Desert Island Discs

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 to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

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.

The model Kate Moss was cast away by Lauren Laverne in 2022.

Her career began after a chance encounter with a model agent on a flight. She describes attending castings on her own as a teenager, which led to some inappropriate requests. Although unpleasant at the time, she says that they have sharpened her instincts, enabling her to "tell a wrong 'un a mile away".

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

The Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards was cast away by Kirsty Young in 2015.

He recalls the moment he bumped into his primary school friend Mick Jagger at Dartford train station in 1961, years after losing touch with him. They bonded over a shared love of American blues, which came to define their own sound. Keith Richards laid down the guitar riff for one of the biggest hits, "Satisfaction", on a tape machine in his sleep.

You can listen to the full episode on BBC Sounds.

Chaka Khan’s unmistakeable voice and musical versatility have made her one of the most influential musicians of the past six decades, with an estimated 70 million records sold. Whether fronting the band Rufus or performing as a solo artist, she's moved effortlessly between funk, soul, jazz, and pop, creating era-defining hits including I'm Every Woman, Ain't Nobody and I Feel For You.

She grew up in Chicago, in an artistic family where she was surrounded by music. As a teenager, she became involved with the Affro-Arts Theater, where she was given the Yoruba name Chaka, and a political awakening led her to join the Black Panther Party.

By her late teens, she had joined Rufus, whose breakthrough hit Tell Me Something Good launched the band to international success and marked the beginning of her recording career. She has since won 11 Grammy Awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2026, been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and collaborated with some of music’s modern greats, including Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis, Joni Mitchell and Prince.

Chaka lives on a farm in Georgia, surrounded by family.

DISC ONE: What Is and What Should Never Be - Led Zeppelin DISC TWO: Good Times - Aretha Franklin DISC THREE: Tomaas - Miles Davis DISC FOUR: California - Joni Mitchell DISC FIVE: Tell Me Something Good - Rufus, Chaka Khan DISC SIX: A Woman in a Man's World - Chaka Khan DISC SEVEN: Cool Water - Joni Mitchell (duet with Willie Nelson) DISC EIGHT: Precious Is Your Name - Richard Smallwood featuring Chaka Khan BOOK CHOICE: The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran LUXURY ITEM: A gigantic sandalwood and oud candle CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Precious Is Your Name - Richard Smallwood featuring Chaka Khan

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Hannah Hufford & Tim Bano

Desert Island Discs has cast away other music legends to the island over the years including Nile Rogers and Cher. Chaka Khan’s records have been chosen by previous castaways including Simon Pegg and David Harewood. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Professor Dame Pamela Shaw is a pioneering Neurologists and a leading figure in tackling motor neurone disease or MND. She is the founder and Director of SITran – the World leading Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience, which is slowly but surely unlocking the secrets of MND and other devastating neurological conditions.

Pam was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, in 1955, and at three moved to Kuwait when her father took up the position of harbour master. She lived there until she was eleven, but with no suitable secondary school available locally, she was sent back to Northumberland to board at Our Lady's Convent High School in Alnwick.

She studied medicine at Newcastle University and began her clinical training in the North-east. Following her appointment as a consultant neurologist she developed an interest in Motor Neurone Disease.

A chance meeting with a recently dignosed MND patient led to Pam founding the Sheffield Institute for Translational Neuroscience in 2010. She was made a Dame in 2014.

Pam lives in Sheffield with her husband Paul. They have a grown-up daughter, Sophie.

DISC ONE: Messiah HWV 56, "Hallelujah Chorus". Composed by George Frideric Händel and performed by The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The London Philharmonic Chorus, conducted by Douglas Gamley DISC TWO: Somethin’ Stupid - Frank Sinatra / Nancy Sinatra DISC THREE: Both Sides Now - Joni Mitchell DISC FOUR: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622: II. Adagio. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Thea King (clarinet), English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Alun Francis DISC FIVE: Sweet and Dandy - Toots and the Maytals DISC SIX: The Marriage of Figaro / \"Duettino\" Sull 'Aria. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Edith Mathis, Gundula Janowitz (sopranos) The Orchestra of Deutsche Oper Berlin, conducted by Karl Böhm DISC SEVEN: Ashokan Farewell - The Band of H.M. Royal Marines DISC EIGHT: The Lucky One - Alison Krauss & Union Station

BOOK CHOICE: Kristin Hannah Collection LUXURY ITEM: Roses CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K.622: II. Adagio. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Thea King (clarinet), English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Alun Francis

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Tom Alban

Desert Island Discs has cast away many medical scientists over the years, including Stephen Westaby, Professor Dame Lesley Regan and David Nott. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Emma Grede is the businesswoman behind major fashion brands including Skims and Good American, which she co-founded with Kim Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian, respectively. Last year Forbes included her on their list of America's Richest Self-Made Women, with an estimated net worth of $405 million.

She grew up in Plaistow, East London, the eldest of four daughters. Her parents separated when she was five and she was raised by her mum, who worked long hours as a trader at an investment bank. Emma took on a lot of the responsibility at home caring for her sisters. Dyslexia meant she struggled at school, but she found satisfaction in a string of part-time jobs, from delivering newspapers to making sandwiches in a deli. She later dropped out of the London College of Fashion to pursue a career in the industry, and by her mid-twenties she had founded her first company.

She made her name brokering deals between celebrities and brands that included signing Natalie Portman as the face of Dior. In 2016 she founded an inclusive denim brand called Good American with Khloé Kardashian, and in 2019 she launched the shapewear brand Skims with Kim Kardashian.

Lately her success has led her out of the boardroom and into the spotlight with guest appearances on Dragon’s Den, and the US equivalent Shark Tank, as well as launching a podcast and writing a memoir.

Emma lives in Los Angeles with her husband and business partner Jens, and they have four children.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Hannah Hufford and Christine Pawlowsky

Desert Island Discs has cast away many fashion leaders to the island over the years including Stella McCartney, Vivienne Westwood and Paul Smith. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Sir Roger Deakins is an acclaimed cinematographer who is known for his visual artistry on films including The Shawshank Redemption, 1917, Fargo, Skyfall and Blade Runner 2049. His talents have been acknowledged with a knighthood, five BAFTAs and two Oscars.

Roger was born in Torquay, Devon in 1949. In 1968 he attended the Bath Academy of Art where he was inspired by one of his tutors, the street photographer Roger Mayne, to go out with his camera and capture what he saw. Roger Deakins followed this advice and spent his weekends shooting people and places in British seaside towns.

In 1975 Roger graduated from the National Film School in Beaconsfield and started work as a cameraman – making documentaries and music videos. His first feature film was Cruel Passion which came out in 1977. In 1984 he worked on Michael Radford’s film adaptation of George Orwell’s novel 1984, starring Richard Burton and John Hurt.

The first of Roger’s collaborations with filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen started in 1991 with the film Barton Fink. The three of them went on to make 12 films together including O Brother, Where Art Thou? Fargo and The Big Lebowski.

In 2018 Roger won his first Academy Award for Blade Runner 2049, directed by Denis Villeneuve. He was knighted for services to film in 2021.

Roger lives in California with his wife James. They also have a home in Devon.

DISC ONE: One of Us Cannot Be Wrong - Leonard Cohen DISC TWO: Aqaba - June Tabor DISC THREE: 21st Century Schizoid Man - King Crimson DISC FOUR: Soldier’s Song - Lucinda Williams DISC FIVE: Bat Out of Hell - Meat Loaf DISC SIX: The Island - Paul Brady DISC SEVEN: Sun Comes Up, It's Tuesday Morning - Cowboy Junkies DISC EIGHT: Isn’t it a Pity - Nina Simone

BOOK CHOICE: Moby Dick by Herman Melville LUXURY ITEM: Fishing tackle CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Aqaba - June Tabor

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Shania Twain is a singer and songwriter and one of only two artists in history to have three consecutive diamond albums.

By the time she was eight years old, she had a repertoire of one hundred songs which she would sing in bars. She began to write her own songs at the age of ten. Her mother was convinced that she was going to be a star and took her to perform in smoky clubs.

Off stage, all was not well in the family home and Shania grew up in a turbulent household where there was much fighting. When she was thirteen years old, she persuaded her mother to drive Shania and her sisters to Toronto to a women’s shelter. Her parents eventually reunited and then were both killed in a car accident when Shania was twenty-two years old. She then became the guardian of her younger siblings and put her music dreams on hold to look after them.

Eventually she got a job in a golf resort singing and came to the attention of a Nashville music executive and was offered a recording contract when she was thirty.

She was enjoying a record-breaking global musical career when disaster struck. She was bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme disease which prevented her from singing for the best part of a decade. She announced her return in 2011 and returned to the stage in 2012.

Shania lives in Switzerland with her second husband.

DISC ONE: We’ve Only Just Begun - Carpenters DISC TWO: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - Elton John DISC THREE: Dust in the Wind - Kansas DISC FOUR: El Paso - Marty Robbins DISC FIVE: Gabriel’s Oboe - Ennio Morricone DISC SIX: Gentle on my Mind - Glen Campbell DISC SEVEN: Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder DISC EIGHT: Ode to Billie Joe - Bobbie Gentry BOOK CHOICE: Life is Fair by Brian Hines LUXURY ITEM: Insect Repellent CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Dust in the Wind - Kansas

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast other musicians away over the years including Adele, Cher, Kylie Minogue and Cyndi Lauper. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Paul Farmer is a charity leader who has spent his life campaigning, fundraising and changing the national conversation around some of the most challenging issues in our society. Currently at the helm of Age UK, he previously spent 16 years as the CEO of Mind, the UK’s largest mental health charity.

Paul was born in Oxford, the son of a former Benedictine monk and a former nun. He read history at St Peter’s College, Oxford, where he met his future wife, Claire. After graduating, he found a role working for a heritage centre and fell in love with the charity sector, moving to the Samaritans. His experiences taking calls from those struggling with their mental health awakened a passion for working in the mental health sector.

In 2006 he moved Mind, where he became CEO. He led a fifteen-year campaign that helped to change legislation, and the national conversation around mental health. For the past few years, he has campaigned for older people as Chief Executive at Age UK, and encouraged the public to prepare and plan for a happier, healthier later life.

Paul lost his wife, Claire, to cancer in 2019. He lives in West London.

DISC ONE: Think - Aretha Franklin DISC TWO: Part of the Agnus Dei from the Mass for Five Voices, performed by The Sixteen with Harry Christophers conducting - William Byrd DISC THREE: Don’t Leave Me This Way - The Communards DISC FOUR: Rotterdam (Or Anywhere) - The Beautiful South DISC FIVE: Feeling Good - Nina Simone DISC SIX: Into My Arms - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds DISC SEVEN: Drunk Surfer - Westside Cowboy DISC EIGHT: Sunshine on Leith - The Proclaimers

BOOK: A collection of Simon Armitage’s poetry LUXURY: A bowling machine with a combination of cricket and tennis balls CASTAWAY’S FAVOURITE: Sunshine on Leith - The Proclaimers

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor and Hannah Hufford

Desert Island Discs has cast away many campaigners to the island over the years including Marjorie Wallace, Julia Cleverdon, and Sue Ryder, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Professor Liz Morris is a glaciologist whose work in some of the earth’s most inhospitable environments has broadened humanity’s understanding of climate change and polar science. Her accolades include the prestigious Polar Medal and an OBE for services to Polar Science.

Liz was born in London in 1946 and family legend has it that she fell in love with snow and ice the following year during what was known as the Big Freeze - one of the most severe and punishing winters in British history.

She studied physics at Bristol University and applied for a role at the British Antarctic Survey in the early Seventies. At that time the institute did not have any female scientists working in the field and her application was rejected.

Liz bided her time and eventually did get to work at the BAS, becoming head of the Ice and Climate Division in 1986. The following year she became the first British woman to undertake tent-based research in Antarctica, arriving just as the ozone hole discovery was breaking.

Liz completed her last field trip in 2014. In 2020 the Antarctic Place-Names Committee named a glacier in her honour.

Liz divides her time between the Cotswolds and Scotland.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Norman Cook is a musician and DJ also widely known as Fatboy Slim.

As a DJ, he has played everywhere from Bondi Beach and the Great Wall of China to the House of Commons and a fish and chip shop. His many accolades include a world record for the most number one singles by one musician in different acts. He has had a number of musical aliases including Pizzaman, Cheeky Boy and Beats International. He was also a member of the Housemartins.

He was christened Quentin by his parents and changed his name to Norman when he embarked on his musical career. His passion for music and collecting records led him down the path of becoming a DJ and his outdoor gigs, particularly in Brighton, saw him play to crowds of over a quarter of a million people.

He has been married twice, his second wife was the DJ and radio presenter, Zoe Ball. Norman lives in Brighton

DISC ONE: The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five DISC TWO: Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight - The Beatles DISC THREE: Rainbow Connection - The Muppets DISC FOUR: (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais - The Clash DISC FIVE: I Feel Love - Donna Summer DISC SIX: Satisfied ‘N’ Tickled Too - Taj Mahal DISC SEVEN: I Must Be In a Good Place Now - Bobby Charles DISC EIGHT: Born Slippy (Nuxx) - Underworld

BOOK CHOICE: The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists by Robert Tressell LUXURY ITEM: A label maker CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Feel Love - Donna Summer

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast other musicians away over the years including Norman’s former neighbour Sir Paul McCartney and David Bryne. His former wife, Zoe Ball is in the Desert Island archive along with his former classmate, Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Jo Nesbø is a writer, known as the king of 'Nordic Noir'. His internationally bestselling crime thrillers following the exploits of detective Harry Hole have been translated into fifty languages, sold over sixty million copies and have been adapted for film and TV.

Being a bestselling author was not his first job. As a teenager, he played football professionally before an injury put paid to his sporting career. He played guitar and wrote songs for a band which then became very successful in Norway and he combined his gigging nightlife with a day job on Norway’s stock market.

His relentless schedule led to him taking time off from both the band and the stock market and whilst he was travelling on a plane to Australia, he wrote his first draft of his debut Harry Hole novel. He has since gone on to write thirteen Harry Hole novels along with children’s stories and other standalone books.

Jo lives in Oslo.

DISC ONE: Perfect Skin - Lloyd Cole and the Commotions DISC TWO: Ticket To Ride - The Beatles DISC THREE: Make Me Smile (Come Up And See Me) - Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel DISC FOUR: I Can’t Be Satisfied – Muddy Waters DISC FIVE: Bus to Baton Rouge - Lucinda Williams DISC SIX: Hand of God - Nick Cave, Warren Ellis DISC SEVEN: Swamp - Talking Heads DISC EIGHT: Independence Day - Bruce Springsteen

BOOK CHOICE: Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski LUXURY ITEM: A shoehorn CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Independence Day - Bruce Springsteen

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast other writers away over the years including Lee Child, Steven King and Martina Cole. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Anna Maxwell Martin is an award-winning actor whose versatility is evident from the breadth of parts she has played in popular television programmes including Motherland, Ludwig and Line of Duty.

Anna was born and brought up in Yorkshire and loved acting and performing from a young age putting on shows with her friends in the cul-de-sac where they all lived. She read history at Liverpool University and then won a place at LAMDA.

She made her professional debut in the Little Foxes at the Donmar Warehouse directed by Marianne Elliott. Her breakthrough came in 2003 playing Lyra Belacqua in the National Theatre’s landmark production of His Dark Materials.

In recent years she has become an advocate for vulnerable children and their families – especially those navigating the SEND – special educational needs and/or disabilities – system in schools. She was motivated to take on this role after struggling to get help for her daughters who were struggling with profound grief following the death of their father.

Anna lives in London with her daughters.

DISC ONE: I Love To Boogie – T. Rex DISC TWO: The Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston DISC THREE: Together In Electric Dreams - Philip Oakey & Giorgio Moroder DISC FOUR: Gianni Schicchi: "O mio babbino caro" (Lauretta) Composed by Giacomo Puccini and performed by Maria Callas (soprano) and Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Tullio Serafin DISC FIVE: When A Knight Won His Spurs – The Choir of Salisbury Cathedral, directed by David Halls DISC SIX: Dry Your Eyes - The Streets DISC SEVEN: Ain't No Mountain High Enough - Marvin Gaye, Tammi Terrell DISC EIGHT: Tell Him - Lauryn Hill

BOOK CHOICE: Jackson Brodie Series by Kate Atkinson LUXURY ITEM: Anna’s lucky conker CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: The Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Desert Island Discs has cast away many actors to the island over the years including Julie Walters, Jessie Buckley and Adeel Aktar. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Peter Layton is a pioneering British glass artist and the founder of London Glassblowing, one of the most influential glass studios and galleries in the United Kingdom. He played a central role in the development of the studio glass movement, helping to establish glass as an artistic medium.

Born in Prague to Jewish parents, he and his family escaped in 1939 and settled in Bradford, where Peter counted the artist David Hockney among his friends. A trip to the United States in the 1960s to teach ceramics led him to his first encounter with glassblowing, and when he returned to the UK he set up a studio called London Glassblowing. Its ethos of collaboration and openness remains the same 50 years after its founding, and members of the public are welcome to see Peter and his colleagues create spectacular pieces of art out of glass.

Peter’s work is influenced by many things: early pieces tackled political issues, and he finds clouds, pebbles and other natural forms particularly inspiring. Peter lives in London with his wife Ann. He has three children and seven grandchildren.

DISC ONE: When I’m Cleaning Windows - George Formby DISC TWO: Kol Nidrei, Op. 4, composed by Max Bruch, performed by Jacqueline du Pré (cello) and Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Daniel Barenboim DISC THREE: Take Five - Dave Brubeck DISC FOUR: Blowin’ in the Wind - Bob Dylan DISC FIVE: White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane DISC SIX: Lute Concerto in D Major, RV 93: II. Largo, composed by Antonio Vivaldi, performed by Paul O'Dette (lute) The Parley of Instruments conducted by Peter Holman DISC SEVEN: Suzanne - Nina Simone DISC EIGHT: Elegy for the Arctic - Ludovico Einaudi

BOOK CHOICE: The Choice by Edith Eger LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered digital picture frame CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Suzanne - Nina Simone

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Tim Bano

Desert Island Discs has cast away many artists to the island over the years, including Peter’s friend David Hockney, as well as the sculptor Anthony Gormley and Cornelia Parker. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Guy Martin is a television presenter, mechanic and former motorcycle racer. During his career he achieved 17 podium finishes at the Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) Races – one of the most prestigious and dangerous motorcycling events in the world. His television programmes often focus on his daredevil nature and combine two of his greatest loves - engineering and history.

Guy was brought up in the village of Kirmington in North Lincolnshire. When he was five his father, who raced bikes himself, bought him his first motorcycle which he promptly crashed into the rose garden. His father is a mechanic and Guy used to sit and watch him at work in the shed from a young age and at 12 he began working for him at weekends and during school holidays.

Guy’s first race meeting was at Cadwell Park in Lincolnshire when he was 19. Less than a minute into the race he crashed. He was not badly injured but the bike was destroyed in the process. In 2004 he made his debut at the biggest road race of them all – the Isle of Man TT, finishing seventh in the Senior race and winning the Newcomers Trophy.

Guy retired from racing in 2015 after a very bad crash at the Ulster Grand Prix. After that he turned to his bicycle and has taken part in several endurance cycling events, including the Tour Divide, to test his resolve and stamina and fill the adrenaline gap.

Guy lives in Lincolnshire with his wife Sharon, their daughter Dottie and three dogs.

DISC ONE: Bam Ba Lam (Here Comes Daddy) - Alabama 3 DISC TWO: Testify - Rage Against the Machine DISC THREE: Blinded by the Light - The Streets DISC FOUR: Getaway - The Music DISC FIVE: Me and my Monkey - Robbie Williams DISC SIX: Hurt – Johnny Cash DISC SEVEN: The Day is My Enemy - The Prodigy DISC EIGHT: With or Without You - U2

BOOK CHOICE: Stealing Speed by Mat Oxley LUXURY ITEM: The back catalogue of Race Engine Technology magazine CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: With or Without You - U2

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Emily Watson is an award-winning actor, widely regarded as one of the finest character actors of her generation.

She began her career on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company before rising to prominence in 1996, when she was cast as Bess McNeill in Lars von Trier’s Breaking the Waves. The role earned her an Academy Award nomination. She received a second Oscar nomination for Hilary and Jackie, for which she learned to play the cello to portray Jacqueline du Pré.

Watson has built a reputation for a level of commitment that is as intense as it is acclaimed. She describes her craft not merely as a profession but as a profound internal necessity, stating: "I love the sense of creating and inhabiting something. That feeling of making it feel magically real. That's the addiction".

She grew up in London and was a passionate reader before leaving home to study English at Bristol University. Her parents were members of the School of Economic Science which proscribed that followers eschew TV and popular culture. Emily joined in with the university drama productions and followed her passion, with her parents’ blessing, to pursue a career in acting.

Emily Watson lives in London with her husband, and they have two children.

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast other actors away over the years including Emily’s fellow actor from Hamnet, Jessie Buckley. The writer, Maggie O’Farrell is in there too along with Emily’s friend from university, the writer David Nicholls. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Journalist Gary O’Donoghue is the Chief North America Correspondent for BBC News. Last year his coverage of the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump won the Royal Television Society Breaking News Award. He made the news himself in 2025 when he secured a 20-minute exclusive phone interview with Trump who was by then the US President.

Gary was born in London and brought up in Essex. When he was eight he lost his sight and attended specialist schools for blind and partially sighted children. He read philosophy and modern languages at the University of Oxford before embarking on his BBC career.

He has reported on mass shootings, filed stories from the Macedonian border during the Kosovo conflict, covered the Iraq War and chronicled seven British general elections. He became the BBC’s Washington correspondent in 2014 and, as well as Donald Trump’s two terms, has covered the administrations of Presidents Obama and Biden.

Gary is based in Washington DC and when in the UK lives in West Yorkshire with his partner Sarah.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Desert Island Discs has cast other journalists away to the island over the years including Lyse Doucet, Clive Myrie and Lindsey Hilsum, You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

This episode was recorded before the shooting at the White House Correspondent's Dinner on 25th April 2026.

Archers actress Patricia Greene is castaway by Kirsty Young. For nearly 60 years she's played the role of Jill in BBC Radio 4’s The Archers which celebrates its 65th anniversary on January 1st 2016. Over the decades the storylines have followed her character through one marriage, four children and since 2010, widowhood. Born in Derby in 1931, Paddy’s love of acting began early on inspired by her father who was a keen amateur actor. As an only and independent child she was surrounded by the adult world and would often eavesdrop as she hid under the kitchen table. Her parents loved entertainment and would take her to the cinema every week to see Hollywood romances or comedies. After attending a grammar school she went to the Central School of Speech and Drama in London in 1951. She wanted to be a classical actress, but then a phone call from the Archers production office changed her career path and she joined the cast initially on a six week contract in 1957. Her character Jill went onto marry the farmer Phil Archer, and is still there with a recent storyline seeing her return to Brookfield, the family farm. Patricia has been married twice and was widowed in 1986. She was awarded an MBE in 2007. DISC ONE: Brush Up Your Shakespeare - Emil Wolk & John Bardon DISC TWO: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 - London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Bernard Haitink DISC THREE: En Aranjuez Con Tu Amor - Grimethorpe Colliery Band DISC FOUR: Nat King Cole - Unforgettable DISC FIVE: Test Match Special – “Leg Over” Commentary, 9/8/1991 DISC SIX: Charles Trenet - Boum! DISC SEVEN: Puccini - La Boheme- “Yes, they call me Mimì” - Kiri Te Kanawa & the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kent Nagano DISC EIGHT: Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43 (4th Movement) - Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert von Karajan

CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Vienna Philharmonic, conducted by Herbert von Karajan - Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major, Op. 43 (4th Movement) BOOK CHOICE: Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett LUXURY CHOICE: A sack of bird food

Producer: Cathy Drysdale

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2015.

David Morrissey is an actor who grew up in Liverpool.

His screen work ranges from playing a ruthless survivor of the zombie apocalypse in The Walking Dead to a troubled police officer in James Graham’s Sherwood.

His television debut performance came playing a teenager in the Channel 4 series One Summer. Since then his career has seen him win awards including the Royal Television Society award for Best Male Actor for his role as Gordon Brown in The Deal.

Morrissey’s interest in acting started in primary school, when he was cast as the Scarecrow in a production of The Wizard of Oz. As a teenager, he developed his passion further at the Everyman Youth Theatre in Liverpool, where he took guidance from professional actors.

After his first TV role, he went on to train at RADA. He is best known for portraying complex and troubled characters, and in more recent years has also demonstrated a flair for comedy in series such as Daddy Issues.

David lives in London.

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast other actors away over the years including David’s fellow actors in Sherwood, Monica Dolan and Lesley Manville. The writer, James Graham is in there too. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Actress Julie Goodyear is castaway by Kirsty Young.

For a quarter of a century, Julie's Coronation Street TV character Bet Lynch set the gold plated standard for big, brassy, back chatting blondes. Behind the bar of the Rovers Return her bosom swathed in leopard-print and her head piled high with platinum curls she was Manchester's answer to Mae West.

Her MBE was awarded for her services to drama - and when she left the series in 1995, her departure pulled in 19 million viewers.

Yet whatever the scriptwriters came up with it was never as dramatic as the life she's lived beyond The Street.

Julie got pregnant at 17, her second husband abandoned her for their best man, and in 1979 she was diagnosed with cancer and told she'd a year to live. She's now married to her fourth husband.

She says, "If anyone should be interested in an epitaph for my life, I would like them to consider, 'At least she tried."

DISC ONE: Nancy Sinatra - These Boots are Made for Walkin’ DISC TWO: Eileen Wilson - A You're Adorable DISC THREE: Nat King Cole - Blue Moon DISC FOUR: Bill Haley and His Comets - Rock Around The Clock DISC FIVE: Barry Manilow - I made it through the Rain DISC SIX: Johnny Mathis - When A Child Is Born DISC SEVEN: Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time Of My Life DISC EIGHT: Tina Turner - Simply the Best

CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes - (I've Had) The Time Of My Life BOOK CHOICE: Jonathan Livingston Seagull LUXURY CHOICE: Her mother's bus pass

Producer: Cathy Drysdale

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2013.

Kirsty Young's castaway is actress June Spencer.

She is one of the best-loved matriarchs in broadcasting. As Peggy Woolley in The Archers, she's the only original member of the cast still in the show.

It's 60 years this spring since the pilot episodes were first broadcast and, although she is now aged 90, June has no plans to retire.

She says, 'It's a great bonus for me that The Archers has run as long as it has, and I've gone along with it.'

DISC ONE: Fred Astaire - Let's Face The Music And Dance DISC TWO: Nelson Eddy - I Passed by Your Window DISC THREE: Andrei Gavrilov - Frédéric Chopin’s Revolutionary Study DISC FOUR: Northern Sinfonia Orchestra, conducted by Jean-Bernard Pommier - Claude Debussy’s En bateau (from Petite suite) DISC FIVE: John Williams - Concierto De Aranjuez DISC SIX: Harry Secombe - Giacomo Puccini’s E Lucevan Le Stelle (from Tosca) DISC SEVEN: The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Slatkin - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Overture to The Sleeping Beauty DISC EIGHT: Winchester Cathedral Choir - George Frideric Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus (from Messiah)

CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: John Williams - Concierto De Aranjuez BOOK CHOICE: Three Men in a Boat - Jerome K Jerome LUXURY CHOICE: A Scrabble board

Producer: Isabel Sargent

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in January 2010.

Si King is a broadcaster and cook, best known as one half of the duo The Hairy Bikers.

Together with his onscreen cooking partner and real-life best friend Dave Myers, the pair travelled over 650,000 miles around the world on motor bikes filming their cooking exploits and they also wrote a number of bestselling cookbooks.

Si was born in a pit village near Gateshead, the youngest child of three. His father had served in the arctic convoys and had met his wife whilst on shore leave in Newcastle when she was singing with a big band.

Si’s father died when he was eight years old and Si and his mum, Stella, bonded by cooking together which led to his lifelong appreciation of food.

His love of motorcycles started early when his uncle introduced him to his garage full of broken motorbikes that he enjoyed tinkering around with. Si fell in love with motorbikes and as a teenager used to give him mum a lift back from the shops.

After leaving school, Si played drums in a band to earn a living, during which time he met his former wife, Jane. He became a father at 23 and soon began his television career as a runner on the children’s series Byker Grove. This opened the door to work in TV and film as a location manager, where he met make up artist Dave Myers on the set of a Catherine Cookson drama. After discovering they shared a passion for food and motorbikes, the pair developed the idea for a TV show that would see these two rather hairy motorcyclists travel around the world cooking for people.

After Dave’s death in 2024, Si was involved in two commemorative “Dave Days” in which many thousands of riders from the motorbike community showed their support for Dave and his family by travelling in convoy from London to Dave’s home town of Barrow in Furness.

Si King lives in the North East.

DISC ONE: Winter Song - Lindisfarne DISC TWO: Boil the Breakfast Early - The Chieftains DISC THREE: Anonymous: Liturgy of Saint Anthony - Ad Missam - Introitus: Os justi meditabitur - Coro Gregoriano De Lisboa DISC FOUR: Stay With Me Till Dawn - Judie Tzuke DISC FIVE: Set The Fire To The Third Bar - Snow Patrol feat. Martha Wainwright DISC SIX: Still in Love with You (Live) - Thin Lizzy DISC SEVEN: On The Wire - Troy Cassar-Daley DISC EIGHT: Ask the Lonely - Journey

BOOK CHOICE: Combined works of William Dalrymple LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered fridge and rum CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Ask the Lonely - Journey

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast other cooks away to the island over the years including Delia Smith, Nigella Lawson and Nigel Slater. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Sara Pascoe is a comedian and writer who has appeared on programmes including QI, Taskmaster and the Great British Sewing Bee. She is also a screenwriter and the author of three books including her debut novel Weirdo which won the inaugural Jilly Cooper Prize for fiction last year.

Sara was born in Dagenham and grew up in Romford. She joined a drama club when she was 14 and set her heart on an acting career but failed to get a place at drama school. She read English Literature at the University of Sussex and after graduating took on various jobs to make ends meet including a stint as a London tour bus guide.

In 2007 she performed her first comedy gig to an audience of 12 people in a south London pub. Even though no-one laughed at her jokes, she was well and truly bitten by the stand-up bug and the following year was joint runner-up at the Funny Women Awards. In 2010 she performed her first show at the Edinburgh Festival and appeared on the BBC’s Live at the Apollo two years later.

She is currently touring her latest stand-up tour, I Am A Strange Gloop. Sara lives in London with her husband Steen Raskopoulos and their two children.

DISC ONE: Rhythm Of Life - Sammy Davis Jr. And Ensemble (from Sweet Charity) DISC TWO: Never Forget - Take That DISC THREE: Telemachus - Pascoe & Martin DISC FOUR: Scar Tissue - Red Hot Chilli Peppers DISC FIVE: Gett Off - Prince & The New Power Generation DISC SIX: Rock Star - N.E.R.D DISC SEVEN: Best Friend - 50 Cent DISC EIGHT: Wizardry - Self Esteem

BOOK CHOICE: 1984 by George Orwell LUXURY ITEM: A typewriter CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Telemachus - Pascoe & Martin

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Professor Stephen Westaby is a former heart surgeon and writer. During his career he performed over 11,000 operations and pioneered the use of life long artificial hearts as an alternative to donor transplants.

Stephen was born in Scunthorpe in 1948 and went to medical school at Charing Cross Hospital in 1966. The following year he suffered a serious head injury during a rugby match which had a major impact on his personality. He changed from being a shy person lacking in confidence into a fearless, ambitious operator – qualities, he believes, made him entirely suited to being a surgeon.

In 1981 he took up a Research Fellowship in Alabama with John Kirklin, the first surgeon to successfully perform a series of open-heart operations using a heart-lung machine. During his time there Stephen discovered that medical nylon caused some patients to die of post-perfusion syndrome. Following his discovery, the manufacturers of the equipment removed it from the circuit which led to a substantial drop in cardiac surgical mortality.

In 2000 he implanted a revolutionary new heart pump into a man who was terminally ill with heart failure using a device called the Jarvik 2000. Temporary devices – known as bridge to transplant devices – had been used to stabilise patients while they waited for a donor heart but this surgery – transplanting a permanent artificial heart instead of a donor heart was the first of its kind.

Stephen retired from the NHS in 2016. The following year he published Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon’s Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Theatre which won the BMA President’s Award.

Stephen has two children and lives with his wife in Oxfordshire.

DISC ONE: Wonderful Land - The Shadows DISC TWO: Viva La Vida - Coldplay DISC THREE: Baker Street – Gerry Rafferty DISC FOUR: America - Simon & Garfunkel DISC FIVE: Forever Autumn - Justin Hayward DISC SIX: Moonlight Shadow - Mike Oldfield DISC SEVEN: Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac DISC EIGHT: Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43: Var. 18. Andante cantabile Performed by Vladimir Ashkenazy (piano) and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by André Previn

BOOK CHOICE: Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus by William Harvey LUXURY ITEM: A family photograph CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Forever Autumn - Justin Hayward

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Jessie Buckley is an actor and singer. She recently won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe Award for her critically acclaimed role playing Shakespeare’s wife Agnes in Chloé Zhao’s film Hamnet. Her performance has also garnered her an Academy Award nomination.

Jessie won an Olivier Award for her portrayal of Sally Bowles in a 2021 West End revival of Cabaret. Her breakout film role came in 2018 when she played an aspiring country music singer in the musical Wild Rose.

Jessie was born in Killarney in County Kerry to creative parents. Her mother trained as a singer and harpist and her father, who ran a guest house when she was growing up, writes poetry. As a child Jessie and her siblings put on Irish dancing performances for people who stayed in the guest house.

In 2008 she appeared in the BBC talent show I’d Do Anything – the televised search to find a Nancy for a West End production of Oliver! Jessie came second in the competition and afterwards Sir Cameron Mackintosh, one of the judges, sent her on a Shakespeare workshop at RADA which she says changed her life.

She made her professional stage debut as Anne Egerman in the 2008/2009 revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music at London's Menier Chocolate Factory. In 2010 she stepped away from professional work and enrolled at RADA where she studied for three years.

After graduating she performed on stage, screen and television. She received her first Oscar nomination playing opposite Olivia Colman in the 2021 film the Lost Daughter.

Jessie lives in Norfolk with her husband and their baby daughter.

DISC ONE: Samhradh Samhradh - The Gloaming DISC TWO: O Holy Night. Composed by Adolph Adam and performed by Marina Cassidy DISC THREE: Who Knows Where the Time Goes (Live at Philharmonic Hall, New York, NY - October 1969) - Nina Simone DISC FOUR: Troy - Sinéad O'Connor DISC FIVE: Send In the Clowns – Judi Dench DISC SIX: Shobis Galoba (Christmas Song) - Basiani Ensemble DISC SEVEN: The Red Shoes - Kate Bush DISC EIGHT: Old Note - Lisa O'Neill

BOOK CHOICE: The Complete Poems of Tim Buckley LUXURY ITEM: Jessie’s own bathtub and bath salts CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Samhradh Samhradh - The Gloaming

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Dwayne Fields is an explorer and broadcaster who was appointed the UK’s Chief Scout in 2024. He is the first black Briton to reach the Magnetic North Pole. His television work includes fronting the series 7 Toughest Days and co-presenting Endurance: Race to the Pole, and Expedition: Search for the Nile, with fellow adventurer Ben Fogle.

Dwayne was born in Jamaica and was brought up by his great-grandmother for the first few years of his life. When he was six he moved to north London to live with his mother. He struggled to adapt to his new surroundings until he found his way to a Cub Scouts meeting where he experienced a sense of belonging for the first time since his arrival.

As a teenager, he grew up surrounded by gang violence and experienced a serious knife attack when he was 19. A few years later, during a heated confrontation, he had a gun pointed at him. The gun misfired twice and he survived. This shocking incident spurred Dwayne to change his life and challenge himself to inspire other young people to do the same.

In 2010, he walked 400 nautical miles to reach the Magnetic North Pole. In 2019, he co‑founded the WeTwo Foundation with explorer and wild camper Phoebe Smith. The Foundation gives young people from challenging backgrounds the chance to experience life‑changing adventures

Dwayne lives in Peterborough with his wife Angelique, and their five children.

DISC ONE: Three Little Birds - Bob Marley And The Wailers DISC TWO: Dance With My Father - Luther Vandross DISC THREE: I Miss You - DMX feat. Faith Evans DISC FOUR: The Loco-motion - Kylie Minogue DISC FIVE: Here I Come - Dennis Brown DISC SIX: You’re the Apple of My Eye - Louis Armstrong and Velma Middleton DISC SEVEN: Roar - Katy Perry DISC EIGHT: I'm Still Standing - Elton John

BOOK CHOICE: The Untold Railway Stories: Celebrating 200 Years of Passenger Railways edited by Monisha Rajesh LUXURY ITEM: A multi-functional pocket knife CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Three Little Birds - Bob Marley And The Wailers

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Roula Khalaf is a journalist and the first woman to serve as editor of the Financial Times in its 138‑year history. She joined the paper in 1995 as North Africa correspondent, covering the Algerian civil war before reporting more broadly across the Middle East, including Syria, Iran and Iraq, and later the Arab Spring.

Roula was born in Beirut and grew up there during the Lebanese civil war which began in 1975. She studied communications at Syracuse University in New York State and then completed a Master’s degree in International Affairs at Columbia University.

She joined Forbes Magazine in 1989 before relocating to the UK. Her work has earned several awards, including Foreign Commentator of the Year at the Editorial Intelligence Comment in 2016 Awards and the Foreign Press Association’s Feature Story of the Year for her reporting on Qatar in 2013.

Roula has two children with her husband Assaad and lives in London.

DISC ONE: Misunderstanding - Genesis DISC TWO: Dernière Danse - Indila DISC THREE: Oghneyat Al Bostah - Ziad Rahbani DISC FOUR: Feeling Good - Nina Simone DISC FIVE: Zina - Babylone DISC SIX: Ya Laure Houbbouki - Fairuz DISC SEVEN: Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) - Green Day DISC EIGHT: 7 Seconds - Youssou N’Dour ft Neneh Cherry

BOOK CHOICE: A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East by David Fromkin LUXURY ITEM: A notebook and pen CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Ya Laure Houbbouki - Fairuz

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Richard Young is a photographer who was once known as the “king of the paparazzi”.

His portfolio is a who’s who of some of the biggest stars in film, music, stage and popular culture from the past fifty years. From gatecrashing Elizabeth Taylor’s party for Richard Burton’s 50th at the Dorchester to later being invited to photograph her Damehood celebrations. He can count the first photographs of Paul Getty Jr. after his kidnapping as just one of his many scoops.

He was born in Hackney to a Jewish family and his father ran a hosiery stall in Berwick Street market for more than sixty years. Richard has dyslexia and after being expelled from school at fourteen, he went to Soho and landed a job in fashionable clothes shop frequented by Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan, David Hockney and Francis Bacon.

A two-year stint in New York followed, working as a studio assistant at Electric Lady Studios, before he returned to London and found himself in a bookshop handed a camera and told to get on with photographing authors.

For the past fifty years, he has lived a nocturnal, high octane life of private jets, parties and exclusive events, eventually becoming as much a fixture in the world of celebrity as the people he photographed.

Richard lives in London with his wife Susan. His photography gallery is in London and has visitors from around the world.

DISC ONE: Rehab - Amy Winehouse DISC TWO: Just Walkin’ in the Rain - Johnny Ray DISC THREE: Cosmic Dancer - T. Rex DISC FOUR: Positively 4th Street - Bob Dylan DISC FIVE: Point Blank - Bruce Springsteen DISC SIX: Isn’t It a Pity - George Harrison DISC SEVEN: A Beautiful Day - Queen DISC EIGHT: The Gypsy’s Wife - Leonard Cohen

BOOK CHOICE: Siddhartha by Herman Hesse LUXURY ITEM: Caviar CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Point Blank - Bruce Springsteen

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast other photographers away to the island over the years including David Bailey, Sally Mann and Vanley Burke. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Tahra Zafar is a costume and creature effects designer.

She designed the Paddington Bear puppet featured in the hit West End production Paddington: The Musical.

Born into a theatre family, she grew up with an Armenian American father who worked as a choreographer in the first West End production of West Side Story, and a mother who moved from a career as a ballerina to theatre work around the world. Her interest in making began early, helping her father with practical projects such as restoring their house, even learning to build walls and spending her spare time model making, with Airfix creations suspended from her bedroom ceiling.

After studying theatre design at Central Saint Martins, she began her career making theatre costumes. She spent some time at the Jim Henson creature workshop where she made some of the creatures for the first Harry Potter film including Hedwig the owl and Scabbers the rat.

After her daughter was born, Tahra worked on some of the characters for In the Night Garden with her daughter, a willing judge of what worked for toddlers. In 2012, Tahra was in charge of 23,000 costumes for the London 2012 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. This role included an audience with the late Queen to ensure the wig and dress were correct for Her Majesty’s stunt double when that iconic skydive was performed at the Olympic opening ceremony.

Tahra lives in London with her daughter.

DISC ONE: Thunderbirds (Main Theme) - The Barry Gray Orchestra DISC TWO: Gee, Officer Krupke. Composed by Leonard Bernstein and performed by Leo Kharibian, Norman Furber and Vince Logan DISC THREE: Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 In D Minor (movement six) Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and performed by Berlin Philharmoniker, Wiener Singverein and conducted by Herbert von Karajan DISC FOUR: Brazil – Geoff Muldaur DISC FIVE: Sir Duke - Stevie Wonder DISC SIX: Groove Is in the Heart - Deee-Lite DISC SEVEN: Eclipse - Pink Floyd DISC EIGHT: Take Five - Dave Brubeck BOOK CHOICE: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Complete Books by Douglas Adams LUXURY ITEM: A set of art materials and a storage box CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Eclipse - Pink Floyd

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast other costume designers away to the island over the years including Oscar winners Jenny Beavan and Sandy Powell. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Professor Michele Dougherty is President of the Institute of Physics and Professor of Space Physics at Imperial College London. She was appointed Astronomer Royal last year – the first woman to hold the post in its 350-year history.

She was brought up in Durban in South Africa and studied for a Bachelor of Science degree in applied maths at Natal University. After completing a Master’s and PhD she took up a fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Germany where she investigated solar wind and galactic wind outflows.

In 1991 she joined Imperial College London where she helped devise a magnetic field model for the Ulysses mission. In 1997 she became principal investigator for the magnetometer instrument on board the Cassini probe which was sent to study Saturn and its system.

She is currently lead investigator for the J-MAG magnetometer instrument on the European Space Agency's JUICE mission (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) which launched in 2023. It will reach Jupiter in 2031 and spend at least three years observing the planet and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.

Michele was appointed CBE in the 2018 New Years Honours List for services to UK Physical Science Research.

DISC ONE: Puccini: Turandot, Act III: Nessun dorma! Performed by Luciano Pavarotti (tenor), John Alldis Choir, Wandsworth School Boys Choir and London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta DISC TWO: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: III. Adagio. Composed by Elgar. Performed by Jacqueline du Pré (cello) and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli DISC THREE: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D Major, Op. 19: III. Moderato. Composed by Tchaikovsky. Performed by Frank Peters Zimmerman (violin), and Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Lorin Maazel DISC FOUR: We Three Kings of Orient Are - Robert Shaw Chamber Singers DISC FIVE: Dancing Queen - ABBA DISC SIX: Dance With My Father - Luther Vandross DISC SEVEN: Franck: Panis Angelicus. Performed by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano), English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Barry Rose DISC EIGHT: Pie Jesu (From Requiem) Composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Performed by Malakai Bayoh, Schola Cantorum of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School and London Mozart Players, directed by Scott Price BOOK CHOICE: The Lord of The Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien LUXURY ITEM: An assortment of wine CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 85: III. Adagio. Composed by Elgar. Performed by Jacqueline du Pré (cello) and London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir John Barbirolli

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Desert Island Discs has cast many space experts away to the island over the years including NASA's Dr Nicola Fox, the astronomer Carl Sagan and the astronauts Tim Peake and Chris Hadfield. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Kemi Badenoch is the Conservative MP for North West Essex and the Leader of the Opposition.

Since winning her seat in 2017, she has held cabinet positions as Minister of State for Equalities under Boris Johnson and Secretary of State for International Trade under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak. She became leader of the Conservative Party in 2024 after Rishi Sunak’s resignation and is the first black person to lead a political party in Britain.

Her Nigerian parents came to Britain for medical treatment and Kemi was born in a private hospital in Wimbledon in January 1980. Her parents returned with their newborn daughter, and she was brought up in Nigeria in an affluent suburb of Lagos.

After a series of military coups and economic downturns, her family, along with many other middle-class families in Nigeria saw their wealth decline and Kemi was sent to London to study for her A levels.

Instead of following her parents into medicine, she chose to pursue Computer Systems Engineering and went to Sussex University. A well-paid career in IT followed and she joined the Conservative Party aged twenty-five where she also met her husband, Hamish.

Her first attempt at becoming an MP was in 2010 in Dame Tessa Jowell’s former constituency of Dulwich and West Norwood constituency in London. She finished third behind the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates.

In 2017, she was selected for the Saffron Walden seat and became an MP.

She lives in London with her husband and three children and divides her time between Westminster and her constituency of North West Essex.

DISC ONE: The Story of Tonight - Lin-Manuel Miranda, Okieriete Onaodowan, Daveed Diggs, Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton DISC TWO: Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson DISC THREE: Wonderful World - Sam Cooke DISC FOUR: Be Still - Aled Jones and English Session Orchestra DISC FIVE: Everybody’s Free (To Wear Sunscreen) - Baz Luhrmann DISC SIX: Love is All Around - Wet Wet Wet DISC SEVEN: Carry You Home – Alex Warren DISC EIGHT: Dear Theodosia - Leslie Odom Jr., Lin-Manuel Miranda BOOK CHOICE: Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray LUXURY ITEM: The Marvel Movie Collection with a solar-powered DVD player CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast many politicians away to the island over the years including Sir Keir Starmer, Nicola Sturgeon, Sir Vince Cable, Theresa May, Ed Miliband, Boris Johnson and Margaret Thatcher.

Adeel Akhtar is an award-winning actor whose breakthrough role came in 2010 when he starred in Chris Morris’s black comedy Four Lions.

He won his first BAFTA for Best Actor in 2017 for his role in the BBC drama Murdered by My Father. His second, for Best Supporting Actor, came in 2023 playing Andy Fisher in the BBC series Sherwood.

Adeel was born in Hounslow in West London and grew up in Buckinghamshire. He discovered a love of acting at school when he and a group of friends put on a production of Harold Pinter’s play The Homecoming. He read law at university but in 2002 followed his true passion and took a drama course at The Actors Studio in New York.

He got his first screen part playing one of the four hijackers of United Airlines Flight 93 in the television docudrama Let’s Roll: the Story of Flight 93. He has gone on to stretch his talents playing roles in the television series Fool Me Once, The Night Manager and Killing Eve. More recently he appeared on stage in The Cherry Orchard and a new play called The Estate.

Adeel lives in London with his wife, documentary maker Alexis Burke, and their two children.

DISC ONE: The Weight - Aretha Franklin DISC TWO: Jamaica Farewell - Harry Belafonte DISC THREE: Danny Nedelko - Idles DISC FOUR: First Big Weekend - Arab Strap DISC FIVE: After Hours - Velvet Underground DISC SIX: Time to Pretend - MGMT DISC SEVEN: People’s Faces - Kae Tempest DISC EIGHT: Do You Realize?? - The Flaming Lips

BOOK CHOICE: A Swim in the Pond in the Rain by George Saunders LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered air fryer CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Do You Realize?? - The Flaming Lips

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Desert Island Discs has cast many actors away to the island over the years including Cillian Murphy, Stephen Graham, Lesley Manville and Helen McCrory. Adeel’s friend Meera Syall is in our archive too. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Jesse Armstrong is a British author, screenwriter, and producer.

He has written several award-winning TV comedies and satirical dramas and won many accolades for his work including two BAFTA TV Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and three Writers Guild of America Awards. His hit HBO series Succession has won nineteen Emmys.

Jesse was born and educated in Oswestry, Shropshire, and attended Manchester University where he studied American Studies as an undergraduate and American History for his Masters. After university, he worked as a researcher for a Labour Member of Parliament for a couple of years it was an experience that would later inform his time as a writer on The Thick of It.

He met his writing partner, Sam Bain, at Manchester University and together they created and co-wrote 9 seasons of Channel 4’s BAFTA-winning comedy Peep Show and 4 seasons of the student comedy Fresh Meat. During this time, he also wrote for the political satire series The Thick of It and co-wrote the film In the Loop, the latter of which earned him Oscar and BAFTA nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also co-wrote the films Four Lions and Downhill and wrote and directed the television film, Mountainhead.

He was the creator and show-runner of the hit HBO TV show Succession, a drama about a fictional powerful media family with the plot centring around which child would succeed the father played by Brian Cox. Succession won a total of 19 Emmys including Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for each of Succession’s four seasons.

He lives in London with his wife and has two children in their twenties.

DISC ONE: A Day in the Life - The Beatles DISC TWO: Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division DISC THREE: Debaser - Pixies DISC FOUR: Georgia on my Mind - Billie Holiday DISC FIVE: The Magic Number - De La Soul DISC SIX: New York, I Love You but You’re Bringing Me Down - LCD Sound System DISC SEVEN: Dream Song 28: Snow Line. Written and read by John Berryman DISC EIGHT: Violin Concerto in D Major, RV 234 “L’inquietudine” 1: Allegro. Composed by Antonio Vivaldi and performed by Walter Gallozzi and I Musici

BOOK CHOICE: The Norton Anthology of Poetry LUXURY ITEM: A football CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Georgia on my Mind - Billie Holiday

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast many TV writers away to the island over the years including Russell T Davies, Sally Wainwright and Abi Morgan. You’ll also find the stars of Peep Show, Robert Webb and David Mitchell in there too along with the actor Brian Cox who played the patriarch, Logan Roy, in Jesse’s hit TV series, Succession. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Jojo Moyes is a British novelist and screenwriter.

She began her writing career as a journalist and worked at the Egham and Staines News, Independent and South China Morning Post.

Whilst working nightshifts on the Independent, she pursued her novel writing ambitions and wrote books by day. Her first few books were well received but did not topple the best seller lists. That all changed in 2012 when her novel You Before Me was published. Readers fell in love with the story of Louisa Clark, who takes a job looking after an angry young quadriplegic man. The book sold fifteen million copies, was made into a film and Jojo wrote two sequels. Her novels are beloved of book clubs and have sold in excess of fifty seven million copies and have been translated into forty-six languages.

Jojo lives in London.

DISC ONE: Are You Lonesome Tonight? (Laughing Version) (Live) - Elvis Presley DISC TWO: Golden Slumbers - The Beatles DISC THREE: Silly Games - Janet Kay DISC FOUR: The Art Teacher - Rufus Wainwright DISC FIVE: Mozart: Vesperae solennes de confessore in C, K.339: 5. Laudate Dominum omnes gentes (Ps. 116/117) Composed by Mozart and performed by Edith Mathis (soprano), MDR Rundfunkchor Leipzig (choir), Staatskapelle Dresden (orchestra), conducted by Peter Schreier DISC SIX: Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell DISC SEVEN: A Better Time to Meet - Adrianne Lenker & Buck Meek DISC EIGHT: Je L’Aime à Mourir - Francis Cabrel

BOOK CHOICE: The complete works of Fyodor Dostoyevsky LUXURY ITEM: A mechanical horse CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Are You Lonesome Tonight? (Laughing Version - Live) - Elvis Presley

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast many writers away to the island over the years including Helen Fielding, Marian Keyes and Dame Jilly Cooper. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Kate Winslet is an actor who achieved global fame playing Rose DeWitt Bukater, opposite Leonard DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, in the 1997 James Cameron epic Titanic. During her career she has won five BAFTAs, two Emmys, five Golden Globes and an Academy Award for her role in the Reader.

Kate was born in Reading in 1975 and attended Redroofs School for the Performing Arts in Maidenhead, Berkshire. Her film debut came in 1994 when she played a teenage killer in Peter Jackson’s film Heavenly Creatures. The following year she played Marianne Dashwood opposite Emma Thompson’s Elinor in Sense and Sensibility, directed by Ang Lee. Kate’s performance earned her a BAFTA for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

She went on to consolidate her reputation as one of the most versatile actors of her generation by starring in a list of popular and critically acclaimed films including Hideous Kinky, Iris, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Holiday.

Last year Kate directed her first film, Goodbye June, starring Helen Mirren, Timothy Spall and Andrea Riseborough.

Kate has three children and lives in West Sussex with her husband Ned and her family.

DISC ONE: Georgia on my Mind - Roger Winslet and Sophie Breakenridge DISC TWO: Matchstalk Men and Matchstalk Cats and Dogs - Brian and Michael DISC THREE: Kiss from a Rose - Seal DISC FOUR: Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald DISC FIVE: Nuvole Bianche - Ludovico Einaudi DISC SIX: Weird Fishes/ Arpeggi - Radiohead DISC SEVEN: Blue Ridge Mountains - Fleet Foxes DISC EIGHT: Pump up the Jam - Technotronic BOOK CHOICE: Outside: Recipes for a Wilder Way of Eating by Gill Meller LUXURY ITEM: Freshly ground coffee CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Georgia on my Mind – Roger Winslet and Sophie Breakenridge

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Desert Island Discs has cast many actors away over the years including Dame Emma Thompson, Cate Blanchett and Dame Helen Mirren. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Lee Child is a writer who is best known for his series of bestselling novels featuring Jack Reacher. Reacher is an enigmatic 6ft 5in, 17-stone ex-military police major who rights wrongs before disappearing off into the sunset. The books have sold in their millions around the world and have inspired two films starring Tom Cruise and a television series.

Lee Child was born James - Jim - Grant in 1954 and grew up in Birmingham. He studied Law at the University of Sheffield and then joined the presentation department at Granada Television where he was a shop steward and became a thorn in the side of the management.

At 40 he was made redundant and sat down to write his first Reacher novel Killing Floor. He found himself an agent and the novel was published in March 1997 - the franchise was up and running. In the UK Lee outsells both Stephen King and John Grisham and worldwide he sells between 12 and 15 million copies a year.

In 2020 Lee announced that he was handing over the Reacher franchise to his younger brother Andrew Grant. The two brothers have worked on several novels since then and the thirtieth Reacher title features both brothers’ names on the cover.

Lee Child was appointed CBE in the 2019 Queen’s Birthday Honours.

He lives in the Lake District with his wife Jane. They have one daughter.

DISC ONE: She Loves You - The Beatles DISC TWO: (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones DISC THREE: So What - Miles Davis DISC FOUR: Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-Flat Minor, Op. 23: I. Allegro non troppo e molto maestoso – Allegro con spirito. Performed by Stephen Hough (piano) and Minnesota Orchestra, conducted by Osmo Vänskä DISC FIVE: Joe’s Blues - Joe Pass DISC SIX: The Lemon Song - Led Zeppelin DISC SEVEN: Für Elise (Bagatelle No. 25 in A minor) Composed by Ludwig Beethoven and performed by Lang Lang DISC EIGHT: Delibes: Lakmé / Act 1: \"Sous le dôme épais\" (Flower Duet) Performed by Renée Fleming (soprano), Susan Graham (mezzo soprano), Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Sebastian Lang-Lessing

BOOK CHOICE: Killing Floor by Lee Child LUXURY ITEM: A mechanical wind-up watch CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: So What - Miles Davis

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian writer. She has published more than sixty books spanning novels, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, children’s literature, and graphic novels, and has been called “one of the sharpest and most imaginative novelists writing in English”. She is one of only four writers to have won the Booker Prize twice: for The Blind Assassin in 2000 and for her 2019 follow-up to The Handmaid’s Tale, The Testaments.

Margaret was born in Ottawa in November 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II, the second of three children to Carl Atwood, an entomologist. During her early life, she would spend the warmer months in the remote forests of northern Quebec and Ontario where her father tracked insect infestations, and the winters in the city (first Ottawa, later Toronto). She didn’t attend school for a full year until the age of twelve.

Her childhood scribblings – a “novel” about an ant called Annie, a volume of rhyming poems about cats, and a play about a giant – turned into a more serious ambition to become a writer when Margaret was sixteen.

After studying English at the University of Toronto, where she began publishing poems in the college magazine, her first novel, The Edible Woman, came out in 1969, following five collections of poetry.

Her most famous work, The Handmaid’s Tale, was published in 1985 and depicted a dystopian vision of the United States as a patriarchal and totalitarian place called Gilead. Although it was written during the Reagan era, it has become eerily relevant again in the wake of the election of Donald Trump.

Margaret lost her life partner, the writer Graeme Gibson, in 2019. She lives in Toronto.

DISC ONE: Anchors Aweigh - US Navy Band DISC TWO: Hearts of Stone - The Charms DISC THREE: Offenbach: Les contes d'Hoffmann, Giulietta Act: Barcarolle. Belle nuit, ô nuit d'amour. Performed by Joan Sutherland (soprano) Huguette Tourangeau (soprano), Plácido Domingo (tenor), Andre Neury (bass), Pro Arte Choir, Lausanne, Choeur Du Brassus, Choeur de la Radio Suisse Romande, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Richard Bonynge DISC FOUR: Four Strong Winds - Ian & Sylvia DISC FIVE: Barrett’s Privateers - Stan Rogers DISC SIX: The Handmaid's Tale, Act I Scene 6: The Doctor. Composed by Poul Ruders and performed by Marianne Rorholm, Hanne Fischer (Mezzo-sopranos), Royal Danish Opera Chorus and Royal Danish Orchestra, conducted by Michael Schønwandt DISC SEVEN: We Praise the Tiny Perfect Moles - Orville Stoeber DISC EIGHT: Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68 "Pastoral": II. Scene am Bach. Andante molto moto. Composed by Beethoven and performed by Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Otto Klemperer

BOOK CHOICE: How to Survive on a Desert Island by Samantha Bell LUXURY ITEM: A knife and matchbox CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Hearts of Stone - The Charms

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Gordon Buchanan is a wildlife cameraman and TV presenter. He is best known for the Animal Family & Me series of BBC documentaries in which he gets up close to wild bears, Arctic wolves, elephants and reindeer among other species.

Gordon was brought up in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull where he spent his days exploring the island and developed his lifelong love of the outdoors. In 1988, when he was 17, he met the charismatic wildlife cameraman Nick Gordon who invited him to become his assistant for a project to film primates on the island of Tiwai in Sierra Leone.

Gordon spent 18 months in Sierra Leone working with Nick and after that the two of them worked in West Africa and South America. At 22 Gordon set up on his own – his first job was a year-long assignment to make three half-hour programmes for a 14-part wildlife series called Wild Islands.

In 2001 he made his debut as a presenter on the BBC’s Natural World strand. He was appointed an MBE for services to conservation and wildlife filmmaking in 2020.

Gordon lives in Glasgow with his wife Wendy. They have two children.

DISC ONE: Take Me Home, Country Roads - John Denver DISC TWO: Brandy in the Airidh - Peat & Diesel DISC THREE: Purple Haze – The Jimi Hendrix Experience DISC FOUR: Heart-Shaped Box - Nirvana DISC FIVE: High and Dry - Radiohead DISC SIX: Last Nite - The Strokes DISC SEVEN: Electrical Storm - U2 DISC EIGHT: Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) - Beyoncé

BOOK CHOICE: Teach Yourself Tap Dancing by Derek Hartley LUXURY ITEM: A mask, snorkel and fins CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: High and Dry - Radiohead

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

Desert Island Discs has cast many wildlife experts and broadcasters away including Dr George McGavin, Professor Carl Jones, Sir David Attenborough and Dr Jane Goodall. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Sir Salman Rushdie is a writer who has written over 20 books, seven of which have been nominated for the Booker Prize. In 1981 he won with his novel Midnight’s Children which also topped the polls for the 25th and 40th anniversaries of the prize, making it the most lauded novel in Booker history.

He was born in Bombay in 1947 and educated at Rugby School in Warwickshire. After studying history at the University of Cambridge he worked as a copywriter at various advertising agencies before publishing his first novel Grimus in 1975. His breakthrough came with Midnight’s Children and he was one of 20 writers named on Granta magazine’s inaugural list of Best Young British novelists alongside writers including Martin Amis and AN Wilson.

He attracted considerable controversy with his fourth novel the Satanic Verses which won the Whitbread Award and was shortlisted for the Booker. Some Muslims considered the subject matter blasphemous and Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa calling for the death of Salman and the publishers of the book. Salman spent the following decade in hiding under police protection.

In 2022 he was stabbed multiple times while on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in upstate New York. He had been invited there to talk about keeping writers safe from harm. He survived devasting injuries – including the loss of his right eye – and wrote about the attack and its aftermath in his memoir Knife.

That same year he was awarded a Companion of Honour for services to literature.

Salman is married to the poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffiths and they live in New York. He has two grown up sons and two grandchildren.

DISC ONE: Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed DISC TWO: Yeh Hai Bombay Meri Jaan - Mohammed Rafi and Geeta Dutt DISC THREE: Blowin’ in the Wind - Bob Dylan DISC FOUR: (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction - The Rolling Stones DISC FIVE: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston DISC SIX: Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard - Paul Simon DISC SEVEN: Isn’t She Lovely – Stevie Wonder DISC EIGHT: For the Love of You, Pts. 1 & 2 - The Isley Brothers

BOOK CHOICE: Homer’s Odyssey (Translated by Emily Wilson) LUXURY ITEM: A bed with a mosquito net CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: For the Love of You, Pts. 1 & 2 - The Isley Brothers

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a computer scientist and the inventor of the World Wide Web. He was born in 1955, a golden year for technology innovators. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were also born in the same year. A curious child, he learned about electronics from his train set and spent his pocket money on transistors. His first significant connecting invention was building an intercom as a teenager for the family home before moving on to build his first computer. His parents were both mathematicians and coders who met whilst building one of the first commercially available computers in the early nineteen fifties. Sir Tim came up with the idea of the World Wide Web whilst working at CERN and insisted that the technology be released to the world without commercial reward so that it would be free for everyone to use. He was knighted for his world changing invention and also appointed to the Order of Merit. In 2016 he was given the Turing Award. Sir Tim Berners-Lee divides his time between the US, the UK and Canada with his wife Rosemary, who is also a technology entrepreneur.

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast many computer scientists away over the years including Dame Wendy Hall and Sir Demis Hassibis. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Sally Mann is a photographer and a New York Times bestselling writer. She is best known for making large-format black and white photographs of the people and places in her immediate surroundings: her children, her husband, and the rural landscape of her home state and the American South. Sally was born in Lexington, Virginia, the youngest of three children to Robert and Elizabeth Munger. Her father was a doctor and gave Sally his old Leica camera to play with. After university, she wanted to be a poet but she spent more than a decade as a commercial photographer while starting a family of her own and exhibiting her work on a small scale. She published her first book of photographs in 1984. That same year, she began taking pictures of her three children for a series called Immediate Family, which brought her both renown as well as infamy for touching on ordinary moments in their daily lives – playing, sleeping, and eating, sometimes while naked – but also speaking to larger themes such as death and cultural perceptions of childhood, rendering familiar subjects “both sublime and disquieting”. In the mid-1990s, she began to move away from the family pictures in favour of photographing the landscape around her. Much of Sally’s body of work comes from observing what is closest at hand because, she says, “The things that are close to you are the things that you can photograph the best.” She has explored the identity of the American South, and her relationship with her place of origin, as well as mortality and decay, and the effects of muscular dystrophy on her husband. In her latest book, Art Work, she considers the challenges and pleasures of the creative process. Sally continues to live on the 800-acre family farm near Lexington with her husband Larry and a number of dogs.

DISC ONE: Köln, January 24, 1975, Part I - Keith Jarrett DISC TWO: Take This Hammer - Odetta DISC THREE: Trustful Hands - The Dø DISC FOUR: O Holy Night. Composed by Adolphe Adam and performed by Concert Choir of St Andrew’s School, Delaware and Virginia Mann (Soprano) DISC FIVE: Moby Dick (an extract of Chapter 3) Written by Herman Melville and narrated by Frank Muller DISC SIX: County Seat - Emmett Mann DISC SEVEN: Vivaldi: Oboe Concerto in C major, RV 452: 2. Adagio. Performed by Heinz Holliger (Oboe), I Musici (Ensemble) DISC EIGHT: You Are My Friend (Live) - Sylvester

BOOK CHOICE: In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust LUXURY ITEM: Paper and a pencil CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: You Are My Friend (Live) - Sylvester

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast many photographers away over the years including Eve Arnold, Val Wilmer and Vanley Burke. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Lorraine Kelly is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a mainstay of daytime television for over 40 years. She has hosted her own show Lorraine since its launch in 2010 and she was awarded a lifetime achievement BAFTA in 2024.

Lorraine was born in Glasgow and later moved with her family to the new town of East Kilbride. She became a junior reporter at the East Kilbride News when she was in her teens and in 1983 joined the BBC as a researcher.

In 1984 she started at TV-am as a reporter covering Scottish news. During her time there she reported on some of the biggest stories in the UK including the Piper Alpha disaster and the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.

In January 1990 she became a co-presenter of Good Morning Britain on TV-am alongside Mike Morris. In 1996 Lorraine and Eamonn Holmes reported for GMTV on the Dunblane school shooting in which sixteen pupils and their teacher were killed. The tragedy left a lasting impact on Lorraine, who formed a lasting bond with several affected families. She returned to Dunblane in 2021 to mark the 25th anniversary with a commemorative documentary.

Lorraine lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband Steve.

DISC ONE: Starman - Davie Bowie DISC TWO: Mama Said - Dusty Springfield DISC THREE: Careful - Horse DISC FOUR: Rock the Casbah - The Clash DISC FIVE: Truth - Hue & Cry DISC SIX: Warm Leatherette - Grace Jones DISC SEVEN: Love is All Around - Wet Wet Wet DISC EIGHT: That’s When He Told Her - The Proclaimers

BOOK CHOICE: South: The Last Antarctic Expedition of Shackleton and the Endurance by Sir Ernest Shackleton LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered digital photo album CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Careful - Horse

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

There are more than 2000 programmes in our archive available for you to listen to. We have cast away other journalists and presenters including Sir Terry Wogan, Christiane Amanpour, Lindsey Hilsum and Clive Myrie. You can find their episodes on BBC Sounds or on our Desert Island Discs website.

Lennie James is a British actor and writer. In 2025, he received the BAFTA for Leading Actor for his portrayal of Barrington Walker in the TV adaptation of Bernadine Evaristo’s novel Mr. Loverman.

This award adds to his collection, which also includes accolades for writing. At seventeen, he wrote Trial and Error and won the National Youth Theatre–Texaco Playwriting Competition, earning the title of Most Prominent Playwright Under 21.

For a decade, Lennie played Morgan Jones in The Walking Dead and its spin-off Fear the Walking Dead, gaining such global recognition that he was even recognised by Vatican guards.

He also created and starred in the critically acclaimed Sky Atlantic drama Save Me, which premiered in 2018. Its second season, Save Me Too, won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Drama Series in 2021.

Raised by his mother Phyllis, who emigrated from Trinidad to work as a nurse, Lennie faced hardship after her death when he was eleven. He and his brother Kestor were placed in a children’s home, and later Lennie moved into foster care after the home was sold by Wandsworth Council.

Encouraged by a youth theatre group, Lennie pursued acting and later trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

He met his wife, Giselle, at seventeen in the same youth theatre group. They have three daughters and divide their time between the US and the UK.

DISC ONE: Touch The Hem Of His Garment - Gene Martin DISC TWO: I Found Lovin’ - Fatback Band DISC THREE: Doesn't Make It Alright - The Specials DISC FOUR: Living For The City - Stevie Wonder DISC FIVE: Any Old Time - Artie Shaw and his Orchestra with Billie Holiday DISC SIX: For me... Formidable - Charles Aznavour DISC SEVEN: Champagne Supernova - Oasis DISC EIGHT: Try a Little Tenderness - Otis Redding

BOOK CHOICE: The Collected Novels of Toni Morrison LUXURY ITEM: A guitar CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: For me... Formidable - Charles Aznavour

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Desert Island Discs has cast many actors and writers away including the author of Mr. Loverman, Booker Prize winner Bernadine Evaristo and the creator of Line of Duty, Jed Mercurio. You can hear their programmes if you search through BBC Sounds or our own Desert Island Discs website.

Mary Greenwell is a makeup artist who has worked with some of the most famous faces in the world including Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, David Bowie and Cate Blanchett. Her less-is-more approach has won her plaudits in the beauty industry and she became Princess Diana’s makeup artist of choice.

Mary was born in Sussex and left school at 16. By the mid-1970s she was living in Los Angeles where she started out on the door at the legendary Joe Allen restaurant, escorting the likes of Paul Newman and Jack Lemmon to their tables. She received her one and only makeup lesson from the award-winning Ilana Harkavi and shortly afterwards created a look for 12-year-old actor Brooke Shields.

Mary’s big break came when she moved to Paris in 1984 and began working with the original supermodels; Christy Turlingon, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Tatiana Patitz. In 1990 she met Princess Diana on a Vogue photo shoot and became her go-to makeup artist and friend.

In 2025 Mary was appointed an MBE for services to the beauty and fashion industries and her charity work.

Mary lives in London.

DISC ONE: Lay Lady Lay - Bob Dylan DISC TWO: I Am Enough - Tallulah Rendall DISC THREE: Suzanne - Leonard Cohen DISC FOUR: Walk on the Wild Side - Lou Reed DISC FIVE: Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd DISC SIX: Cold Little Heart - Michael Kiwanuka DISC SEVEN: Diamonds - Rihanna DISC EIGHT: Heroes - David Bowie BOOK CHOICE: The Temple of the Golden Pavilion by Yukio Mishima LUXURY ITEM: A bed CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Am Enough - Tallulah Rendall

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

There are more than 2000 programmes in our archive available for you to listen to. We’ve cast away other hair and beauty experts including the makeup artist Pat McGrath, and hairdressers Vidal Sassoon and Trevor Sorbie. Cate Blanchett, one of Mary’s clients, is in our archive too. You can find their episodes on BBC Sounds or on our Desert Island Discs website.

Ronnie Wood is a musician and artist who has been a major player on the UK music scene for over 60 years. In 1975 Ronnie became a member of the Rolling Stones, one of the most influential and enduring bands of the rock era.

Ronnie’s parents were born and worked on barges moving cargo up and down the canals between Manchester, Stratford-upon-Avon and London. Ronnie and his two older brothers were the first in the family to be born on dry land.

Ronnie’s brothers, Ted and Art, were accomplished musicians and played in highly respected bands. Ronnie made his debut at nine-years-old when he played the washboard in Ted’s band during a performance at their local cinema. Ronnie formed his first band, The Birds, with some friends. In 1967 he joined the Jeff Beck Group with his lifelong friend Rod Stewart. Two years later they formed the Faces with the remaining members of the Small Faces.

Ronnie joined the Rolling Stones in 1975, replacing the band’s previous guitarist Mick Taylor. Ronnie’s love of art developed in childhood and he studied at Ealing College of Art. His work has been shown in exhibitions around the world.

Ronnie lives in Hertfordshire with his wife Sally and their two children.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Paula McGinley

DISC ONE: Guitar Shuffle - Big Bill Broonzy DISC TWO: Shame, Shame, Shame - Jimmy Reed DISC THREE: Smokestack Lightnin' - Howlin' Wolf DISC FOUR: You Need Love - Muddy Waters DISC FIVE: Adelaide - Frank Sinatra DISC SIX: Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467: II. Andante \"Elvira Madigan\". Performed by Géza Anda (piano) and Camerata Salzburg (Orchestra) DISC SEVEN: Roll Over Beethoven – Chuck Berry DISC EIGHT: Maybe I'm Amazed - Paul McCartney BOOK CHOICE: Just for Today: Daily Meditations for Recovering Addicts by Narcotics Anonymous LUXURY ITEM: A chest containing art materials and a carpet CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Smokestack Lightnin' - Howlin' Wolf

There are more than 2000 programmes in our archive available for you to listen to. We have cast away other musicians and songwriters including Mark Knopfler, Bruce Springsteen and Cyndi Lauper. Ronnie’s fellow Stones, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts, are in our archive too along with Ronnie’s friend Paul McCartney. You can find their episodes on BBC Sounds or on our Desert Island Discs website.

Angela Harding is an artist, printmaker and illustrator. Based in Rutland, Angela’s work is inspired by the countryside of the British Isles, and in particular British birds. Alongside her many prints and artistic creations, her award-willing illustrations can be found adorning many a book cover.

Angela was born in Stoke-on-Trent in June 1960, the middle of three daughters to Stephen and Joan Harding. It was an artistic household: her father, a headteacher, passed on his love of poetry to Angela, her mother taught pottery, and all three sisters would end up going to art college.

She left school at sixteen and, at her mother’s behest, did a pre-nursing course before pursuing her passion for art. She studied Fine Art at Leicester Polytechnic from where she graduated with a first in 1982.

After indulging her love of travel – both on her bike around Britain as well as on a Magic Bus across Europe – Angela spent twenty years working in the art world, from teaching to consultancy. During these years, she married and raised two children, then divorced and married her second husband, Mark.

In 2008, she made the life changing decision to pursue a career as a professional artist: she abandoned the media she had previously worked in and concentrated on linocuts and silkscreen printing.

She has worked as a magazine illustrator and today her prints can be found on everything from book covers to tea towels and greeting cards. Her advent calendars – first produced in 2015 – have become a collector’s item. She has also published several books of her own.

When she’s not on her boat sailing around the British Isles, Angela lives in Rutland, with her husband Mark and her whippet, Oaty.

DISC ONE: I Wanna Thank Ya (featuring Snoop Dogg) - Angie Stone DISC TWO: The Thought Fox. Written and read by Ted Hughes DISC THREE: Britten: Songs from \"Friday Afternoons\", Op. 7: Songs From Friday Afternoons, Op. 7: \"Cuckoo!\". Performed by Choir of Downside School, Purley, Viola Tunnard (piano), Benjamin Britten (conductor) DISC FOUR: Rise - Public Image Ltd. DISC FIVE: My Lady Story - Anohni and the Johnsons DISC SIX: La conga blicoti - Joséphine Baker DISC SEVEN: Skeleton Tree - LYR DISC EIGHT: Marie douceur - Marie colère - Marie Laforêt

BOOK CHOICE: Bird School - Adam Nicolson LUXURY ITEM: A lino printing set with champagne CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Wanna Thank Ya (featuring Snoop Dogg) - Angie Stone

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

There are more than 2000 programmes in our archive available for you to listen to. We have cast away other notable artists including Helen Oxenbury, Maggie Hambling and Quentin Blake. You’ll also find the Poet Laureate, Simon Armitage in our archive too. You can find their episodes on BBC Sounds or on our Desert Island Discs website.

Michael Sheen is an award-winning actor.

After finding his love for the stage with the West Glamorgan Youth theatre as a teenager, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

He spent the 1990s making a name for himself as a stage actor, shining in the classics from Romeo and Juliet to Peer Gynt as well as in 20th century masterpieces such as Look Back in Anger and Amadeus, receiving several Olivier Award nominations along the way.

A relocation to the US in the early 2000s with his then partner, the actress Kate Beckinsale, and their young daughter Lily prompted a move into films. His breakthrough came in 2003 when he portrayed Tony Blair in a Stephen Frears film called The Deal. It was the beginning of what became an unlikely specialism: morphing into real people from recent history: Kenneth Williams, David Frost, Brian Clough, Chris Tarrant, and Prince Andrew – with two more outings as Tony Blair thrown in for good measure.

Michael was born in Newport, South Wales, in February 1969, the eldest of two children to Meyrick and Irene. He grew up in Port Talbot from the age of eight and considers it his hometown.

His first love was football, and he was spotted as youngster by an Arsenal talent scout to play for their youth team. His parents decided against moving the family to London and he turned to acting instead and graduated from RADA in 1991.

Alongside the classic dramas, his range extends to appearing in fantasy and science fiction films such as The Twilight Saga and Tron: Legacy.

Michael has said that the most meaningful project to him was a modern restaging of the passion play in Port Talbot in 2011, which involved the participation of a thousand local people, because it opened his eyes to the difficulties many of them were experiencing. He has since used his own money to fund the 2019 Homeless World Cup in Cardiff and set up an organisation which supports community groups.

Michael lives in Wales with his partner, the actress Anna Lundberg, and their two young daughters.

DISC ONE: Vienna - Ultravox DISC TWO: The Ecstasy Of Gold - Ennio Morricone DISC THREE: Desire - Talk Talk DISC FOUR: Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones DISC FIVE: Ready for Drowning - Manic Street Preachers DISC SIX: Passion - Peter Gabriel DISC SEVEN: Dark Secret - Lau DISC EIGHT: Oh Yeah - Yello

BOOK CHOICE: The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell LUXURY ITEM: A football CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Vienna - Ultravox

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

There are more than 2000 programmes in our archive available for you to listen to. We have cast away other notable actors including Sir Anthony Hopkins and some of the people Michael has played including Kenneth Williams, Chris Tarrant and Tony Blair. You can find all those episodes and more by searching BBC Sounds.

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

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

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

Monica Dolan is a BAFTA and Olivier award winning actor. She is equally at home playing a wrongfully accused postmistress in Mr Bates Vs the Post Office as she is playing the serial killer Rosemary West. Alongside her many roles in TV, stage and screen, Monica has also written and performed in her award winning one woman play B*easts.

Born in 1969, Monica was the youngest of four children and was brought up in Woking. Her parents were Irish and had studied science and came to the UK in the early sixties. It was a very academic family and Monica found her passion for drama when she joined a teenage acting group. She went on to study drama at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Since leaving drama school, she has had a very successful career and is known for her ability to master different accents and dialects. When she played the press officer, Tracy Pritchard in the comedyW1A, her Welsh accent was so convincing viewers thought she really was Welsh.

Her critically acclaimed career on TV stage and screen has seen her portray the fictional evil Anne Branson in BBC 1’s Sherwood, which earned her another BAFTA nomination. During the COVID pandemic, she gave a mesmeric performance as a grieving widow in The Shrine by Alan Bennett and because of restrictions at the time was her own makeup artist and costume designer.

Monica lives in London with her beloved husky, Velma.

DISC ONE: The Tra La La Song (One Banana, Two Banana) - The Banana Splits DISC TWO: That's Entertainment - The Jam DISC THREE: Nothing - Priscilla Lopez (as Diana Morales), A Chorus Line Orchestra, conducted by Don Pippin DISC FOUR: Love and Affection - Joan Armatrading DISC FIVE: MacArthur Park - Richard Harris DISC SIX: The Night - Diane Chorley DISC SEVEN: Us Amazonians - Kirsty MacColl DISC EIGHT: South American Getaway (From "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid") - Burt Bacharach BOOK CHOICE: Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna LUXURY ITEM: A walk-in wardrobe CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Love and Affection - Joan Armatrading

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Gustavo Dudamel is a Venezuelan conductor, violinist and composer. He is known for bringing humour and joy to the podium. He is currently director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra and in 2026 will take up the post of music director of the New York Philharmonic, following in the footsteps of Gustav Mahler and Leonard Bernstein.

Gustavo was born in Barquisimeto, Venezuela in 1981, the son of a trombonist who played in a salsa band, and his mother who was a singing teacher. Growing up in a musical household, young Gustavo used to gather his toys together and put them on the floor in the shape of an orchestra, put a record on and conduct.

His parents enrolled five year old Gustavo in the El Sistema music programme and he learned the violin. After showing a flair for conducting he eventually became the conductor of the Venezuelan National Youth Orchestra.

After winning the Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in Germany in 2004, his talent was spotted on a global stage. He was appointed the director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 2008. Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Ash Atalla is a television producer whose first hit was the BBC sitcom The Office, starring Ricky Gervais. He followed it up with the IT Crowd, People Just Do Nothing, Big Boys and Stath Lets Flats. His haul of awards from these programmes include six BAFTAs, four Royal Television Society awards, a Golden Globe and an Emmy. Ash was born in Cairo and when he was six months old he contracted polio. He has been a wheelchair user all his life and believes the challenges he faced in his early life ignited his drive and ambition.

Ash graduated from the University of Bath with a degree in Business Administration and became a stockbroker for an investment bank. It was a fleeting career as he soon realised he wasn’t a natural when it came to numbers. His next stop was the BBC where he eventually joined the comedy department.

Ash produced both series of The Office and, after leaving the BBC, moved on to the award-winning Channel 4 comedy series the IT Crowd and later the BBC’s People Just Do Nothing, the sitcom about a London pirate radio station.

He co-founded the production company Roughcut TV in 2007 and recently produced the six-part drama series Little Disasters, starring Jo Joyner and Diane Kruger.

Ash lives in London.

DISC ONE: Everything She Wants - Wham! DISC TWO: Enta Omri (“You Are My Life”) - Umm Kulthum DISC THREE: At Night - Shakedown DISC FOUR: Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) - Phil Collins DISC FIVE: My Ever Changing Moods - The Style Council DISC SIX: Handbags and Gladrags – Rod Stewart DISC SEVEN: The Universal - Blur DISC EIGHT: The Girl is Mine - Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney

BOOK CHOICE: Rewire Your Anxious Brain: Stop Overthinking, Find Calm, and Be Present by Nick Trenton LUXURY ITEM: An Indian restaurant CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: The Girl is Mine - Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Carol Klein is a gardener, broadcaster and longtime contributor to BBC Gardeners’ World. She is a six time Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner, a certified RHS Horticultural Hero and was awarded the RHS Victoria Medal of Honour.

Born in 1945 in Lancashire, Carol was the eldest of three children and her love of gardening was evident when she used to bring soil in from the outside as a toddler, and make a garden on the lino floor of her mum’s kitchen.

She began her career as an art teacher, working for many years in London schools. After meeting her husband, Neil, they eventually moved to Devon to buy a house and create a garden. They have lived in Glebe Cottage for forty seven years and it’s been the base for Carol’s former plant business as well as the location for some of her TV programmes.

Carol never intended to be a professional gardener. She followed that path after becoming a parent and deciding not to return to her teaching career. After first growing plants successfully for local markets, she then started entering professional garden shows up and down the country winning six Chelsea gold medals in the process.

Carol lives in Devon with her husband Neil.

DISC ONE: Feeling Good - Nina Simone DISC TWO: Not Fade Away - Buddy Holly DISC THREE: Corrina, Corrina - Bob Dylan DISC FOUR: Let’s Stay Together - Al Green DISC FIVE: Perfect Day - Lou Reed DISC SIX: Tutti Frutti - Little Richard DISC SEVEN: Skylark (Alauda Arvensis) DISC EIGHT: Radio, Radio - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

BOOK CHOICE: Flora Britannica by Richard Mabey LUXURY ITEM: A bottle of perfume CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Skylark (Alauda Arvensis)

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Sir Gregory Doran is the former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He spent a total of thirty five years with the RSC directing fifty productions in the UK and abroad. He’s been called “one of the great Shakespeareans of his age” and has won multiple awards for his work.

Born in 1958, Greg was brought up near Preston and played a number of female Shakespeare roles when he was a young pupil attending an all-boys secondary school.

He went on to study English and Drama at Bristol University followed by a stint studying classical acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

After a few bit parts in TV sitcoms and a spell at Nottingham Playhouse, Sir Greg decided that he would prefer to carve out a career as a director. He went on to stage some of the most critically acclaimed theatre productions – including an all-black cast of Julius Caesar and took Titus Andronicus to South Africa.

More recently, he has been touring the globe on his Shakespeare’s First Folio tour to look at as many different copies of the texts as possible.

He survives his husband, the actor Sir Anthony Sher whom he met in 1987 whilst they were both part of a production of the Merchant of Venice at the RSC in Stratford. Sir Greg lives in London.

DISC ONE: Giulio Cesare in Egitto, HWV 17, Act 1: Duetto. "Son nata a lagrimar" (Cornelia, Sesto) Composed by Georg Friedrich Händel and performed by Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto) Philippe Jaroussky (counter tenor) Oreo 55 (Orchestra) DISC TWO: Sicut cervus – The Choir of Preston Catholic College DISC THREE: Born Free - Matt Monro DISC FOUR: It’s Raining Men - The Weather Girls DISC FIVE: Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes - Paul Simon DISC SIX: J.S. Bach: Cantata \"Ich habe genug\" BWV 82: I. \"Ich habe genug, ich habe den Heiland\". Performed by Thomas Quasthoff (bass-baritone), Berliner Barock Solisten, conducted by Rainer Kussmaul DISC SEVEN: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K.414: 2. Andante. Composed by Mozart and performed by Alfred Brendel (piano) and Academy of St Martin in the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner DISC EIGHT: Where the Bee Sucks - Paul Englishby, Royal Shakespeare Company BOOK CHOICE: A 1609 copy of Shakespeare’s Sonnets LUXURY ITEM: A shelf of photo albums CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A, K.414: 2. Andante. Composed by Mozart and performed by Alfred Brendel (piano) and Academy of St Martin in the Fields, conducted by Sir Neville Marriner

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

From Paul McCartney to Wham!

Comedian Sarah Millican shares her castaway choices with Kirsty Young.

Her every woman yet no-holds-barred style of comedy has brought her sell-out tours and several of her own highly successful TV series. Revelling in normality and drawing on the difficult, intimate and ofter extruciating moments of being human, she dares to say what most of us are thinking, only she's much funnier.

A Geordie, born in South Shields, her dad was an engineer down the mines and her mum was a hairdresser. They encouraged their daughter in her storytelling and performing even though her childhood shyness meant she'd recite her poetry from behind the living room curtains.

Later it was pain that first propelled her onto the stage when a broken early marriage provided the catalyst she needed to find the courage to confront the glaring judgement of the audience's gaze. Her rise was then rapid. Within four years she was awarded the Best Newcomer prize at the Edinburgh Fringe.

She says, "People come along and think, 'oh she's being too rude'. They don't realise I'm just like this at home. People think I'm prim and proper at home but I'm not - I'm just me transplanted onto the stage".

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 December 2014.

Norma Percy is a documentary film-maker. She has been making programmes for over three decades and her productions have featured a range of political leaders from Tony Blair and Bill Clinton to Mikhail Gorbachev and Slobodan Milošević.

Her film-making method, which she developed alongside her colleague Brian Lapping, tells the stories of our times by taking viewers into the room where the big decisions were made, with the people who made them.

Norma was born in New York City and majored in Government at Oberlin College in Ohio. In 1963 she moved to London where she studied at the London School of Economics, before finding a job in the House of Commons as a researcher for the MP John Mackintosh.

In 1972 she became a researcher for Brian Lapping, working on the Granada series State of the Nation. Later she produced The Second Russian Revolution and the award-winning Watergate – a five-part BBC series about the Watergate scandal.

Her programmes have won an Emmy, two BAFTAs and four Royal Television Awards. Norma lives in London with her husband, the geneticist Professor Steve Jones.

DISC ONE: Be Prepared - Tom Lehrer DISC TWO: Waltz in C sharp-minor, Op.64 No. 2. Composed by Frederic Chopin and performed by Khatia Buniatishvili DISC THREE: Well, Did You Evah? - Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra DISC FOUR: Hard Day’s Night - The Beatles DISC FIVE: Never Say No - The Fantasticks New Off-Broadway Cast DISC SIX: Swan Lake, Op. 20, TH.12 / Act 3: The Black Swan. Composed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and performed by Erich Gruenberg (violin), London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Richard Bonynge DISC SEVEN: It Ain’t Me Babe - Joan Baez DISC EIGHT: Political Science - Randy Newman

BOOK CHOICE: In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust LUXURY ITEM: A hot shower CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: It Ain’t Me Babe - Joan Baez

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Lord Alf Dubs is a Labour peer and former MP. He came to the UK from Prague in 1939 on one of the Kindertransport trains organised by Sir Nicholas Winton which rescued mostly Jewish children from Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.

Alf was born in Prague in 1932. His father was from a Jewish background and was brought up in what was then Northern Bohemia while his mother came from Austria. His father left Prague for London as soon as the Nazis invaded Czechoslovakia in March 1939. In June, when he was six-years-old, Alf was put on a Kindertransport train, arriving at Liverpool Street station two days later where he was met by his father. His mother eventually joined them in London the day before war broke out.

Alf studied Politics and Economics at the London School of Economics and was elected as the Member of Parliament for Battersea South in May 1979. He lost his seat in 1987 and the following year he was appointed director of the Refugee Council, becoming the first refugee to head up the charity.

In March 2016 Alf tabled an amendment to the 2016 Immigration Act (known as the Dubs Amendment) which asked the Government to accept 3,000 unaccompanied refugee children into the UK. The amendment passed but the Government closed the scheme the following year after accepting 480 children.

In 2016 Alf received the Humanist of the Year award by Humanists UK of which he is also a patron. In 2021 his Czech citizenship was restored making him the first Czech-British member of the House of Lords.

DISC ONE: It's Easy To Remember (Take 4) - John Coltrane Quartet DISC TWO: Smetana: Má Vlast, JB1:112: 2. Vltava. Performed by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek DISC THREE: She's Leaving Home - The Beatles DISC FOUR: Bandiera Rossa - Canzoniere del Lame DISC FIVE: Mozart: Horn Concerto No. 1 in D Major, K. 412: I. Allegro. Performed by Barry Tuckwell (French horn), Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, conducted by Neville Marriner DISC SIX: Danny Boy - Daniel O'Donnell DISC SEVEN: Take This Waltz - Leonard Cohen DISC EIGHT: Ode to Joy. Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and performed by Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, conducted by Herbert Blomstedt

BOOK CHOICE: Germinal by Émile Zola LUXURY ITEM: Walking boots CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: It's Easy To Remember (Take 4) - John Coltrane Quartet

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Professor Lucy Easthope is an adviser on disaster recovery and planning.

She’s an expert in planning for and reacting to major incidents: natural disaster, terrorist attacks, pandemics and fires, and is the visiting Professor of Mass Fatalities and Pandemics at the University of Bath.

Born in Merseyside in 1978, Lucy cites the impact of watching the Hillsborough football disaster on TV as a child as one of the driving reasons of her decision to pursue a career in disaster management. Her work has involved working in mortuaries, attending fatal accidents and training teams to react to emergencies.

Alongside her career, Lucy has written two books about emergency planning and disaster recovery.

Lucy lives in Shropshire with her husband and two children.

DISC ONE: Lose Yourself - Eminem DISC TWO: Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy. Performed by Matthew Steynor (organ) and The Choir of Queens' College Cambridge, conducted by James Weeks DISC THREE: Overture And A Prisoner Of The Crusades (From Chains To Freedom) Composed by Michael Kamen and performed by Greater Los Angeles Orchestra, conducted by Patti Fidelibus DISC FOUR: Tender - Blur DISC FIVE: Trustfall - Pink DISC SIX: Fast Car - Tracy Chapman DISC SEVEN: Something’s Missing - Come From Away Company DISC EIGHT: Thunderstruck - AC/DC

BOOK CHOICE: The Diddakoi by Rumer Godden LUXURY ITEM: A solar-powered torch CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Tender - Blur

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Romesh Ranganathan is a comedian and BAFTA-winning broadcaster who has been a fixture on British television screens for the past decade. In addition to his TV shows and stand-up tours he presents the Weakest Link on BBC One, Radio Two’s Saturday morning show and another weekly Radio Two programme in which he shares his passion for hip hop music.

Romesh was born in Crawley in West Sussex where he still lives. His parents came to the UK from Sri Lanka in 1975. His father Ranga was an accountant who spent time in prison for fraud during Romesh’s teenage years. At that point Romesh and his brother were brought up by their mother Sivashanthini – known as Shanthi – who has appeared alongside Romesh on several of his television programmes.

In 2001 Romesh became a maths teacher at the school where he’d previously been a pupil. A few years later he started taking part in open mic evenings where he developed his skills as a stand-up. In 2011 he quit his teaching job to pursue a career in comedy.

He has spoken candidly about his own mental health and in 2023 he became a patron of the charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).

Romesh lives in Crawley with his wife Leesa and their three sons.

DISC ONE: Lose Yourself - Eminem DISC TWO: Let’s Hear it for the Boy - Deniece Williams DISC THREE: The Power of Love - Huey Lewis & The News DISC FOUR: Through the Wire - Kanye West DISC FIVE: Broken Clocks - SZA DISC SIX: Back at One - Brian McKnight DISC SEVEN: I Wish - Stevie Wonder DISC EIGHT: Bring the Noise - Public Enemy BOOK CHOICE: Life of Pi by Yann Martel LUXURY ITEM: An unlimited supply of aubergine curry CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Back at One - Brian McKnight

If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, including urgent support, a list of organisations that can help is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Abdulrazak Gurnah is emeritus Professor of Post-Colonial Literatures at the University of Kent and the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Literature.

Born in Zanzibar in 1948, the second of six children, Abdulrazak grew up in the dying days of the island’s status as a British protectorate before independence was declared in 1963. The revolution which followed made Zanzibar an undesirable and unsafe place to live in for young men of Arab heritage. In 1967, he left to seek opportunities in Britain.

He subsidised his studies through a series of low paid jobs which included strawberry picking, factory work and time as a hospital porter. In the evenings he was studying at night school and after gaining a PhD in English, he joined the University of Kent, eventually becoming a Professor.

Alongside his academic career, Abdulrazak was writing and it took him twelve years to find a publisher for his 1987 debut novel, Memory of Departure.

He has published ten more novels since then, including 1994’s Paradise and 2001’s By the Sea (short and longlisted for the Booker Prize respectively) which explore themes of exile, displacement, belonging and colonialism. He was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature for his body of work and “for his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fates of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents”.

He lives in Kent, with his wife, the Guyanese-born scholar, Denise de Caires Narain.

DISC ONE: Hit the Road Jack - Ray Charles DISC TWO: Petite Fleur - Sidney Bechet DISC THREE: Nipepee - Seif Salim DISC FOUR: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7 - 1. Allegro maestoso. Composed by Clara Schumann. Performed by Isata Kanneh-Mason (piano) and Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Holly Mathieson DISC FIVE: A Day in the Life - The Beatles DISC SIX: Kaira - Toumani Diabaté DISC SEVEN: So What - Miles Davis DISC EIGHT: Folon - Salif Keita

BOOK CHOICE: That Glimpse of Truth: The 100 Finest Short Stories Ever Written selected by David Miller LUXURY ITEM: A nail clipper CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Petite Fleur - Sidney Bechet

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu is Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at University College London and President of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.

She has devoted her career to harnessing the potential of nanoparticles – which are less than a thousandth of the width of a human hair - to take medicines to hard-to-reach areas of the body such as the back of the eye and the brain. Using nanoparticles in this way is said to increase the efficacy of medicines and reduce side effects.

Ijeoma was born in London where her parents had settled from Nigeria. At 13 she moved with her family to Nigeria where she developed an enduring love of chemistry.

In 2010 she co-founded a pharmaceutical company Nanomerics with her husband. The company is currently developing eyedrops to treat blindness and a nasal spray to target pain which she hopes will go some way to addressing the opioid crisis. Earlier this year Ijeoma was appointed a DBE in the King’s New Years Honours List.

Ijeoma lives in Cambridge with her husband Andreas.

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

DISC ONE: Chop My Money (I Don’t Care) - P-Square DISC TWO: Joromi - Sir Victor Uwaifo DISC THREE: Love to Love You Baby - Donna Summer DISC FOUR: Zombie - Fela Kuti DISC FIVE: Coat of Many Colours - Dolly Parton DISC SIX: I Have Nothing - Whitney Houston DISC SEVEN: Touch Me in The Morning - Diana Ross DISC EIGHT: I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today - The Crusaders with Joe Cocker

BOOK CHOICE: Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt LUXURY ITEM: A variety of seeds CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today - The Crusaders with Joe Cocker

Actor Danny Dyer became a household name when he joined the cast of EastEnders as Mick Carter, landlord of the Queen Victoria pub. He recently stole the show from some stiff competition playing Freddie Jones in the television adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s novel Rivals which won him a Royal Television Society Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Danny was born in Custom House, East London in 1977. He loved drama at school and, with his teacher’s encouragement, he signed up for after-school classes in north London which were run by a charity called Wac Arts. When he was 14 he was cast in the television drama Prime Suspect 3 alongside Helen Mirren and David Thewlis.

He went on to star in a series of films including Human Traffic and Football Factory. In 2000 he played the waiter in Harold Pinter’s new play Celebration and went on to appear in two other productions by the playwright - No Man's Land and The Homecoming.

In 2013 he took over the Queen Vic and his performances earned him three National Television Awards. He appeared on the BBC genealogy programme Who Do you think you Are? in 2016 and discovered he was descended from King Edward III and related to Thomas Cromwell.

Danny lives in Essex with his wife Jo. They have three children and three grandchildren.

DISC ONE: Slave to Love - Bryan Ferry DISC TWO: Rebel Yell - Billy Idol DISC THREE: Move Closer - Phyllis Nelson DISC FOUR: Wish You Were Here - Pink Floyd DISC FIVE: Playing with Knives - Bizarre Inc DISC SIX: Columbia - Oasis DISC SEVEN: Nebraska - Lucy Rose DISC EIGHT: Wicked Game - Chris Isaak

BOOK CHOICE: Ray Mears Essential Bushcraft: A Handbook of Survival LUXURY ITEM: A Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Playing with Knives - Bizarre Inc

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Lindsey Hilsum is a multi-award-winning journalist who has been a foreign correspondent for the past four decades. She has been Channel 4’s international editor for the past 22 years and has reported on every continent except Antarctica.

After studying French and Spanish at University, she worked as an aid worker in Mexico and Kenya before becoming the East Africa stringer for the BBC World Service.

After realising her calling was journalism she devoted her career to covering events around the world including the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and the 2003/4 war in Iraq.

She also spent two years in Beijing as the China correspondent for Channel 4 News.

Among her many awards for her work, she has been named Amnesty International Journalist of the Year, RTS Specialist Journalist of the Year and has received the Charles Wheeler Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to broadcast journalism. She is also the author of three books.

When she is not abroad reporting, Lindsey lives in London.

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor .

DISC ONE: Dancing in the Dark - Bruce Springsteen DISC TWO: Carey - Joni Mitchell DISC THREE: Shauri Yako - Orchestra Super Mazembe DISC FOUR: Summertime - Billie Holiday and her Orchestra DISC FIVE: Hurricane - Bob Dylan DISC SIX: The Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto (Arr. for Violin & Chinese Orchestra): Andante cantabile "Transformation" Composed by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang and performed by Lü Siqing and the Taipei Orchestra, conducted by Yiu-kwong Chung DISC SEVEN: Piece of My Heart - Big Brother and the Holding Company and Janis Joplin DISC EIGHT: Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Fairport Convention

BOOK CHOICE: Collected Poems by W H Auden LUXURY ITEM: A Tang Dynasty horse CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Carey - Joni Mitchell

Donna Ockenden is a former clinical midwife who led the Ockenden Review which revealed, at the time, the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history. Published in 2022, the review highlighted serious failings in maternity care at the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust which contributed to the deaths of more than 200 babies and nine mothers.

Donna grew up in the village of Aberaman in the Welsh Valleys. She experienced a complicated childhood which included a period living in a homeless shelter along with her mother and four siblings. She is also a survivor of sexual abuse and believes her background helped her develop a tenacity and determination which she went on to apply to her work.

She completed her nursing training in Swansea and Neath and trained as a midwife at the Portsmouth School of Midwifery. In 2015 she became Senior Midwifery Adviser to the Chief Executive of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

In May 2022 she was appointed chair of the independent review into maternity services at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust which will be published next year. It is already the largest investigation into a single service in the NHS, hearing evidence from over 2,000 families so far.

Donna lives in Chichester with her two cats.

Details of organisations offering information and support with child sexual abuse or child bereavement are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.

DISC ONE: We’ve Only Just Begun - The Carpenters DISC TWO: Bye Bye Baby - Bay City Rollers DISC THREE: Ukulele Lady - Ethel Merman DISC FOUR: Isn’t It Amazing - Hothouse Flowers DISC FIVE: If Only - Hazel O’Connor DISC SIX: I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse Flowers DISC SEVEN: We’ll Keep a Welcome - Harry Secombe DISC EIGHT: Francesca - Hozier

BOOK CHOICE: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë LUXURY ITEM: Red lipstick CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Can See Clearly Now - Hothouse Flowers

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Professor Carl Jones is a conservation biologist who is best known for saving the Mauritius kestrel from extinction. He is the scientific director of Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, chief scientist at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and an honorary professor in ecology and conservation biology at the University of East Anglia.

He was born in Carmarthen in Wales and was fascinated with animals from an early age, rearing rescued common kestrels, owls and hawks in his back garden. He studied biology at North-East London Polytechnic and, after learning about the plight of the Mauritius kestrel, he was determined to go out to the country to try to save the bird.

He arrived in Mauritius in 1979 when there were only two known breeding pairs left in the wild. By the time he left in 1999 he’d established a captive breeding programme and today hundreds of Mauritius kestrels fly over the islands where he spent decades pioneering his, sometimes controversial, methods. Today the Mauritius kestrel is the national bird.

He is also responsible for saving from extinction three species of reptiles, a fruit bat and several plants.

He was appointed an MBE for his work in 2004 and in 2016 he won the prestigious Indianapolis Prize – the world’s leading award for animal conservation.

Carl lives in Carmarthen with his wife and two children and assorted animals including two Andean condors called Carlos and Baby.

DISC ONE: Prokofiev: Peter and the Wolf Opus 67 - The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult DISC TWO: Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas. Narrated by Richard Burton and performed by Meredith Edwards, Gwenllian Owen and Gwenyth Petty DISC THREE: Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll - Ian Dury DISC FOUR: La Rivière Noire - John Kenneth Nelson DISC FIVE: Asimbonanga - Johnny Clegg & Savuka DISC SIX: Sega lakordeon – Rene oule bwar mwa - La Troupe de l’Union DISC SEVEN: Londonderry Air - Beatrice Harrison DISC EIGHT: Clear Sky - Catrin Finch

BOOK CHOICE: The Collected Works of Dylan Thomas LUXURY ITEM: Binoculars CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Asimbonanga - Johnny Clegg & Savuka

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Cyndi Lauper is a multi-award winning singer and songwriter. She has sold more than fifty million records, won an Emmy for acting and her musical Kinky Boots earned her a Tony and an Oliver award.

Born in 1953, Cyndi grew up in a blue collar neighbourhood in New York. Her mother loved music and art and took her children to free exhibitions in New York which inspired Cyndi. As a very young girl, Cyndi listened to her mother’s extensive record collection and mimicked the voices she heard from musicals and operas.

After a difficult family home life due to her mother’s turbulent marriages, Cyndi found solace in music and began writing songs when she was ten.

She left home at seventeen determined to make it in the music industry. She started out as a singer in bands, whilst supporting herself doing a series of jobs. Early in her career, she lost her voice for almost a year after trying to make herself heard over amps which were too loud. Success eventually came when she released her debut solo album She’s So Unusual in 1983 – the first album by a female artist to spawn four consecutive US Top 5 singles.

Cyndi lives in New York with her husband, David who is an actor. They met on a set of a film and rock legend Little Richard officiated their wedding.

DISC ONE: Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun. Composed by Claude Debussy and performed by The Orchestre National de Lyon DISC TWO: All That Meat and No Potatoes - Louis Armstrong And His All-Stars DISC THREE: Puccini, “Un bel di, vedremo” (“One fine day, we shall see”) from Act II of Madame Butterfly. Performed by Maria Callas with Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, conducted by Herbert von Karajan DISC FOUR: Getting to Know You - Marni Nixon DISC FIVE: I Want Hold Your Hand - The Beatles DISC SIX: A Sailboat in the Moonlight - Billie Holiday And Her Orchestra DISC SEVEN: One Way or Another - Blondie DISC EIGHT: Hound Dog - Big Mama Thornton

BOOK CHOICE: Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris LUXURY ITEM: A luxury hotel CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Puccini, “Un bel di, vedremo” (“One fine day, we shall see”) from Act II of Madame Butterfly. Performed by Maria Callas with Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, conducted by Herbert von Karajan

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

William Boyd is the author of eighteen novels, five short story collections and numerous screenplays. His first published novel, A Good Man in Africa, was inspired by his childhood in West Africa. He is well known for writing ‘whole life’ novels including Any Human Heart which he adapted as a BAFTA-winning television series.

He was born in Accra in Ghana where his Scottish father worked as a doctor, specialising in tropical medicine. In 1964 the family moved to Ibadan, Nigeria where he witnessed the Nigerian Civil War – the Biafran War – which had a profound effect on him both personally and professionally.

He read English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Glasgow and became a lecturer in English at St Hilda’s College, Oxford. During this period he wrote novels and short stories on the side until his breakthrough novel, A Good Man in Africa, was published in 1981.

In 2005 he was appointed CBE for services to literature.

William lives in London with his wife Susan and over 10,000 books.

DISC ONE: Sunday - Mandy Patinkin (George), Sunday in the Park with George Original Broadway Cast Ensemble and Orchestra DISC TWO: Sorry Sorry - Femi Kuti DISC THREE: Away Down the River - Alison Krauss DISC FOUR: Que reste-t-il de nos amours - Charles Trenet DISC FIVE: Daniel - Elton John DISC SIX: Britten: Violin Concerto, Op. 15: 1. Moderato con moto. Performed by Janine Jansen (violin) London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi DISC SEVEN: Brahms: Horn Trio In E Flat, Op. 40 - 1. Andante - Poco più animato. Performed by György Sebök (piano) Arthur Grumiaux (violin), Francis Orval (horn) DISC EIGHT: Al Otro Lado del Río - Jorge Drexler

BOOK CHOICE: Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov LUXURY ITEM: A piano CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Daniel - Elton John

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Sir Jony Ive is a designer who is best known for his pioneering work at Apple alongside his friend and colleague, the late Steve Jobs. Jony’s creative vision is behind some of the company’s seminal products which have transformed the way we live today including phones, music players and watches.

He was born in Chingford in east London and loved drawing and spending time in his father’s workshop where the two of them made the young Jony’s Christmas presents including a go-kart, a treehouse and a toboggan.

He studied Industrial Design at Newcastle Polytechnic and moved to San Francisco to work for Apple in 1992. In 1997 Steve Jobs returned to the company, having been ousted several years earlier, and the two of them set about revolutionising the landscape for home computers with the creation of the iMac. In 2019 Jony set up his own company LoveFrom with the industrial designer Marc Newson. In 2023 Jony and his team designed a foldable Red Nose for Comic Relief and in the same year the company launched a scholarship programme aimed at increasing representation in the design industry.

In 2012 he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to design and enterprise.

DISC ONE: Really Saying Something (US Extended Version) - Bananarama, Fun Boy Three DISC TWO: De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da - The Police DISC THREE: Main Theme - Carter Takes a Train - Roy Budd DISC FOUR: Singin’ in the Rain - Harry Ive DISC FIVE: Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds DISC SIX: Define Dancing - Thomas Newman DISC SEVEN: Debussy: Suite bergamasque, L.75: 3. Clair de lune. Composed by Claude Debussy and performed by Claudio Arrau (piano) DISC EIGHT: "40" - U2

BOOK CHOICE: The complete set of Jeeves & Wooster novels by P G Wodehouse LUXURY ITEM: A bed CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: "40" - U2

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Actor Stephen Mangan is castaway by Lauren Laverne in an extended edition.

Stephen is an award-winning actor who is also a presenter and writer. His prolific career includes comedic roles in TV hits Green Wing; Episodes and Adrian Mole.

He also plays the much loved Nathan in BBC drama The Split and has appeared in many award winning theatre productions in the UK and on Broadway.

Born in London to Irish immigrant parents, Stephen studied Law at Cambridge University.

His passion though was for acting and after taking time out to care for his mother, he spent three years at RADA before pursuing a successful career on stage, screen and film.

Stephen lives in London with his wife and three sons.

DISC ONE: King of the Road - Roger Miller DISC TWO: I Recall A Gypsy Woman - Don Williams DISC THREE: Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy) - John Lennon DISC FOUR: Who Knows Where the Time Goes - Fairport Convention DISC FIVE: Stayin Alive - Bee Gees DISC SIX: Ravel: Piano Concerto in G Major, M. 83: II. Adagio assai. Composed by Maurice Ravel and performed by Martha Argerich (piano) and Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Claudio Abbado DISC SEVEN: Rhapsody in Blue. Composed by George Gershwin and performed by New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta DISC EIGHT: (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher - Jackie Wilson

BOOK CHOICE: Collected Works of Seamus Heaney LUXURY ITEM: A piano CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Stayin Alive - Bee Gees

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4, first broadcast in February 2025.

Wilhelmina – Mina – Smallman is an activist who campaigns for the safety of women and girls and police reform. She is a former teacher and priest who was the first woman of colour to be an archdeacon in the Church of England.

In 2020 her daughters Bibaa and Nicole were murdered as they celebrated Bibaa’s 46th birthday in Fryent Country Park. It later came to light that two policemen, who were guarding the crime scene, had posed for and posted selfies with Bibaa and Nicole’s bodies in the background. They were later jailed for misconduct.

When friends first reported her daughters missing the police didn’t launch an official search for them and it was their loved ones who eventually found Bibaa and Nicole. Mina’s anger at the failings of the Metropolitan Police, led her to start her fight for justice. In 2021 an Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) report, highlighted the Met’s failings and advised the force to apologise to Mina and her family.

Mina was brought up in London. She was a drama teacher for over 20 years before training for the priesthood. She was ordained in 2006 and took up her first job as vicar at Christ Church on the Thames View estate in Barking. In 2013 she was appointed the first woman archdeacon of Southend in the Diocese of Chelmsford. She retired as an archdeacon in 2016.

DISC ONE: Silly Games – Janet Kay DISC TWO: Handel: Messiah, HWV 56 / Pt. 3 - 43. Air: I know that my Redeemer liveth Performed by Dame Joan Sutherland (Soprano), London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult DISC THREE: Easy Terms - Barbara Dickson DISC FOUR: Amazing Grace - The Pipes And Drums Of The Military Band Of The Royal Scots Dragoon DISC FIVE: We Are The World - USA for Africa DISC SIX: Miss Independent - Ne-Yo DISC SEVEN: Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads DISC EIGHT: I Look To You - Whitney Houston BOOK CHOICE: Woman in White by Wilkie Collins LUXURY ITEM: Hair moisturiser CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Look To You - Whitney Houston

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Nemone Lethbridge is a barrister who was called to the bar in 1956. One of very few female barristers working at the time, she encountered misogyny and was one of the trailblazers for women working in the legal profession who followed behind her. At her first Chambers, she wasn’t allowed to share a toilet with her male colleagues and had to use the facilities in a nearby café. It was hard for her to find work and for some time she represented the Kray twins. After her marriage to a writer, and former convicted criminal was revealed, she was forced to leave the legal profession and they moved to Greece for a number of years where both of them had careers as writers having their work filmed for the BBC. Nemone returned to the Bar in 1981 and continues to do pro bono work at 92 years old. She lives in London.

DISC ONE: Go Down, Moses - Paul Robeson DISC TWO: O Come, O Come, Emmanuel - The Choir of King’s College Cambridge DISC THREE: Scarborough Fair – Simon & Garfunkel DISC FOUR: I Wanna Go Back to Dixie - Tom Lehrer DISC FIVE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 3: "Sull’aria ... Che soave zeffiretto" Performed by Edith Mathis (soprano), Gundula Janowitz (soprano), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin and conducted by Karl Böhm DISC SIX: Strose to Stroma sou – Mikis Theodorakis DISC SEVEN: September Song - Gracie Fields DISC EIGHT: Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben, BWV 147: Chorale. Jesus bleibet meine Freude (Arr. for Piano) (Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Lang Lang BOOK CHOICE: The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam LUXURY ITEM: A doll CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492 / Act 3: "Sull’aria ... Che soave zeffiretto". Performed by Edith Mathis (soprano), Gundula Janowitz (soprano), Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin and conducted by Karl Böhm

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Nick Cave is a singer and writer who, with his band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, has released emotionally intense and provocative music since the mid-Eighties. He is also a novelist, composer and has written film scripts and soundtracks along with his writing partner and Bad Seed Warren Ellis.

Nick grew up in Wangaratta, Australia the third of four children. He formed his first band, the Boys Next Door, in 1973 while he was at school. He studied fine art at the Caulfield Institute of Technology in Melbourne but left to pursue music. In 1980 the band relocated to London, renaming themselves the Birthday Party on the flight over. In 1984 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds’ released their debut album, From Her to Eternity, and they have gone on to put out a further 17 albums. In 2015 Nick lost his son Arthur who died after accidentally falling off a cliff and seven years later his eldest son Jethro died. In 2018 Nick started the Red Hand Files, an online blog in which he answers questions posed by his fans, to try and articulate his feelings about grief. He has described it as a “strange exercise in communal vulnerability and transparency.”

In 2017 he was named an Officer of the Order of Australia.

DISC ONE: Metal Guru - T. Rex DISC TWO: My Father - Nina Simone DISC THREE: (I’m) Stranded - The Saints DISC FOUR: It Serves You Right to Suffer - John Lee Hooker DISC FIVE: Something on Your Mind - Karen Dalton DISC SIX: Girl from the North Country - Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash West DISC SEVEN: I Am a God – Kanye West DISC EIGHT: Morning Dew - Tim Rose

BOOK CHOICE: The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi LUXURY ITEM: A suit CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Am a God – Kanye West

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Harriet Wistrich is one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers. In 2016 she founded the Centre for Women’s Justice and over the course of her career, she has won landmark victories in very difficult legal cases. She has helped women imprisoned after killing their abusers regain their freedom. She’s also represented women seeking justice from the Metropolitan Police over their deployment of undercover police officers who have had relationships and children with female activists.

After studying PPE at Oxford, Harriet moved to Liverpool and began her career working in film and documentaries. She retrained as a lawyer in her early thirties and in 1990 co-founded the pressure group Justice for Women.

Harriet lives in London with her partner, the journalist Julie Bindel.

DISC ONE: I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor DISC TWO: No Woman, No Cry (Live At The Rainbow Theatre, London / June 1, 1977) - Bob Marley and the Wailers DISC THREE: Puff the Magic Dragon - Gregory Isaacs DISC FOUR: Rumanian Freilach - Daniel Ahaviel DISC FIVE: Back to Black - Amy Winehouse DISC SIX: Ain’t Nobody - Chaka Khan DISC SEVEN: Police And Thieves - Junior Murvin DISC EIGHT: Shame Shame Shame - Shirley & Company

BOOK CHOICE: Middlemarch by George Eliot LUXURY ITEM: A fridge with an endless supply of white wine CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Laurie Anderson is an artist and performer who came to fame in the UK with her 1981 hit O Superman. Her work spans music, film and multimedia projects which interrogate our relationship with technology and tell stories about the world we live in.

She was born in Chicago in 1947, the second-oldest of eight children, and started learning the violin when she was five. She studied Art History at Barnard College in New York and took a Masters in Sculpture at Columbia University.

In the 1970s she was part of the downtown New York art scene and her friends and contemporaries included Philip Glass, Gordon Matta-Clark and the choreographer and dancer Trisha Brown. One of Laurie’s first performance art pieces featured a symphony played by car horns.

In 1992 she met Lou Reed, the singer and songwriter who fronted the Velvet Underground. They were together for 21 years until his death in 2013. Laurie is the head of Lou’s archive which is at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and open to anyone who wants to learn more about his musical adventures.

In 2024 Laurie was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award at the Grammys and a Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication.

DISC ONE: Pony Time - Chubby Checker DISC TWO: Gracias a la vida - Violetta Parra DISC THREE: Tusen Tankar - Triakel DISC FOUR: Part 1 - Philip Glass Ensemble, conducted by Michael Riesman DISC FIVE: Flibberty Jib - Ken Nordine with the Fred Katz Group DISC SIX: Doin' the Things That We Want To - Lou Reed DISC SEVEN: Washington, D.C - The Magnetic Fields DISC EIGHT: Is Chicago, Is Not Chicago – Soul Coughing

BOOK CHOICE: Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov LUXURY ITEM: A dog collar CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Gracias a la vida - Violetta Parra

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Mark-Anthony Turnage is a composer of contemporary classical music. Once called “Britain’s hippest composer”, he has been in a rock band, got drunk with Francis Bacon, and tackled anything from drug abuse to football in his works. Mark was born in June 1960 in the Thames estuary town of Corringham in Essex. His musical talent was nurtured by his parents and he studied composition at the junior department at the Royal College of Music from aged fourteen. There he met the composer Oliver Knussen who became his tutor, mentor, and life-long friend. His first performed work, Night Dances, written while still at the Royal College, won a prize and heralded Mark’s evolution into what one critic calls “one of the best known British composers of his generation, widely admired for his highly personal mixture of energy and elegy, tough and tender”. Greek, his debut opera, a reimagining of the Oedipus myth whose protagonist is a racist, violent and foul-mouthed football hooligan, shocked the establishment, which flinched, but accepted “Turnage, the trouble-maker” as a forceful voice. Over the past four decades he has sustained a distinguished and productive career that has seen him working closely with conductors of the stature of Bernard Haitink, Esa-Pekka Salonen and, particularly, Simon Rattle. He has been attached to prestigious institutions, such as English National Opera and both the BBC and Chicago symphony orchestras, and has written a vast range of music for many different instruments and ensembles. His influences include soul, gospel, all sorts of jazz and the great symphonic works of the repertoire. He has written operas, ballets, concertos, chamber pieces and choral works together with orchestrating a football match. His key works include Three Screaming Popes and Blood on the Floor (both inspired by Francis Bacon paintings, and the latter containing an elegy for his younger brother, Andrew, who died of a drug overdose in 1995), as well as more operas including one about the former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith. Mark lives in North London with his partner, the opera director, Rachael Hewer.

DISC ONE: Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, Op. 125 II. Molto vivace - Presto - Molto vivace – Presto. Composed by Ludwig Van Beethoven and performed by The Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle DISC TWO: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244 Pt. 1 No. 1, Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Bach Collegium Japan, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki DISC THREE: Two Organa, Op. 27 – 1 “Notre Dame des Jouets”. Composed and conducted by Oliver Knussen and performed by The London Sinfonietta DISC FOUR: Blue in Green - Miles Davis DISC FIVE: Living for the City - Stevie Wonder DISC SIX: Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Act II: Un bel dì vedremo. Composed by Giacomo Puccini and performed by Mirella Freni (Soprano) and Wiener Philharmoniker, conducted by Herbert von Karajan DISC SEVEN: Symphony of Psalms (1948 Version): III. Alleluja. Laudate Dominum - Psalmus 150 (Vulgata) Composed by Igor Stravinsky and performed by English Bach Festival Choir and The London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein DISC EIGHT: Let’s Say We Did. Composed by John Scofield and Mark-Anthony Turnage and performed by John Scofield, John Patitucci, Peter Erskine, Frankfurt Radio Symphony, hr-Bigband and Hugh Wolf

BOOK CHOICE: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier LUXURY ITEM: A grand piano and tuning kit CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244 Pt. 1 No. 1, Kommt, ihr Töchter, helft mir klagen. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Bach Collegium Japan, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Marianela Núñez is a Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet and Opera. Born in Argentina in 1982, Marianela knew she wanted to be a ballet dancer from the age of five and joined the Teatro Colón Ballet School in Buenos Aires when she was eight.

She dedicated herself to becoming a professional ballerina and had the full support of her parents despite having to leave home at fifteen to join the Royal Ballet in the UK. After spending a year at the Royal Ballet School and learning English from watching episodes of Friends, she joined the corps de ballet and worked her way up the company to become Principal Dancer. She has danced the lead roles in the ballet repertoire on the London stage and around the world as a guest artist. In 2018, she celebrated her 20th anniversary with the Royal Ballet with a performance of lead roles in Giselle, The Winter’s Tale, Manon, Marguerite and Armand, and Swan Lake in her anniversary year. Director of The Royal Ballet Kevin O’Hare called her “one of the greats of her generation”. Marianela has many awards for her dancing including the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 2013. She lives in London with her two cats.

DISC ONE: Adíos Nonino (“Goodbye Grandad”) - Astor Piazzolla DISC TWO: Hoy Puede Ser Un Gran Dia (“Today Could Be a Great Day”) - Joan Manuel Serrat DISC THREE: Dancing Queen - ABBA DISC FOUR: Don’t Stop Me Now - Queen DISC FIVE: Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66, TH 13 / Act 1: 8a. Pas d'action: Introduction (Andante) - Adagio ("Rose Adagio") Performed by The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Mark Ermler DISC SIX: Adam: Giselle / Act 2: Lever du soleil et arrivée de la cour. Performed by The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Richard Bonynge DISC SEVEN: Count on Me - Bruno Mars DISC EIGHT: I Can See Clearly Now - Johnny Nash

BOOK CHOICE: The Collected Works of Jorge Luis Borges LUXURY ITEM: A cashmere blanket CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66, TH 13 / Act 1: 8a. Pas d'action: Introduction (Andante) - Adagio ("Rose Adagio") Performed by The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, conducted by Mark Ermler

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Gareth Southgate OBE is the most successful England men’s football manger in the modern game.

He holds the record as the man who has represented England in more games than anyone else, with 102 games as men's senior team manager, 57 caps as a player and 37 as men's under-21 head coach, leading to a total of 196 games in which he has been involved as a player or coach.

It’s a remarkable career and one which shows his resilience and determination. Ever since he joined a football team as a schoolboy, he dreamed of being a footballer and perhaps one day, wearing the England shirt. He was rejected by Southampton as a teenager and was determined to come back and succeed. He managed to do that, playing for Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and Middlesbrough as a defender and midfielder. After his playing career ended he went into management eventually becoming one of the England national team’s most successful managers. Along the way, his different approach to leadership in sport, together with his quest to understand what is Englishness makes him one of the most impressive football managers in England’s history.

Southgate is an Ambassador for The Prince's Trust and Help for Heroes.

DISC ONE: The Way It Is - Bruce Hornsby and the Range DISC TWO: Rainy Days and Mondays - Carpenters DISC THREE: Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears DISC FOUR: The Whole of the Moon - Waterboys DISC FIVE: One - Mary J. Blige, U2 DISC SIX: Shape of You (Stormzy Remix) - Ed Sheeran DISC SEVEN: Someone Like You - Adele DISC EIGHT: Experience - Ludovico Einaudi BOOK CHOICE: The Chimp Paradox by Dr Steve Peters LUXURY ITEM: Coffee CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Experience - Ludovico Einaudi

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Cher has been a global star for over six decades. Her career has spanned music, television and film and throughout that time her outfits have made flamboyant fashion statements.

She was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California and had a peripatetic childhood. Her mother married six times and with each new husband the family moved house.

In 1962, when she was 16, Cher met Sonny Bono in a coffee shop. She moved in with Sonny as his housekeeper and personal assistant and began singing backing vocals for his boss, the music producer Phil Spector. In 1965 Sonny and Cher released I Got You Babe which reached number one in the US and UK charts – knocking the Beatles off the top of the chart.

Cher is an award-winning actor who has starred in films including Silkwood, Mask and Moonstruck. In October 1998 she released her 22nd studio album Believe – the title track remains the biggest-selling number one by a solo female artist in British chart history.

DISC ONE: Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum DISC TWO: Love Me Tender - Elvis Presley DISC THREE: A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes - Ilene Woods DISC FOUR: Evil - Stevie Wonder DISC FIVE: You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ - The Righteous Brothers DISC SIX: I Can’t Make You Love Me - Bonnie Raitt DISC SEVEN: Minute By Minute - The Doobie Brothers DISC EIGHT: A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke BOOK CHOICE: The Saracen Blade by Frank Yerby LUXURY ITEM: An eyelash curler CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: A Change Is Gonna Come - Sam Cooke

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Lesley Manville made her debut on the West End stage as a teenager in 1972, and since then has taken on a wide range of roles on stage and screen, including an Oscar-nominated performance in the film Phantom Thread.

She was born in Brighton and first enjoyed performing as a singer, winning competitions with her sister. When she was 15, she commuted daily to the Italia Conti stage school in London. Her first professional role was in a West End musical, and in 1974 she joined the cast of the ITV soap opera Emmerdale Farm. After two years she decided to leave, even though the work was well paid, and return to the stage.

At the Royal Court in London she appeared in some of the most critically acclaimed new plays of the 1980s including Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls, and Andrea Dunbar’s Rita, Sue and Bob Too. She has also enjoyed a long collaboration with the film director Mike Leigh, memorably playing the alcoholic Mary in Another Year.

Her recent TV roles include starring as Cathy in the popular BBC Two sitcom Mum, for which she won a Royal Television Society Award in 2019. She has also played Princess Margaret in The Crown, including a scene in which Margaret shares her favourite records on a BBC radio progamme.

She was appointed a CBE in 2021.

DISC ONE: Over The Rainbow - Eva Cassidy DISC TWO: My Brother Jake - Free DISC THREE: O Soave Fanciulla, composed by Giacomo Puccini, performed by Jose Carreras, Richard Stilwell and Teresa Stratas and Metropolitan Opera Chorus, conducted by James Levine DISC FOUR: Sugar on the Floor - Etta James DISC FIVE: You Don't Have To Say You Love Me - Dusty Springfield DISC SIX: Not While I’m Around - Barbra Streisand DISC SEVEN: Make You Feel My Love - Adele DISC EIGHT: Phantom Thread III - Jonny Greenwood BOOK CHOICE: A Botanical Encyclopedia LUXURY ITEM: A bed with linen, duvet and pillows CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Over The Rainbow - Eva Cassidy

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Former cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent is the first Black woman to play for England and she was part of the team which won the Women’s Cricket World Cup in 2009. Today she is a broadcaster and cricket commentator for Channel 4, Sky Sports and the BBC’s Test Match Special.

Ebony was born in south London and as a child it was football that caught her attention, especially Liverpool FC and her hero Robbie Fowler. At primary school she was encouraged to have a go at cricket through a charity called Cricket For Change which was set up to encourage more state school children into the sport. Holding a bat in her hands for the first time, she hit the ball as hard as she could and, as she watched it soar through the air, she was hooked.

Ebony started out playing for Surrey Cricket Club’s Under 11’s team as a bowler. In 2003 a serious back injury forced her to stop playing and she thought her sporting career was over. She was determined to prove the medics wrong so she retrained as a batswoman as batting was easier on her back.

In 2007 she made her debut for England and two years later was part of the World Cup-winning team. In 2020 Ebony joined forces with Surrey Cricket Club and founded the African-Caribbean Engagement Programme (ACE) to build grassroots cricket programmes for young people in black communities across the UK. In 2021 she was awarded an MBE for her services to cricket and charity.

DISC ONE: Cold Sweat - James Brown DISC TWO: Girlie Girlie - Sophia George DISC THREE: Pass Me Over - Anthony Hamilton DISC FOUR: A Long Walk - Jill Scott DISC FIVE: Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin DISC SIX: Never Forget - Take That DISC SEVEN: Superheroes - Stormzy DISC EIGHT: Work To Do - The Isley Brothers BOOK CHOICE: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho LUXURY ITEM: A drum kit CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: A Long Walk - Jill Scott

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Mark Steel is a writer, comedian and radio presenter.

His performing career began as a poet in the alternative comedy scene in the early eighties at the Comedy Store. A regular presenter on Radio 4, he began his award winning series, Mark Steel’s in Town in 2009.

Alongside his performing career, he’s been a regular newspaper columnist writing for the Guardian and Independent Newspapers. Mark was born in 1960 and adopted at ten days old by Doreen and Ernie. He grew up in Swanley, Kent and left home at 18 to live in a squat in Crystal Palace. After his own son was born, Mark spent many years tracing his birth parents and eventually met up with his genetic father who had been a professional gambler and a friend of Lord Lucan. Mark has two children and lives in London.

DISC ONE: My Boy Lollipop - Millie Small DISC TWO: Janie Jones - The Clash DISC THREE: San Quentin (Live at San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA - February 1969) - Johnny Cash DISC FOUR: Killing in the Name - Rage Against The Machine DISC FIVE: Trøllabundin - Eivør Pálsdóttir DISC SIX: Love Me or Leave Me - Nina Simone DISC SEVEN: Into My Arms - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds DISC EIGHT: 1977 - Ana Tijoux BOOK CHOICE: Wisden Cricketers' Almanack LUXURY ITEM: A piano CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Love Me or Leave Me - Nina Simone

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Steven Knight CBE is a screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. He is best known for creating the TV series Peaky Blinders but he has also turned his hand to feature films, novels, comedy and even gameshows. He co-created the global TV quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire. His first film, Dirty Pretty Things, was nominated for Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards; Peaky Blinders won a BAFTA for Best Drama Series and his writing influences are eclectic. His subjects include chess, cooking, Dickens, Diana, Princess of Wales; the origins of the SAS and a Star Wars sequel. Steven was born in 1959, the youngest of seven children to George and Ida Knight. He grew up in Birmingham where his father hoped that his five sons would follow him into the blacksmith’s business. After studying English at University College London, Steven returned to Birmingham and began his career writing radio commercials. He was soon back down in London working at Capital Radio which then led to a career writing comedy for TV, then novels, and eventually screenplays. He is as respected in Hollywood as he is in the UK and more recently he has been instrumental in setting up a new TV and Film studio complex in Birmingham, Digbeth Loc. He is married with seven children and lives in Gloucestershire.

DISC ONE: I Want You - Bob Dylan DISC TWO: Summertime - Ella Fitzgerald DISC THREE: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise. Performed by Worcester Cathedral Choir / Worcester Festival Choral Society, directed by Donald Hunt DISC FOUR: Redemption Song - Bob Marley & The Wailers DISC FIVE: A Different Corner - George Michael DISC SIX: Messetchinko Lio (You, Little Moon) - Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares DISC SEVEN: Red Right Hand - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds DISC EIGHT: Keep Right On Until the End of the Road - Harry Lauder

BOOK CHOICE: The Greek Myths by Robert Graves LUXURY ITEM: A solar powered laptop CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Keep Right On Until the End of the Road - Harry Lauder Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Mark Knopfler OBE is one of the UK’s most successful rock musicians and composers. He co-founded the band Dire Straits and their album Brothers in Arms is one of the bestselling albums of all time with 30 million copies sold. Alongside the many successes of Dire Straits, Mark has also composed hit songs for other artists like Private Dancer for Tina Turner and many soundtracks including Local Hero which features the perennial favourite Going Home.

He first worked as a journalist on the Yorkshire Evening Post and was briefly an English lecturer in Essex before moving to a flat in Deptford with his brother and John Illsey. Dire Straits was born and became one of the UK’s most successful bands before Mark called time in 1995 and pursued his own solo career.

In recent years, Mark invested some of his money to build one of the UK’s best recording studios to record his own music in alongside being a destination for other artists.

He lives in London with his wife and still visits his studio most days to make music.

DISC ONE: Ol’ Man River - Ray Charles DISC TWO: Red Sails in the Sunset – Dean Martin DISC THREE: Wonderful Land - The Shadows DISC FOUR: Write Me a Few Lines - Mississippi Fred MacDowell DISC FIVE: Duquesne Whistle - Bob Dylan DISC SIX: Deborah’s Theme - Ennio Morricone DISC SEVEN: Cleaning Windows - Van Morrison DISC EIGHT: Jessye ’Lisabeth - Bobbie Gentry

BOOK CHOICE: The Blue Flower by Penelope Fitzgerald LUXURY ITEM: A guitar CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Duquesne Whistle - Bob Dylan

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Sarah Raven is one of Britain’s best known gardeners. Since her debut book, The Cutting Garden in 1996 she has written for national newspapers and magazines and shared her gardening knowledge as a broadcaster.

Sarah’s love for gardening started with her family. Her father John was a Classics scholar at Cambridge and a keen amateur botanist and her mother Faith introduced Sarah to the joys of cutting and arranging flowers.

Following her father’s death when she was just seventeen, Sarah read History at the University of Edinburgh before deciding to pursue a career as a doctor. It was whilst she was on maternity leave from her medical training that Sarah began to cultivate her own garden which led to her first book, The Cutting Garden.

After the success of her first book, Sarah set up her eponymous business which has evolved from a kitchen table start-up to successful global brand. Sarah continues to write, her latest book, A Year Full of Pots was published earlier this year.

Sarah lives in East Sussex with her husband, the writer Adam Nicholson. She has three stepsons and two daughters.

DISC ONE: See My Baby Jive - Wizzard DISC TWO: Dashing White Sergeant - Jimmy Shand DISC THREE: Don’t You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds DISC FOUR: You Can Dance (If You Want To) - Go Go Lorenzo & The Davis Pinckney Project DISC FIVE: September - Earth, Wind and Fire DISC SIX: Can’t Take My Eyes Off You - Andy Williams DISC SEVEN: Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time) - Elton John DISC EIGHT: Spring 1. Composed by Antonio Vivaldi, recomposed by Max Richter and performed by Daniel Hope (violin) with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, conducted by André de Ridder

Luxury: An ever-cleaning linen sheet bed with a hot (and cold) water bottle Book: The Flowers of Crete by John Fielding & Nicholas Turland Castaway’s Favourite: September - Earth, Wind and Fire

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Mugabi Turya

The writer David Nicholls is best known for his 2009 novel One Day which has sold 6 million copies, been made into a film and a Netflix series which reached the top 10 in 89 countries. He’s written six novels and his work as a screenwriter has won him a BAFTA and an Emmy nomination.

He was born in 1966 and studied Drama and English Literature at Bristol University. This partly inspired his novel Starter for Ten. After university he spent one year in New York studying acting before returning to the UK to try and forge a career as an actor. He spent three years at the National Theatre but was mostly an understudy which inspired his novel Understudy.

After a few years, David left acting and pursued a writing career and had success as a TV screen writer. Alongside his award-winning career as a TV writer he has won many prizes for his novels.

David lives in London with his partner, Hannah and their two children.

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

DISC ONE: I Say a Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin DISC TWO: Cloudbusting - Kate Bush DISC THREE: Life on Mars? - David Bowie DISC FOUR: Goldberg Variations, BWV 988: Aria. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Glenn Gould (piano) Coyote - Joni Mitchell DISC FIVE: Coyote - Joni Mitchell DISC SIX: We Belong Together - Rickie Lee Jones DISC SEVEN: Who Knows Where The Time Goes? - Fairport Convention DISC EIGHT: Protection - Massive Attack featuring Tracey Thorn BOOK CHOICE: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy LUXURY ITEM: A piano and sheet music CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: I Say a Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin

Errollyn Wallen is one of the world’s most performed living composers. Her work, which includes 22 operas, orchestral, chamber and vocal works, was played at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games in 2012 and at Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden and Diamond Jubilees. She was the first black woman to have a piece featured in the BBC Proms and the first woman to receive an Ivor Novello award for Classical Music for her body of work.

Errollyn was born in Belize in Central America and was brought up in North London. The passion for music came early to her - as a baby she sang in her cot - and later she enjoyed free music lessons at her local primary school. She fell in love with the piano at five and went on to have formal lessons four years later.

She studied music and dance at Goldsmith’s, University of London and took a Master’s in composition at King’s College London. After working as a session musician, Errollyn formed her own band Ensemble X whose motto is “we don’t break down barriers in music…we don’t see any”. In 1990 she composed a tribute to Nelson Mandela to mark his release from prison.

In 2020 she was awarded a CBE for services to music in The Queen’s New Year’s Honours.

Errollyn lives and works in a lighthouse at Strathy Point in the north of Scotland.

DISC ONE: Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92, 4th Movement: Allegro Con Brio. Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and performed by André Previn (piano) with the London Symphony Orchestra DISC TWO: Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - Ella Fitzgerald DISC THREE: L'Oiseau de Feu (The Firebird) (1910 Ballet Score) ('Fairy-tale Ballet In Two Tableaux For Orchestra') Introduction. Composed by Igor Stravinsky and performed by Bergen Philharmonic, conducted by Andrew Litton DISC FOUR: I Am Sitting In a Room - Alvin Lucier DISC FIVE: Bach, Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor BWV 1043 (II movement) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman (violin) with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta DISC SIX: Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours) - Stevie Wonder DISC SEVEN: What’s Up Doc? - Errollyn Wallen DISC EIGHT: Peter Grimes, Op. 33, Act III, Scene 7: Mister Swallow! Mister Swallow! (Mrs Sedley) Composed by Benjamin Britten and performed by Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Susan Bickley (Mezzo-soprano), Neal Davies (bass-baritone), Barnaby Rea (bass) and conducted by Edward Gardner

BOOK CHOICE: A collection of Bach sheet music LUXURY ITEM: Wigmore Hall CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Bach, Concerto for 2 Violins in D Minor BWV 1043 (II movement) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Isaac Stern and Itzhak Perlman (violin) with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Zubin Mehta

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Rob Delaney is a comedian, writer and actor who is best known for the television series Catastrophe, which he co-wrote and co-starred in alongside Sharon Horgan. He has also appeared in Hollywood blockbusters including Deadpool and Mission Impossible.

Rob was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up in Marblehead on the north shore. He studied for a degree in Musical Theatre at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and began writing comedy material after he graduated. In 2014, he moved to London to co-write and shoot the first series of Catastrophe and has been in the UK ever since. The series won Rob and Sharon a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society Award for comedy writing.

In 2016 Rob’s one-year-old son Henry was diagnosed with a brain tumour and after undergoing surgery and intense treatment Henry died in 2018. In the throes of his grief Rob wrote his best-selling book A Heart That Works which was a tribute to his son, his family and the NHS.

Rob lives in north London with his wife and three sons.

DISC ONE: Galician Overture - The Chieftains DISC TWO: This Is To Mother You - Sinéad O’Connor DISC THREE: Chopin, Nocturne No 11 in G minor. Composed by Frédéric Chopin and performed by Maurizio Pollini (piano) DISC FOUR: Bluer Than Midnight - The The DISC FIVE: Hey - Pixies DISC SIX: Fire in the Hole - Steely Dan DISC SEVEN: Plainclothes Man - Heatmiser DISC EIGHT: Rock Lobster - The B-52s BOOK CHOICE: The Collected Works of Alice Munro LUXURY ITEM: A piano CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: This Is To Mother You - Sinéad O’Connor

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Professor Patricia Wiltshire is a forensic ecologist who specialises in palynology – the study of pollen. Her expertise has led her to work with every police force in Britain and helped solve some of the country’s most notorious crimes including the Soham murder case in which two young girls were killed by school caretaker Ian Huntley.

Patricia was born in Cefn Fforest, a mining village in the Sirhowy Valley, north of Cardiff. She studied botany at King’s College London as a mature student and later worked as an environmental archaeologist, helping to reconstruct ancient environments by analysing the pollen and other remains in the soil.

In 1994 Hertfordshire police asked her to help them with a murder case. A man had been found dead in a ditch and the police had tyre tracks and a vehicle and they needed to prove that the car in question had made the tracks. Patricia’s analysis of the pollen and spores found in the car helped to convict the killers and started her career as a forensic ecologist.

Patricia is married to Professor David Hawksworth, a renowned mycologist, and they sometimes work on criminal investigations together.

DISC ONE: Nocturnes, Op. 27: No. 2 in D-Flat Major. Composed by Frédéric Chopin and performed by Arthur Rubinstein DISC TWO: My Foolish Heart - Billy Eckstine DISC THREE: Rock Around The Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets DISC FOUR: Brandenburg Concerto No. 4 (Allegro movement) Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Orchestra Mozart, conducted by Claudio Abbado DISC FIVE: Myfanwy - The Treorchy Male Voice Choir DISC SIX: Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 "Elvira Madigan": III. Allegro vivace assai. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Murray Perahia (piano / conductor) and English Chamber Orchestra DISC SEVEN: And I Love Her - The Beatles DISC EIGHT: Love Will Keep Us Together - Neil Sedaka

BOOK CHOICE: Childrens Encyclopedia Volume Set by Arthur Mee LUXURY ITEM: A cooking pot CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Nocturnes, Op. 27: No. 2 in D-Flat Major. Composed by Frédéric Chopin and performed by Arthur Rubinstein

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Anthony Joshua MBE is a British heavyweight boxer, Olympic gold medallist and two-time former unified world heavyweight champion.

Anthony was born in 1989 and grew up in Watford. When he was 11, he moved with his mother to Nigeria, her home country, and attended a boarding school there for several months. When the family returned to Watford, Anthony took part in football and athletics at school, although he recalls that he didn’t enjoy sport in the freezing winter conditions.

After school he briefly studied music technology, and worked as a bricklayer, but mostly drifted. When he found himself banned from Watford town centre, he moved to Edgware and started going to the gym. His cousin Ben Ileyemi, a keen boxer, invited him to his local boxing gym in Finchley. Anthony, then aged 18, and with no boxing experience, decided to enter the ring himself. Within five years, he won a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics. He turned professional in 2013 and has become one of the most high-profile boxers in the world.

Anthony lives in London.

DISC ONE: Waiting in Vain - Bob Marley & The Wailers DISC TWO: Hometown Glory - Adele DISC THREE: Water No Get Enemy - Fela Kuti DISC FOUR: Eye of the Tiger - Survivor DISC FIVE: One More Chance Freestyle - Skrapz DISC SIX: Shut Up - Stormzy DISC SEVEN: The Godfather Pt. I: Love Theme From "The Godfather" - Nino Rota DISC EIGHT: Agape - Nicholas Britell

BOOK CHOICE: A Bear Grylls survival book LUXURY ITEM: A punchbag CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Agape - Nicholas Britell

Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor

Clive Myrie is an award-winning journalist and news presenter who is one of the BBC’s most experienced foreign correspondents. In 2021 he took over from John Humphrys as Question Master of the quiz show Mastermind and has also presented travel programmes about Italy and the Caribbean.

Clive’s parents are from Jamaica and he was born in Farnworth, near Bolton – one of seven children. As a young boy he had a paper round and one of the perks was reading the leftover newspapers which gave him the opportunity to learn about a world beyond Bolton. He loved watching the news on television and his role models were Alan Whicker and Sir Trevor McDonald who inspired him to become a journalist.

After he graduated from university Clive took up a place on the BBC’s reporter training scheme and in 1996 he was sent to Japan - his first posting as a foreign correspondent. During his career he has reported from war zones including Afghanistan, Iraq and Ukraine.

In 2021 Clive was named Television Journalist of the Year and Network Presenter of the Year at the Royal Television Society Television Journalism Awards.

Clive lives in north London with his wife Catherine.

DISC ONE: String Quartet No. 14 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 131: VI. Adagio quasi un poco andante. Composed by Ludwig van Beethoven and performed by Kodály Quartet DISC TWO: Welcome to My World - Jim Reeves DISC THREE: Così fan tutte ossia La scuola degli amanti, K.588 / Act 1 - Soave sia il vento. Composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and performed by Kiri Te Kanawa (soprano), Ann Murray (mezzo soprano), Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass) and Wiener Philharmoniker DISC FOUR: All Blues - Miles Davis DISC FIVE: Cello Suite No. 5 in C Minor, BWV 1011: I. Prelude. Composed by Johann Sebastian Bach and performed by Paul Tortelier DISC SIX: Slave to the Rhythm - Grace Jones DISC SEVEN: Long, Long Summer - Dizzy Gillespie DISC EIGHT: Stomp! - The Brothers Johnson

BOOK CHOICE: The Metropolitan Museum of Art catalogue LUXURY ITEM: Hot pepper sauce CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Long, Long Summer - Dizzy Gillespie

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

Shirine Khoury-Haq is the chief executive officer of the Co-op Group – the first female chief executive in its 180-year history and the first from an ethnic minority background.

Shirine was born in Beirut to a Palestinian father and a Turkish mother. Her father was a geophysicist who worked in the oil industry and his work took the family around the world. By the time Shirine was 12 she had lived on every continent except Antarctica, regularly having to adapt to very different schools and classmates.

She studied for a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting and economics at the Australian National University in Canberra, while taking on a number of jobs to pay her way. In 1996 she joined the McDonald’s Corporation as a finance and operations manager and then joined IBM as an associate partner.

In 2014 she was appointed chief operating officer for Lloyd’s of London and five years later she joined the Co-op as chief financial officer. She became the Group’s CEO in August 2022.

Shirine lives in Cheshire with her husband and two daughters.

DISC ONE: Jamaica Farewell - Harry Belafonte DISC TWO: Ya Talien Eljabal - Rola Azar DISC THREE: Better Together - Jack Johnson DISC FOUR: Fight the Power - Public Enemy DISC FIVE: Nuthin’ But A “G” Thang - Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg DISC SIX: Supermassive Black Hole - Muse DISC SEVEN: How Great Thou Art - Susan Boyle DISC EIGHT: Stuck in a Moment You Can’t Get Out Of - U2

BOOK CHOICE: The Quran LUXURY ITEM: A photo frame CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: How Great Thou Art - Susan Boyle

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

The Australian actor Rebel Wilson became an international star with a breakthrough part in the 2011 Hollywood comedy Bridesmaids, opposite Kristen Wiig and Melissa McCarthy. She followed this up playing Fat Amy in the highly successful Pitch Perfect trilogy, which documents the fortunes of a female college acapella group.

Rebel was born in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney. Her parents bred and showed dogs, in particular beagles, and her first brush with showbusiness came when she visited television studios to watch the dogs perform in popular shows. The dogs were so successful they even had their own agents.

She studied for a combined arts and law degree and then joined the Australian Theatre for Young People. At the age of 29 she sold everything she had and left Sydney to try her luck in Hollywood where she slept on a friend’s sofa for the first few months. She gave herself a year to make it and Bridesmaids came at just the right time – she never looked back.

Rebel recently made her debut as a director with the Deb, a musical set in Australia.

DISC ONE: Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars DISC TWO: Greatest Love of All - Whitney Houston DISC THREE: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Monty Python DISC FOUR: I Missed the Bus - Kris Kross DISC FIVE: We Belong - Pat Benatar DISC SIX: Let Me Entertain You - Robbie Williams DISC SEVEN: Can You Feel the Love Tonight? - Elton John DISC EIGHT: Here Comes The Sun - The Beatles

BOOK CHOICE: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl LUXURY ITEM: A bath tub and bath salts CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life - Monty Python

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Paula McGinley

The Irish writer John Boyne is best known for his 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which became a literary phenomenon, selling more than 11 million copies around the world. It was translated into 60 languages and adapted into a film, a play, a ballet and an opera. He has written more than two dozen books, including a number of titles for younger readers.

He was born in Dublin in 1971, and had ambitions to become a writer from an early age. He studied English Literature at Trinity College Dublin, followed by a Master’s degree in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia. From the mid-1990s, he spent seven years working at a bookshop in Dublin, while trying to launch his literary career.

Many of his books have historical settings: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is the story of two boys – one German, one Jewish – during the Holocaust; other books have taken inspiration from the Mutiny on the Bounty and Tsarist Russia. More recently, he’s addressed sexual and physical abuse within the Catholic church in Ireland, drawing in part on his own experiences at school.

He lives in Dublin, not far from where he grew up.

DISC ONE: Bright Eyes - Art Garfunkel DISC TWO: The Sound of Music - Julie Andrews DISC THREE: Elton's Song - Elton John DISC FOUR: Take on Me - A-ha DISC FIVE: Lullaby for Cain (Instrumental) - Sinéad O'Connor DISC SIX: Extract from String Quartet No. 4, composed by Noah Max and performed by The Tippett Quartet DISC SEVEN: Make Your Own Kind of Music - Mama Cass DISC EIGHT: Night of the Swallow - Kate Bush

BOOK CHOICE: The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot LUXURY ITEM: A cinema screen showing The Devil Wears Prada CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Night of the Swallow - Kate Bush

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Dame Sarah Storey is Great Britain’s most successful Paralympian, winning 17 gold, eight silver and three bronze medals. She was just 14 when she took two weeks off school to compete as a swimmer in the 1992 Barcelona Paralympics, where she won her first two gold medals. Since then, she has competed in a further seven Paralympics, switching to cycling from 2005.

A TV documentary inspired Sarah's childhood ambition to take part in the Paralympics, even though her swimming club coach told her that it was too late - at the age of 10 - to start training for an elite career.

After competing in four Paralympics in the pool, she decided to try cycling after persistent ear infections and chronic fatigue. She was immediately successful and has continued to win medals at both the Paralympics and World Championships in numerous events, breaking many world records. She is supported on and off the track by her husband, Barney Storey, who is also a gold medal-winning cyclist. They have two children, who were born in 2013 and 2017.

Sarah is the Active Travel Commissioner in her home city of Manchester, and is still training with the aim of competing in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris – which would be her ninth games, at the age of 46.

DISC ONE: Livin’ on a Prayer - Bon Jovi DISC TWO: Spinning Around – Kylie Minogue DISC THREE: It Only Takes a Minute - Take That DISC FOUR: A Different Beat - Boyzone DISC FIVE: This is the One - The Stone Roses DISC SIX: Heroes - David Bowie DISC SEVEN: Wannabe - Spice Girls DISC EIGHT: Step On – Happy Mondays

BOOK CHOICE: The Chimp Paradox by Professor Steve Peters LUXURY ITEM: A snorkel and mask CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Livin’ on a Prayer - Bon Jovi

Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor