Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Space scientist who led a team working on the Gemini Observatory in Chile.
On the island
Eight records
And that's our song, we played it at our wedding. When I hear it, I think of us sort of dancing in the moonlight.
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F major
To me this was sort of like a voyage of discovery because I got a record for some reason from the library and I was amazed that something that was purely instrumental could conjure up that much emotion and it made me cry.
First and Second Laws of Thermodynamics
And I love it because it's quintessentially British and it's science and fun and it's Flanders and Swan. And it was introduced to me by my physics teacher, Mr. Vesti.
Ah, next, a piece of music which I find amazingly strong. It was introduced to me by my sister Helen and it's by Libby Cifra and it's called Something Inside So Strong.
When my father died, I didn't know what I could do. Also, he was such a wonderful man, I didn't want him forgotten. And I was looking for some music we could play at the funeral, and I bumped into this track, and it was so poignant and so sad.
AsFavourite
I love Stevie Wonder because it was part of my upbringing. With me and my three sisters, we just used to listen to Stevie Wonder incessantly and I think he was sort of a role model.
I was saying earlier, I love music that I can just dance to. And this is one of those tracks. I think Marcel and I make a really good combination because he's... down to earth and very stable and I'm pinging all over the place, you know, bouncing off the stars.
And um it always conjures up real emotion because I think the organisation Amnesty International used to use this track. One of the things I think I've realised as I was growing up was that people can do nasty things to other people, but it's not just those people out there that can do that.
In conversation
Presenter asks
5:57Why had your parents come [from Nigeria]?
My father, I think, came over because he wanted a better life. When he came over, he was married to my mother, and he had one daughter, my eldest sister, Susan, and she was born in Nigeria, but all the rest of us were born here. I think when you're born in a colony of the UK, I think he was brought up to think that the UK was a a panacea. It was the homeland almost, because that's what he was taught in schools. And he wanted to study medicine. And I think he came over to study medicine and he wanted a sort of a career as a doctor.
Presenter asks
6:43What was it you said when you said I'm going to be a boy better than any boy?
Well, because I always had this feeling that he wanted a boy. ... Oh, no, he did. He was quite open. I think it's quite a sort of Nigerian thing, you know, to have a son, to carry on the traditions, to take the baton, really. And so I wanted to demonstrate that even though I was a girl, I could be just as good as any boy. And it probably drove me further than I would have gone anyway.
Presenter asks
8:5913 schools in 14 years. I read it and I didn't quite believe my eyes. It's true, is it?
Yes. We moved around a lot. It was mainly because my parents split up and there was a sort of a long, ongoing custody battle. And sometimes my mother would have custody of us, and then sometimes my father. And it would swing to and fro. It was a very acrimonious break-up. Yes. As a four-year-old, I was amazed at how much I remember and how much I was aware of what was going on.
The keepsakes
The book
Olaf Stapledon
I haven't actually read it. I've read a bit of it, but I'm almost saving it. This is a book about a man that goes out into a field and lies down and looks up at the stars and projects his mind into a journey through the stars. And the likelihood of me actually making it to Mars or anywhere like that is probably getting slimmer and slimmer. And so the idea of making this journey with your mind I think is a fantastic one. I wouldn't feel contained by the island then. I'd have the universe to play with.
The luxury
What I'd like to do is sit on the beach and I'm I'm assuming the beach is in sort of the southern hemisphere, 'cause then you look into the heart of the Milky Way. And then I'd be there with my telescope and every night I'd sort of pick a new star. Lie down on the starry beach, look at that star, and say, Okay, that's where I'm going to make my mind journey tonight.
Presenter asks
11:28What impact do you think all this transience had on you?
I've wondered that for a long time, and I think I have a horrible um a look at things through rose tinted spectacles, and I don't see it as bad at all. I think it made me very adaptable.
Presenter asks
20:28How did you feel when [your father] died?
I couldn't believe it. ... And so I mourned my father, but I mourned the father that I used to know, and the father of later years was of more distant, more bitter.
Presenter asks
30:40How has [your childhood] developed or not your relationship with your mother? Are you close to her?
Um getting closer. When I was living with my father, I didn't have much of a relationship with my mother at all. Although when I was living with my mother, I got on w with her very well. ... But now my relationship with my mother is developing and I know her a lot better and I like that.
“I think I am a bit of a lunatic. ... Literally, yes. I find it mesmerizing. It would be a nasty place to live. There's no atmosphere and you'd have to walk around in space suits all the time. But at the same time, it's so beautiful.”
“I think I didn't realise it at the time. But I was attracted to emotionless states. So, for instance, I loved Star Trek because it was sort of a multicultural group travelling to the stars and having adventures. But the person I liked the most wasn't Captain Kirk, it was Doctor Spock, sort of very distant, emotional, very controlled.”
“I think someone says, you can't do that. I think, oh, oh, oh, can't I? And I'll focus and try and get it done.”