56 episodes

• Jenny Beavan

  17°29′S 039°51′W

  Jenny Beavan

  Jenny Beavan on the headlines after collecting a BAFTA in a leather jacket

  Castaway · 19 February 2023·Lauren Laverne

• Jane Somerville

  08°52′S 022°44′W

  Jane Somerville

  Jane Somerville on burning her husband’s shirt to avoid ironing

  Castaway · 7 July 2013·Kirsty Young

• Gyles Brandreth

  04°56′S 131°14′W

  Gyles Brandreth

  Gyles Brandreth on applying to become an MP the day his youngest daughter became a teenager

  Castaway · 9 January 2011·Kirsty Young

• Maggi Hambling

  17°22′S 046°48′W

  Maggi Hambling

  Maggi Hambling on drawing her mother in her coffin

  Castaway · 18 December 2005·Sue Lawley

• Sir David Frost

  08°20′S 020°24′W

  Sir David Frost

  David Frost on securing the Nixon interviews by guaranteeing six hours

  Castaway · 27 November 2005·Sue Lawley

• Matthew Bourne

  05°30′S 099°25′W

  Matthew Bourne

  How copying the moves helped Matthew Bourne get into dance school

  Castaway · 19 November 2004·Sue Lawley

• Phyllis Sellick

  03°56′S 127°29′W

  Phyllis Sellick

  Phyllis Sellick on the secret benefactor who got them home from Russia

  Castaway · 27 January 2002·Sue Lawley

• Lord Deedes

  16°45′S 085°54′W

  Lord Deedes

  How a gun deal landed Bill Deedes his first journalism job

  Castaway · 5 August 2001·Sue Lawley

• Sir John Mills

  14°11′S 068°45′W

  Sir John Mills

  John Mills on knowing at age five that he had to be an actor

  Castaway · 7 May 2000·Sue Lawley

• Rt Hon Mo Mowlam MP

  08°07′S 157°47′W

  Rt Hon Mo Mowlam MP

  Mo Mowlam on waking up goofy in three different beds

  Castaway · 21 March 1999·Sue Lawley

• John Julius Norwich

  13°46′S 145°19′W

  John Julius Norwich

  John Julius Norwich on leaving Venice with a haunting sense of regret

  Castaway · 2 November 1997·Sue Lawley

• Sir Howard Hodgkin

  10°16′S 083°37′W

  Sir Howard Hodgkin

  Howard Hodgkin on painting on the back of an RAF mess blackboard

  Castaway · 27 November 1994·Sue Lawley

• Jocelyn Stevens

  23°00′S 018°02′W

  Jocelyn Stevens

  How Jocelyn Stevens's father saw him as the murderer of his mother

  Castaway · 8 March 1992·Sue Lawley

• J G Ballard

  15°54′S 082°23′W

  J G Ballard

  J G Ballard on waiting 40 years to write his autobiography

  Castaway · 2 February 1992·Sue Lawley

• June Whitfield

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  June Whitfield

  June Whitfield on corpsing with Eric Morecambe

  Castaway · 29 April 1990·Sue Lawley

• Sarah Miles

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  Sarah Miles

  Sarah Miles on losing her virginity to a record

  Castaway · 4 February 1990·Sue Lawley

• Rt. Hon. Nigel Lawson

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  Rt. Hon. Nigel Lawson

  Nigel Lawson on switching from maths at Oxford before he was found out

  Castaway · 3 December 1989·Sue Lawley

• Jeffrey Tate

  14°39′S 017°57′W

  Jeffrey Tate

  Jeffrey Tate on improvising at the piano while reading a book

  Castaway · 12 February 1989·Sue Lawley

• Adele Leigh

  05°49′S 014°34′W

  Adele Leigh

  Adele Leigh on bursting into tears after her first night applause in Follies

  Castaway · 10 January 1988·Michael Parkinson

• Victoria Wood

  21°50′S 093°11′W

  Victoria Wood

  Victoria Wood on writing a song after being rejected for a part in Loot

  Castaway · 8 February 1987·Michael Parkinson

• Jeremy Lloyd

  16°26′S 031°15′W

  Jeremy Lloyd

  How Jeremy Lloyd became an old person at 12 and a half

  Castaway · 18 January 1987·Michael Parkinson

• Sir Geoffrey Howe

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  Sir Geoffrey Howe

  Geoffrey Howe on convincing Labour voters that Tories don't have horns, tails or cloven hooves

  Castaway · 20 July 1986·Michael Parkinson

• Robin Hanbury-Tenison

  22°59′S 134°05′W

  Robin Hanbury-Tenison

  Robin Hanbury-Tenison on spending three months alone in a small boat in the rainforest

  Castaway · 24 November 1984·Roy Plomley

• Willie Rushton

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  Willie Rushton

  Willie Rushton on writing 'vile' in a biology exam

  Castaway · 18 August 1984·Roy Plomley

• Sir Alfred Ayer

  09°17′S 166°11′W

  Sir Alfred Ayer

  How saying ‘we’ led Alfred Ayer to resist Hitler

  Castaway · 28 July 1984·Roy Plomley

• Don McCullin

  04°16′S 128°45′W

  Don McCullin

  How a dying child's hand in Biafra destroyed Don McCullin

  Castaway · 10 March 1984·Roy Plomley

• Ian Richardson

  07°27′S 170°27′W

  Ian Richardson

  Ian Richardson on dropping his rifle on a polished boot and being knocked unconscious

  Castaway · 24 September 1983·Roy Plomley

• Charlotte Lamb

  07°39′S 081°50′W

  Charlotte Lamb

  Charlotte Lamb on writing an entire novel in three days

  Castaway · 10 September 1983·Roy Plomley

• P D James

  18°34′S 054°15′W

  P D James

  P D James on starting her first novel by getting up early in her late thirties

  Castaway · 20 November 1982·Roy Plomley

• Sir Douglas Bader

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  Sir Douglas Bader

  Douglas Bader on landing on one leg after his prosthetic came off during a parachute jump

  Castaway · 28 November 1981·Roy Plomley

• Jeffrey Archer

  16°34′S 092°25′W

  Jeffrey Archer

  How Jeffrey Archer discovered he was £427,727 in debt

  Castaway · 31 January 1981·Roy Plomley

• Earl Of Snowdon

  17°34′S 140°55′W

  Earl Of Snowdon

  Snowdon on starting his photography career in a box room

  Castaway · 6 September 1980·Roy Plomley

• Tom Lehrer

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  Tom Lehrer

  Tom Lehrer on his parents finding him a popular music teacher

  Castaway · 12 July 1980·Roy Plomley

• Edward Fox

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  Edward Fox

  How a fear of appearing naked made Edward Fox turn down a film test at age ten

  Castaway · 28 April 1979·Roy Plomley

• Burl Ives

  17°33′S 140°51′W

  Burl Ives

  Burl Ives on singing hymns on pitch at the family pump organ

  Castaway · 31 March 1979·Roy Plomley

• Robert Stephens

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  Robert Stephens

  Robert Stephens on the worst film ever made

  Castaway · 3 February 1979·Roy Plomley

• Alec Clifton-Taylor

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  Alec Clifton-Taylor

  Alec Clifton-Taylor on escaping his family to rush into a church as a child

  Castaway · 30 September 1978·Roy Plomley

• Derek Jacobi

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  Derek Jacobi

  Derek Jacobi on portraying old Claudius before young Claudius

  Castaway · 10 June 1978·Roy Plomley

• Phil Drabble

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  Phil Drabble

  Phil Drabble on learning natural history from poachers

  Castaway · 10 December 1977·Roy Plomley

• Michael Croft

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  Michael Croft

  How the war dashed Michael Croft's cricket ambitions

  Castaway · 17 September 1977·Roy Plomley

• Mary Martin

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  Mary Martin

  Mary Martin on the ghastly sound of her childhood violin

  Castaway · 26 March 1977·Roy Plomley

• Penelope Keith

  09°19′S 169°56′W

  Penelope Keith

  Penelope Keith on the sewing machine needle that ended her piano playing

  Castaway · 21 August 1976·Roy Plomley

• John Julius Norwich

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  John Julius Norwich

  John Julius Norwich on attending the Nuremberg trials as a schoolboy

  Castaway · 18 October 1975·Roy Plomley

• Doris Hare

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  Doris Hare

  Doris Hare on making her stage debut aged three weeks

  Castaway · 11 October 1975·Roy Plomley

• John Mills

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  John Mills

  John Mills on selling lavatory paper while secretly taking tap dancing lessons

  Castaway · 22 December 1973·Roy Plomley

• June Whitfield

  15°21′S 031°17′W

  June Whitfield

  June Whitfield on her father's repeated advice about shorthand

  Castaway · 18 August 1973·Roy Plomley

• Norman Thelwell

  06°19′S 004°53′W

  Norman Thelwell

  How a corporal in the Welsh Guards broke Norman Thelwell's brushes and pencils

  Castaway · 5 May 1973·Roy Plomley

• Alice Delysia

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  Alice Delysia

  Alice Delysia on the scandalous costume that got her in trouble with the censor

  Castaway · 12 February 1972·Roy Plomley

• Dame Sibyl Hathaway

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  Dame Sibyl Hathaway

  Sibyl Hathaway on why Sark still bans divorce and female dogs

  Castaway · 23 October 1971·Roy Plomley

• Ronnie Corbett

  07°28′S 106°49′W

  Ronnie Corbett

  Ronnie Corbett on his first job issuing animal feed coupons

  Castaway · 29 May 1971·Roy Plomley