Elaine Paige — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

Find a castaway Most requested Browse the archive About Report a fault

Tuning in…

desert is.land

“And if you could take only one…” — a semantic wireless tuned to the Desert Island Discs archive.

The listing

Find a castaway
Most requested
Browse the archive
About

Transmission

Broadcasting since 1942
Long wave 198 kHz
An unofficial archive companion
Report a fault

Not affiliated with the BBC · Built for the love of the long wave · Made by Daniel Hails

Elaine Paige — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

Find a castaway Most requested Browse the archive About Report a fault

Artist

Elaine Paige

15 episodes

Chosen over the decades

15

Total castaways

1980s

Peak decade

5

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Beryl Reid
Beryl Vertue
Dame Vera Lynn
Dr Jane Goodall
Fred Dibnah
Gerry Robinson
Isabel Allende
James Prior
John Motson
Joseph Allen
Professor Heinz Wolff
Sir Malcolm Walker
Sir Ranulph Fiennes
Sir Trevor Nunn
Tim Rice

Sir Malcolm Walker
Malcolm Walker on his father's foot being crushed by a coal cutter
Castaway · 8 January 2023Lauren Laverne
John Motson
John Motson on Brian Clough giving him both barrels
Castaway · 17 June 2018Kirsty Young
Beryl Vertue

desert is.land

“And if you could take only one…” — a semantic wireless tuned to the Desert Island Discs archive.

The listing

Find a castaway
Most requested
Browse the archive
About

Transmission

Broadcasting since 1942
Long wave 198 kHz
An unofficial archive companion
Report a fault

Not affiliated with the BBC · Built for the love of the long wave · Made by Daniel Hails

Beryl Vertue on playing cards with matches for money with Tony Hancock

Castaway · 20 January 2013Kirsty Young

05°00′S 086°25′W

Tim Rice

How a rejected idea led Tim Rice to meet Andrew Lloyd Webber

Castaway · 27 June 2004Sue Lawley

Sir Trevor Nunn

17°41′S 148°54′W

Sir Trevor Nunn

Trevor Nunn on the fragment about Grizabella that inspired the song Memory

Castaway · 26 January 2003Sue Lawley

Dr Jane Goodall

21°07′S 015°07′W

Dr Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall on the moment a chimpanzee squeezed her hand

Castaway · 9 January 2000Sue Lawley

Professor Heinz Wolff

21°02′S 075°15′W

Professor Heinz Wolff

Heinz Wolff on making Richard Dimbleby squeal with a swallowed radio transmitter

Castaway · 4 January 1998Sue Lawley

09°15′S 143°21′W

Gerry Robinson

Gerry Robinson on his mother asking if he had his own office

Castaway · 2 June 1996Sue Lawley

12°08′S 056°23′W

Isabel Allende

Isabel Allende on her family playing the roles from The House of the Spirits

Castaway · 12 September 1993Sue Lawley

05°20′S 170°43′W

Fred Dibnah

Fred Dibnah on having his divorce filmed

Castaway · 1 December 1991Sue Lawley

09°58′S 127°47′W

Dame Vera Lynn

Vera Lynn on the Dutchman who hid in a hay rick to hear her banned broadcasts

Castaway · 3 September 1989Sue Lawley

01°27′S 057°39′W

James Prior

How James Prior challenged the minister of food over his school pig club

Castaway · 11 January 1987Michael Parkinson

19°21′S 038°06′W

Joseph Allen

Joseph Allen on the one-second transition from three times his weight to zero in orbit

Castaway · 13 April 1985Roy Plomley

Sir Ranulph Fiennes

00°45′S 126°47′W

Sir Ranulph Fiennes

Ranulph Fiennes on the moment he saw the ship's masts after three years

Castaway · 29 October 1983Roy Plomley

13°14′S 132°04′W

Beryl Reid

How dyslexia forced Beryl Reid to work twenty times harder

Castaway · 5 February 1983Roy Plomley