Eric Coates — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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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

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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

Eric Coates — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Composer

Eric Coates

12 episodes

Chosen over the decades

12

Total castaways

2000s

Peak decade

7

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Colin Wilson
Cormac Murphy O'Connor
Dame Gladys Cooper
Dr Jonathan Miller
Jimmy Edwards
Richard Noble
Ron Todd
Sir David Frost
Stephen Hough
Tony Iveson
Victoria Wood
Wayne Sleep

Stephen Hough
Stephen Hough on being mugged and then approached by a sinister stranger
Castaway · 9 October 2016Kirsty Young
Tony Iveson
Tony Iveson on shaking the hand of the German fighter pilot who could have killed him
Castaway · 2 January 2011Kirsty Young
Sir David Frost

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

David Frost on securing the Nixon interviews by guaranteeing six hours

Castaway · 27 November 2005Sue Lawley

Dr Jonathan Miller

04°55′S 003°23′W

Dr Jonathan Miller

Jonathan Miller on his father asking him at 40 what he wants to be

Castaway · 23 January 2005Sue Lawley

Cormac Murphy O'Connor

02°33′S 028°46′W

Cormac Murphy O'Connor

Cormac Murphy O'Connor on waking up at three in the morning and wondering if it's all true

Castaway · 22 July 2001Sue Lawley

17°45′S 077°45′W

Richard Noble

Richard Noble on seeing John Cobb's Crusader as a boy

Castaway · 15 February 1998Sue Lawley

15°37′S 073°10′W

Ron Todd

How a priest's advice to pray instead of act made Ron Todd lose his faith

Castaway · 30 June 1991Sue Lawley

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 1987Michael Parkinson

22°37′S 028°05′W

Colin Wilson

Colin Wilson on sleeping out on Hampstead Heath while writing The Outsider

Castaway · 21 October 1978Roy Plomley

09°40′S 062°08′W

Wayne Sleep

Wayne Sleep on his mother turning down a BBC singing contract

Castaway · 29 October 1977Roy Plomley

Dame Gladys Cooper

23°17′S 091°19′W

Dame Gladys Cooper

Gladys Cooper on pretending to be Mary Hennessy to get her first stage role

Castaway · 23 December 1967Roy Plomley

13°50′S 081°26′W

Jimmy Edwards

Jimmy Edwards on the bandsmen who sat in the cricket pavilion during OTC parades

Castaway · 1 August 1951Roy Plomley