Desert Island Discs

BBC Radio 4
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Jul 10, 1994 • 37min

Rabbi Hugo Gryn

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Rabbi Hugo Gryn. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how his happy and secure childhood in Czechoslovakia was devastated by Nazism and how he survived two years in concentration camps. He'll also be discussing how his commitment to bettering relations between people of differing faiths is rooted in his experience of persecution during the Second World War.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Kol Haoalm Kulo Gesher Tzar M' Od by Israel Zohar Book: Biography of Churchill by Martin Gilbert Luxury: A parking space
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Jul 3, 1994 • 36min

Derek Jameson

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the journalist and broadcaster Derek Jameson. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his early poverty-stricken years in an East End foster home and his discovery, at the age of eight, that one of the girls in the home he had thought of as his older sister was, in fact, his mother. He'll also be describing how an aptitude for reading and writing, the encouragement of a concerned teacher and his own determination led him into journalism, where he started his career as an outdoor messenger at Reuters. From there, he went on to edit three Fleet Street newspapers and more recently, to become a popular radio personality.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Tosca Aria - E Lucevan Le Stelle by Giacomo Puccini Book: The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Luxury: Word processor
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Jun 26, 1994 • 39min

John Drummond

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the Director of the Promenade Concerts John Drummond. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his years at the BBC, starting as a general trainee, leaving it to become Director of the Edinburgh Festival and returning as Controller of Music and then Controller of Radio Three. He'll be discussing his passionate attachment to fine music and musicianship and his conviction that such music should not just be heard, but must be properly listened to.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Soave Sia Il Vento from Cosi fan Tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Encyclopaedia of the libretti of all the well-known operas Luxury: Small theatre
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Jun 19, 1994 • 37min

Brian Sewell

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the controversial art critic Brian Sewell. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how he did not go to school until he was 11, hated it when he got there, but managed, much against the wishes of the school, to teach himself history of art. He'll also be describing how he felt when his friend and mentor, Sir Anthony Blunt, the Keeper of the Queen's Pictures, was denounced as a spy in 1979. Sewell was thrust into the public eye as Blunt's protector. He's been there ever since - attacking what he regards as the excesses of contemporary art, and attracting much criticism himself as a result of his attitudes.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Fidelio Aria - 'Komm Hoffnung' by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Songs from the 1880s with piano accompaniment by Franz Schubert Luxury: Pieta sculpture by Michelangelo
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Jun 12, 1994 • 34min

Zoe Wanamaker

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the actress Zoe Wanamaker. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the roles she has taken on in theatre and television - in Love Hurts, Prime Suspect and, more recently, in the West End hit Dead Funny. She'll also be describing how she has tried to cope with the death of her father - the distinguished actor Sam Wanamaker - at the end of last year.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Requiem Offertorio by Giuseppe Verdi Book: Greek Myths by Robert Graves Luxury: Samson tobacco and liquorice Rizla papers
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Jun 5, 1994 • 38min

Milton Shulman

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Milton Shulman. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how he came to Britain from Toronto as an Intelligence Officer during the Second World War, after which he wrote a book called Defeat in the West, which was based on interviews he conducted with defeated German officers. It was this book which brought him to the attention of Lord Beaverbrook, leading to his promotion from humble diarist on the London Evening Standard to its film critic. He then went on to become the paper's chief theatre critic - a job he did for 38 years, during which time he reckons to have been to 5,500 first nights, but, to his mind, no great plays.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Capriccio Italien by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Book: The Cookery Book by Constance Spry Luxury: Tennis racket and ball machine
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May 29, 1994 • 34min

Peter Scudamore

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the jockey Peter Scudamore. The son of a jockey who had won the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup - Scu, as he is known throughout the racing fraternity - resisted all attempts to turn him into an estate agent, and followed in his father's footsteps. Having broken nearly every bone in his body, he retired in 1993 after a career which encompassed 1,678 National Hunt victories and the title of Champion Jockey a record eight times. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about jockeys, jumping and his new career, journalism.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Laid by James Book: Book of Verse by Rudyard Kipling Luxury: Snorkeling equipment
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May 22, 1994 • 35min

Britt Ekland

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the actress Britt Ekland. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her miraculous transformation from an overweight, buck-toothed ugly duckling with large ears to a beautiful peroxided teenager. She'll also be describing her turbulent marriage to Peter Sellers and her passionate affair with the rock star Rod Stewart.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Mother by John Lennon & Plastic Ono Band Book: Recent editions of magazines, e.g. Vanity Fair; Vogue Luxury: Case of Evian water filled with champagne
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May 15, 1994 • 38min

Kate Adie

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the BBC's Chief News Correspondent Kate Adie. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the pleasures and perils of a job which has taken her to some of the world's most dangerous trouble spots. She'll also be describing how she felt when she was recently reunited with her natural mother after having been happily brought up by her adoptive family in Sunderland.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Symphony No 6 In E Minor by Ralph Vaughan Williams Book: Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Luxury: Large Victorian bath with claw feet
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May 8, 1994 • 38min

Sir John Wilson

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is a man who has devoted his life to helping those who share his own disability - blindness. Sir John Wilson lost his sight at the age of 12 in an accident in his school chemistry laboratory. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how, undaunted, he went on to win a scholarship to Oxford, and then, at the age of 30, mortgaged his home and set up the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind. Since then, he has travelled an average of 50,000 miles a year, helping to restore or save the sight of millions of people the world over. Last year he was awarded the Albert Schweizer International Award for Medicine. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Mass in B Minor: The Sanctus by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: A chess strategy book (in braille) Luxury: A sonic probe

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