This weekend, Desert Island Discs celebrates its 75th birthday with a series of special programmes, including yet another coup for the BBC Radio 4 staple: None other than David Beckham is becoming Kirsty Young's castaway.
Booking Becks is a testament to the show's enduring appeal and the sky-high esteem in which it's held. Since it launched in 1942, Desert Island Discs has asked more than 3,000 castaways to choose eight recordings, a book and a luxury item they would take if they were to be marooned on a desert island. A few very special guests, including David Attenborough and the late Terry Wogan, have actually become castaways twice.
Of course, their selections are just one aspect of the Desert Island Discs magic. The show's four hosts – creator Roy Plomley (1942-1985), Michael Parkinson (1985-1988), Sue Lawley (1988-2006), and Kirsty Young (2006-present) – are masters at gently coaxing recollections and revelations that other shows just don't get. Ahead, find eight of our favourite-ever episodes, with links to where you can hear them.
Kathy Burke
When this episode aired in 2010, Discs fans online debated whether it might just be the best ever. Burke obviously picked brilliant music (Lady Gaga, Missy Elliott, Sex Pistols), but she was also uncommonly candid. Recalling her emotional state in her 20s, the actress quipped: "I needed a check-up from the neck up." She also displayed a fabulously salty sense of humour, choosing as her luxury item a life-size laminated photo of Dragon's Den star James Caan "to body-surf on." Seven years later, Burke's episode feels even more special because she keeps a pretty low profile these days.
Listen to Kathy Burke's episode here.
Photo: di Stefano/REX/Shutterstock
David Nott
Broadcast last June, war surgeon David Nott's Desert Island Discs is a humbling and life-affirming listen. For several weeks a year, the Welsh medic takes unpaid leave from his posts at London hospitals so he can work in conflict zones around the world, saving lives for Médecins Sans Frontières and the Red Cross. He says he doesn't care who he operates on – even if that person is a terrorist – and admits that working in war zones gives him an adrenaline rush. He also recalls his remarkable meeting with the Queen, which ends with the monarch bringing out her Corgis and a tin of biscuits after he becomes choked talking about his work. Nott never sensationalises what he does, which makes his stories even more powerful.
Listen to David Nott's episode here.
Photo: Ken McKay/REX/Shutterstock
Barbara Windsor
Though she appeared on Desert Island Discs in 1990, four years before landing her career-reviving role in EastEnders, Barbara Windsor had already lived a remarkable life. She chats frankly to then-presenter Sue Lawley about her east London upbringing, her rise to fame in the Carry On films, and her often rocky personal life. After being married to infamous gangster Ronnie Knight for 20 years, she suffered a nervous breakdown. Babs is great fun too, of course, and shares the bittersweet story of her final encounter with Carry On co-star Kenneth Williams.
Listen to Barbara Windsor's episode here.
Photo: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images
Lily Allen
Let's face it, Allen's episode was never going to be dull. She shares her frustrations with the record industry, revealing her song "Sheezus" was vetoed as a single because it features the word 'period', and admits she enjoys being more famous than dad Keith. She also speaks movingly about being frightened of losing baby daughter Ethel, who was born with a condition that made gaining weight difficult. Allen's relatable qualities have always been her saving grace, and they shine through here. When she says she's a "mass of contradictions", it's hard not to admire her honesty.
Listen to Lily Allen's episode here.
Photo: REX/Shutterstock
George Michael
The "Faith" singer became Kirsty Young's castaway in 2007, around a decade after he'd famously been outed by the LAPD. At this stage in his career, Michael had gained a sense of perspective and was seemingly incapable of being anything but completely honest. As he selects songs by Amy Winehouse, Nirvana and Pet Shop Boys, he lays everything bare: the way he grappled with being gay, his intense relationship with his parents, even losing a lover to AIDS. "I've suffered terrible things, obviously – bereavements and public humiliations – but my career always seems to right itself like a duck in a bath. Like a plastic duck in a bath", he says humbly. It's a gripping episode that's now incredibly poignant, too.
Listen to George Michael's episode here.
Photo: MJ Kim/Getty Images
Miriam Margolyes
This gripping episode from 2008 shows how Desert Island Discs can reveal a new side to a castaway. The Harry Potter actress often comes across as brash and unflappable, so it's surprising to hear her admit that for most of her life, she's actually felt like a "frightened little muffin". Margolyes' personal recollections also reveal, heartbreakingly, how society's attitudes towards sexuality have changed over the decades. "I was in my late 20s. When I told my mother that I had had an affair with a woman, she had a stroke about three days later," Margolyes recalls. "I should have been aware that this was something I could not say." Even if you don't agree with her views on coming out, it's difficult not to empathise with Margolyes here.
Listen to Miriam Margolyes' episode here.
Photo: Ken McKay/REX/Shutterstock
Yoko Ono
This Desert Island Discs made headlines in 2007 because Ono recalls discussing abortion with John Lennon when she discovered she was pregnant with their son Sean. "I didn't want to burden him with something he didn’t want", Ono explains, before revealing that Lennon insisted they keep the baby. Ono's honesty is admirable, but it's her unflagging optimism that makes this an inspiring episode. Asked about being vilified by the press during The Beatles' heyday, she replies without an ounce of self-pity: "I suppose I have an incredible sense of myself, and that's the only reason why I was able to survive."
Listen to Yoko Ono's episode here.
Photo: Wendell Teodoro/Getty Images
Stephen Fry
Fry seems like the quintessential Desert Island Discs guest and the producers know it: he's been a castaway twice. He's typically witty chatting to Sue Lawley in 1988, but his 2015 interview with Kirsty Young is more revealing. He speaks openly about living with bipolar disorder, admitting he's used drugs and alcohol as a crutch, but now realises this is "a bad idea and exacerbates the problem". He also discusses how his friend Prince Charles might react to hearing that Fry once snorted cocaine at Buckingham Palace. "It’s fair to say that he knows I am naughty," Fry says. "He is not a judgmental, mean, prissy sort of man." It's one of several priceless moments in a sparkling conversation.
Listen to Stephen Fry's episode here.
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