Episodes
Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
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Bill Nighy | 20120930 | 20240303 (BBC7) 20240304 (BBC7) | Kirsty Young introduces an archive episode revisiting the castaway choices of a BAFTA winning and Academy Award nominated actor. Bill Nighy is castaway by Sue Lawley. Originally from Caterham in Surrey, he left school at 15 without any qualifications and ended up working at his local employment office. He hoped to become an author and began work on The Field magazine as a messenger boy, but then ran away to Paris at seventeen to write a novel. This venture failed and he ended up begging on the streets before returning to Britain and the Guildford School of Drama and Dance. His first film role was as a delivery boy in Joan Collins' steamy film The Bitch. He's featured in numerous stage, TV, and radio dramas including the acclaimed Men's Room in 1991 and, more recently, in State of Play, where he played a newspaper editor. His career has been described by some critics as a slow burn rather than a beacon, although he's now widely recognised as achieving the acclaim he deserves. In 2004 he won Best Supporting Actor at the BAFTAS for his role as Billy Mack, a washed up singer in the film Love Actually. DISC ONE: The Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter DISC TWO: James Brown - I Got You (I Feel Good) DISC THREE: Bob Dylan - Just Like Tom Thumb Blues DISC FOUR: The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again DISC FIVE: Marvin Gaye - My Love Is Waiting DISC SIX: John Lee Hooker and Van Morrison - Healing Game DISC SEVEN: Freaky Realistic - Koochie Ryder DISC EIGHT: The Rolling Stones - Winter BOOK CHOICE: 1st edition of 49 Stories - Ernest Hemingway LUXURY CHOICE: Boxed set of blues harps (harmonicas) and instruction book CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: The Rolling Stones - Winter Producer: Isabel Sargent First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2004. Actor Bill Nighy is castaway by Sue Lawley. From James Brown to The Who. Actor Bill Nighy shares his castaway choices with Sue Lawley. From 2004. |
Cate Blanchett | 20240218 | 20240219 (BBC7) | From Count Basie to Gustav Mahler. Actor Cate Blanchett makes her music choices. With Lauren Laverne. Cate Blanchett is arguably the most celebrated Australian actor ever, winning two Academy Awards, three BAFTAs, three Golden Globes and dozens of other honours around the world. She grew up in Melbourne, and although she enjoyed music and drama at school, she initially had no plans to pursue a career as an actor. She started a degree course in economics and fine art, but dropped out after a year, and later won a place at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. She found international fame before she was 30, playing Elizabeth I in the highly-acclaimed film Elizabeth, winning an Oscar nomination and a BAFTA. Since then, she has appeared in more than 70 films and 20 stage productions. She won an Oscar and a BAFTA for playing Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator, directed by Martin Scorsese, and other notable roles include the elf leader Galadriel in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings series and a version of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. She won her second Oscar in 2014 for her performance in Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine. Her TV work includes the acclaimed series Mrs America, where she played the conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly, and she has recently taken on the role of an internationally famous composer and conductor in the film Tár, written and directed by Todd Field. Cate has received the Australian Centenary medal and is a Companion of the Order of Australia. She is married to the director and playwright Andrew Upton. DISC ONE: Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor – II composed by Gustav Mahler, performed by Berlin Philharmonic and conducted by Claudio Abbado DISC TWO: Bésame Mucho by Trio Los Panchos DISC THREE: Tannhäuser: Pilgrims' Chorus composed by Richard Wagner and performed by Norman Luboff Choir, New Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by Leopold Stokowski DISC FOUR: Go Tell the Women by Grinderman DISC FIVE: Proof by I am Kloot DISC SIX: Blow the Wind Southerly by Kathleen Ferrier DISC SEVEN: The Little Weaver Bird by Molly Drake DISC EIGHT: Lil' Darlin' by Count Basie And His Orchestra BOOK CHOICE: Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit LUXURY ITEM: Time CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Tannhäuser: Pilgrims' Chorus composed by Richard Wagner and performed by Norman Luboff Choir, New Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by Leopold Stokowski Presenter: Lauren Laverne Producer: Sarah Taylor First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2022. Cate Blanchett, actor, shares the soundtrack of her life with Lauren Laverne. From Count Basie to Gustav Mahler. Actor Cate Blanchett shares her castaway choices with Lauren Laverne. From 2022. Cate Blanchett is castaway by Lauren Laverne. Cate is arguably the most celebrated Australian actor ever, winning two Academy Awards, three BAFTAs, three Golden Globes and dozens of other honours around the world. First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2022. Actor Cate Blanchett is castaway by Lauren Laverne. |
Colin Firth | 20120923 | 20240204 (BBC7) 20240205 (BBC7) | Kirsty Young introduces an archive episode revisiting the castaway choices of a BAFTA and Academy Award winning actor. Colin Firth is castaway by Sue Lawley. He created an iconic moment in British TV history when, as Jane Austen's hero Mr Darcy, he emerged wet-shirted from his stately lake. To his surprise, he became a sex symbol, was dubbed the 'male Ursula Andress' and was voted Britain's Most Popular Actor in a BBC poll. He went on to send up the role on the big screen - as the ironically-named Mark Darcy, the brooding boyfriend of Bridget Jones. He always knew he wanted to act - from the moment when, as a five year old boy, he took on the role of Jack Frost at a school panto. He studied at the Drama Centre in London's Chalk Farm - where one of his teachers, Christopher Fettes, said he was by nature a poet and compared his acting to that of Paul Schofield. Married to an Italian woman and with two young sons, he now divides his time between life in London and in Italy. DISC ONE: We People Who Are Darker Than Blue - Curtis Mayfield DISC TWO: Odoo - Fela Kuti DISC THREE: Heart Attack and Vine - Tom Waits DISC FOUR: Opening of the Kyrie from Mozart's Mass in C Minor – The Monteverdi Choir with English Baroque Soloists, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner DISC FIVE: Lost Cause - Beck DISC SIX: The Stealer - Free DISC SEVEN: Willin' - Little Feat DISC EIGHT: Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3 in D minor, 4th movement - Maureen Forrester (soloist) with The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta BOOK CHOICE: Stories of Woody Allen LUXURY CHOICE: My guitar CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Opening of the Kyrie from Mozart's Mass in C Minor – The Monteverdi Choir with English Baroque Soloists, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner Desert Island Discs was created by Roy Plomley. Producer: Isabel Sargent First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in December 2005. From Curtis Mayfield to Mahler. Actor Colin Firth is castaway by Sue Lawley. From Curtis Mayfield to Gustav Mahler. Actor Colin Firth shares his castaway choices with Sue Lawley. From 2012. |
Imelda Staunton | 20240225 | 20240226 (BBC7) | One of the UK's most versatile and popular actresses, Imelda Staunton is castaway by Sue Lawley. Throughout her career she has consistently refused to be typecast, moving effortlessly from playing brassy Miss Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, to the oppressed Sonya in Uncle Vanya, to a grieving mother in Peter's Friends. She starred in Mike Leigh's production Vera Drake - playing the eponymous heroine, a 1950s housewife who unbeknownst to her family carried out illegal abortions. She won huge acclaim for her performance, including an Oscar nomination and a BAFTA award for Best Actress. Imelda Staunton was born in Archway, London, in 1956. Her mother Bridie was a hairdresser, and the family lived over her shop, whilst Imelda's father worked on the roads. It was an elocution and drama teacher at her school, Jacqueline Stoker, who encouraged her talent, adapting plays for her and putting her in for school drama competitions. She also encouraged Imelda to apply for drama school. At the time, Imelda had never heard of RADA - but she was offered a place there and studied alongside Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson and Timothy Spall. DISC ONE: Lonnie Donegan - Frankie & Johnny DISC TWO: Elvis Presley - All Shook Up DISC THREE: London Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult – Handel's For unto us a Child is born (from Messiah) DISC FOUR: Édith Piaf - Hymne À L'Amour DISC FIVE: Julie Covington & Ian Charleson - I'll Know DISC SIX: Bette Midler - Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy DISC SEVEN: Bridie Staunton/Maria Sonia - Reels and Jigs DISC EIGHT: Alison Krauss - Down to the River to Pray BOOK CHOICE: A book on astronomy LUXURY CHOICE: Modelling clay and tools CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Julie Covington & Ian Charleson - I'll Know Producer: Leanne Buckle First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2005. Actress Imelda Staunton is castaway by Sue Lawley. From Handel and Elvis Presley. Actress Imelda Staunton shares her castaway choices with Sue Lawley. From May 2005. |