424 episodes

• Mike Leigh OBE

  12°57′S 018°04′W

  Mike Leigh OBE

  How a pulled TV play gave Mike Leigh his biggest hit

  Castaway · 21 September 1997·Sue Lawley

• Ursula Owen

  23°17′S 027°12′W

  Ursula Owen

  Ursula Owen on weeping outside her parents' house

  Castaway · 14 September 1997·Sue Lawley

• Sir Frank Kermode

  14°16′S 001°48′W

  Sir Frank Kermode

  Frank Kermode on dealing with the madness of captains during the war

  Castaway · 7 September 1997·Sue Lawley

• Cleo Laine

  01°36′S 009°56′W

  Cleo Laine

  Cleo Laine on the New Year's Eve kiss with Johnny Dankworth

  Castaway · 31 August 1997·Sue Lawley

• Iain Banks

  16°35′S 163°32′W

  Iain Banks

  Iain Banks on building bombs from sodium chlorate and sugar

  Castaway · 24 August 1997·Sue Lawley

• Eric Sykes

  03°55′S 172°40′W

  Eric Sykes

  Eric Sykes on crying from homesickness on his first night in the RAF

  Castaway · 22 June 1997·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

• Benjamin Zephaniah

  00°21′S 106°28′W

  Benjamin Zephaniah

  Benjamin Zephaniah on writing his first book when he could hardly read or write

  Castaway · 8 June 1997·Sue Lawley

• Joanna MacGregor

  21°29′S 058°28′W

  Joanna MacGregor

  Joanna MacGregor on the shock of being told what to think when she first went to school

  Castaway · 1 June 1997·Sue Lawley

• Sian Phillips

  10°09′S 049°20′W

  Sian Phillips

  Sian Phillips on seeing her first pantomime with her grandmother

  Castaway · 25 May 1997·Sue Lawley

• Harry Enfield

  23°48′S 040°12′W

  Harry Enfield

  Harry Enfield on bitterly resenting his father for picking him up from parties

  Castaway · 18 May 1997·Sue Lawley

• David Wynne

  12°28′S 031°04′W

  David Wynne

  David Wynne on sending a cheeky note to Jacob Epstein

  Castaway · 11 May 1997·Sue Lawley

• Sir Martin Rees

  01°07′S 022°56′W

  Sir Martin Rees

  Martin Rees on how being bad at Greek and Latin steered him towards astronomy

  Castaway · 4 May 1997·Sue Lawley

• Andy Hamilton

  14°46′S 014°48′W

  Andy Hamilton

  How a backstage chat after an Edinburgh show won Andy Hamilton his BBC break

  Castaway · 27 April 1997·Sue Lawley

• Saeed Jaffrey

  03°26′S 005°40′W

  Saeed Jaffrey

  Saeed Jaffrey on his mother's letter after his Broadway debut

  Castaway · 20 April 1997·Sue Lawley

• Virginia Ironside

  16°05′S 176°32′W

  Virginia Ironside

  Virginia Ironside on regularly waking up screaming and calling the Samaritans

  Castaway · 30 March 1997·Sue Lawley

• Peter Blake

  06°40′S 077°09′W

  Peter Blake

  Peter Blake on being paid £200 for the Sgt. Pepper album cover

  Castaway · 23 March 1997·Sue Lawley

• Nina Campbell

  17°01′S 086°17′W

  Nina Campbell

  Nina Campbell on not being able to make a pair of curtains

  Castaway · 16 March 1997·Sue Lawley

• Redmond O'Hanlon

  20°06′S 165°29′W

  Redmond O'Hanlon

  Redmond O'Hanlon on losing his fetish in a Rotterdam restaurant

  Castaway · 9 March 1997·Sue Lawley

• Dr Susan Greenfield

  07°27′S 174°37′W

  Dr Susan Greenfield

  Susan Greenfield on her mother's question about seeing the colour red

  Castaway · 2 March 1997·Sue Lawley

• Nico Ladenis

  18°47′S 002°45′W

  Nico Ladenis

  Nico Ladenis on his tearful reaction to being awarded three Michelin stars

  Castaway · 23 February 1997·Sue Lawley

• Mary Benson

  05°08′S 011°53′W

  Mary Benson

  Mary Benson on pretending to write notes about Saul Bellow's Herzog while under house arrest

  Castaway · 16 February 1997·Sue Lawley

• Terry Pratchett

  00°44′S 130°57′W

  Terry Pratchett

  Terry Pratchett on meeting Arthur C. Clarke in the gents aged 13

  Castaway · 9 February 1997·Sue Lawley

• Gene Wilder

  11°04′S 139°05′W

  Gene Wilder

  Gene Wilder on making his mother laugh after her heart attack

  Castaway · 2 February 1997·Sue Lawley

• Irene Thomas

  22°25′S 147°13′W

  Irene Thomas

  Irene Thomas on being dismissed as a 'jamped up chorus girl' by Round Britain Quiz

  Castaway · 26 January 1997·Sue Lawley

• John Cleese

  09°46′S 156°21′W

  John Cleese

  John Cleese on fleeing the Footlights desk in confusion

  Castaway · 5 January 1997·Sue Lawley

• Martin Amis

  17°28′S 095°16′W

  Martin Amis

  Martin Amis on attending more than a dozen schools as a child

  Castaway · 29 December 1996·Sue Lawley

• Jennifer Saunders

  06°07′S 086°08′W

  Jennifer Saunders

  Jennifer Saunders on initially repelling Dawn French

  Castaway · 22 December 1996·Sue Lawley

• Ian Dury

  07°54′S 003°36′W

  Ian Dury

  Ian Dury on being accused of faking his disability at the Nashville

  Castaway · 15 December 1996·Sue Lawley

• Robert Winston

  20°33′S 174°28′W

  Robert Winston

  Robert Winston on being a real Luddite when IVF first began

  Castaway · 8 December 1996·Sue Lawley

• Bruce Forsyth

  05°35′S 020°52′W

  Bruce Forsyth

  How driving round the block three times helped Bruce Forsyth enter the London Palladium

  Castaway · 1 December 1996·Sue Lawley

• Rt Hon Tony Blair MP

  18°14′S 012°44′W

  Rt Hon Tony Blair MP

  Tony Blair on the morning his father had a stroke

  Castaway · 24 November 1996·Sue Lawley

• Tessa Sanderson

  11°31′S 148°04′W

  Tessa Sanderson

  Tessa Sanderson on the shock of seeing snow for the first time after arriving from Jamaica

  Castaway · 17 November 1996·Sue Lawley

• Sir Laurens Van Der Post

  00°11′S 139°56′W

  Sir Laurens Van Der Post

  Laurens Van Der Post on resolving to apologize to the Bushmen at age eight

  Castaway · 10 November 1996·Sue Lawley

• Chris Patten

  09°13′S 165°20′W

  Chris Patten

  Chris Patten on predicting to John Major that he would lose his seat in Bath

  Castaway · 3 November 1996·Sue Lawley

• Jancis Robinson

  22°52′S 157°12′W

  Jancis Robinson

  How a 1959 Burgundy took Jancis Robinson to another place

  Castaway · 27 October 1996·Sue Lawley

• Jackie Charlton

  12°27′S 057°49′W

  Jackie Charlton

  Jackie Charlton on fighting for the warmest spot in his childhood bed

  Castaway · 20 October 1996·Sue Lawley

• Rumer Godden

  23°47′S 066°57′W

  Rumer Godden

  How a father's remark about her face broke Rumer Godden's heart

  Castaway · 13 October 1996·Sue Lawley

• Lewis Wolpert

  06°30′S 110°37′W

  Lewis Wolpert

  Lewis Wolpert on his therapist talking him through a committee meeting

  Castaway · 6 October 1996·Sue Lawley

• Ben Elton

  17°51′S 119°45′W

  Ben Elton

  Ben Elton on his teenage plan to leave school and sweep up backstage

  Castaway · 29 September 1996·Sue Lawley

• Fran Landesman

  08°49′S 093°21′W

  Fran Landesman

  Fran Landesman on the origin of Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most

  Castaway · 22 September 1996·Sue Lawley

• Kevin Whately

  19°10′S 101°29′W

  Kevin Whately

  Kevin Whately on considering a singing career while busking

  Castaway · 15 September 1996·Sue Lawley

• Professor Colin Blakemore

  02°53′S 145°09′W

  Professor Colin Blakemore

  Colin Blakemore on developing a stomach ulcer at the age of eleven

  Castaway · 8 September 1996·Sue Lawley

• Sir Terence Conran

  13°13′S 154°17′W

  Sir Terence Conran

  How a grocery queue helped Terence Conran accept a knighthood

  Castaway · 1 September 1996·Sue Lawley

• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch

  04°12′S 128°53′W

  Anita Lasker-Wallfisch

  Anita Lasker-Wallfisch on why she owes her life to the cello

  Castaway · 25 August 1996·Sue Lawley

• André Previn

  15°32′S 137°01′W

  André Previn

  How a former client in the SS helped André Previn's family flee Nazi Germany

  Castaway · 18 August 1996·Sue Lawley

• Quentin Crewe

  23°41′S 051°41′W

  Quentin Crewe

  Quentin Crewe on having to carry his umbrella flapping like a rook at Eton

  Castaway · 16 June 1996·Sue Lawley

• Peggy Mount

  12°20′S 042°33′W

  Peggy Mount

  Peggy Mount on being told she had a character face

  Castaway · 9 June 1996·Sue Lawley

• Gerry Robinson

  09°15′S 143°21′W

  Gerry Robinson

  Gerry Robinson on his mother asking if he had his own office

  Castaway · 2 June 1996·Sue Lawley

• Michael White

  22°54′S 134°13′W

  Michael White

  Michael White on why we never saw his show 'I'

  Castaway · 26 May 1996·Sue Lawley