John Kander — 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

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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

John Kander — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Composer

John Kander

19 episodes

Chosen over the decades

18

Total castaways

2000s

Peak decade

5

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Armistead Maupin
Bill Cullen
Des Lynam
General Sir Charles Guthrie
Gloria Hunniford
Graham Norton
Gregory Peck
James Corden
James Prior
Jerry Springer
Jon Ronson
Judith Kerr
Keith Waterhouse
Margaret Kelly - Miss Bluebell
Nina Campbell
Robert Carrier
Stubby Kaye
Timothy West

Jon Ronson
Jon Ronson on getting on buses alone in London as a child
Castaway · 5 June 2022Lauren Laverne
James Corden
James Corden on dancing at his sister's christening
Castaway · 12 February 2012Kirsty Young

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

Jerry Springer on resigning from Cincinnati City Council after visiting a prostitute

Castaway · 1 November 2009Kirsty Young

Armistead Maupin

22°08′S 158°58′W

Armistead Maupin

Armistead Maupin on learning of the gay plague from a sobbing friend

Castaway · 25 November 2007Kirsty Young

Gloria Hunniford

08°27′S 061°05′W

Gloria Hunniford

Gloria Hunniford on her father the magician

Castaway · 24 December 2006Kirsty Young

05°51′S 093°08′W

Graham Norton

Graham Norton on Joan Collins’s phone call with a glove fetishist

Castaway · 2 May 2004Sue Lawley

10°15′S 154°04′W

Judith Kerr

Judith Kerr on killing off Mog the Cat as she turned 80

Castaway · 29 February 2004Sue Lawley

18°14′S 075°47′W

Bill Cullen

Bill Cullen on his grandmother marking his forehead with an ash cross

Castaway · 19 October 2003Sue Lawley

19°20′S 151°05′W

Des Lynam

Des Lynam on not recognising his father when he picked him up as a child

Castaway · 19 November 2000Sue Lawley

General Sir Charles Guthrie

05°33′S 065°50′W

General Sir Charles Guthrie

How a bombing raid seemed frightfully exciting to a young Charles Guthrie

Castaway · 30 July 2000Sue Lawley

17°01′S 086°17′W

Nina Campbell

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

Castaway · 16 March 1997Sue Lawley

Margaret Kelly - Miss Bluebell

22°06′S 150°54′W

Margaret Kelly - Miss Bluebell

Miss Bluebell on hiding her husband in an attic for two and a half years in Nazi-occupied Paris

Castaway · 7 February 1988Michael Parkinson

23°29′S 043°53′W

Robert Carrier

Robert Carrier on painting large canvases of food and nude women

Castaway · 15 November 1987Michael Parkinson

01°27′S 057°39′W

James Prior

How James Prior challenged the minister of food over his school pig club

Castaway · 11 January 1987Michael Parkinson

06°32′S 080°42′W

Stubby Kaye

Stubby Kaye on wetting his pants during his first stage performance

Castaway · 4 February 1984Roy Plomley

Keith Waterhouse

21°05′S 169°10′W

Keith Waterhouse

Keith Waterhouse on being beckoned into Alfred Hitchcock's presence to polish dialogue

Castaway · 30 July 1983Roy Plomley

05°34′S 050°15′W

Gregory Peck

How a rubber whale in the Irish Sea almost killed Gregory Peck

Castaway · 2 August 1980Roy Plomley

07°33′S 039°16′W

Timothy West

How playing Edward VII made Timothy West expect doors to open for him

Castaway · 16 February 1980Roy Plomley

00°26′S 151°04′W

Raymond Mander & Joe Mitchenson

How a last-minute casting for The Merry Wives of Windsor brought Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson together

Castaway · 28 January 1978Roy Plomley