The BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs invites castaways to choose eight pieces of music, a book (in addition to the Bible – or a religious text appropriate to that person's beliefs – and the Complete Works of Shakespeare) and a luxury item that they would take to an imaginary desert island, where they will be marooned indefinitely. The rules state that the chosen luxury item must not be anything animate, nor anything that enables the castaway to escape from the island, for instance a radio set, sailing yacht or aeroplane. The choices of book and luxury can sometimes give insight into the guest's life, and the choices of guests between 1961 and 1970 are listed here.
| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Shand | The Second World War by Sir Winston Churchill | Tin whistle | more | ||
| Professor W. E. Swinton | Whitaker's Almanac | Library | more | ||
| Patience Strong | Complete Works by William Wordsworth | Indian painting showing the crucifixion | more | ||
| Charlton Heston | Encyclopædia Britannica | Tennis practice equipment | more | ||
| Tommy Simpson | The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens | Golfing equipment | more | ||
| Christopher Hopper | History of England | Landscape by Constable | more | ||
| Andrew Cruickshank | Journal by Søren Kierkegaard | Renoir's The Bear at the Folies Bergere | more | ||
| Marie Collier | Mrs Mackintosh My Darling by Marguerite Young | Etruscan frieze of horses | more | ||
| Cyril Connolly | A La Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust | Foam rubber sleeping bag | more | ||
| Bill Fraser | Italian language course | Writing materials | more | ||
| Sir Frank Francis | The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope | Golf clubs and balls | more | ||
| G. O. Nickalls | Pear's Cyclopedia | Rembrandt's Titus | more | ||
| Sara Leighton | Poetry by T. S. Eliot | Michelangelo's Pieta | more | ||
| Hubert Gregg | History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Sir Winston Churchill | Pink champagne | more | ||
| Terry Scott | French language course | Eau de Cologne | more | ||
| Alan Bullock | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Writing materials | more | ||
| Bob & Alf Pearson | ABC Railway Timetable and History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Sir Winston Churchill | Seeds and a piano | more | ||
| Lord Soper | Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome | Trombone | more | ||
| Inia Te Wiata | Arts and Crafts of the Maori People by Hamilton | Painting by Michelangelo | more | ||
| Henry Cooper | Do-it-yourself manual | Training gear | more | ||
| Emily MacManus | Kim by Rudyard Kipling | Foam rubber mattress and mosquito net | more | ||
| Bill Simpson | Songs and poems by Robert Burns | Sports equipment | more | ||
| Charles Craig | Who's Who | Bed | more | ||
| Nina & Frederik | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | A harp and a flute | more | ||
| Lilli Palmer | Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | Painting materials | more | ||
| Wilfred Andrews | Press cutting albums | Painting materials | more | ||
| Ninette de Valois | Poetry by W. B. Yeats | Writing materials | more | ||
| Sir Stanley Rous | Virginibus Puerisque by Robert Louis Stevenson | Field glasses | more | ||
| Jennifer Vyvyan | Her favourite novels by Charles Dickens | Painting equipment | more | ||
| Virginia McKenna | On Playing With Lions by Bill Travers | Writing materials | more | ||
| Nat Gonella | Collected short stories by Damon Runyon | Golf clubs and balls | more | ||
| Michael Craig | The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame | Musical instrument | more | ||
| Peter Diamand | Encyclopædia Britannica | Head of Nefertiti from the Berlin Museum | more | ||
| Bryan Forbes | Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand | Roulette wheel | more | ||
| Morecambe and Wise | Encyclopædia Britannica and A History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Sir Winston Churchill | Deck chair and a ticket machine | more | ||
| David Hicks | A Le Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust | Mexican crystal skull | more | ||
| Derek Oldham | Encyclopædia Britannica | Insect repellent | more | ||
| June Ritchie | The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico | Onion plants | more | ||
| Peter Wilson | His favourite novels by E. M. Forster | Bertholdo's Apollo | more | ||
| Talbot Duckmanton | Diary by Samuel Pepys | Soap | more | ||
| Katherine Whitehorn | Her favourite books by William Faulkner | Negligee | more | ||
| Jacques Brunius | Complete works by Lewis Carroll | Broken and unplayable pop record | more | ||
| Danny La Rue | Encyclopedia | Refrigerator | more | ||
| Mitch Miller | Anthology of poetry | Oboe | more | ||
| Arnold Wesker | No book | Selection of pictures | more | ||
| Stephen Bishop | The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | Piano | more | ||
| Sarah Churchill | Reminisces of the early life by Sir Winston Churchill | Bath with hot water | more | ||
| Anthony Burgess | Finnegans Wake by James Joyce | Music manuscript paper, pencils, and a rubber | more | ||
| Captain John Ridgway & Sergent Chay Blyth | Dictionary and an anthology of poetry | Shaving kit and a leather armchair | more | ||
| Leonard Cottrell | Collected works by Homer | Bronze statue of Poseidon | more | ||
| Jack Brabham | Textbook on advanced mechanical engineering | None | more | ||
| Gwendoline Kirby | The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | Field glasses | more | ||
| Georg Solti | Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | Michelangelo's The Last Judgement | more |
| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| by Harold Gatty | Spices and Herbs | more | |||
| Cards of Identity by Nigel Dennis | Silk vests and pants | more | |||
| In Search of the Miraculous and A New Model of the Universe by P. D. Ouspensky | Tobacco seeds | more | |||
| Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb | Cigars and a dinner jacket | more | |||
| Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians | Wine | more | |||
| Clochemerle by Gabriel Chevallier | Parsley | more | |||
| How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie | Videotape or film of the full five-days' play of a Test match | more | |||
| Short stories by Damon Runyon | Still | more | |||
| Dictionary of English Furniture by Ralph Edwards | Chippendale cabinet | more | |||
| Blank paper and pencils | Champagne | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | Surfboard | more | |||
| Airways timetable | Typewriter and paper | more | |||
| by Charles Lindbergh | Mirror | more | |||
| Dusty by Frank Dalby Davison | Two tape recorders | more | |||
| Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift | Insect repellent | more | |||
| Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell | Watercolour painting equipment | more | |||
| Essays by Michel de Montaigne | Telescope or microscope | more | |||
| by Plato | Beginner's guide to making rafts | more | |||
| Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Pottery and Porcelain by Geoffrey Godden | Garlic | more | |||
| Philosophic works by William Warren Bartley | Cornet | more | |||
| by Thomas à Kempis | Piano | more | |||
| Collected works by Robert Burns | Painting materials | more | |||
| Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons | French silk-lined leather gloves | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | Mattress | more | |||
| Cakes and Ale, The Razor's Edge and The Circle by W. Somerset Maugham | Whisky | more | |||
| War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Tape recorder | more | |||
| How to be a Comedian by Lupino Lane | Snow globe | more | |||
| Diary by Samuel Pepys | Still | more | |||
| Essays by Michel de Montaigne | Painting by Camille Pissarro | more | |||
| Great Expectations by Charles Dickens | Football | more | |||
| , Bleak House and Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens | Golf clubs and balls | more | |||
| Dialogues by Plato | Perfume | more | |||
| by Edward Gibbon | Violin | more | |||
| Plays and novels by Samuel Beckett | Piano | more | |||
| Complete set of Horizon by Cyril Connolly | Unending supply of afternoon teas | more | |||
| Collection of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle | Film projector | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | Piano | more | |||
| Advanced book on building small boats | Case of whisky and a knife | more | |||
| by Frances Hodgson Burnett | Mink coat | more | |||
| Sounds and Scores by Henry Mancini | Piano | more | |||
| Volume of reproductions of paintings | Piano | more | |||
| Blank pages | Golf clubs and balls | more | |||
| Works by Dante Alighieri | Writing materials | more | |||
| by Frederick Bodmer | Telescope | more | |||
| Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens | Writing materials | more | |||
| Anthology of verse | Tenor saxophone | more | |||
| Textbook on anthropology | more | ||||
| Beasts, Men and Gods by Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski | Crucifixion by Salvador Dalí | more | |||
| Patrologiae cursus completus by Jacques Paul Migne | Pipes, tobacco, matches and a compass | more | |||
| In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Drawing of a lady by Walter Sickert | more | |||
| by James A. Michener | Moses by Michelangelo | more | |||
| Anthology of poetry | Tape recorder | more | |||
| Persian dictionary | Packing case of books including a Persian dictionary | more |
| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collected works by Jane Austen | Four-poster bed | more | |||
| by Richard Francis Burton | Snorkel mask | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | Guitar | more | |||
| In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Marble bath with constant hot water | more | |||
| by Samuel Johnson | Self-operated nuclear strike force | more | |||
| War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Painting or a 16th-century patch box | more | |||
| Selection of English poetry | more | ||||
| Other Men's Flowers by Archibald Wavell | Snooker table | more | |||
| Short stories by Anton Chekhov | Bourbon whiskey | more | |||
| Blank pages and pencils | Full-length mirror | more | |||
| Books by Ernest Bramah | Radio receiver | more | |||
| Italian Townscape by Ivor de Wolfe | Block of stone | more | |||
| Report to Greco by Saki | Child's ball | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | more | ||||
| History of the World | Red ink | more | |||
| more | |||||
| In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Deckchair | more | |||
| Odyssey by Homer | more | ||||
| In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Typewriter and paper | more | |||
| Collected works by Winston Churchill | Ukulele | more | |||
| Yoga manual | Kingsize cigarette | more | |||
| by J. R. R. Tolkien | Doll's house | more | |||
| The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White | Claret | more | |||
| Wisden that records his first tour of Australia | Box of rubber balls | more | |||
| Manuals to learn foreign languages | Magic lamp | more | |||
| Bi-lingual edition by Homer | Sycamore trees | more | |||
| by Bertrand Russell | more | ||||
| Plays and Prefaces by George Bernard Shaw | Still Life with Oriental Rug by Henri Matisse | more | |||
| History of the world | Insect repellent | more | |||
| by William Macneile Dixon | Snorkel mask | more | |||
| Novels by Jane Austen | Cigarettes and whisky | more | |||
| His autobiography | Trumpet | more | |||
| by Edward Gibbon | Dutch flower picture in the Wallace Collection | more | |||
| by Francis of Assisi | more | ||||
| Anglo-French dictionary | Ivory ball | more | |||
| Anthology of poetry | Two Chinese figures of musicians | more | |||
| by Edith Sitwell | Piano | more | |||
| Other Men's Flowers by Archibald Wavell | Champagne | more | |||
| by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry | Piano | more | |||
| Guinness Book of Records | Harp | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | Painting materials | more | |||
| by Edward Gibbon | Claret | more | |||
| Larousse Gastronomique | Perfume | more | |||
| Novels by Jane Austen | Bed | more | |||
| Complete works by Oscar Wilde | Enormous cookery book | more | |||
| Books by Henry Longhurst | Tennis balls, golf balls, pencil and paper | more | |||
| Books by Mary Baker Eddy | Piano | more | |||
| Anthology of modern British poetry | Chess set | more | |||
| My Autobiography by Charlie Chaplin | Violin | more | |||
| Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe | Typewriter and paper | more | |||
| by Edward Gibbon | BBC Archives from 1945 to 1954 | more | |||
| Golf instruction book | Golf clubs and balls | more | |||
| Enquire Within Upon Everything | Four-poster bed | more | |||
| by Winston Churchill | Piano | more |
| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encyclopaedia | Knitting wool and needles | more | |||
| Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle | Insect repellent | more | |||
| Paperback detective stories | Caviar | more | |||
| by Robert Stroud | Alabaster cherub | more | |||
| War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | more | ||||
| Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell | Family photograph album | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | Chinese language course | more | |||
| Volume on mathematical logic | Champagne | more | |||
| by Winston Churchill | Tape recorder | more | |||
| Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë | Make-up set, mirror and comb | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | Telescope | more | |||
| Volumes of her autobiography | Bag of pillows, in which she will smuggle in her dog | more | |||
| Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov | Perfume | more | |||
| History of England | Radio receiver | more | |||
| History of the world | Parrot | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | Paper and pencils | more | |||
| War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Billiard table, cue and balls | more | |||
| Oxford English Dictionary | Playing cards | more | |||
| and The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | Rubber mattress | more | |||
| Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management | Writing and sketching materials | more | |||
| Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy | Painting equipment | more | |||
| Aeneid by Virgil | Typewriter and paper | more | |||
| Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians | Radio receiver | more | |||
| Airways timetable | Piano | more | |||
| by Alice Bailey | Cosmetics | more | |||
| by Edward Gibbon | Mattress | more | |||
| Thesaurus | Piano | more | |||
| Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman | Double bed | more | |||
| Tropical Plants and Their Cultivation by Louis Bruggeman | Bed | more | |||
| Book on desert island cookery | Ukulele | more | |||
| by Winston Churchill | Centrally-heated sleeping bag | more | |||
| Survey of London by John Stow | Family photograph album | more | |||
| Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management | Barrel of lipstick | more | |||
| On Growth and Form by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson | Clue to buried treasure | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | Daily delivery of The Sporting Life | more | |||
| Champagne | more | ||||
| by Ernest Bramah | more | ||||
| War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Tape recorder | more | |||
| Teach-yourself encyclopaedia | Piano | more | |||
| Works by Beatrix Potter | Writing and painting materials | more | |||
| by Richard Jefferies | Cor anglais | more | |||
| Blank pages and pencils | Tapestry-making materials | more | |||
| Gaiety, Theatre of Enchantment by W. J. MacQueen-Pope | Umbrella | more | |||
| Dictionary | Book stall in London Victoria station | more | |||
| Encyclopaedia | Writing materials | more | |||
| Study of psychology | Piano | more | |||
| Herr, Hier Bin Ich (Prayers of Life) | String of pearls | more | |||
| Family photograph album | Bed | more | |||
| Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary | Bed | more | |||
| Scouting for Boys by Robert Baden-Powell | Bathroom suite | more | |||
| Piano | more | ||||
| Dictionary of Word and Phrase | Sports car | more |
| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General Semantics | Cello | more | |||
| David Copperfield by Charles Dickens | Radio receiver | more | |||
| Guitar | more | ||||
| by E. T. Whittaker | Television set | more | |||
| Memoirs by Louis de Rouvroy | Koh-i-Noor diamond | more | |||
| Symphony scores by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky | Piano | more | |||
| Set of lenses | more | ||||
| Oxford English Dictionary | Writing materials | more | |||
| Our Hearts Were Young and Gay by Cornelia Otis Skinner | Guitar | more | |||
| Larousse Gastronomique by Prosper Montagné | more | ||||
| Oxford Book of English Verse | Painting materials | more | |||
| Anthology of English Verse | Stamp album | more | |||
| Umbrella | more | ||||
| by Thomas à Kempis | Cello | more | |||
| Hannibal by Theodore Ayrault Dodge | Roman helmet in the British Museum | more | |||
| Collected works by John Donne | Piano | more | |||
| Small Talk at Wreyland by Cecil Torr | Typewriter | more | |||
| Le Crime de Sylvestre Bonnard by Anatole France | Piano | more | |||
| My Life in Art by Constantin Stanislavski | Writing materials | more | |||
| Collected works by Beatrix Potter | Winged Victory of Samothrace in Musée du Louvre | more | |||
| Collected works by Robert Burns | Writing materials | more | |||
| I Ching | Painting materials | more | |||
| Roget's Thesaurus | Writing materials | more | |||
| History of Great Britain | Hair pieces | more | |||
| Survival manual | Writing materials | more | |||
| Thesaurus | Piece of sculpture by Baracal | more | |||
| by H. G. Wells | Writing materials | more | |||
| Makeup box | more | ||||
| Ulysses by James Joyce | Pillow | more | |||
| Oxford English Dictionary | Toothbrush and toothpaste | more | |||
| Terry-Thomas | Brandy | more | |||
| Religio Medici by Thomas Browne | Pipes and tobacco | more | |||
| Insect repellent | more | ||||
| Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 Edition | Bath with a hot-water system | more | |||
| by Charles Dickens | Bed | more | |||
| Collected works by George Bernard Shaw | Her husband's painting of their son | more | |||
| Illustrated book on gardening | more | ||||
| Collected works by Charles Dickens | Binoculars | more | |||
| Encyclopædia Britannica | Guitar | more | |||
| Parasol | more | ||||
| Excerpt from the BBC recording Just William | more | ||||
| Works by Leo Slezak | Knitting needles and wool | more | |||
| Modern Chess Openings | Piano | more | |||
| Law study course | Radio receiver | more | |||
| Encyclopedia | Watch | more | |||
| by Edward Gibbon | Tahitian language course | more | |||
| Walden by Henry David Thoreau | Golf clubs and balls | more | |||
| Primary Instruction in all languages | Vegetable garden | more | |||
| Anthology of World Poetry | more | ||||
| Book on tropical plants | Claret (a dozen cases) | more | |||
| Survival manual | Box of family photographs | more | |||
| Novels by Agatha Christie | Flute and music | more |