Charles Trenet — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

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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
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Transmission

Broadcasting since 1942
Long wave 198 kHz
An unofficial archive companion
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Not affiliated with the BBC · Built for the love of the long wave · Made by Daniel Hails

Charles Trenet — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Composer

Charles Trenet

14 episodes

Chosen over the decades

14

Total castaways

2010s

Peak decade

6

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Anna Del Conte
Anne Reid
Elspeth Huxley
Gyles Brandreth
Henrietta
Jill Balcon
Patricia Greene
Penelope Wilton
Philip Hope-Wallace
Quentin Crewe
Robert Dougall
Robert Harris
Sir Tim Waterstone

Patricia Greene
Patricia Greene on the golden eagle that landed at Brookfield
Castaway · 4 January 2026Lauren Laverne
Sir Tim Waterstone
Tim Waterstone on being fired from WH Smith
Castaway · 4 August 2019Lauren Laverne
Patricia Greene

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

Patricia Greene on being asked for dating advice by a stranger in Waitrose

Castaway · 27 December 2015Kirsty Young

16°05′S 127°54′W

Anne Reid

Anne Reid on crying in the hedge while caring for her family

Castaway · 13 July 2014Kirsty 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 2011Kirsty Young

15°28′S 140°48′W

Robert Harris

Robert Harris on politics being his father's football

Castaway · 28 November 2010Kirsty Young

13°09′S 158°04′W

Anna Del Conte

Anna Del Conte on a fascist police chief eating her salame

Castaway · 19 November 2010Kirsty Young

Penelope Wilton

07°46′S 014°29′W

Penelope Wilton

Penelope Wilton on the warm air from a pantomime stage that made her want to act

Castaway · 30 March 2008Kirsty Young

15°49′S 138°47′W

Jill Balcon

Jill Balcon on discovering her husband's affairs through his biography

Castaway · 14 October 2007Kirsty Young

00°33′S 084°18′W

Henrietta

How a banana thrown across the room proved to Henrietta her husband was recovering

Castaway · 3 May 1992Sue Lawley

12°28′S 028°54′W

Quentin Crewe

Quentin Crewe on crossing the Sahara without missing music

Castaway · 21 January 1984Roy Plomley

09°01′S 015°51′W

Elspeth Huxley

Elspeth Huxley on not hearing proper music until she was eighteen

Castaway · 17 October 1981Roy Plomley

19°44′S 115°03′W

Robert Dougall

Robert Dougall on watching wax models writhe in a fire during the Blitz

Castaway · 8 January 1977Roy Plomley

Philip Hope-Wallace

03°08′S 143°10′W

Philip Hope-Wallace

How Philip Hope-Wallace was laughed at for naming Handel and Verdi as favourite composers at Oxford

Castaway · 30 March 1974Roy Plomley