate and of no practical use on or in escaping from the island or allowing communication from outside. Roy Plomley[8] usually enforced these rules strictly, but he did grant a special dispensation to Princess Michael of Kent, who chose her pet cat.
Notable guests
The first castaway was Vic Oliver, and several castaways, including Celia Johnson, Arthur Askey, Trevor Nunn, John Schlesinger, Kenneth Williams, Terry Wogan, Brian Rix, David Attenborough, John Mortimer, Adele Leigh, Delia Smith and Stephen Fry, have been cast away more than once. The most requested piece of music over the first 60 years was "Ode to Joy", the last movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.[17] One of the most remarked broadcasts was Elisabeth Schwarzkopf's 1958 selection of seven of her own recordings.[18][19] This record was subsequently beaten by the pianist Moura Lympany on her second appearance on the programme on 28 July 1979 when all eight of her selections were of her own recordings.[20]
Opening theme
Plomley originally wanted the sounds of "surf breaking on a shore and the cries of sea birds" to open and close each programme. However, Leslie Prowne, the head of popular record programmes at the BBC, was concerned that it lacked definition and insisted that music should also be used. Plomley and the series' producer Frederic Piffard selected "By the Sleepy Lagoon", composed by Eric Coates (who appeared on the show in 1951). The tune has been used since the first transmission in 1942. The sound of herring gulls has accompanied the music except for a period of time in 1964 when tropical bird sounds were used.[23]
Copyright status
Until late September 2009, Desert Island Discs could not be heard on the BBC's iPlayer service, which allowed most programmes to be heard up to a week after transmission. The programme's website[24] stated that this was due to rights issues, as explained in The Sunday Times in 2006.[25]
It was announced on 27 September 2009 that an agreement had been reached as a result of which the programme would be available to stream via the iPlayer.[26] The first episode available through the iPlayer was with Barry Manilow. Subsequently, the programme was also made available as a podcast,[27] beginning with the edition broadcast on 29 November 2009, which featured Morrissey. However, due to music clearance issues, the music selections on the podcast versions are reduced to only playing for around 30 seconds or so (and in rare instances are unavailable, as mentioned in an announcement made by the presenter at the appropriate point of the programme).
List of publications
- Desert Island Discs (1977, by Roy Plomley)
- Plomley's Pick (1982, by Roy Plomley)
- Desert Island Lists (1984, compiled by Roy Plomley and Derek Drescher)
- Sue Lawley's Desert Island Discussions (1990, by Sue Lawley)
- Desert Island Discs: 70 Years of Castaways (2012, by Sean Magee, foreword by Kirsty Young)[31]
- Desert Island Discs: Flotsam & Jetsam (2012, by Mitchell Symons)[32]
- The Definitive Desert Island Discs (2023, by Ian Gittings, foreword by Lauren Laverne)
External links
- Desert Island Discs, BBC
- Sue Arnold, "The Lagoon Show", The Observer, London, 17 March 2002
References
- Neil Midgley. Desert Island Discs: Britain's longest-running radio show The Telegraph, 29 January 2012^
- Desert Island Discs – Find a castaway BBC Online, retrieved 29 August 2014^
- Desert Island Discs – Find a castaway