85 episodes

• Jojo Moyes

  01°31′S 009°21′W

  Jojo Moyes

  Jojo Moyes on discovering in her twenties that her parents planned to have her adopted

  Castaway · 28 December 2025·Lauren Laverne

• Cher

  14°43′S 171°14′W

  Cher

  Cher on the entire audience laughing at her name in Silkwood

  Castaway · 15 December 2024·Lauren Laverne

• Professor Tim Spector

  05°09′S 128°04′W

  Professor Tim Spector

  Tim Spector on the helicopter crash that caught fire

  Castaway · 31 March 2024·Lauren Laverne

• Greta Gerwig

  18°26′S 095°27′W

  Greta Gerwig

  Greta Gerwig on the seventh-grade math test story her teacher pinned up

  Castaway · 17 December 2023·Lauren Laverne

• Baz Luhrmann

  03°26′S 155°00′W

  Baz Luhrmann

  Baz Luhrmann on thinking Romeo + Juliet would be small and easy

  Castaway · 27 November 2022·Lauren Laverne

• Paul Costelloe

  07°06′S 026°28′W

  Paul Costelloe

  How a borrowed skirt helped Paul Costelloe meet his wife

  Castaway · 4 July 2021·Lauren Laverne

• Mark Strong

  16°32′S 050°37′W

  Mark Strong

  How three chords in a magazine led Mark Strong to start a band

  Castaway · 7 March 2021·Lauren Laverne

• Sir Cliff Richard

  17°56′S 123°36′W

  Sir Cliff Richard

  How a police raid left Cliff Richard weeping like a child

  Castaway · 20 December 2020·Lauren Laverne

• Arsène Wenger

  13°18′S 158°08′W

  Arsène Wenger

  Arsène Wenger on relaxing by watching other managers suffer

  Castaway · 22 November 2020·Lauren Laverne

• John Cooper Clarke

  00°27′S 155°42′W

  John Cooper Clarke

  John Cooper Clarke on persuading Bernard Manning to book him with a poem about a punch-up

  Castaway · 21 July 2019·Lauren Laverne

• Tom Daley

  17°17′S 076°19′W

  Tom Daley

  Tom Daley on freezing on the way up to his third dive at age 12

  Castaway · 30 September 2018·Kirsty Young

• Dame Katherine Grainger

  08°40′S 010°49′W

  Dame Katherine Grainger

  Katherine Grainger on the day she failed to make the senior rowing team despite being convinced she would

  Castaway · 26 February 2017·Kirsty Young

• Bruce Springsteen

  22°39′S 069°38′W

  Bruce Springsteen

  Bruce Springsteen on putting on his father's clothes on stage

  Castaway · 18 December 2016·Kirsty Young

• Michael Bublé

  16°46′S 152°13′W

  Michael Bublé

  Michael Bublé on looping a song on cassette as a 10-year-old

  Castaway · 30 October 2016·Kirsty Young

• Jilly Cooper

  01°24′S 155°07′W

  Jilly Cooper

  Jilly Cooper on playing Little Muck

  Castaway · 31 July 2016·Kirsty Young

• Barrie Rutter

  19°28′S 028°55′W

  Barrie Rutter

  Barrie Rutter on returning to the stage ten days after his son's cot death

  Castaway · 19 June 2016·Kirsty Young

• John Timpson

  07°12′S 109°02′W

  John Timpson

  John Timpson on the foster children who called his garden 'the park'

  Castaway · 27 March 2016·Kirsty Young

• Freddie Flintoff

  23°58′S 003°52′W

  Freddie Flintoff

  Freddie Flintoff on his 45-minute chess bluff against his granddad

  Castaway · 5 July 2015·Kirsty Young

• Damian Lewis

  01°44′S 130°49′W

  Damian Lewis

  Damian Lewis on asking President Obama about going into Iran

  Castaway · 30 November 2014·Kirsty Young

• Lord Richards of Herstmonceux

  19°43′S 043°52′W

  Lord Richards of Herstmonceux

  Richards on adapting his orders to fight back in Sierra Leone

  Castaway · 9 March 2014·Kirsty Young

• John Bishop

  18°20′S 162°03′W

  John Bishop

  John Bishop on the night his ex-wife appeared during his 'head in the fridge' joke

  Castaway · 24 June 2012·Kirsty Young

• Eve Pollard

  17°20′S 113°33′W

  Eve Pollard

  Eve Pollard on playing badminton in the office at four o'clock

  Castaway · 11 December 2011·Kirsty Young

• Alfie Boe

  03°37′S 017°00′W

  Alfie Boe

  Alfie Boe on holding his father as he died

  Castaway · 5 June 2011·Kirsty Young

• Terry Gilliam

  18°59′S 014°05′W

  Terry Gilliam

  How Terry Gilliam's jokes about God ended his missionary ambitions

  Castaway · 10 April 2011·Kirsty Young

• Frank Skinner

  05°28′S 005°01′W

  Frank Skinner

  Frank Skinner on being expelled for embezzling school dinner tickets

  Castaway · 13 June 2010·Kirsty Young

• Rob Brydon

  14°30′S 031°25′W

  Rob Brydon

  Rob Brydon on the shopping channel job that stalled his acting career

  Castaway · 16 May 2010·Kirsty Young

• Jerry Springer

  09°42′S 152°44′W

  Jerry Springer

  Jerry Springer on resigning from Cincinnati City Council after visiting a prostitute

  Castaway · 1 November 2009·Kirsty Young

• Professor Colin Pillinger

  00°40′S 126°20′W

  Professor Colin Pillinger

  How Colin Pillinger spent Christmas morning waiting for a signal from Mars

  Castaway · 25 October 2009·Kirsty Young

• Michael Eavis

  11°07′S 176°09′W

  Michael Eavis

  Michael Eavis on being told to take his hands off Marc Bolan's car

  Castaway · 30 November 2008·Kirsty Young

• Sanjeev Bhaskar

  23°03′S 101°20′W

  Sanjeev Bhaskar

  How a coin toss led to Sanjeev Bhaskar's big break

  Castaway · 12 October 2008·Kirsty Young

• Posy Simmonds

  16°57′S 033°10′W

  Posy Simmonds

  Posy Simmonds on starting to draw as soon as she could hold a pencil

  Castaway · 29 June 2008·Kirsty Young

• Peter Carey

  14°38′S 051°26′W

  Peter Carey

  Peter Carey on his mother's daily battle as a spare parts manager

  Castaway · 20 June 2008·Kirsty Young

• Joanna Lumley

  12°11′S 041°49′W

  Joanna Lumley

  Joanna Lumley on being put in a private hospital room because she had no male visitor

  Castaway · 13 May 2007·Kirsty Young

• Imelda Staunton

  20°05′S 049°32′W

  Imelda Staunton

  Imelda Staunton on not knowing the police in Vera Drake were actors

  Castaway · 15 May 2005·Sue Lawley

• Engelbert Humperdinck

  19°53′S 157°59′W

  Engelbert Humperdinck

  Engelbert Humperdinck on starting the sideburns against all advice

  Castaway · 19 December 2004·Sue Lawley

• Tracey Emin

  19°42′S 156°33′W

  Tracey Emin

  Tracey Emin on the dinner ladies who made her a cup of tea at art college

  Castaway · 28 November 2004·Sue Lawley

• Tim Rice

  05°00′S 086°25′W

  Tim Rice

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

  Castaway · 27 June 2004·Sue Lawley

• Stephen Frears

  17°50′S 003°48′W

  Stephen Frears

  Stephen Frears on sitting in the kitchen with his mother playing cards in the 1940s

  Castaway · 18 January 2004·Sue Lawley

• Jimmy Tarbuck

  04°11′S 011°56′W

  Jimmy Tarbuck

  Jimmy Tarbuck on being brought home by policemen for stealing apples

  Castaway · 11 January 2004·Sue Lawley

• Paul O'Grady

  02°52′S 029°12′W

  Paul O'Grady

  Paul O'Grady on being the result of a liaison in a bed and breakfast

  Castaway · 28 December 2003·Sue Lawley

• Bill Cullen

  18°14′S 075°47′W

  Bill Cullen

  Bill Cullen on his grandmother marking his forehead with an ash cross

  Castaway · 19 October 2003·Sue Lawley

• Bryn Terfel

  07°48′S 108°54′W

  Bryn Terfel

  How leaving Wales left Bryn Terfel crying every night for six weeks

  Castaway · 21 September 2003·Sue Lawley

• Patricia Cornwell

  13°04′S 004°26′W

  Patricia Cornwell

  Patricia Cornwell on grabbing her father's leg as he left on Christmas Day

  Castaway · 29 December 2002·Sue Lawley

• Clive James

  21°54′S 112°25′W

  Clive James

  How living in a basement stopped Clive James from jumping

  Castaway · 11 June 2000·Sue Lawley

• Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber

  10°46′S 006°59′W

  Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber

  Andrew Lloyd Webber on building a toy theatre and getting his first tune published at age eight

  Castaway · 31 December 1999·Sue Lawley

• Oz Clarke

  01°45′S 160°35′W

  Oz Clarke

  Oz Clarke on weeping at 13 because he didn't want to grow up

  Castaway · 12 December 1999·Sue Lawley

• Willard White

  11°44′S 074°45′W

  Willard White

  Willard White on saying Othello's first line fifty three different ways

  Castaway · 7 November 1999·Sue Lawley

• Nicole Kidman

  21°40′S 006°08′W

  Nicole Kidman

  Nicole Kidman on her naked handshake deal with Sam Mendes

  Castaway · 15 November 1998·Sue Lawley

• Glenda Jackson MP

  10°41′S 066°07′W

  Glenda Jackson MP

  Glenda Jackson on polishing her Oscar to find base metal underneath

  Castaway · 28 December 1997·Sue Lawley

• Ben Elton

  17°51′S 119°45′W

  Ben Elton

  Ben Elton on his teenage plan to leave school and sweep up backstage

  Castaway · 29 September 1996·Sue Lawley