The BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs invites guests to choose eight pieces of music which they would take with them to a hypothetical desert island. They are also invited to select a book of their choosing (in addition to the Bible or a comparable religious text for the guest, and the complete works of William Shakespeare), and one luxury item (provided it is inanimate and would not help them escape the island). The following is a list of episodes that have been broadcast since 2021, detailing the guest on each episode, their chosen book, and their luxury item.
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell: An Age Like This, 1920–40 | Acoustic guitar[1] | |||
The Irish Times Book of Favourite Irish Poems by Colm Tóibín | A guitar[2] | |||
An atlas | A telescope[3] | |||
The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde | Scuba diving gear[4] | |||
A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor | Hot sauce[5] | |||
Complete Works of Plato | Lip balm[6] | |||
Letters from a Young Father by Edoardo Ponti | A pizza oven[7] | |||
A book by Dick Francis | A piano and sheet music[8] | |||
Magnum Streetwise: The Ultimate Collection of Street Photography | A wind up radio[9] | |||
The collected works of Jane Austen | A supply of wine[10] | |||
Selected Stories by Alice Munro | National Museum of Ireland - Archaeology[11] | |||
A Teach Yourself Russian book | A Viennese café[12] | |||
The Cost of Living by Deborah Levy | Her children's art work[13] | |||
Philosophical Explanations by Robert Nozick | A solar powered particle collider[14] | |||
The Sword of Honour Trilogy by Evelyn Waugh | A Chinese Broadsword[15] | |||
Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson | Quality Street chocolates[16] | |||
Inspector Morse Mystery Series Collection by Colin Dexter | A solar-powered iPad[17] | |||
Encyclopaedia Britannica | A Swiss Army knife[18] | |||
The poetry of Robert Burns | A subscription to The Guardian newspaper[19] | |||
Return to My Native Land by Aimé Césaire | An endless supply of Ghanaian chocolate[20] | |||
Reynard the Fox by Anne Louise Avery | A painting kit[21] | |||
Oscar Wilde Essays and Letters, Plays and Poems, Stories | A guitar[22] | |||
The Wonders of Life by Professor Brian Cox | A photo album[23] | |||
Collected works of Gerard Manley Hopkins | A chilli plant[24] | |||
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee | A guitar[25] | |||
Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela | A football[26] | |||
A Desert Island survival manual | A solar-powered computer with sudoku puzzles and a writing application[27] | |||
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend | Nuts[28] | |||
The Wormwood Trilogy by Tade Thompson | A solar-powered puzzle generator, designed by Tom[29] | |||
The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman by Angela Carter | A grand piano with a tuning kit[30] | |||
A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor | A sketch book and pencil[31] | |||
The Collected Dialogues of Plato | Binoculars[32] | |||
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) | His guitar[33] | |||
The Collected Works of Victor Hugo | Her own shed[34] | |||
A charpoi (traditional Indian rope bed)[35] | ||||
The Centenary Book of Sark: a history and description of the artist William A Toplis by Chris Andrews, Fiona Kelly and Amy McKee | His own pillow[36] | |||
The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe | A Victorian accounts ledger, a fountain pen and an unlimited supply of ink[37] | |||
The Karla Trilogy by John le Carré | Luxury bedding[38] | |||
Miller Plays: 1 by Arthur Miller | TV with Channel 4 archive only[39] | |||
Ulysses by James Joyce | Writing materials[40] | |||
Hercule Poirot the Complete Short Stories by Agatha Christie | A pad of paper, a pen and dice[41] |
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Moonshine for Beginners and Experts by Damian Brown | Bird seed[42] | |||
The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (Collected Works of C. G. Jung) | A silk sheet[43] | |||
A Desert Island survival manual | Sunblock[44] | |||
A Persian language book | Essential oils[45] | |||
Ultimate Survival Handbook by Bear Grylls | An unlimited supply of printed Killer Sudoku[46] | |||
The Sixth Sense of Animals by Maurice Burton | A cutlass[47] | |||
A supply of pet food[48] | ||||
His adapted Segway, with a built-in espresso machine[49] | ||||
Will by Will Smith | A photo of her and her Grandma[50] | |||
The Earliest English Poems, translated by Michael Alexander | A basket containing photos of homing pigeons[51] | |||
Desert Gardening for Beginners: How to grow vegetables, flowers, and herbs in an Arid Climate by Cathy Cromell, Linda A. Guy, Lucy K. Bradley | Marijuana seeds[52] | |||
The Second Sex by Simone De Beauvoir | A basket weaving needle[53] | |||
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll | Crystallised ginger[54] | |||
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas | A set of golf clubs and balls[55] | |||
The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins | A diary and pen[56] | |||
The Sandman by Neil Gaiman | A disco dancefloor[57] | |||
A Magnum photography book | Legal medical marijuana[58] | |||
History by Elsa Morante | A painting set with edible paints[59] | |||
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | A photograph album[60] | |||
Ulysses by James Joyce | A Spanish guitar[61] | |||
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur | A self-inflated mattress[62] | |||
Andrew Ramroop | Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace | A tenor steel pan drum[63] | ||
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen | An asthma inhaler[64] | |||
A cashmere blanket[65] | ||||
A chef's knife[66] | ||||
A piano[67] | ||||
New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wine[68] | ||||
A reclining massage chair[69] | ||||
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by Bryan Mealer and William Kamkwamba | Pen and paper[70] | |||
The Edge: The Guide to Fulfilling Dreams, Maximizing Success and Enjoying a Lifetime of Achievement by Howard E. Ferguson | A self-propelled treadmill[71] | |||
One Moonlit Night by Caradog Prichard | A solar-powered epilator[72] | |||
The Red Book by Carl Jung | Tarot cards[73] | |||
A collection of works by Robert Harris | A church organ and sheet music[74] | |||
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll | A piano[75] | |||
The Oxford Book of Twentieth-century English Verse | A mobility power chair[76] | |||
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway | A fishing rod and rocking chair[77] | |||
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | A silk eye mask[78] | |||
by Isabel Wilkerson | A pair of embroidered slippers[79] | |||
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit | Time[80] | |||
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck | H-8 Bolex camera[81] | |||
The Most of Nora Ephron by Nora Ephron | A cinema and film archive[82] |
Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe | A cast iron cooking pot[83] | |||
Every Ruddy Word by Alan Partridge | A piano[84] | |||
Ulysses by James Joyce | Dark chocolate[85] | |||
World Atlas of the Oceans by Dave Monahan | A mask and snorkel[86] | |||
A Botanical Encyclopedia | A bed with linen, duvet and pillows[87] | |||
A German dictionary | Pencils and paper[88] | |||
The Complete Novels of Jane Austen | A cello[89] | |||
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl | Champagne[90] | |||
Cultural Amnesia by Clive James | Top hat and tails[91] | |||
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott | A photo album[92] | |||
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry | A pair of ruby slippers[93] | |||
The Feynman Lectures on Physics by Richard Feynman | Astrophotography equipment[94] | |||
Poetry in the Making by Ted Hughes | A fountain pen, ink and paper[95] | |||
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks | A coffee maker[96] | |||
The Oxford Textbook of Medicine | A projector and photos[97] | |||
Running with the Kenyans by Adharanand Finn | A painting set[98] | |||
The Complete Novels of George Orwell | A manual typewriter[99] | |||
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner | A solar powered television, playing tennis matches[100] | |||
York Notes for the Complete Works of Shakespeare | A diary and pen[101] | |||
Four Quartets by T.S. Eliot | A jukebox[102] | |||
Westward Ha! by S.J. Perelman | Art supplies[103] | |||
A scrapbook | A cutlass[104] | |||
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend | A notebook and pens[105] | |||
Football in Sun and Shadow by Eduardo Galeano | A razor blade[106] | |||
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas | Diving fins and a mask[107] | |||
A collection of Brodie detective novels by Kate Atkinson | A solar powered fridge filled with Italian ice cream and two lipsticks[108] | |||
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett | A tab of acid[109] | |||
Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery by Andris J. Kaneps, Kenneth William Hinchcliff, and Raymond J. Geor | A camper van[110] | |||
The Highway Rat by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Axel Scheffler | A hat and skincare set[111] | |||
The Apollo Guidance Computer: Architecture and Operation by Frank O'Brien | A pinball machine[112] | |||
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel García Márquez | Tarot cards[113] | |||
Green Woodwork: Working with Wood the Natural Way by Mike Abbott | A complete set of woodworking tools[114] | |||
The Works of George Eliot | Marmite on toast[115] | |||
The Complete Far Side by Gary Larson | Typewriter[116] | |||
The 1962 edition of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack | Pear drops[117] | |||
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry | Chilli sauce[118] | |||
Pale Blue Dot by Carl Sagan | Lego[119] | |||
In Search of the Miraculous by Peter D. Ouspensky | A cashmere blanket[120] | |||
Unleash the Power Within by Tony Robbins | Cotton knickers[121] | |||
The Complete Poems: Emily Dickinson | A writing set[122] | |||
Sister Wendy’s 100 Best-loved Paintings by Wendy Beckett | The Desert Island Discs archive[123] |