Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A furniture designer and craftsman known for marquetry; a royal family member who trained under John Makepeace and runs his own workshop.
On the island
Eight records
I chose it mainly because it reminds me very much of working in the workshop at school, and I just I just like the tune.
Going back to my early days with my mother, we had a vast collection of forty-five RPM records. We very often listened to those or danced around them and um to me this one was a very symbolic record of listening with a reason, with a cautionary tale.
Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor, K. 491Favourite
Alfred Brendel, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras
Well, I tried to find something that reminded me of my mother and going into her room she's always playing Radio three and listening to classical music. And I particularly like to choose Mozart's Piano Concerto, number twenty four in C minor.
My father took the photograph when he was doing the photographs for Death on the Nile and Jane Birkin was in that and she was married to Serge Ginsberg. And he took the photograph for the album cover.
I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
I chose that particularly because, again, it reminded me of Happy Times. In fact the whole album is a a constant in my holiday record collection.
reminds me of uh First Meeting My Wife, Serena, and I think it's a beautiful song.
Sit Down, You're Rockin' the Boat
This is a record that is full of memories... and again something that we played in the old shop round the piano that we'd made.
John Lee Hooker & Carlos Santana
We've had it for a long time and it reminds me of very good friends having a good time.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:46What is it about wood and working with it, David, that you find so attractive?
I think ever since I sort of picked up a piece of wood, first of all, every piece of wood is different. The nature of the wood, the the way that you work it, the knowledge that you need to build up to use it properly. It's a warm material, it's it's very tactile and people love to touch it.
Presenter asks
8:01Do you think [your success] would have happened if you weren't who you are?
Well, hopefully, we're doing something that again makes people go, oh, that's not exactly what we get every day. And so we do offer something quite different.
Presenter asks
15:11Were you always determined... to earn your own living? Was that always exactly what the plan was?
Very much so. We were always so keen to get on to the next stage that... we never considered having a gap here or going on and taking experience somewhere else.
The keepsakes
Presenter asks
26:50Why do you think it is that you've managed [to earn a living without being accused of exploiting your royal connection] where others, other members of the royal family, haven't?
Well I'm very fortunate in what I do. Cabinet making, woodworking is, I think, an incredible profession to have been able to have a career in... you can see very clearly what we do. We make furniture. We don't hide anything. We always have the door open to anybody who wants to come in and see. So there are no secrets about how we work or how things are produced.
“To me the joy is to run your hands along the outside and underneath to see that the carpenter's finished underneath properly.”
“I l I love the fact that when you're designing something, that it should have some kind of element of wit about it.”
“I think it's an incredibly gratifying career to have. And speed is the real thing that you need to be good at to be competitive. You need to make things at a certain speed.”