Randy Newman — 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
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

Randy Newman — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Composer

Randy Newman

12 episodes

Chosen over the decades

12

Total castaways

2000s

Peak decade

5

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

Barbara Dickson
Jamie Cullum
Leslie Caron
Margaret Drabble
Neil Tennant
Norma Percy
Patrick Stewart
Rita Dove
Sir Terry Wogan
Tom Lehrer
Victoria Wood
Willy Russell

Norma Percy
Norma Percy on the gin and tonic her professor gave nervous students
Castaway · 22 June 2025Lauren Laverne
Leslie Caron
Leslie Caron on her grandfather crying when war broke out
Castaway · 13 February 2022Lauren Laverne

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

Jamie Cullum on finding himself at 3am in a house he didn't know

Castaway · 25 March 2012Kirsty Young

Sir Terry Wogan

08°18′S 087°09′W

Sir Terry Wogan

Terry Wogan on his nerve-wracking first broadcast reading the Cattle Market Report

Castaway · 1 January 2012Kirsty Young

18°31′S 013°30′W

Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood on her childhood home crammed with junk from bombsites

Castaway · 23 December 2007Kirsty Young

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 2007Kirsty Young

Patrick Stewart

23°47′S 104°15′W

Patrick Stewart

Patrick Stewart on being cast as Shylock by his teacher at age 12

Castaway · 17 April 2005Sue Lawley

Margaret Drabble

10°12′S 162°11′W

Margaret Drabble

Margaret Drabble on swallowing paracetamol out of bad temper

Castaway · 6 May 2001Sue Lawley

20°46′S 100°09′W

Rita Dove

Rita Dove on her father being denied the valedictorian address

Castaway · 22 August 1999Sue 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 1995Sue Lawley

16°43′S 171°04′W

Willy Russell

Willy Russell on the woman who told him the same story every week for two years

Castaway · 23 January 1994Sue Lawley

16°55′S 059°23′W

Tom Lehrer

Tom Lehrer on his parents finding him a popular music teacher

Castaway · 12 July 1980Roy Plomley