119 episodes

• Patricia Greene

  22°27′S 084°27′W

  Patricia Greene

  Patricia Greene on the golden eagle that landed at Brookfield

  Castaway · 4 January 2026·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

• Kirsty Young

  04°49′S 048°59′W

  Kirsty Young

  How a colleague drove Kirsty Young to hand in her BBC application

  Castaway · 25 December 2022·Lauren Laverne

• Professor Russell Foster

  20°38′S 178°19′W

  Professor Russell Foster

  Russell Foster on his headmaster describing him as entirely non-academic

  Castaway · 8 December 2019·Lauren Laverne

• Anna Pavord

  07°13′S 023°24′W

  Anna Pavord

  How Anna Pavord crawled out of hospital to feel grass after cancer treatment

  Castaway · 17 November 2017·Kirsty Young

• Jackie Kay

  01°48′S 179°37′W

  Jackie Kay

  Jackie Kay on her birth father singing and dancing around her

  Castaway · 23 October 2016·Kirsty Young

• Sigrid Rausing

  01°15′S 008°35′W

  Sigrid Rausing

  How her brother's addiction led Sigrid Rausing to check into rehab

  Castaway · 24 January 2016·Kirsty Young

• Patricia Greene

  21°37′S 043°07′W

  Patricia Greene

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

  Castaway · 27 December 2015·Kirsty Young

• Stephen Fry

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  Stephen Fry

  Stephen Fry on his psychiatrist's frustration that his parents weren't in the diplomatic corps

  Castaway · 21 June 2015·Kirsty Young

• Pamela Rose

  17°38′S 032°11′W

  Pamela Rose

  Pamela Rose on telling herself the stage could wait and the war can't

  Castaway · 31 May 2015·Kirsty Young

• Barbara Hulanicki

  23°17′S 158°34′W

  Barbara Hulanicki

  Barbara Hulanicki on never saying goodbye to her father

  Castaway · 8 December 2013·Kirsty Young

• 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

• Sir Sydney Kentridge

  06°07′S 037°30′W

  Sir Sydney Kentridge

  Sydney Kentridge on representing three Nobel Peace Prize winners

  Castaway · 31 March 2013·Kirsty Young

• Mark Gatiss

  14°37′S 058°51′W

  Mark Gatiss

  Mark Gatiss on his childhood enthusiasm for wartime sing-alongs

  Castaway · 23 October 2011·Kirsty Young

• Tony Robinson

  23°59′S 052°32′W

  Tony Robinson

  How Tony Robinson's Blackadder role came from an act of desperation

  Castaway · 3 July 2011·Kirsty Young

• Dame Harriet Walter

  14°58′S 026°08′W

  Dame Harriet Walter

  Harriet Walter on the summer holiday that threw her into chaos

  Castaway · 26 June 2011·Kirsty Young

• Betty Driver

  06°15′S 113°58′W

  Betty Driver

  How a phone call while pulling pints led Betty Driver to Coronation Street

  Castaway · 23 January 2011·Kirsty Young

• Tony Iveson

  15°16′S 139°22′W

  Tony Iveson

  Tony Iveson on shaking the hand of the German fighter pilot who could have killed him

  Castaway · 2 January 2011·Kirsty Young

• Nicky Haslam

  22°01′S 176°19′W

  Nicky Haslam

  How Nicky Haslam went to work with a face the size of a football after a facelift

  Castaway · 2 August 2009·Kirsty Young

• Lord Healey

  12°04′S 060°10′W

  Lord Healey

  Denis Healey on why he now regrets not becoming Prime Minister

  Castaway · 14 June 2009·Kirsty Young

• David Walliams

  02°06′S 124°00′W

  David Walliams

  David Walliams on signing autographs in a hospice as his father died

  Castaway · 22 February 2009·Kirsty Young

• Eliza Manningham-Buller

  11°48′S 149°50′W

  Eliza Manningham-Buller

  Eliza Manningham-Buller on the lift ride when she wondered which colleague was a traitor

  Castaway · 18 November 2007·Kirsty Young

• Nicholas Parsons

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  Nicholas Parsons

  Nicholas Parsons on his mother's fear that show business would deprave him

  Castaway · 4 November 2007·Kirsty Young

• Jill Balcon

  15°49′S 138°47′W

  Jill Balcon

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

  Castaway · 14 October 2007·Kirsty Young

• Terence Stamp

  20°23′S 166°15′W

  Terence Stamp

  How a letter in an ashram brought Terence Stamp back to play General Zod

  Castaway · 12 March 2006·Sue Lawley

• Maggi Hambling

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  Maggi Hambling

  Maggi Hambling on drawing her mother in her coffin

  Castaway · 18 December 2005·Sue Lawley

• Katharine Whitehorn

  17°51′S 156°03′W

  Katharine Whitehorn

  Katharine Whitehorn on her husband telling her to get a job on a Hampstead Heath bench

  Castaway · 1 May 2005·Sue Lawley

• Kim Cattrall

  08°33′S 148°51′W

  Kim Cattrall

  Kim Cattrall on her childhood ambition to sing Jingle Bells in a Christmas pageant

  Castaway · 26 December 2004·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

• Diana Athill

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  Diana Athill

  Diana Athill on discovering the facts of life at age 11 in a book by Mary Stopes

  Castaway · 20 June 2004·Sue Lawley

• Henry Blofeld

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  Henry Blofeld

  Henry Blofeld on being hit by a bus while cycling

  Castaway · 30 November 2003·Sue Lawley

• Rory Bremner

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  Rory Bremner

  Rory Bremner on his father losing his job while in hospital with cancer

  Castaway · 20 April 2003·Sue Lawley

• Sinead Cusack

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  Sinead Cusack

  Sinead Cusack on being expelled for a school sketch about the Profumo affair

  Castaway · 15 December 2002·Sue Lawley

• Sir Aaron Klug

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  Sir Aaron Klug

  Aaron Klug on being inspired by Microbe Hunters to study medicine

  Castaway · 12 May 2002·Sue Lawley

• Betty Jackson

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  Betty Jackson

  Betty Jackson on driving into a tree after her car's steering failed

  Castaway · 28 April 2002·Sue Lawley

• Dorothy Rowe

  10°16′S 147°40′W

  Dorothy Rowe

  Dorothy Rowe on her mother threatening to kill her and herself

  Castaway · 24 March 2002·Sue Lawley

• Fay Godwin

  21°36′S 156°48′W

  Fay Godwin

  Fay Godwin on her mother's death on her 17th birthday

  Castaway · 17 March 2002·Sue Lawley

• Simon Schama

  05°38′S 133°42′W

  Simon Schama

  Simon Schama on discovering his ancestors were Jewish lumberjacks

  Castaway · 2 September 2001·Sue Lawley

• Ronald Blythe

  03°29′S 118°31′W

  Ronald Blythe

  Ronald Blythe on how a walk with Christine Nash led him to write a novel

  Castaway · 15 April 2001·Sue Lawley

• Charlie Watts

  09°37′S 066°08′W

  Charlie Watts

  Charlie Watts on drawing every hotel bed he sleeps in on tour

  Castaway · 25 February 2001·Sue Lawley

• Marguerite Patten

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  Marguerite Patten

  Marguerite Patten on rescuing a rabbit pie from the floor

  Castaway · 21 January 2001·Sue Lawley

• Norman Painting

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  Norman Painting

  Norman Painting on resigning from The Archers after three months

  Castaway · 26 December 2000·Sue Lawley

• Dame Norma Major

  12°52′S 085°01′W

  Dame Norma Major

  Norma Major on crying during her first six months in Downing Street

  Castaway · 21 May 2000·Sue Lawley

• Sir John Mills

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  Sir John Mills

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

  Castaway · 7 May 2000·Sue Lawley

• Sir Anthony Caro

  04°59′S 052°04′W

  Sir Anthony Caro

  Anthony Caro on being stuck in a garage

  Castaway · 16 April 2000·Sue Lawley

• Claire Tomalin

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  Claire Tomalin

  Claire Tomalin on taking back her husband after his outrageous behaviour

  Castaway · 9 April 2000·Sue Lawley

• Michael Holroyd

  20°44′S 122°08′W

  Michael Holroyd

  Michael Holroyd on his father threatening to take him to court over his novel

  Castaway · 20 February 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

• Paula Rego

  17°24′S 110°47′W

  Paula Rego

  Paula Rego on being alarmed by the smell of naked flesh in the life room

  Castaway · 7 December 1997·Sue Lawley

• Nina Campbell

  17°01′S 086°17′W

  Nina Campbell

  Nina Campbell on not being able to make a pair of curtains

  Castaway · 16 March 1997·Sue Lawley