Desert Island Discs

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the former Chairman of Granada Television Sir Denis Forman. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the delights and disasters of a highly eccentric upbringing in Scotland and about his experiences in Italy during the war, where he lost a leg. Also, as the first producer of What the Papers Say, and the originator of the highly popular Jewel in the Crown, he'll be discussing the difficulties of making television programmes which are simultaneously popular and good.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Concerto No 21 in C Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Raj Quartet by Paul Scott Luxury: Satellite dish and TV set

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is theatre and television director Ronald Eyre. A man of great versatility, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his many outstanding operatic and theatrical productions, as well as his school-teaching days, and his childhood in the Yorkshire mining village of Mapplewell. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Magic Flute - The Trio Soll Ich, Teurer by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: A talking book by Judi Dench Luxury: Supply of flower bulbs

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is Britain's most distinguished ballet mistress Dame Ninette de Valois. She first appeared on the professional stage more than 75 years ago, and her contribution to the development of ballet in this country has been phenomenal. Now in her nineties, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how she became the first director of the Vic Wells Ballet School in 1931 - a school which grew and changed over the years to become the Royal Ballet in 1956.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Nutcracker Suite by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Book: A collection of poems Luxury: An everlasting bottle of sleeping pills

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is the leader of the Liberal Democrats Paddy Ashdown. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his earliest memories of a childhood in India and a subsequent career which took him through the Royal Marines, into the diplomatic service and finally into the House of Commons just seven and half years ago.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Che Gelida Manina (from La Boheme) by Giacomo Puccini Book: The collected works by John Donne Luxury: Laptop computer

The castaway in Desert Island Discs is a German politician who became an English academic. The Germany of Professor Ralf Dahrendorf's youth was that of the Third Reich but he, like his family, was fiercely opposed to the Nazi regime, and suffered imprisonment for his views. After the war, his career took him from Minister of Foreign Affairs under Willi Brandt, to the European Commission in Brussels, and then to London, where he was Director of the London School of Economics during a particularly turbulent era of its history.He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his academic and political career as well as his formative years in Germany; years which he believes shaped his subsequent stern and much-admired defence of libertarian principles.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Blueberry Hill by Louis Armstrong Book: A book of Greek poetry Luxury: Dice to test the luck of a ship rescuing him

A variety of labels can be stuck on this week's Desert Island Discs castaway - from rock musician to experimental artist, from visual sculptor to composer and intellectual guru of the rock world. He is Brian Eno, and he started his career by making music playing with tape recorders, then went on to play with bands who rehearsed far more often than they performed, graduating through to the Portsmouth Sinfonia, and ending up with the hugely successful group Roxy Music.Since his Roxy Music days, he has gone on to musical collaboration with David Bowie and production of the group U2. Brian Eno will be talking to Sue Lawley about his musical and artistic activities in the mainstream, as well as on the fringes of, international cultural life.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Lord Don't Forget About Me by Dorothy Love Coates Book: Contingency, Irony & Solidarity by Richard Rorty Luxury: Radio telescope

The castaway in Desert Island Discs is a man who has directed some of the most popular and memorable films in the history of cinema - High Noon, From Here to Eternity, Oklahoma! and A Man for All Seasons. He is Fred Zinnemann, and he will be talking to Sue Lawley about his boyhood at the beginning of the century in imperial Vienna, his thwarted ambitions to be a musician, and the years he spent working in Hollywood where he directed, and on several occasions discovered, some of the best-known names in the film world, including Marlon Brando, Montgomery Clift and Frank Sinatra.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Magnificat by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Luxury: Very large self renewing bottle of scotch

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is jazz singer Adelaide Hall. Now in her 80s and still performing, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her days at the Cotton Club in New York, the Moulin Rouge in Paris and the secrets of her enduring popularity.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Sophisticated Lady by Duke Ellington Book: A book of American history Luxury: Box of seeds

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is a man who has, on occasion, been described as the Mr Fixit of British public life. Arnold Goodman started off his professional life as a bright young North London solicitor, and, through a capacity for skilful negotiation and judicious advice, became the confidante of some of the most eminent political figures of post-war Britain. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his experience of Prime Ministers and politics, as well as his passion for opera, which, as a director of the Royal Opera House, he has been able to indulge to the full.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: O Namenlose Freude by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: Who's Who Luxury: An enormous box of chocolate ginger

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is television cook Keith Floyd. Renowned for his garrulous charm as much as for his culinary expertise, he'll be describing the chronicle of failure that dogged him through spells in the Army, as a cub reporter, as an antiques dealer and as a restaurateur. He'll also be talking to Sue Lawley about his passion for good food, music and the elusive nature of romantic happiness.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Hey Jude by The Beatles Book: Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake Luxury: Pair of handmade blue suede shoes