Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Anatomist and anthropologist whose special interest is the study of primates.
On the island
Eight records
my earliest memory of I suppose a pop tune… used to play this interminably
Falling in Love AgainFavourite
I suppose it was my first love and my last love, as far as I am concerned
Choir of King's College Chapel, Cambridge
I remember walking through the streets … to find King's College Chapel … a very emotional time
Howard Keel and the Drury Lane Company
Being so impressed at the professionalism, the punch, the enthusiasm of their production
a tune to remind me of those balmy days when we're trying to be a scientist in the day and a magician in the evening
Whenever I lectured on the hands, I would always play a few bars of this record at the beginning of the lecture
We heard um the next record very many times during that period … and in fact it is the battle hymn of the republic
Igor Stravinsky conducting the Columbia Symphony Orchestra
it would be a joy to have that in my collection
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:31Could you endure loneliness?
I think quite easily. I've never been lonely. I've never … had the opportunity to be lonely. I've been solitary. … I enjoy my own company oddly enough.
Presenter asks
1:05What would you be happiest to have got away from?
Oh, silly things really, like Sunday newspapers and sugar tongs. … things that annoy one.
Presenter asks
5:10What was your first ambition as a boy?
My first ambition was to be an actor. … But my mother would never allow me to do this because she said it just wasn't a sound enough pattern of life. I had to be either a cobbler or a medical student. … so I became a medical student.
Presenter asks
10:20How do you think man will evolve in the future to meet our changing environment?
I don't know that he really will do much evolving in the future. … I think it depends what happens. I think he's living on the edge of danger … as far as physical change is concerned, I don't think he's going to change very much. … it may well be that … men and women are growing much more alike.
The keepsakes
The book
Erskine Childers
The Riddle of the Sands, which to my mind is the finest um spy story that's ever been written.
The luxury
A Charles I. Silver Tankard to drink my cocoanut milk from. Just one touch of gracious living.
Presenter asks
16:07Can you recall one or two particularly successful television programmes that came out very well?
I don't know whether their successor is wonderful for me … I introduced [Horizon] for a season … it was very exciting … I remember one television programme that I must mention … on the hands … I did all my heavy stuff … the opening music … was this … 'You need hands' … became very, very fond of Max's hands.
Presenter asks
18:18How would you manage on this desert island? Are you an efficient sort of man at looking after yourself?
Not bad. … Never any fishing, no. … I think shorter fishing I would be moderately handy most other things. … No, I don't think [I would try to escape]. I think I should be enjoying it.
“I've never been lonely. I've never at that say I've never had the opportunity to be lonely.”
“You could almost smell the smells of India, sort of a combination I always think of patchouli, and drains, but an unforgettable sort of smell.”
“I suppose it was my first love and my last love, as far as I am concerned.”
“Being so impressed at the professionalism, the punch, the enthusiasm of their production.”
“A Charles I Silver Tankard to drink my cocoanut milk from. Just one touch of gracious living.”