Pink Floyd — 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

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Most requested
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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

Pink Floyd — Artist · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Artist

Pink Floyd

35 episodes

Chosen over the decades

35

Total castaways

2010s

Peak decade

6

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Alfie Boe
Andrew Ramroop
Ara Darzi
Brian Moore
Carla Lane
Christina Dodwell
Danny Dyer
Elton John
Frank Bough
George Clooney
George McGavin
Imran Khan
Jacques Loussier
James Galway
Jeremy Clarkson
Jimmy McGovern
Lord David Cobbold
Martina Cole
Mary Greenwell
Matt Smith
Michael Mansfield
Michael Quinn
Noel Gallagher
Omar Sharif
more

Tahra Zafar
Tahra Zafar on her husband climbing Mount Etna with a prosthetic leg
Castaway · 8 February 2026Lauren Laverne
Mary Greenwell
Mary Greenwell on not being in awe of Princess Diana
Castaway · 19 October 2025Lauren Laverne
Danny Dyer

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

How sitting on the toilet after the NTAs made Danny Dyer address his addiction

Castaway · 11 May 2025Lauren Laverne

09°06′S 094°58′W

Andrew Ramroop

Andrew Ramroop on the boat that never arrived to take him from Trinidad

Castaway · 10 July 2022Lauren Laverne

12°55′S 085°09′W

George McGavin

George McGavin on the Attenborough programme about spider sex that captivated him as a child

Castaway · 7 February 2021Lauren Laverne

09°17′S 169°11′W

Stephen Graham

Stephen Graham on his dad renting The Godfather, Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter

Castaway · 17 November 2019Lauren Laverne

08°50′S 048°24′W

Martina Cole

Martina Cole on being expelled from convent school for reading Harold Robbins' The Betsy

Castaway · 24 June 2018Kirsty Young

22°41′S 163°59′W

Matt Smith

Matt Smith on singing the Doctor Who theme tune to Jodie Whittaker

Castaway · 4 March 2018Kirsty Young

01°17′S 166°36′W

Noel Gallagher

Noel Gallagher on not remembering walking on stage at Knebworth

Castaway · 19 July 2015Kirsty Young

13°01′S 067°43′W

Paul Hollywood

How a £500 bribe got Paul Hollywood into baking

Castaway · 29 March 2015Kirsty Young

09°46′S 107°43′W

Sir Andre Geim

Andre Geim on being reprimanded for laughing during the military oath

Castaway · 30 March 2014Kirsty Young

Professor Hugh Montgomery

17°24′S 061°08′W

Professor Hugh Montgomery

Hugh Montgomery on smuggling a patient to a Rolling Stones gig

Castaway · 23 February 2014Kirsty Young

11°00′S 142°52′W

Brian Moore

Brian Moore on seeking out his birth mother

Castaway · 26 February 2012Kirsty Young

03°37′S 017°00′W

Alfie Boe

Alfie Boe on holding his father as he died

Castaway · 5 June 2011Kirsty Young

Michael Mansfield

17°47′S 122°32′W

Michael Mansfield

Michael Mansfield on having his car blown up outside the Old Bailey

Castaway · 17 October 2010Kirsty Young

Lord David Cobbold

01°25′S 076°57′W

Lord David Cobbold

David Cobbold on sending a Girl Guide leader to talk to Mick Jagger

Castaway · 8 August 2010Kirsty Young

03°18′S 042°18′W

Ara Darzi

Ara Darzi on shocking a peer back to life in the House of Lords

Castaway · 22 June 2008Kirsty Young

Rt Hon David Cameron MP

08°16′S 061°39′W

Rt Hon David Cameron MP

David Cameron on driving home from hospital after his son's diagnosis

Castaway · 28 May 2006Sue Lawley

23°11′S 128°44′W

Paulo Coelho

Paulo Coelho on escaping a psychiatric hospital twice

Castaway · 3 July 2005Sue Lawley

Jeremy Clarkson

11°31′S 031°07′W

Jeremy Clarkson

How a walk down the village street led Jeremy Clarkson into journalism

Castaway · 16 November 2003Sue Lawley

Vittorio Radice

10°54′S 007°06′W

Vittorio Radice

Vittorio Radice on playing life for the day in his early twenties

Castaway · 8 June 2003Sue Lawley

05°48′S 074°30′W

George Clooney

George Clooney on dressing as a leprechaun with a cigar on his dad's show

Castaway · 23 February 2003Sue Lawley

21°32′S 170°19′W

Tasmin Little

Tasmin Little on how chicken pox at six inspired her to play the violin

Castaway · 29 April 2001Sue Lawley

19°38′S 043°06′W

Jimmy McGovern

How Robbie Coltrane's casting made Jimmy McGovern suicidal

Castaway · 14 January 1996Sue Lawley

Christina Dodwell

07°12′S 158°40′W

Christina Dodwell

Christina Dodwell on her raft flipping upside down in Papua New Guinea

Castaway · 6 March 1994Sue Lawley

06°15′S 079°28′W

Imran Khan

Imran Khan on his mother's needless death from misdiagnosis

Castaway · 6 October 1991Sue Lawley

Jacques Loussier

11°13′S 124°00′W

Jacques Loussier

Jacques Loussier on instantly understanding piano at his first sitting

Castaway · 27 September 1987Michael Parkinson

09°54′S 168°01′W

Frank Bough

Frank Bough on the 'crud from the sports department' remark

Castaway · 26 April 1987Michael Parkinson

17°15′S 139°04′W

Elton John

Elton John on leaving school to work as a T-boy at Mills Music

Castaway · 1 June 1986Michael Parkinson

17°56′S 119°37′W

Michael Quinn

Michael Quinn on telling Ritz directors they’d have to pay to taste his cooking

Castaway · 17 March 1984Roy Plomley

00°35′S 140°12′W

Zandra Rhodes

Zandra Rhodes on inheriting £1,000 and taking her collection to America

Castaway · 12 February 1983Roy Plomley

Pamela Stephenson

18°54′S 048°58′W

Pamela Stephenson

Pamela Stephenson on asking BBC producers for a job as an English rose

Castaway · 17 July 1982Roy Plomley

20°11′S 056°53′W

Carla Lane

Carla Lane on turning down the name Romana Barrack

Castaway · 28 February 1981Roy Plomley

02°45′S 134°48′W

Omar Sharif

Omar Sharif on the photograph that won him his role in Lawrence of Arabia

Castaway · 14 January 1978Roy Plomley

22°59′S 161°48′W

James Galway

James Galway on being forced by German law to take a job he won

Castaway · 14 August 1976Roy Plomley