485 episodes

• Kyung-Wha Chung

  01°45′S 085°21′W

  Kyung-Wha Chung

  Kyung-Wha Chung on being banned from concerts by Jascha Heifetz

  Castaway · 29 December 1979·Roy Plomley

• Sir Osbert Lancaster

  04°51′S 164°33′W

  Sir Osbert Lancaster

  How Osbert Lancaster timed his daily cartoons to the evening paper editions

  Castaway · 22 December 1979·Roy Plomley

• Norman Mailer

  15°11′S 173°41′W

  Norman Mailer

  How missing D-Day almost made Norman Mailer weep for a lost novel

  Castaway · 15 December 1979·Roy Plomley

• Elisabeth Soderstrom

  02°32′S 002°49′W

  Elisabeth Soderstrom

  Elisabeth Soderstrom on her son inviting friends to watch 'mummy, she's so funny'

  Castaway · 8 December 1979·Roy Plomley

• Charles Causley

  13°52′S 010°57′W

  Charles Causley

  How Charles Causley wrote poetry in his head while serving in the Navy

  Castaway · 1 December 1979·Roy Plomley

• Peter Shaffer

  08°28′S 129°01′W

  Peter Shaffer

  Peter Shaffer on his two and three quarter years as a Bevin boy down the coal mines

  Castaway · 24 November 1979·Roy Plomley

• Michael Palin

  19°49′S 138°09′W

  Michael Palin

  How a terrible piano lesson put Michael Palin off playing

  Castaway · 17 November 1979·Roy Plomley

• Marti Caine

  06°09′S 146°17′W

  Marti Caine

  Marti Caine on stealing a penny from under a milk bottle

  Castaway · 10 November 1979·Roy Plomley

• Sian Phillips

  17°30′S 155°25′W

  Sian Phillips

  How winning at the National Eisteddfod led to Sian Phillips's first broadcast

  Castaway · 3 November 1979·Roy Plomley

• Roald Dahl

  06°19′S 147°59′W

  Roald Dahl

  Roald Dahl on being unable to turn off the light after reading Ambrose Bierce

  Castaway · 27 October 1979·Roy Plomley

• Rex Harrison

  17°40′S 156°07′W

  Rex Harrison

  Rex Harrison on the fluffed line that he thought ended his career

  Castaway · 20 October 1979·Roy Plomley

• Josephine Barstow

  20°45′S 055°19′W

  Josephine Barstow

  Josephine Barstow on the morning she decided to become an opera singer

  Castaway · 13 October 1979·Roy Plomley

• Wilfred Thesiger

  07°06′S 064°27′W

  Wilfred Thesiger

  How Wilfred Thesiger survived the Empty Quarter on half a pound of flour and a pint of water a day

  Castaway · 6 October 1979·Roy Plomley

• Pam Ayres

  18°26′S 072°35′W

  Pam Ayres

  Pam Ayres on being told she was a writer and buying a typewriter

  Castaway · 29 September 1979·Roy Plomley

• Ted Allbeury

  05°47′S 081°43′W

  Ted Allbeury

  Ted Allbeury on describing a naked couple as 'a nurse attending the wounded' in an intelligence test

  Castaway · 22 September 1979·Roy Plomley

• Richard Buckle

  00°23′S 020°47′W

  Richard Buckle

  How Richard Buckle spent £75,000 to save Diaghilev's costumes

  Castaway · 15 September 1979·Roy Plomley

• June Mendoza

  11°43′S 028°55′W

  June Mendoza

  How a painting of a cellist made June Mendoza choose art over a screen test

  Castaway · 8 September 1979·Roy Plomley

• Peter Barkworth

  22°04′S 037°03′W

  Peter Barkworth

  Peter Barkworth on his father offering £2.15 a week for drama school

  Castaway · 1 September 1979·Roy Plomley

• Barry Norman

  09°25′S 046°11′W

  Barry Norman

  Barry Norman on being hurled into a racial maelstrom as a 19-year-old journalist

  Castaway · 25 August 1979·Roy Plomley

• Boris Christoff

  19°24′S 140°22′W

  Boris Christoff

  Boris Christoff on being mistaken for dead by his singing teacher

  Castaway · 18 August 1979·Roy Plomley

• Countess Elizabeth Longford

  08°04′S 131°14′W

  Countess Elizabeth Longford

  Elizabeth Longford on discovering that Queen Victoria and Albert had furious rows

  Castaway · 11 August 1979·Roy Plomley

• Sir Ralph Richardson

  05°12′S 083°14′W

  Sir Ralph Richardson

  Ralph Richardson on putting wrong checks in wrong envelopes at an insurance office

  Castaway · 4 August 1979·Roy Plomley

• Dame Moura Lympany

  18°52′S 074°06′W

  Dame Moura Lympany

  Moura Lympany on saying 'Couldn't I play?' to get her debut

  Castaway · 28 July 1979·Roy Plomley

• Dick Clement

  07°31′S 065°58′W

  Dick Clement & Ian La Frenais

  Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais on meeting at The Uxbridge Arms and playing hearts

  Castaway · 21 July 1979·Roy Plomley

• C Northcote Parkinson

  20°11′S 056°50′W

  C Northcote Parkinson

  C. Northcote Parkinson on being too busy writing books to play discs

  Castaway · 14 July 1979·Roy Plomley

• Glen Tetley

  09°50′S 048°42′W

  Glen Tetley

  Glen Tetley on how a few movements earned him a contract from Jerome Robbins

  Castaway · 7 July 1979·Roy Plomley

• Tito Gobbi

  22°29′S 039°34′W

  Tito Gobbi

  Tito Gobbi on eating lawn grass to survive

  Castaway · 30 June 1979·Roy Plomley

• Ed McBain

  11°09′S 030°26′W

  Ed McBain

  Ed McBain on using a typewriter with only capital letters in the Navy

  Castaway · 23 June 1979·Roy Plomley

• Irene Thomas

  00°48′S 021°18′W

  Irene Thomas

  Irene Thomas on being rejected by the Welsh quiz team

  Castaway · 16 June 1979·Roy Plomley

• Ian Carmichael

  12°32′S 103°25′W

  Ian Carmichael

  Ian Carmichael on his first role as a robot

  Castaway · 9 June 1979·Roy Plomley

• Sir Robert Mayer

  23°53′S 112°33′W

  Sir Robert Mayer

  Robert Mayer on his first children's concert in 1923

  Castaway · 2 June 1979·Roy Plomley

• Jack Brymer

  22°06′S 015°04′W

  Jack Brymer

  Jack Brymer on the phone call that opened with ‘Mister Brimer, I believe you play the clarionet’

  Castaway · 26 May 1979·Roy Plomley

• Alec McCowen

  09°27′S 024°12′W

  Alec McCowen

  Alec McCowen on learning the Gospel of Mark three verses at a time

  Castaway · 19 May 1979·Roy Plomley

• Peter Blake

  00°25′S 177°48′W

  Peter Blake

  Peter Blake on starting art school in short trousers

  Castaway · 12 May 1979·Roy Plomley

• James Cameron

  11°46′S 006°56′W

  James Cameron

  How a six-pound weekly budget sent James Cameron to France

  Castaway · 5 May 1979·Roy Plomley

• Edward Fox

  18°29′S 050°36′W

  Edward Fox

  How a fear of appearing naked made Edward Fox turn down a film test at age ten

  Castaway · 28 April 1979·Roy Plomley

• Patricia Highsmith

  05°49′S 059°44′W

  Patricia Highsmith

  Patricia Highsmith on the 300-page novel she abandoned at 23

  Castaway · 21 April 1979·Roy Plomley

• Sir Edmund Hillary

  20°47′S 032°20′W

  Sir Edmund Hillary

  Edmund Hillary on concluding that the Yeti is mythological

  Castaway · 14 April 1979·Roy Plomley

• Sir Adrian Boult

  07°08′S 041°28′W

  Sir Adrian Boult

  Castaway · 7 April 1979·Roy Plomley

• Burl Ives

  17°33′S 140°51′W

  Burl Ives

  Burl Ives on singing hymns on pitch at the family pump organ

  Castaway · 31 March 1979·Roy Plomley

• Ray Reardon

  06°12′S 132°43′W

  Ray Reardon

  Ray Reardon on being buried alive for three hours

  Castaway · 24 March 1979·Roy Plomley

• Ileana Cotrubas

  23°29′S 088°03′W

  Ileana Cotrubas

  Ileana Cotrubas on being congratulated by Nadia Boulanger for her French

  Castaway · 17 March 1979·Roy Plomley

• David Attenborough

  12°09′S 079°55′W

  David Attenborough

  David Attenborough on predicting horseshoe crabs breeding in Chesapeake Bay

  Castaway · 10 March 1979·Roy Plomley

• Lauren Bacall

  21°11′S 105°19′W

  Lauren Bacall

  How a phone call to Howard Hawks saved Lauren Bacall’s crooked eyebrows

  Castaway · 3 March 1979·Roy Plomley

• Nana Mouskouri

  10°50′S 096°11′W

  Nana Mouskouri

  Nana Mouskouri on the blow-up with her professor over jazz

  Castaway · 24 February 1979·Roy Plomley

• Sir Arthur Bryant

  03°07′S 052°31′W

  Sir Arthur Bryant

  Arthur Bryant on becoming the youngest headmaster in England at 23

  Castaway · 17 February 1979·Roy Plomley

• Norris McWhirter

  16°47′S 044°23′W

  Norris McWhirter

  Norris McWhirter on running the 100 yards in just over 10 seconds

  Castaway · 10 February 1979·Roy Plomley

• Robert Stephens

  01°48′S 070°47′W

  Robert Stephens

  Robert Stephens on the worst film ever made

  Castaway · 3 February 1979·Roy Plomley

• Benjamin Luxon

  14°28′S 061°39′W

  Benjamin Luxon

  Benjamin Luxon on being called to tour Russia with the English Opera Group

  Castaway · 27 January 1979·Roy Plomley

• Elia Kazan

  10°53′S 127°58′W

  Elia Kazan

  How seeing Eisenstein's films gave Elia Kazan his first goal

  Castaway · 20 January 1979·Roy Plomley