Desert Island Discs: Archive 2000-2005

Kim Cattrall

26 Dec 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway is the actress Kim Cattrall. Kim Cattrall became a household name in her forties as a result of playing man-eater, defiant singl...

Engelbert Humperdinck

19 Dec 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway is the singer Engelbert Humperdinck. Engelbert Humperdinck is one of Britain's most successful entertainers. He is known as the ...

John Fortune

12 Dec 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is John Fortune.John Fortune is one of Britain's most respected and enduring satirists. For the past 12 years he has b...

Sir Bobby Robson

05 Dec 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Sir Bobby Robson. Sir Bobby Robson is one of the most enduring and popular faces in football. For more than five de...

Tracey Emin

28 Nov 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the artist Tracey Emin. Tracey Emin is one of the most successful and controversial artists to emerge during the 19...

Clive Stafford Smith

21 Nov 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the death row lawyer Clive Stafford Smith. Clive Stafford Smith spent more than 25 years representing people on dea...

Matthew Bourne

19 Nov 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the internationally acclaimed choreographer Matthew Bourne. He was born in the East End of London in 1960. As a child,...

Ann Leslie

07 Nov 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the distinguished foreign correspondent Ann Leslie. She has witnessed and reported on some of the most significant ...

Matthew Pinsent

31 Oct 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Olympic gold medallist Matthew Pinsent. Matthew Pinsent won his fourth Olympic gold medal at this summer's game...

Jack Mapanje

24 Oct 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the poet Dr Jack Mapanje who is one of the most important living African poets. He was born into a poor household i...

Rt Hon Sir Menzies Campbell MP

17 Oct 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Liberal Democrat politician Sir Menzies Campbell. Born in Glasgow, he excelled at both academia and sports maki...

Anne Scott James

10 Oct 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the journalist and writer Anne Scott-James. Now in her 92nd year, Anne Scott-James came from a line of critics and ...

Desmond Morris

03 Oct 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue's Lawley's castaway this week is the zoologist turned author and broadcaster Desmond Morris. He made his name with The Naked Ape first published i...

Virginia McKenna

26 Sep 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actress and wildlife campaigner Virginia McKenna. She was born in London and, after spending five years of her ...

Joe Simpson

19 Sep 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the mountaineer Joe Simpson. He was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1960 where his father was stationed with the British Ar...

Hugh Masekela

11 Jul 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the world famous musician Hugh Masekela. As a boy growing up in the impoverished townships of South Africa, he was ...

Rt Hon Michael Howard MP

04 Jul 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the leader of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard. He was raised in an orthodox Jewish family in Llanelli, Sout...

Tim Rice

27 Jun 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the world famous lyricist Sir Tim Rice. Sir Tim is best known for his collaborative work with Andrew Lloyd Webber c...

Diana Athill

20 Jun 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the writer and book editor Diana Athill. For nearly 50 years Diana Athill was involved in every aspect of publishi...

Karan Bilimoria

13 Jun 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the businessman Karan Bilimoria - who set up production of a beer designed to be drunk with Indian food, imported i...

Geraldine James

30 May 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is one of Britain's best known actresses - Geraldine James. Geraldine James became a household name 20 years ago for...

Sir Ken Adam

23 May 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the man who's designed some of the most famous film sets ever made. Sir Ken Adam was the production designer on s...

Pen Hadow

16 May 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the explorer Pen Hadow. Pen Hadow made polar history in 2003 by becoming the first man to walk solo and unsupport...

U A Fanthorpe

09 May 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is one of Britain's best loved poets - U A Fanthorpe. She was the first woman ever to be nominated for the post of Ox...

Graham Norton

02 May 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the larger than life TV presenter Graham Norton. He was recently voted the most powerful man in comedy with four Ba...

Antonio Pappano

25 Apr 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the conductor Antonio Pappano. He took over as music director of the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden two years a...

Bernard Cornwell

18 Apr 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Britain's most popular writer of historical fiction Bernard Cornwell. His work has sold more than five million copi...

Michael Morpurgo

11 Apr 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the widely respected children's author and the current Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo. He styles himself as a...

Angela Gheorghiu

04 Apr 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Angela Gheorghiu is one of the world's foremost sopranos, beautiful, a good actress and with a voice that critics say is close to perfect, she has bee...

Jack Vettriano

28 Mar 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the artist Jack Vettriano. Jack Vettriano is the painter of Britain's most popular work of art. More than a million...

Ralph Kohn

21 Mar 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue's castaway is a man who's made a success of two entirely different careers. Ralph Kohn is a Jewish businessman who has won the Queen's E...

Bill Nighy

14 Mar 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue's castaway is the award winning actor Bill Nighy. Originally from Caterham in Surrey, he left school at 15 without any qualifications a...

Sir Gulam Noon

07 Mar 2004

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is a businessman who brought authentic Indian foods to our supermarkets - Sir Gulam Noon. An instinctive businessman, ...

Judith Kerr

29 Feb 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue's castaway is Judith Kerr - a writer and illustrator known to generations of children both for her charming Mog picture-books and for he...

John Cale

22 Feb 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is John Cale, a classically trained musician who went on to found one of the most influential bands of the 1960s, Velv...

Sacha Distel

15 Feb 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is one of France's best known exports - the singer Sacha Distel. Born into a loving family in 1930s Paris, his father ...

Sister Frances Dominica

08 Feb 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is a nun and a pioneer of the hospice movement. Sister Frances Dominica says she had always felt she was born to be a ...

Rt Hon Lord Sainsbury

01 Feb 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is David Sainsbury, now Lord Sainsbury of Turville.David Sainsbury who is a grocer and a politician is also one of Bri...

Paul Dacre

25 Jan 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is one of Britain's most powerful newspaper men - Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail. He was brought up in a househo...

Stephen Frears

18 Jan 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the film director Stephen Frears. His film credits include My Beautiful Launderette, When Sammy and Rosie Get Laid,...

Jimmy Tarbuck

11 Jan 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the entertainer Jimmy Tarbuck. Originally from Liverpool, he began his career as a redcoat at Butlins holiday camp....

Martha Lane Fox

04 Jan 2004

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the dot-com millionaire and businesswoman Martha Lane Fox. She says that as a child she was confident and bossy - t...

Paul O'Grady

28 Dec 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway is the entertainer Paul O'Grady. Best known as the 'Blonde Bombshell', Lily Savage, he's one of the most popular figures on tele...

Emmylou Harris

21 Dec 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the country rock singer Emmylou Harris. Born in Alabama in 1947, her musical influences were folk rather than count...

Nicholas Grimshaw

14 Dec 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw. An interest in engineering runs in the Grimshaw genes - one great-grandfather ...

Pat Barker

07 Dec 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the Booker prize-winning novelist Pat Barker. Pat Barker was 39 when she had the phone call every writer dreams abo...

Henry Blofeld

30 Nov 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the cricket commentator Henry Blofeld. Blofeld's become known as much for his musings on pigeons, planes, double de...

Sir Christopher Meyer

23 Nov 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the chairman of the Press Complaints Commission Sir Christopher Meyer. Sir Christopher joined the PCC earlier this ...

Jeremy Clarkson

16 Nov 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the motoring journalist and motor-mouth Jeremy Clarkson. He came from a comfortable background - his mother was a t...

Christopher Frayling

02 Nov 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is Professor Sir Christopher Frayling the Rector of the Royal College of Art and a champion of popular culture. He was...

Rt Hon Charles Kennedy MP

26 Oct 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the leader of the Liberal Democrats Charles Kennedy. Born in Inverness, Charles grew up on a croft near Fort Willia...

Bill Cullen

19 Oct 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week, Sue Lawley's castaway is the Irish businessman and writer Bill Cullen. He was one of 14 children born to William Cullen and Mary Darcy. His...

Herbert Kretzmer

12 Oct 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the journalist and songwriter Herbert Kretzmer. Born in South Africa in 1925, he came to Europe after World War II....

Nigella Lawson

05 Oct 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the broadcaster, cook, mother and domestic goddess Nigella Lawson. She came from a privileged background - her fath...

Nick Hornby

28 Sep 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the internationally successful author Nick Hornby. Originally from suburban Maidenhead, his obsession with football...

Bryn Terfel

21 Sep 2003

Contributed by Lukas

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel. Still only in his 30s, he's sung at the world's biggest opera houses and can p...

Barbara Taylor Bradford

06 Jul 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the popular novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford. Born in Upper Armley, Leeds, by the age of 16 Barbara had graduated f...

Daniel Libeskind

29 Jun 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the architect Daniel Libeskind. Daniel Libeskind's parents were Polish Jews. Daniel himself was a prodigiously tale...

Bishop John Sentamu

22 Jun 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is The Bishop of Birmingham, John Sentamu. When John Sentamu was born, the sixth of 13 children, near Kampala in Ugand...

Mark Tully

15 Jun 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the veteran broadcaster Mark Tully. Born in Calcutta and with ancestors who were involved in the Indian Mutiny, he ...

Vittorio Radice

08 Jun 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Vittorio Radice. Born in 1957 and brought up near Lake Como, Radice is the son of a furniture retailer. He surprise...

Meera Syal

01 Jun 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actor and writer Meera Syal. She was born in the sixties after her parents had immigrated here from the Punjab ...

Derek Brown

25 May 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Derek Brown the Director of the Michelin Red Guides which are the French bible for restaurants. The original Guide ...

Franco Zeffirelli

18 May 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the director Franco Zeffirelli. He was born the illegitimate son of a philandering businessman and a successful fas...

George Fenton

11 May 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the composer George Fenton, whose work includes music for Groundhog Day, Shadowlands, Cry Freedom, The Company of W...

Professor A H Halsey

04 May 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the sociologist and Oxford Emeritus Professor A H Halsey. Prof Halsey played a key part in the switch to comprehens...

Rory Bremner

20 Apr 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the impressionist and satirist Rory Bremner. He was born in Edinburgh in 1961. A self-confessed show-off, he starte...

Margaret Atwood

13 Apr 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the writer Margaret Atwood. Born just after the outbreak of the Second World War, Margaret Atwood spent much of her...

David Gilmour

06 Apr 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. Gilmour grew up in Cambridge, where his father was a senior lecturer in zoology and hi...

Kristin Scott Thomas

30 Mar 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actress Kristin Scott Thomas. She was born in Redruth, Cornwall in 1960. Her father, a Naval pilot, was killed ...

Claude-Michel Schonberg

23 Mar 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the composer of the hit musicals Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, Claude-Michel Schönberg. Claude-Michel always kne...

Nick Danziger

16 Mar 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the photo journalist Nick Danziger. Nick was born in London but grew up in Monaco and Switzerland. He developed a t...

Vic Reeves

09 Mar 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the comedian Jim Moir, best known by the name of his alter ego Vic Reeves. Jim was born in Leeds but soon moved to ...

Gene Pitney

02 Mar 2003

Contributed by Lukas

"Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the singer-songwriter Gene Pitney. Gene grew up in Rockville, Connecticut, the middle child of a large family. His...

George Clooney

23 Feb 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actor, George Clooney. George was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1961, the son of Nick Clooney, a TV newscaster...

Cornelia Parker

16 Feb 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the artist Cornelia Parker. Cornelia grew up in the country where she lived on a small holding looked after by her ...

Sir Ian McKellen

09 Feb 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the actor Sir Ian McKellen. Ian grew up in Lancashire attending Wigan Grammar school and then Bolton School where h...

Paul Whitehouse

02 Feb 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the comedian and star of The Fast Show, Paul Whitehouse. Born in the Rhonda Valley in Wales, Paul and his family so...

Sir Trevor Nunn

26 Jan 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the theatre director Trevor Nunn. At the age of five Trevor had decided, to the great surprise of his parents, that...

Professor Baruch Blumberg

19 Jan 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Professor Baruch Blumberg. Barry Blumberg was born in Brooklyn, New York in the 1...

Gillian Anderson

12 Jan 2003

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Gillian Anderson, best known for her role as Dana Scully in The X Files. Gillian was born in Chicago, Illinois. Whe...

George Foreman

05 Jan 2003

Contributed by Lukas

George Foreman was born in Texas into a large but poor family. His earliest memories are of being hungry. He found school difficult and felt he was wr...

Patricia Cornwell

29 Dec 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Patricia Daniels was born in 1956 in Miami, Florida. After her parents divorced she moved with her mother and two brothers to Montreat, North Carolina...

Rowan Williams

22 Dec 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Rowan Williams grew up in Swansea and Cardiff. He enjoyed reading, being outdoors and acting in school plays. He remembers attending church every day ...

Sinead Cusack

15 Dec 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Sinead Cusack was born in Ireland into a acting dynasty. Her first ambition, whilst at convent school, was to be a saint. But her behaviour didn't mat...

Linton Kwesi Johnson

08 Dec 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Sue Lawley's castaway is dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. Linton Kwesi Johnson was born in 1950s rural Jamaica. He lived in a farming community and look...

John Malkovich

01 Dec 2002

Contributed by Lukas

John Malkovich makes his film directorial debut this year with The Dancer Upstairs. He's best known for his laconic sophistication in films such as Da...

Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MP

24 Nov 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Described by Lord Tebbit as "a remarkably normal family man with children", Iain has just completed twelve months as Leader of the Conservative Party ...

Christopher Ondaatje

17 Nov 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Christopher Ondaatje was born in the British colony of Ceylon and educated at Blundell's School in Tiverton, Devon. He moved to Canada and in 1964 was...

Marguerite Wolff

15 Nov 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Marguerite Wolff has dedicated her life to performing all around the world. Sir Arthur Bliss composed for her and she studied under Louis Kentner. Mar...

Rt Hon Robin Cook MP

03 Nov 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Robin Cook was born in Larnarkshire, east of Glasgow; an only child whose father was a science teacher. In his teens the family moved to Edinburgh so ...

P D James

27 Oct 2002

Contributed by Lukas

P D James was born in Oxford, later moving to Ludlow on the Welsh Borders where she experienced a childhood which she says had more in common with a V...

Carl Djerassi

20 Oct 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Carl Djerassi was born in Vienna to an Austrian mother and Bulgarian father. Both parents were involved in the medical profession and, growing up surr...

Paul Gambaccini

13 Oct 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Gambaccini was born in New York City in 1949 and revelled growing up to the sounds of the 1960s. He loved listening to the radio and chose to go ...

Philip Pullman

06 Oct 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Philip Pullman is the author of the celebrated His Dark Materials trilogy: Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. He was born in No...

Dame Alicia Markova

29 Sep 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Dame Alicia Markova was born Lilian Alice Marks in December 1910, in a two-bedroom flat in Finsbury Park, London. She began ballet classes because she...

Timothy Spall

22 Sep 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Timothy Spall grew up in Battersea, South London. He found school pretty uninspiring and left with art as his only qualification. However, when he pla...

Brian May

15 Sep 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Brian May spent his childhood in Feltham near London and he learnt his first chords on his father's ukelele banjo. He soon progressed to the guitar, w...

Alan Titchmarsh

07 Jul 2002

Contributed by Lukas

Alan Titchmarsh was drawn to gardening from an early age in Ilkley, Yorkshire, making his first polythene greenhouse at the age of twelve and deciding...

Minette Walters

30 Jun 2002

Contributed by Lukas

After Minette Walters' father died of injuries sustained in World War II she won a scholarship to Godolphin School, and eventually became Head Girl. F...