99 episodes

• Professor Stephen Westaby

  01°33′S 163°40′W

  Professor Stephen Westaby

  How a rugby head injury made Stephen Westaby fearless

  Castaway · 15 March 2026·Lauren Laverne

• Rita Rae

  17°02′S 022°28′W

  Rita Rae

  Rita Rae on the solicitors who would only instruct her in rape cases

  Castaway · 3 March 2024·Lauren Laverne

• Jeremy Bowen

  21°08′S 060°50′W

  Jeremy Bowen

  Jeremy Bowen on hearing his first shots in war and feeling excited

  Castaway · 4 June 2023·Lauren Laverne

• Helen Macdonald

  00°37′S 058°36′W

  Helen Macdonald

  Helen Macdonald on the albatross that made the world new

  Castaway · 5 December 2021·Lauren Laverne

• Helen Fielding

  11°05′S 139°54′W

  Helen Fielding

  Helen Fielding on the time her film crew drove over a landmine

  Castaway · 5 July 2020·Lauren Laverne

• Sir Tim Waterstone

  22°08′S 173°58′W

  Sir Tim Waterstone

  Tim Waterstone on being fired from WH Smith

  Castaway · 4 August 2019·Lauren Laverne

• James Rebanks

  11°28′S 144°23′W

  James Rebanks

  How James Rebanks' dad told him to stop being a pain in the ass and go to Oxford

  Castaway · 20 January 2019·Lauren Laverne

• Danielle de Niese

  19°36′S 058°03′W

  Danielle de Niese

  Danielle de Niese on pretending each performance never happened before

  Castaway · 16 September 2018·Kirsty Young

• Berry Gordy

  08°44′S 175°18′W

  Berry Gordy

  Berry Gordy on writing 'To Be Loved' after his wife kicked him out

  Castaway · 22 May 2016·Kirsty Young

• Julia Samuel

  17°54′S 022°23′W

  Julia Samuel

  Julia Samuel on not knowing babies could die until she chaired Birthright

  Castaway · 1 March 2015·Kirsty Young

• Raja Shehadeh

  07°27′S 125°59′W

  Raja Shehadeh

  Raja Shehadeh on the military governor calling his father to warn him about his activism

  Castaway · 15 June 2014·Kirsty Young

• Mairi Hedderwick

  08°22′S 035°44′W

  Mairi Hedderwick

  Mairi Hedderwick on crying while watching Katie Morag's TV wedding on a beach

  Castaway · 2 March 2014·Kirsty Young

• Nicola Benedetti

  08°19′S 004°58′W

  Nicola Benedetti

  Nicola Benedetti on choosing to practise over a birthday party aged eight

  Castaway · 12 January 2014·Kirsty Young

• Baroness Campbell

  12°23′S 035°51′W

  Baroness Campbell

  Jane Campbell on the doctor who presumed she wouldn't want to be resuscitated

  Castaway · 5 August 2012·Kirsty 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 2012·Kirsty Young

• Terry Gilliam

  18°59′S 014°05′W

  Terry Gilliam

  How Terry Gilliam's jokes about God ended his missionary ambitions

  Castaway · 10 April 2011·Kirsty Young

• Michael Mansfield

  17°47′S 122°32′W

  Michael Mansfield

  Michael Mansfield on having his car blown up outside the Old Bailey

  Castaway · 17 October 2010·Kirsty Young

• Lewis Gilbert

  18°08′S 176°53′W

  Lewis Gilbert

  Lewis Gilbert on driving a car around the stage aged five

  Castaway · 20 June 2010·Kirsty Young

• Martin Shaw

  09°58′S 161°58′W

  Martin Shaw

  Martin Shaw on stopping drinking overnight after finding a spiritual path

  Castaway · 21 June 2009·Kirsty Young

• Richard Ingrams

  16°20′S 057°40′W

  Richard Ingrams

  Richard Ingrams on confusing God and J. S. Bach

  Castaway · 3 August 2008·Kirsty Young

• Martin Evans

  13°43′S 141°41′W

  Martin Evans

  Martin Evans on receiving his Nobel Prize call in his oldest clothes with a sander

  Castaway · 17 February 2008·Kirsty Young

• John Rutter

  04°42′S 055°56′W

  John Rutter

  John Rutter on the out-of-tune upright piano that opened a world of magic at age three

  Castaway · 25 December 2005·Sue Lawley

• David Hope

  06°01′S 037°40′W

  David Hope

  David Hope on following the stations of the cross in Notre Dame before a press conference

  Castaway · 11 December 2005·Sue Lawley

• Lorin Maazel

  21°29′S 121°31′W

  Lorin Maazel

  Lorin Maazel on not batting an eye when a musician fell off the stage

  Castaway · 3 April 2005·Sue Lawley

• Barbara Taylor Bradford

  14°31′S 151°34′W

  Barbara Taylor Bradford

  Barbara Taylor Bradford on having her first story published at the age of ten

  Castaway · 6 July 2003·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

• Sir Kyffin Williams

  08°30′S 155°58′W

  Sir Kyffin Williams

  Kyffin Williams on cutting holes in his own paintings with a Stanley knife

  Castaway · 10 June 2001·Sue Lawley

• Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell

  04°21′S 177°29′W

  Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell

  How Jocelyn Bell Burnell learned at 18 months that men count and women don’t

  Castaway · 24 December 2000·Sue Lawley

• Des Lynam

  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 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

  14°11′S 068°45′W

  Sir John Mills

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

  Castaway · 7 May 2000·Sue Lawley

• Leonard Slatkin

  16°30′S 050°29′W

  Leonard Slatkin

  Leonard Slatkin on becoming an English major after his father's death

  Castaway · 23 April 2000·Sue Lawley

• John Barry

  21°09′S 173°08′W

  John Barry

  John Barry on being carried into a cinema at age two to see a mouse

  Castaway · 13 June 1999·Sue Lawley

• Christopher Bruce

  12°07′S 146°44′W

  Christopher Bruce

  Christopher Bruce on his accent making him an outsider at Ballet Rambert

  Castaway · 23 May 1999·Sue Lawley

• Paco Peña

  15°49′S 021°27′W

  Paco Peña

  How a boy's guitar melody in Cordoba inspired Paco Peña

  Castaway · 11 April 1999·Sue Lawley

• Paul Daniel

  03°36′S 133°20′W

  Paul Daniel

  Paul Daniel on conducting Fidelio on seven hours' notice

  Castaway · 1 November 1998·Sue Lawley

• Sir Ernest Hall

  00°05′S 097°55′W

  Sir Ernest Hall

  Ernest Hall on being mesmerised by a wind-up gramophone aged eight

  Castaway · 26 April 1998·Sue Lawley

• Christina Noble

  11°41′S 115°36′W

  Christina Noble

  Christina Noble on a vivid dream of children running through smoke

  Castaway · 15 June 1997·Sue Lawley

• Viscount Rothermere

  20°35′S 152°29′W

  Viscount Rothermere

  Viscount Rothermere on his sinking heart at the prospect of a life of hunting and shooting

  Castaway · 14 April 1996·Sue Lawley

• Felix Aprahamian

  06°18′S 072°41′W

  Felix Aprahamian

  Felix Aprahamian on the piano blunder that taught him critical wisdom

  Castaway · 19 March 1995·Sue Lawley

• Patricia Hodge

  07°11′S 004°25′W

  Patricia Hodge

  Patricia Hodge on seeing Where the Rainbow Ends at age ten

  Castaway · 8 January 1995·Sue Lawley

• John Drummond

  14°04′S 015°38′W

  John Drummond

  John Drummond on the ten years of misery under Hugh Weldon

  Castaway · 26 June 1994·Sue Lawley

• Shirley Anne Field

  00°58′S 101°00′W

  Shirley Anne Field

  Shirley Anne Field on wiping off her make-up to land her role in The Entertainer

  Castaway · 14 November 1993·Sue Lawley

• Evelyn Glennie

  04°03′S 138°45′W

  Evelyn Glennie

  Evelyn Glennie on telling musical intervals by where she feels them in her feet

  Castaway · 24 January 1993·Sue Lawley

• Chad Varah

  02°31′S 073°19′W

  Chad Varah

  Chad Varah on the child whose suicide inspired his sex education teaching

  Castaway · 27 September 1992·Sue Lawley

• Fred Dibnah

  05°20′S 170°43′W

  Fred Dibnah

  Fred Dibnah on having his divorce filmed

  Castaway · 1 December 1991·Sue Lawley

• Sir Trevor Holdsworth

  03°54′S 172°03′W

  Sir Trevor Holdsworth

  Trevor Holdsworth on solving Mozart's problems

  Castaway · 17 March 1991·Sue Lawley

• Jean Rook

  18°44′S 145°38′W

  Jean Rook

  Jean Rook on waking to find three masked men in her bedroom

  Castaway · 15 July 1990·Sue Lawley

• John Peel

  16°51′S 138°00′W

  John Peel

  How a phone call to a Dallas DJ made John Peel a surrogate Beatle

  Castaway · 14 January 1990·Sue Lawley

• Jack Lemmon

  19°33′S 013°42′W

  Jack Lemmon

  Jack Lemmon on his childhood nickname 'Jack Eulemon'

  Castaway · 8 October 1989·Sue Lawley