460 episodes

• Frederic Raphael

  07°32′S 065°01′W

  Frederic Raphael

  Frederic Raphael on having to explain why a character is named Martha not Georgina

  Castaway · 21 February 1981·Roy Plomley

• David Broome

  14°15′S 109°41′W

  David Broome

  David Broome on first being lifted into the saddle aged two and a quarter

  Castaway · 14 February 1981·Roy Plomley

• Mary O'Hara

  01°36′S 118°49′W

  Mary O'Hara

  How two breakdowns forced Mary O'Hara to leave the monastery

  Castaway · 7 February 1981·Roy Plomley

• Jeffrey Archer

  16°34′S 092°25′W

  Jeffrey Archer

  How Jeffrey Archer discovered he was £427,727 in debt

  Castaway · 31 January 1981·Roy Plomley

• Joan Plowright

  03°54′S 100°33′W

  Joan Plowright

  Joan Plowright on turning down a seven-year film contract

  Castaway · 24 January 1981·Roy Plomley

• HRH Princess Margaret

  10°37′S 144°13′W

  HRH Princess Margaret

  Princess Margaret on packing for a weekend at Windsor and staying five years

  Castaway · 17 January 1981·Roy Plomley

• John Fowles

  21°58′S 153°21′W

  John Fowles

  John Fowles on his plan for a Robinson Crusoe who dreads being rescued

  Castaway · 10 January 1981·Roy Plomley

• Robin Cousins

  12°56′S 127°57′W

  Robin Cousins

  How yawning helped Robin Cousins release competition nerves

  Castaway · 3 January 1981·Roy Plomley

• Placido Domingo

  23°17′S 136°05′W

  Placido Domingo

  Placido Domingo on the tape audition that led him to the Israel Opera

  Castaway · 27 December 1980·Roy Plomley

• Arthur Askey

  07°25′S 050°45′W

  Arthur Askey

  Arthur Askey on carving his initials on a desk Paul McCartney called a shrine

  Castaway · 20 December 1980·Roy Plomley

• Neville Marriner

  20°05′S 041°37′W

  Neville Marriner

  Neville Marriner on lining up children against each other at competitive music festivals

  Castaway · 13 December 1980·Roy Plomley

• Jose Carreras

  09°07′S 030°33′W

  Jose Carreras

  How The Great Caruso inspired Jose Carreras to sing

  Castaway · 6 December 1980·Roy Plomley

• Alan Minter

  22°47′S 021°25′W

  Alan Minter

  Alan Minter on holding the school record for canings

  Castaway · 29 November 1980·Roy Plomley

• Tom Conti

  11°26′S 012°17′W

  Tom Conti

  How playing the guitar saved Tom Conti from crushing loneliness

  Castaway · 22 November 1980·Roy Plomley

• Jacquetta Hawkes

  00°06′S 004°09′W

  Jacquetta Hawkes

  Jacquetta Hawkes on drawing bison and mammoth in a cave as a child

  Castaway · 15 November 1980·Roy Plomley

• Mark Elder

  05°30′S 065°05′W

  Mark Elder

  Mark Elder on picking up a bassoon the wrong way round

  Castaway · 8 November 1980·Roy Plomley

• Derek Tangye

  18°09′S 056°57′W

  Derek Tangye

  Derek Tangye on being marooned on a tropical island near Tahiti

  Castaway · 1 November 1980·Roy Plomley

• Catherine Gaskin

  07°48′S 048°49′W

  Catherine Gaskin

  Catherine Gaskin on practicing piano at her teacher's house every morning at 7:30

  Castaway · 25 October 1980·Roy Plomley

• Brian Glover

  20°28′S 039°41′W

  Brian Glover

  Brian Glover on substituting for a French wrestler and becoming Leonares

  Castaway · 18 October 1980·Roy Plomley

• Sir John Tooley

  18°20′S 057°23′W

  Sir John Tooley

  John Tooley on accepting he lacked the talent to be a singer

  Castaway · 11 October 1980·Roy Plomley

• Ronald Lockley

  05°41′S 066°31′W

  Ronald Lockley

  How two accidents turned Ronald Lockley into a naturalist

  Castaway · 4 October 1980·Roy Plomley

• Andrea Newman

  08°32′S 114°31′W

  Andrea Newman

  Andrea Newman on the joy of her first civil service payday

  Castaway · 27 September 1980·Roy Plomley

• Michael Powell

  19°53′S 123°39′W

  Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

  How the War Office tried to stop Powell and Pressburger making Colonel Blimp

  Castaway · 20 September 1980·Roy Plomley

• Antal Dorati

  06°13′S 132°47′W

  Antal Dorati

  How a hateful meeting at the Musicians' Union made Antal Dorati leave Germany

  Castaway · 13 September 1980·Roy Plomley

• Earl Of Snowdon

  17°34′S 140°55′W

  Earl Of Snowdon

  Snowdon on starting his photography career in a box room

  Castaway · 6 September 1980·Roy Plomley

• Renata Scotto

  04°54′S 149°03′W

  Renata Scotto

  Renata Scotto on replacing Maria Callas in Edinburgh

  Castaway · 30 August 1980·Roy Plomley

• Tristan Jones

  15°15′S 158°11′W

  Tristan Jones

  Tristan Jones on sailing further north than Nansen

  Castaway · 23 August 1980·Roy Plomley

• Stephen Sondheim

  02°36′S 167°19′W

  Stephen Sondheim

  Stephen Sondheim on writing Send in the Clowns overnight

  Castaway · 16 August 1980·Roy Plomley

• William Trevor

  13°56′S 176°27′W

  William Trevor

  William Trevor on nearly drowning three times as a child

  Castaway · 9 August 1980·Roy Plomley

• Gregory Peck

  05°34′S 050°15′W

  Gregory Peck

  How a rubber whale in the Irish Sea almost killed Gregory Peck

  Castaway · 2 August 1980·Roy Plomley

• David Scott Blackhall

  18°14′S 042°07′W

  David Scott Blackhall

  David Scott Blackhall on the pub outing that showed him people don't speak to the blind

  Castaway · 26 July 1980·Roy Plomley

• Daley Thompson

  03°15′S 068°31′W

  Daley Thompson

  Daley Thompson on British sports facilities being the worst in the world

  Castaway · 19 July 1980·Roy Plomley

• Tom Lehrer

  16°55′S 059°23′W

  Tom Lehrer

  Tom Lehrer on his parents finding him a popular music teacher

  Castaway · 12 July 1980·Roy Plomley

• V S Naipaul

  01°57′S 086°47′W

  V S Naipaul

  V S Naipaul on swearing at age 12 to leave Trinidad within five years

  Castaway · 5 July 1980·Roy Plomley

• Barbara Woodhouse

  14°36′S 077°39′W

  Barbara Woodhouse

  Barbara Woodhouse on riding her cows after they stopped giving milk

  Castaway · 28 June 1980·Roy Plomley

• General Sir John Hackett

  23°38′S 103°03′W

  General Sir John Hackett

  John Hackett on escaping German-occupied Holland in a canoe at dawn

  Castaway · 21 June 1980·Roy Plomley

• Clive James

  12°17′S 094°55′W

  Clive James

  Clive James on losing his only letter of introduction and ten pounds in London

  Castaway · 14 June 1980·Roy Plomley

• Freddie Jones

  21°19′S 121°19′W

  Freddie Jones

  Freddie Jones on how his resignation made the company's shares rise by four points

  Castaway · 7 June 1980·Roy Plomley

• Robert Tear

  10°58′S 112°11′W

  Robert Tear

  Robert Tear on Benjamin Britten telling him he wasn't believing what he sang

  Castaway · 31 May 1980·Roy Plomley

• Earl Hines

  08°12′S 120°48′W

  Earl Hines

  How Earl Hines made his first record in a room full of steam

  Castaway · 24 May 1980·Roy Plomley

• Rt Hon Lord Denning

  19°32′S 129°56′W

  Rt Hon Lord Denning

  Lord Denning on saying at age ten he would become a barrister

  Castaway · 17 May 1980·Roy Plomley

• Natalie Wood

  10°31′S 103°32′W

  Natalie Wood

  Natalie Wood on being renamed from Natalia Nikolaevna Zaharinko at age five

  Castaway · 10 May 1980·Roy Plomley

• Lindsay Anderson

  21°51′S 111°40′W

  Lindsay Anderson

  Lindsay Anderson on writing 'I rebel about nothing in particular' on a looking glass aged nine

  Castaway · 3 May 1980·Roy Plomley

• Salvatore Accardo

  12°49′S 085°16′W

  Salvatore Accardo

  Salvatore Accardo on learning to read music before he could read print

  Castaway · 26 April 1980·Roy Plomley

• Erich Segal

  23°10′S 094°24′W

  Erich Segal

  Erich Segal on being the fortieth writer on Yellow Submarine

  Castaway · 19 April 1980·Roy Plomley

• Leonard Rossiter

  14°08′S 068°00′W

  Leonard Rossiter

  How a drunk interrupted Leonard Rossiter's first live television play

  Castaway · 12 April 1980·Roy Plomley

• Commissioner Catherine Bramwell-Booth

  01°29′S 076°08′W

  Commissioner Catherine Bramwell-Booth

  Catherine Bramwell-Booth on marching cadets into the Silver Town explosion

  Castaway · 5 April 1980·Roy Plomley

• Donald Pleasence

  16°27′S 050°44′W

  Donald Pleasence

  Donald Pleasence on winning a silver medal at a musical festival aged seven

  Castaway · 29 March 1980·Roy Plomley

• Frances Perry

  03°48′S 059°52′W

  Frances Perry

  Frances Perry on falling headfirst into a tub of liquid manure at 18 months

  Castaway · 22 March 1980·Roy Plomley

• Geoffrey Household

  19°26′S 114°40′W

  Geoffrey Household

  How shooting partridges got Geoffrey Household a job at the Ottoman Bank

  Castaway · 15 March 1980·Roy Plomley