104 episodes

• Professor Sharon Peacock

  16°41′S 148°07′W

  Professor Sharon Peacock

  Sharon Peacock on meeting her husband at Cinderella's disco

  Castaway · 21 May 2023·Lauren Laverne

• Hilary McGrady

  04°16′S 132°44′W

  Hilary McGrady

  Hilary McGrady on a custodian who lifted a pipe bomb from a National Trust house

  Castaway · 1 November 2020·Lauren Laverne

• Chris Riddell

  21°03′S 048°19′W

  Chris Riddell

  Chris Riddell on getting into trouble for drawing on his father's wall

  Castaway · 8 March 2020·Lauren Laverne

• Dame Sally Davies

  11°47′S 164°50′W

  Dame Sally Davies

  Sally Davies on sitting all night with a young woman drowning in her own lung fluid

  Castaway · 28 July 2019·Lauren Laverne

• Sue Biggs

  18°30′S 028°30′W

  Sue Biggs

  Sue Biggs on receiving a packet of seeds for her seventh birthday

  Castaway · 7 July 2019·Lauren Laverne

• Bob Mortimer

  10°32′S 054°37′W

  Bob Mortimer

  Bob Mortimer on first seeing Vic Reeves with a Bryan Ferry mask and planks on his feet

  Castaway · 3 February 2019·Lauren Laverne

• Christine McVie

  22°11′S 176°00′W

  Christine McVie

  Christine McVie on writing Songbird after champagne and cocaine

  Castaway · 17 December 2017·Kirsty Young

• Jane Gardam

  08°57′S 089°05′W

  Jane Gardam

  How a chance meeting on a train told Jane Gardam she was a writer

  Castaway · 15 October 2017·Kirsty Young

• Sonia Friedman

  12°29′S 155°43′W

  Sonia Friedman

  Sonia Friedman on writing a Harold Pinter pause into the prompt script

  Castaway · 4 June 2017·Kirsty Young

• Emma Bridgewater

  11°19′S 061°30′W

  Emma Bridgewater

  Emma Bridgewater on the blackbird singing as her mother died

  Castaway · 27 November 2016·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

• Prof David Phillips

  11°16′S 151°25′W

  Prof David Phillips

  David Phillips on being interrogated by the KGB for five hours

  Castaway · 1 May 2011·Kirsty Young

• Ian McMillan

  02°48′S 149°56′W

  Ian McMillan

  Ian McMillan on his mother going to prison for love

  Castaway · 7 November 2010·Kirsty Young

• Fay Weldon

  01°51′S 040°33′W

  Fay Weldon

  Fay Weldon on the earthquake before her birth

  Castaway · 9 May 2010·Kirsty Young

• Anthony Julius

  22°21′S 143°36′W

  Anthony Julius

  Anthony Julius on telling Princess Diana he had never done a divorce case

  Castaway · 13 November 2009·Kirsty Young

• Peter Sallis

  16°41′S 025°38′W

  Peter Sallis

  Peter Sallis on being cast as the lead in a RAF production of Hay Fever

  Castaway · 17 May 2009·Kirsty Young

• Athene Donald

  01°43′S 051°02′W

  Athene Donald

  Athene Donald on hiding her parents' separation for two years

  Castaway · 22 March 2009·Kirsty Young

• Alan Sillitoe

  06°44′S 089°28′W

  Alan Sillitoe

  Alan Sillitoe on writing seven novels before finding a publisher

  Castaway · 25 January 2009·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

• Neil Tennant

  07°47′S 160°53′W

  Neil Tennant

  How Chris Lowe hissed "don't look triumphant" at Neil Tennant on Top of the Pops

  Castaway · 4 February 2007·Kirsty Young

• Mary Midgley

  06°24′S 061°09′W

  Mary Midgley

  Mary Midgley on witnessing Hitler enter Vienna in 1938

  Castaway · 20 November 2005·Sue Lawley

• Ronald Searle

  12°50′S 119°36′W

  Ronald Searle

  Ronald Searle on writing a note saying 'I've gone' and abandoning his old life

  Castaway · 10 July 2005·Sue Lawley

• Alison Richard

  01°06′S 086°59′W

  Alison Richard

  Alison Richard on thinking she was at Cambridge by mistake

  Castaway · 6 March 2005·Sue Lawley

• Virginia McKenna

  00°06′S 037°29′W

  Virginia McKenna

  Virginia McKenna on her father keeping a snake called George and two bush babies

  Castaway · 26 September 2004·Sue Lawley

• Vic Reeves

  17°14′S 027°17′W

  Vic Reeves

  Vic Reeves on getting on stage because he didn't know how to book anyone

  Castaway · 9 March 2003·Sue Lawley

• Rowan Williams

  02°43′S 175°18′W

  Rowan Williams

  Rowan Williams on nearly becoming a monk in his early twenties

  Castaway · 22 December 2002·Sue Lawley

• Alan Titchmarsh

  03°58′S 104°30′W

  Alan Titchmarsh

  How greenfly in Margate led Alan Titchmarsh to television

  Castaway · 7 July 2002·Sue Lawley

• Sir Aaron Klug

  13°21′S 046°52′W

  Sir Aaron Klug

  Aaron Klug on being inspired by Microbe Hunters to study medicine

  Castaway · 12 May 2002·Sue Lawley

• Phyllis Sellick

  03°56′S 127°29′W

  Phyllis Sellick

  Phyllis Sellick on the secret benefactor who got them home from Russia

  Castaway · 27 January 2002·Sue Lawley

• Joss Ackland

  03°06′S 094°02′W

  Joss Ackland

  Joss Ackland on never being cast in a school play

  Castaway · 12 August 2001·Sue Lawley

• Lord Deedes

  16°45′S 085°54′W

  Lord Deedes

  How a gun deal landed Bill Deedes his first journalism job

  Castaway · 5 August 2001·Sue Lawley

• Henry Sandon

  11°55′S 048°52′W

  Henry Sandon

  Henry Sandon on finding Ozzie the slipware owl on the Antiques Roadshow

  Castaway · 11 March 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

• Robert Swan

  07°51′S 048°34′W

  Robert Swan

  Robert Swan on being hooked by Scott of the Antarctic aged 11

  Castaway · 13 August 2000·Sue Lawley

• Warren Mitchell

  10°12′S 008°29′W

  Warren Mitchell

  How a communist on a troop ship converted Warren Mitchell from a Tory

  Castaway · 28 November 1999·Sue Lawley

• Sir David Willcocks

  09°07′S 124°19′W

  Sir David Willcocks

  David Willcocks on being conducted by Elgar as a ten-year-old choir boy

  Castaway · 17 May 1998·Sue Lawley

• Judi Dench

  18°08′S 150°43′W

  Judi Dench

  How seeing King Lear at Stratford led Judi Dench to become an actor

  Castaway · 12 April 1998·Sue Lawley

• Andrew Motion

  10°02′S 033°05′W

  Andrew Motion

  Andrew Motion on the Hardy poem that made the hair on his neck stand up

  Castaway · 22 March 1998·Sue Lawley

• David Pountney

  06°24′S 069°37′W

  David Pountney

  David Pountney on hearing Fidelio from a barn crossbeam at age five

  Castaway · 22 February 1998·Sue Lawley

• Sir Harry Secombe

  19°43′S 092°31′W

  Sir Harry Secombe

  How taking off his glasses helped Harry Secombe overcome stage fright

  Castaway · 21 December 1997·Sue Lawley

• Richard Mabey

  02°26′S 136°11′W

  Richard Mabey

  How a bluebell wood made Richard Mabey feel like wading underwater

  Castaway · 26 October 1997·Sue Lawley

• André Previn

  15°32′S 137°01′W

  André Previn

  How a former client in the SS helped André Previn's family flee Nazi Germany

  Castaway · 18 August 1996·Sue Lawley

• Barbara Dickson

  07°45′S 149°42′W

  Barbara Dickson

  Barbara Dickson on singing into a toothpaste tube in the bathroom

  Castaway · 17 December 1995·Sue Lawley

• Brian Blessed

  03°36′S 017°58′W

  Brian Blessed

  Brian Blessed on refusing oxygen on Everest to feel the mountain

  Castaway · 4 June 1995·Sue Lawley

• Sir Bernard Ingham

  01°17′S 034°14′W

  Sir Bernard Ingham

  How Bernard Ingham blamed 'knifing Tories' for Thatcher's fall

  Castaway · 21 May 1995·Sue Lawley

• Dr Richard Dawkins

  04°59′S 089°57′W

  Dr Richard Dawkins

  Richard Dawkins on comparing God to Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy

  Castaway · 22 January 1995·Sue Lawley

• Phil Redmond

  20°50′S 175°17′W

  Phil Redmond

  Phil Redmond on vetoing a glue sniffing storyline for Grange Hill

  Castaway · 15 January 1995·Sue Lawley

• Kate Adie

  08°07′S 067°26′W

  Kate Adie

  Kate Adie on the Empire disappearing before she could marry a missionary

  Castaway · 15 May 1994·Sue Lawley

• Dame Cicely Saunders

  00°29′S 114°00′W

  Dame Cicely Saunders

  Cicely Saunders on the patient who thanked her for telling him he was dying

  Castaway · 30 January 1994·Sue Lawley

• Sybil Marshall

  11°19′S 109°08′W

  Sybil Marshall

  How a blind date at a university ball led Sybil Marshall to the love of her life

  Castaway · 7 November 1993·Sue Lawley