Desert Island Discs

Jojo Moyes, writer

25 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Jojo Moyes, writer, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item she would take with her if cast away to a desert island. With Lauren Laverne.

Kate Winslet, actor

18 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Winslet is an actor who achieved global fame playing Rose DeWitt Bukater, opposite Leonard DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, in the 1997 James Cameron epi...

Lee Child, writer

11 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Lee Child is a writer who is best known for his series of bestselling novels featuring Jack Reacher. Reacher is an enigmatic 6ft 5in, 17-stone ex-mil...

Jesse Armstrong, writer

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Jesse Armstrong, writer, TV showrunner, shares the eight tracks, book and luxury item he would take with him if cast away to a desert island. With Lau...

Margaret Atwood, writer

04 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian writer. She has published more than sixty books spanning novels, poetry, short stories, non-fiction, children’s litera...

Gordon Buchanan, cameraman and presenter

28 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gordon Buchanan is a wildlife cameraman and TV presenter. He is best known for the Animal Family & Me series of BBC documentaries in which he get...

Sir Salman Rushdie, writer

21 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Salman Rushdie is a writer who has written over 20 books, seven of which have been nominated for the Booker Prize. In 1981 he won with his novel ...

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Computer Scientist

14 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Tim Berners-Lee is a computer scientist and the inventor of the World Wide Web. He was born in 1955, a golden year for technology innovators. ...

Sally Mann, photographer and writer

07 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sally Mann is a photographer and a New York Times bestselling writer. She is best known for making large-format black and white photographs of the peo...

Lorraine Kelly, broadcaster

30 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lorraine Kelly is a journalist and broadcaster who has been a mainstay of daytime television for over 40 years. She has hosted her own show Lorraine ...

Lennie James, actor

23 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lennie James is a British actor and writer. In 2025, he received the BAFTA for Leading Actor for his portrayal of Barrington Walker in the TV adaptati...

Mary Greenwell, makeup artist

16 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Greenwell is a makeup artist who has worked with some of the most famous faces in the world including Christy Turlington, Linda Evangelista, Davi...

Ronnie Wood, musician

09 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ronnie Wood is a musician and artist who has been a major player on the UK music scene for over 60 years. In 1975 Ronnie became a member of the Rollin...

Angela Harding, artist

02 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Angela Harding is an artist, printmaker and illustrator. Based in Rutland, Angela’s work is inspired by the countryside of the British Isles, and i...

Michael Sheen, actor

26 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Michael Sheen is an award-winning actor.After finding his love for the stage with the West Glamorgan Youth theatre as a teenager, he studied at the Ro...

Maggie Alphonsi, broadcaster and former rugby player

14 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Maggie Alphonsi is a broadcaster and former rugby player. She was part of the England team which took home the 2014 Women’s Rugby World Cup and by ...

Professor Dame Carol Robinson, scientist

07 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Dame Carol Robinson is a scientist who was the first female professor of Chemistry at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities. She has been ...

Harry Hill, comedian

31 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Harry Hill is a comedian, writer and broadcaster best known for presenting popular television shows including You’ve Been Framed, Junior Bake Off an...

Monica Dolan, actor

23 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Monica Dolan is a BAFTA and Olivier award winning actor. She is equally at home playing a wrongfully accused postmistress in Mr Bates Vs the Post Off...

Gustavo Dudamel, conductor

16 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gustavo Dudamel is a Venezuelan conductor, violinist and composer. He is known for bringing humour and joy to the podium. He is currently director o...

Ash Atalla, producer

10 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Ash Atalla is a television producer whose first hit was the BBC sitcom The Office, starring Ricky Gervais. He followed it up with the IT Crowd, People...

Carol Klein, gardener

02 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Carol Klein is a gardener, broadcaster and longtime contributor to BBC Gardeners’ World. She is a six time Chelsea Flower Show gold medal winner, ...

Sir Gregory Doran, director

26 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Gregory Doran is the former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He spent a total of thirty five years with the RSC directing fif...

Norma Percy, film-maker

20 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Norma Percy is a documentary film-maker. She has been making programmes for over three decades and her productions have featured a range of political...

Lord Alf Dubs, politician and campaigner

13 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lord Alf Dubs is a Labour peer and former MP. He came to the UK from Prague in 1939 on one of the Kindertransport trains organised by Sir Nicholas Wi...

Professor Lucy Easthope, emergency planner

05 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Lucy Easthope is an adviser on disaster recovery and planning. She’s an expert in planning for and reacting to major incidents: natural d...

Romesh Ranganathan, comedian and broadcaster

29 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Romesh Ranganathan is a comedian and BAFTA-winning broadcaster who has been a fixture on British television screens for the past decade. In addition ...

Abdulrazak Gurnah, writer

22 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Abdulrazak Gurnah is emeritus Professor of Post-Colonial Literatures at the University of Kent and the 2021 Nobel Prize winner in Literature. Born i...

Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu, scientist

15 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Dame Ijeoma Uchegbu is Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience at University College London and President of Wolfson College, University of ...

Danny Dyer, actor

08 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Actor Danny Dyer became a household name when he joined the cast of EastEnders as Mick Carter, landlord of the Queen Victoria pub. He recently stole t...

Lindsey Hilsum, journalist

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Lindsey Hilsum is a multi-award-winning journalist who has been a foreign correspondent for the past four decades. She has been Channel 4’s internat...

Donna Ockenden, midwife

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Donna Ockenden is a former clinical midwife who led the Ockenden Review which revealed, at the time, the biggest maternity scandal in NHS history. Pu...

Professor Carl Jones, conservation biologist

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Carl Jones is a conservation biologist who is best known for saving the Mauritius kestrel from extinction. He is the scientific director of...

Cyndi Lauper, singer-songwriter

06 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Cyndi Lauper is a multi-award winning singer and songwriter. She has sold more than fifty million records, won an Emmy for acting and her musical Kink...

William Boyd, writer

30 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

William Boyd is the author of eighteen novels, five short story collections and numerous screenplays. His first published novel, A Good Man in Africa,...

Sir Jony Ive, designer

23 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Jony Ive is a designer who is best known for his pioneering work at Apple alongside his friend and colleague, the late Steve Jobs. Jony’s creat...

Mina Smallman, activist

16 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wilhelmina – Mina – Smallman is an activist who campaigns for the safety of women and girls and police reform. She is a former teacher and priest...

Stephen Mangan

09 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Actor Stephen Mangan is castaway by Lauren Laverne in an extended edition. Stephen is an award-winning actor who is also a presenter and writer. His ...

Nemone Lethbridge, lawyer and writer

02 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nemone Lethbridge is a barrister who was called to the bar in 1956. One of very few female barristers working at the time, she encountered misogyny a...

Nick Cave, singer and writer

23 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Nick Cave is a singer and writer who, with his band Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, has released emotionally intense and provocative music since the mid-...

Harriet Wistrich, lawyer

16 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Harriet Wistrich is one of the country’s most prominent human rights lawyers. In 2016 she founded the Centre for Women’s Justice and over the cou...

Laurie Anderson, artist

09 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Laurie Anderson is an artist and performer who came to fame in the UK with her 1981 hit O Superman. Her work spans music, film and multimedia project...

Mark-Anthony Turnage, composer

02 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mark-Anthony Turnage is a composer of contemporary classical music. Once called “Britain’s hippest composer”, he has been in a rock band, got dr...

Marianela Núñez, ballerina

26 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Marianela Núñez is a Principal dancer of the Royal Ballet and Opera. Born in Argentina in 1982, Marianela knew she wanted to be a ballet dancer from...

Gareth Southgate OBE, football manager

19 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gareth Southgate OBE is the most successful England men’s football manger in the modern game. He holds the record as the man who has represented E...

Cher, singer and actor

12 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Cher has been a global star for over six decades. Her career has spanned music, television and film and throughout that time her outfits have made fla...

Ebony Rainford-Brent, former England cricketer

05 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Former cricketer Ebony Rainford-Brent is the first Black woman to play for England and she was part of the team which won the Women’s Cricket World ...

Mark Steel, comedian

29 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Steel is a writer, comedian and radio presenter. His performing career began as a poet in the alternative comedy scene in the early eighties at...

Steven Knight, writer

07 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Steven Knight CBE is a screenwriter, producer, and director for film and television. He is best known for creating the TV series Peaky Blinders but...

Mark Knopfler, musician

31 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Mark Knopfler OBE is one of the UK’s most successful rock musicians and composers. He co-founded the band Dire Straits and their album Brothers i...

Sarah Raven, gardener and writer

25 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sarah Raven is one of Britain’s best known gardeners. Since her debut book, The Cutting Garden in 1996 she has written for national newspapers and ...

David Nicholls, writer

17 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The writer David Nicholls is best known for his 2009 novel One Day which has sold 6 million copies, been made into a film and a Netflix series which r...

Errollyn Wallen, composer

11 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Errollyn Wallen is one of the world’s most performed living composers. Her work, which includes 22 operas, orchestral, chamber and vocal works, was...

Rob Delaney, actor and comedian

04 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rob Delaney is a comedian, writer and actor who is best known for the television series Catastrophe, which he co-wrote and co-starred in alongside Sha...

Professor Patricia Wiltshire, forensic scientist

28 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Patricia Wiltshire is a forensic ecologist who specialises in palynology – the study of pollen. Her expertise has led her to work with ev...

Anthony Joshua, boxer

20 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Anthony Joshua MBE is a British heavyweight boxer, Olympic gold medallist and two-time former unified world heavyweight champion. Anthony was born in ...

Clive Myrie, journalist

14 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Clive Myrie is an award-winning journalist and news presenter who is one of the BBC’s most experienced foreign correspondents. In 2021 he took over ...

Shirine Khoury-Haq, businesswoman

07 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Shirine Khoury-Haq is the chief executive officer of the Co-op Group – the first female chief executive in its 180-year history and the first from a...

Rebel Wilson, actor

30 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Australian actor Rebel Wilson became an international star with a breakthrough part in the 2011 Hollywood comedy Bridesmaids, opposite Kristen Wii...

John Boyne, writer

22 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Irish writer John Boyne is best known for his 2006 novel The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, which became a literary phenomenon, selling more than 11 ...

Dame Sarah Storey, athlete

15 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dame Sarah Storey is Great Britain’s most successful Paralympian, winning 17 gold, eight silver and three bronze medals. She was just 14 when she to...

Greg Davies, comedian

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Greg Davies is a familiar face on television as the host of Taskmaster, the BAFTA-winning game show, and he has achieved sell out national arena tours...

Professor Tim Spector, scientist

27 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Spector is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Head of the Department of Twin Research at King’s College London. He was one of the co-founde...

Professor Alice Roberts, scientist and broadcaster

21 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Alice Roberts is one of the most popular science communicators in Britain today. As the presenter of the BBC archaeology programme Digging f...

Jenny Sealey, theatre director

13 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jenny Sealey has been the artistic director of Graeae Theatre Company since 1997: Graeae is a deaf and disabled-led company and a leader and innovator...

James Graham, playwright

07 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

James Graham is an award-winning dramatist whose plays include This House, Ink and Dear England starring Joseph Fiennes as the England football manage...

Rita Rae, Lady Rae, lawyer and judge

31 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Honourable Lady Rita Rae is a lawyer and judge, and the current Rector of the University of Glasgow. Early in her career she was a rare woman in t...

Sandy Powell, costume designer

24 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sandy Powell won her first Academy Award for dressing Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow in Shakespeare in Love, and has since won two more Oscars - a...

Clive Oppenheimer, volcanologist

17 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Clive Oppenheimer is a volcanologist, filmmaker and Professor of Volcanology at the University of Cambridge. His research has taken him on expeditions...

Cillian Murphy, actor

10 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Cillian Murphy has received global acclaim for his performance in the title role of Christopher Nolan’s epic film Oppenheimer. He has been nominated...

Val Wilmer, writer and photographer

03 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Val Wilmer has photographed and interviewed many of the most significant musicians of the post-war years, including Duke Ellington, Muddy Waters, Mile...

Jamie Dornan, actor

25 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jamie Dornan is an actor who first came to the attention of television audiences in 2013 when he played serial killer Paul Spector in the BBC series t...

Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cellist

18 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sheku Kanneh-Mason is a cellist who came to international attention when he performed at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. Still ...

Guli Francis-Dehqani, Church of England Bishop

11 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani is the Bishop of Chelmsford. She also sits in Parliament as a Lord Spiritual and last year she played a prominent...

Graham Nash, musician

04 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Graham William Nash is a musician, singer, songwriter and photographer. He had his first musical success as a member of the UK band The Hollies bef...

Delia Smith, CH, CBE, cookery writer and broadcaster

21 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Delia Smith CH CBE is one of Britain’s most popular and successful cookery writers and broadcasters. Her first book, How to Cheat at Cooking, was...

Greta Gerwig, writer and director

14 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Greta Gerwig is the director of the feature film Barbie - the first woman in cinematic history to have the sole director’s credit for a billion doll...

Shirley Ballas, dance judge

07 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Shirley Ballas is the head judge on Strictly Come Dancing, the BBC’s Saturday night entertainment show, which regularly attracts an audience of many...

Marina Abramović, performance artist

31 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Marina Abramović is an artist renowned for performances and feats of endurance, in which her body is pushed to its limits. She has moved, scandalise...

Dr Nicola Fox, head of science at Nasa

24 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Nicky Fox is only the second woman to hold the post of Head of Science at NASA since the agency was founded in 1958. She has responsibility for aro...

Pia Sinha, Director Prison Reform Trust

17 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Pia Sinha is the Director of the Prison Reform Trust and a former prison governor. She was awarded the St Martin’s Award for Prison Governance for ...

Peter White, broadcaster

10 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Peter White is an award-winning broadcaster. In 2024 he will celebrate 50 years presenting Radio 4’s In Touch, the programme for blind and visually...

Lea Salonga, singer and actor

03 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Lea Salonga was just 18 when she became an international theatre star, taking a leading role in the world premiere production of the musical Miss Saig...

Professor Dame Lesley Regan, obstetrician and gynaecologist

26 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Dame Lesley Regan is the Government’s first Women’s Health Ambassador for England. She is one of the main drivers behind the upcoming W...

Patrick Grant, designer and broadcaster

19 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Patrick Grant is a designer, clothing entrepreneur and a judge on the BBC TV programme The Great British Sewing Bee. Patrick was born in Edinburgh in...

Dame Donna Langley, film studio executive

12 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dame Donna Langley is chairman and chief content officer for the NBC Universal Studio Group, the first British woman in history to run a major Hollywo...

Greg Jackson, entrepreneur

05 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Greg Jackson is the founder and CEO of Octopus Energy. The company is the UK’s second largest domestic energy provider with over five million custo...

Katherine Ryan, comedian

29 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Katherine Ryan is a Canadian comedian and writer. Her edgy and provocative routines have led to sell-out tours, comedy specials on television and her...

Lucinda Russell, horse trainer

22 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Lucinda Russell is a Scottish racehorse trainer. Her stables in Kinross have sent out almost 900 winners, including two Grand National champions. She ...

Adrian Edmondson, actor, writer

14 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Adrian Edmondson first shot to national fame in 1982, playing the studded punk Vyvyan in the TV sitcom The Young Ones, set in a seedy student flat. Th...

Shirley Collins, folk singer

02 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Shirley Collins first enjoyed success as one of the leading figures in the British folk revival of the 1960s. She initially performed with her sister,...

Toto Wolff, Formula 1 executive

27 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Toto Wolff is CEO and Team Principal of the Mercedes Formula 1 motor racing team. He has led the team to an unprecedented seven consecutive drivers’...

Simon Woolley, crossbench peer

20 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Simon Woolley, Lord Woolley of Woodford, is principal of Homerton College at Cambridge University. He is the first black man to head an Oxbridge colle...

Jill Scott, footballer

12 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jill Scott is the second most capped England footballer ever, playing for her country 161 times. Before her retirement last year, she played in ten ma...

Peter Doig, artist

05 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Peter Doig is one of Britain’s most successful living artists. His paintings have been exhibited at major galleries around the world, winning wide c...

Stanley Tucci, actor

30 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Stanley Tucci is an actor, director and writer who is known for his roles in a broad range of feature films including the Devil Wears Prada, Julie and...

Kate Mosse, writer

22 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Mosse OBE is a British novelist and broadcaster. She is the author of ten novels and short story collections, including The Joubert Family Chroni...

Adam Kay, writer

16 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Adam Kay is a writer whose memoir This is Going to Hurt; Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor won the Book of the Year prize at the National Book Awards ...

Claudia Rankine, poet

09 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Claudia Rankine is a poet, essayist and playwright. She is best known for her book Citizen: An American Lyric which combines short stories about ever...

Jeremy Bowen, journalist

02 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jeremy Bowen is the BBC’s award-winning international editor. He has been reporting from the world’s conflict zones, including Iraq, Bosnia, the ...