Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A British politician known as 'the Crab' for his sideways career moves, later Secretary of State for National Heritage.
On the island
Eight records
Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85: IV. Allegro – Moderato – Allegro, ma non troppo
Part of the last movement of Elgar's cello concerto, performed by André Navarra with the Halle Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli.
Now Take My Heart (Så tag mit hjerte)
A little song by Hugo Alfvén sung by Jussi Björling.
Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (arr. Myra Hess)
The last thing Dinu Lipatti ever played in public, arranged by Dame Myra Hess.
Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92: IV. Allegro con brio
Towards the end of the last movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham.
The Nutcracker, Op. 71: Pas de deux (Act 2)
The great pas de deux from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker.
Symphony No. 5 in C-sharp minor: IV. Adagietto
The adagietto from Mahler's Fifth Symphony, conducted by Klaus Tennstedt.
Mass in C minor, K. 427: Credo
Part of the Credo of Mozart's Great Mass in C minor.
Tristan und Isolde: Mild und leise (Liebestod)Favourite
Isolde's Liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, from the 1966 Bayreuth Festival.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:15Are you one of those rare members of government who doesn't particularly want to be prime minister?
Oh, I certainly don't want to be Prime Minister. I never have, and I'm delighted that John Major is Prime Minister. I was one of those who worked hard to get him there, and he's there with my blessing, and long may he reign.
Presenter asks
6:45Mrs. Thatcher was reluctant to promote you, wasn't she? She did leave you moving fairly sideways for an awful long time.
Well, I don't know whether she did or whether she didn't, you know, and it no longer matters really, does it? … I remember one particular stressful point in a meeting. She leant across the table and she said, 'Did you ever practise at the Chancery Bar, David?' And I said, 'No, Prime Minister, I didn't practise at the Chancery Bar.' 'No, David,' she said, 'You'd never have made a living at the Chancery Bar.' … I think the great thing about politics is, you know, if you can dish it out, you've got to be able to take it.
Presenter asks
13:47When you got to Cambridge, did you feel, as people did in those days, inferior to the public schoolboys who dominated the place?
The keepsakes
The book
Thomas Hardy
I've always loved Thomas Hardy and I think I'd like to take the Mayor of Casterbridge.
Oh, there's no doubt about that. I mean, I think when you've come up from a little country grammar school, you know, it plainly wasn't Eton or Winchester. And you've certainly noticed the layers of polish on some of these other fellows.
Presenter asks
17:09Now you're Minister for Fun. Do you mind that title, or do you think it diminishes the office in some way?
No, I think I brought it on my own head really, because when I went in to see John Major that Saturday after the election, they said to me, 'Are you going to be Minister of Fun?' … I said, 'Oh, I think life may be a bit of fun now.' And so I brought it on my own head, really.
Presenter asks
21:39The BBC's charter comes up for renewal. Isn't the problem that the BBC will always mean different things to different people, and somebody has to decide what its future should be? Who should that be?
Well, I think in the end the government will have to decide, but I'm anxious that we should decide after a proper debate … I'm concerned is that if the BBC is a national institution, then plainly all parts of the nation have to get something out of it.
Presenter asks
29:39You've said there's life after politics, and you want to get there while you're still young enough to have some of it. What kind of thing do you mean? What do you want to do?
Well, that's ill formed in my mind, but I think to have time and space for the other things … In politics today it is very high pressure and you're expected to be highly effective in your constituency … I just don't think you can see yourself on that treadmill for ever.
“I have never in my life ever focused on a particular job. I enjoy politics. I think politics is important. I think it's important that good people go into politics and work hard and try and achieve something. But I've never sat down and thought in five years' time I can be X and in ten years' time I can be Y.”
“I'm interested in a lot of other things, and I don't think one should have an all-consuming interest in politics. I think that one should have what, well I think it's Denis Healey's phrase, isn't it? A hinterland. And that means that if one day one's political career goes pop, you've something else to do with your life.”
“My father is, and certainly was then, very keen on music. Of course, he was a well-educated man, and there were lots of books around. And I always read a lot. … I was driven quite readily into the lap of the book, or rather the book in the lap, and I read a lot and of course went out and about a lot.”
“I used to have nightmares about it. I always used to imagine I would come in flat and would din this first note into my head and was quite neurotic about it. It came as a great shock to me when I was at school in my mid-teens and we had a school debate and I made a speech and suddenly realized that none of the same problems overcame me then.”
“I'd like to take a telephone. … if I can't have it wired up, because I love to talk to my friends on the telephone, I'll have it like Linus's blanket and carry it round with me for comfort.”