Traditional — Composer · desert is.land

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Tuning in…

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

desert is.landest. 1942

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

Composer

Traditional

160 episodes

Chosen over the decades

160

Total castaways

2000s

Peak decade

7

Decades seen

Castaways who chose this

A A Gill
Alan Price
Alan Sillitoe
Albie Sachs
Alice Thomas Ellis
Andy Hamilton
Angela Gheorghiu
Anthony Howard
Antony Gormley
Ara Darzi
Arthur Edwards
Barbara Dickson
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Barbara Woodhouse
Ben Helfgott
Ben Kingsley
Bruce Fogle
Bryan Stevenson
Carl Sagan
Caroline
Cathy Berberian
Cecil Lewis
Charles Causley
Christopher Milne
more

Paul Theroux
How Paul Theroux tried being Robinson Crusoe on Lamu island
Castaway · 27 March 1976Roy Plomley
Helen Bradley
How Helen Bradley painted with a fish slice and a dinner plate
Castaway · 5 July 1975Roy Plomley
Emlyn Williams

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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

How a biography of Charles Dickens led Emlyn Williams to create a one-man show

Castaway · 15 February 1975Roy Plomley

Dr Jacob Bronowski

04°24′S 046°38′W

Dr Jacob Bronowski

Jacob Bronowski on telling the BBC he didn't mean to make a science series like Kenneth Clark's

Castaway · 5 January 1974Roy Plomley

09°25′S 084°05′W

Joyce Carey

Joyce Carey on writing a play under an aunt de plume

Castaway · 8 September 1973Roy Plomley

Sir Geoffrey Jackson

06°01′S 030°48′W

Sir Geoffrey Jackson

Geoffrey Jackson on singing at full blast to survive solitary confinement

Castaway · 8 April 1972Roy Plomley

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Vivian Dunn

10°10′S 161°32′W

Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Vivian Dunn

Vivian Dunn on beating retreat as the sun set over the sea from HMS Vanguard

Castaway · 6 November 1971Roy Plomley

18°21′S 132°43′W

Sir Alec Rose

Alec Rose on the soul-destroying whine of rigging

Castaway · 7 April 1969Roy Plomley

Nicolai Poliakoff

18°12′S 049°51′W

Nicolai Poliakoff

Nicolai Poliakoff on his four-week visit to England that never ended

Castaway · 23 December 1963Roy Plomley

23°47′S 044°00′W

Godfrey Talbot

How a tank cut Godfrey Talbot's cable during a desert broadcast

Castaway · 29 August 1960Roy Plomley