Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Politician who became one of the youngest foreign secretaries in history and a founder of the Social Democratic Party.
On the island
Eight records
London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult
Elgas the best, I think, British composer. And since I can't have lots of his work, I've chosen the Enigma variations because that will give me a sort of poppy ready of much of his style and skill.
Morriston Orpheus Choir, conducted by Eurfryn John
Well, that, I suppose, is she a nostalgia. But there is something about Wales the here, the longing. It infuriates me lots of things about the Welsh and uh Wales, but I am Welsh and I know I am and when we go back to Wales there's an expectancy about it and when you leave there's a sadness, so I've chosen there'll be a welcome.
When I Was a Lad (from HMS Pinafore)
John Reed with the New Symphony Orchestra of London, conducted by Isidore Godfrey
I love Gilbert Sullivan. We sing it at the top of our voices in the car, on boats. I can sing it on by myself, on a boat. And the reason I've chosen this record is it it then would have been imma unimaginable that I would ever become a politician. and be answering to the whips, and also that I would become, as I suppose I did in a very minor way, The ruler of the Queen's Navy, because I became Navy Minister...
Interesting Facts (from The Secret Policeman's Ball)
Well, I've chosen for this, I'm going to be desperate to laugh. I mean, you know, this is, I think, an essential part of it on this island. And I've chosen a piece from the Secret Policeman's Ball, which was done for Amnesty International, and it has Peter Cook and John Clees.
I am, yes. So I've chosen a record which was it w reminds me of her. I mean, it's the um Little Brown Jug from the Glen Miller story. I love that film. I the tears stream down my face when you see her listening to the band playing this tune, knowing that her husband has uh Been killed because his plane disappeared over Germany during the war.
I had great difficulty choosing which one, I may say, because I've always liked their music. And I eventually settled for Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds because the boys loved this when they were young. We had great difficulty in making a decision as to what we should call our daughter. And it was uh Gareth and Tristan, really, who chose her name. They said Lucy.
Mack the Knife (from The Threepenny Opera)
Well, the seventh uh record I mean, quite honestly, one's going to get desperate for a woman on this island. And uh I thought w what really sensual that record? And I went through all all the normal ones, uh Edith Piaff, um, Dori Prevan. I've ended up with choosing Lottie Lenya.
Piano Concerto No. 21 in C major, K. 467 (Andante)Favourite
Ilana Vered with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Uri Segal
I'll choose a piece from my favourite composer, Mozart. And this is I agonized over. I wanted Jeannie Zuckerman playing the flute because we know her and Pinky Zuckerman playing the violin or both of them together. I wanted Dennis Brain's horn concerto. I've ended up with a piece my uh father-in-law, who sadly died, gave to Tristan when he was only seven, and he fell in love with Mozart.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:43Are you a natural loner, do you think?
No, I I think I love my family and friends close friends too much.
Presenter asks
4:07You're allowed to be glamorous and good looking, but at the same time you have to accept the adjectives arrogant, abrasive, ruthless, vain. Is there any truth in in those?
I'm sure there's truth in it. I don't think any criticism is uh without truth. I think you have to live with that. I would say to everybody, we have to take somebody warts and all. We have a tendency to want people's good points and then not have their deficiencies. But a lot of it is a caricature and you get used to it.
Presenter asks
5:29What sort of a family were you born into?
Well, my father was a family doctor in Plymouth, where I was born. And my mother was a dentist, though she wasn't working then, but she w came went back to dentistry during the war. My father went off as soon as the war started... And I have one sister who started by being a nurse, and then became a social worker and is and is now a psychiatric social worker... and we're a very close family and always have been.
The keepsakes
The book
All Our Secrets (A personal poetry anthology)
David Owen (Compiler)
I love poetry and from a quite early age I've been collecting my own anthology... I couldn't be without that.
The luxury
I love relaxing in a bath and I think the thing I'll object to most in this island is sand everywhere and I want to go and have a bath and to have a nice long hot bath so I can stretch out and sit there reading my anthology and moving the taps with my toes and topping up with endless hot water.
Presenter asks
8:36What did [your grandfather] teach you?
Oh, I think he taught me about life. I mean I think he must have sparked an interest in Christianity. He was one of the most human men... He was a man of learning... I taught me how to read. He taught me how to take the knocks of life and come back uh smiling.
Presenter asks
18:43How did you come... to give up medicine, which you loved so much... and switch across into politics?
Well, I fought a seat uh for Labour in North Devon, uh Torrington, and nobody, you know, that wasn't serious. Uh why I took the seat on to this day I can't really understand, except I was always worried about becoming a medical vegetable and seeing doctors completely absorbed in medicine and not even reading the newspapers... And hey, Presto, I won it, and uh suddenly politics started. I went on working as a doctor for two years until I went into the government.
Presenter asks
30:06Are you prepared to use the word that politicians rarely use, which is never [to joining the Tory party]?
Yes, I've said I will never be a Tory. I mean, it isn't the end of the world for me if my political life is over. I don't actually think it is. Something tells me something is going to turn up. There's lots of things to do in politics other than just be Prime Minister. Influence and power are closely related. You hope to exercise power again, but it's not the end of the world.
“One of the dangers of being, as I probably was, overpromoted, uh is that you do spark off a hell of a lot of jealousies.”
“I went into politics virtually by accident, and I have undoubtedly, I suppose, taken greater risks because of it, because I've had the security that I can always go back to medicine, which I love, earn more money, and achieve a great deal of personal satisfaction.”
“Mrs Thatcher has been a formidable figure in British politics and to deny that is to deny fact. Also she has been part of a recovery in Britain's economy and in our self esteem. and for that she deserves, and will get, tribute from history. Unfortunately, there's another side of it, like she has her warts, and her warts are that she has divided the country, she has damaged the public services...”