47 episodes

• Sally Mann

  17°53′S 055°56′W

  Sally Mann

  Sally Mann on having her pictures removed from a Texas gallery by local officials

  Castaway · 14 November 2025·Lauren Laverne

• Norma Percy

  22°19′S 094°53′W

  Norma Percy

  Norma Percy on the gin and tonic her professor gave nervous students

  Castaway · 22 June 2025·Lauren Laverne

• Anne Enright

  03°00′S 176°31′W

  Anne Enright

  Anne Enright on men being personally insulted by her Booker win

  Castaway · 26 January 2020·Lauren Laverne

• Margaret MacMillan

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  Margaret MacMillan

  Margaret MacMillan on finding Winston Churchill's scribbled comments in a pre-WWI document

  Castaway · 24 February 2019·Lauren Laverne

• Abi Morgan

  12°43′S 047°50′W

  Abi Morgan

  Abi Morgan on a mother's laughter that revealed 'you've known insanity'

  Castaway · 6 May 2018·Kirsty Young

• Nicole Farhi

  02°11′S 071°35′W

  Nicole Farhi

  Nicole Farhi on sculpting a head of Thomas Gainsborough for Gainsborough House

  Castaway · 10 July 2016·Kirsty Young

• Zadie Smith

  05°37′S 129°15′W

  Zadie Smith

  Zadie Smith on sitting in her future husband’s room until 4am

  Castaway · 22 September 2013·Kirsty Young

• David Tennant

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  David Tennant

  How reading chat room comments hurt David Tennant's eight-year-old self

  Castaway · 27 December 2009·Kirsty Young

• Sebastian Faulks

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  Sebastian Faulks

  Sebastian Faulks on his publisher's head-in-hands reaction to his Birdsong pitch

  Castaway · 29 March 2009·Kirsty Young

• Tariq Ali

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  Tariq Ali

  Tariq Ali on organising a cleaners' strike in the Himalayas as a teenager

  Castaway · 16 March 2008·Kirsty Young

• Arnold Wesker

  13°51′S 123°01′W

  Arnold Wesker

  Arnold Wesker on his mother’s upset over seeing her quarrels in his play

  Castaway · 17 December 2006·Kirsty Young

• Dame Joan Plowright

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  Dame Joan Plowright

  Joan Plowright on the night Laurence Olivier tried to be a nanny

  Castaway · 27 August 2006·Sue Lawley

• Dr Hanna Segal

  00°37′S 107°14′W

  Dr Hanna Segal

  Hanna Segal on deciding not to go to the Spanish Civil War

  Castaway · 23 July 2006·Sue Lawley

• Philip Pullman

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  Philip Pullman

  Philip Pullman on his Oxford English degree being a useless waste of time

  Castaway · 6 October 2002·Sue Lawley

• Ewan McGregor

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  Ewan McGregor

  Ewan McGregor on running away from home with sandwiches, milk, and the dog

  Castaway · 30 December 2001·Sue Lawley

• Claudia Roden

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  Claudia Roden

  Claudia Roden on the smell of cumin and coriander that still elates her

  Castaway · 29 July 2001·Sue Lawley

• Sir Timothy Clifford

  12°31′S 144°55′W

  Sir Timothy Clifford

  Timothy Clifford on taking his parents on a guided tour of Rome without ever having been there

  Castaway · 20 May 2001·Sue Lawley

• Rt Hon Michael Portillo MP

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  Rt Hon Michael Portillo MP

  Michael Portillo on feeling relief when he lost his seat

  Castaway · 16 July 2000·Sue Lawley

• Sheila Hancock

  05°45′S 149°32′W

  Sheila Hancock

  How hypnotism stopped Sheila Hancock vomiting before a National Theatre performance

  Castaway · 27 February 2000·Sue Lawley

• Neil Jordan

  23°26′S 177°51′W

  Neil Jordan

  Neil Jordan on hearing voices and seeing visions as a child

  Castaway · 23 January 2000·Sue Lawley

• Ralph Fiennes

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  Ralph Fiennes

  Ralph Fiennes on the disturbing feeling of wearing an SS uniform

  Castaway · 31 October 1999·Sue Lawley

• Sybille Bedford

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  Sybille Bedford

  Sybille Bedford on growing potatoes on the lawns while the cellar stayed full of claret

  Castaway · 5 July 1998·Sue Lawley

• Michael White

  22°54′S 134°13′W

  Michael White

  Michael White on why we never saw his show 'I'

  Castaway · 26 May 1996·Sue Lawley

• Christopher Hampton

  18°05′S 157°50′W

  Christopher Hampton

  Christopher Hampton on writing his first play at the age of eight in Egypt

  Castaway · 7 January 1996·Sue Lawley

• John Updike

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  John Updike

  John Updike on falling in love with the New Yorker as a child

  Castaway · 10 September 1995·Sue Lawley

• Felix Aprahamian

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  Felix Aprahamian

  Felix Aprahamian on the piano blunder that taught him critical wisdom

  Castaway · 19 March 1995·Sue Lawley

• Kathleen Hale

  09°55′S 168°40′W

  Kathleen Hale

  Kathleen Hale on having her sketchbook taken away as a punishment

  Castaway · 30 October 1994·Sue Lawley

• John Cole

  00°02′S 150°48′W

  John Cole

  John Cole on scooping the appointment of Alf Robens

  Castaway · 9 May 1993·Sue Lawley

• Anthony Storr

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  Anthony Storr

  Anthony Storr on being sent away to boarding school at eight

  Castaway · 31 January 1993·Sue Lawley

• Vivienne Westwood

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  Vivienne Westwood

  Vivienne Westwood on being branded a sex maniac at the age of four

  Castaway · 28 June 1992·Sue Lawley

• A S Byatt

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  A S Byatt

  A S Byatt on feeling an immense space after her mother's death

  Castaway · 16 June 1991·Sue Lawley

• John Simpson

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  John Simpson

  John Simpson on crying at the release of Nelson Mandela

  Castaway · 19 May 1991·Sue Lawley

• Lady Mosley

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  Lady Mosley

  Diana Mosley on missing three and a half years of her children's lives in prison

  Castaway · 26 November 1989·Sue Lawley

• Miriam Rothschild

  03°39′S 156°06′W

  Miriam Rothschild

  Miriam Rothschild on losing her microscope vision and turning to wildflowers

  Castaway · 23 April 1989·Sue Lawley

• Sir Stephen Spender

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  Sir Stephen Spender

  Stephen Spender on his parents' deaths feeling liberating

  Castaway · 2 April 1989·Sue Lawley

• Mary Archer

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  Mary Archer

  Mary Archer on teaching through her premature labour

  Castaway · 17 April 1988·Michael Parkinson

• Stan Barstow

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  Stan Barstow

  Stan Barstow on the moment a book by H.E. Bates showed him what to write about

  Castaway · 24 August 1986·Michael Parkinson

• James Ivory

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  James Ivory

  James Ivory on envying BBC's Henry James adaptations

  Castaway · 19 February 1983·Roy Plomley

• Claire Bloom

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  Claire Bloom

  How an invitation to Florida went wrong for Claire Bloom

  Castaway · 4 September 1982·Roy Plomley

• Sir John Gielgud

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  Sir John Gielgud

  John Gielgud on his only line as a spear-carrier in Henry V

  Castaway · 16 May 1981·Roy Plomley

• Sir Frederick Ashton

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  Sir Frederick Ashton

  Frederick Ashton on being riveted by Anna Pavlova's performance aged 13

  Castaway · 2 May 1981·Roy Plomley

• Derek Tangye

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  Derek Tangye

  Derek Tangye on being marooned on a tropical island near Tahiti

  Castaway · 1 November 1980·Roy Plomley

• Amadeus String Quartet

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  Amadeus String Quartet

  Amadeus String Quartet on their debut concert that turned people away

  Castaway · 11 February 1978·Roy Plomley

• A L Rowse

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  A L Rowse

  A L Rowse on discovering the Dark Lady of the Sonnets in the Bodleian Library

  Castaway · 13 August 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

• Anthony Lawrence

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  Anthony Lawrence

  Anthony Lawrence on being told the only way to be a journalist is to be one

  Castaway · 9 September 1972·Roy Plomley

• Cyril Connolly

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  Cyril Connolly

  Castaway · 28 February 1966·Roy Plomley