Desert Island Discs: Archive 1996-2000

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the writer Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. Born in Germany, she came to England as a refugee and moved to India as a young bride where she wrote her first film screenplay in 1961 - in eight days. Since then, she has written over 30 screenplays, all bar one in collaboration with the Merchant-Ivory partnership, including Heat and Dust, A Room with a View and The Remains of the Day. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Sanctus from B Minor Mass by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Luxury: A chaise longue by a window

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the wildlife artist David Shepherd. Rejected from the Slade Art School on the grounds of having 'no talent whatsoever' he was taught to paint by a man he met at a cocktail party who told him "you're going to be painting for the Inland Revenue, the Gas Board and the school fees." Famed now for his paintings of elephants, he is one of the best-selling artists in the world. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Symphony No. 8 by Gustav Mahler Book: Collection by Beatrix Potter Luxury: Wind-up video player

Sue Lawley's guest this week is the war correspondent Clare Hollingworth. In a career spanning 60 years, her scoops have included identifying Kim Philby as 'the third man' and being the first to spot the massing of German tanks on the Polish border in 1939. She chooses eight records to take to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Symphony No.8, the 'Unfinished Symphony' by Franz Schubert Book: History of England by G M Trevelyan Luxury: Paper and pens (with thick nibs)

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the jazz pianist Dave Brubeck. One of the most successful musicians of our time, it's nearly 40 years since he famously encouraged us to Take Five, and so changed the sound of jazz forever. In conversation with Sue Lawley, he talks about his life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Ode To Joy (Symphony No 9) by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Spear in the Sand by Raoul C Faure Luxury: Grand piano

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is Sir David Attenborough. He brought the blue-footed booby into our sitting rooms, and revealed the secret lives of plants. But we remember him best caught in the embrace of a female gorilla. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Adagio from String Quintet in C Major by Franz Schubert Book: Shifts and Expedients of Camp Life by W B Lord Luxury: Guitar

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the comedian and television host Bob Monkhouse. He began his career as a schoolboy writing jokes for established comedians. Later he became a gag writer for radio. But it was television which made his name. From the Golden Shot to Bob's Full House, he reckons he's hosted more than 27 different shows. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Adagio for Strings, Opus 11 by Samuel Barber Book: The Adventures of Alice by Lewis Carroll Luxury: Clarinet

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the novelist Dick Francis. In what he calls "the best years of my life" as a professional jockey, he broke his nose, his collarbone, his wrist and his skull but also won 345 of the 2,305 races he ran. Now a best-selling author of 37 novels, he chooses eight records to take to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Chatanooga Choo Choo by Glenn Miller Orchestra Book: Men and Horses I Have Known by George Lampton Luxury: Waterbed

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the military historian John Keegan. As a boy, he would listen to his father's tales of war on the Western Front. Disabled because of a childhood illness, he was unable to become a soldier himself, and so chose to document their history instead. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: An die Musik by Franz Schubert Book: The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan Luxury: French-speaking man robot

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the actress Eileen Atkins. From dancing in working men's clubs as a child to portraying Virginia Woolf on Broadway and the snobbish Celia for Alan Bennett's Talking Heads monologue, she traces her life as performer and writer. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Get off of My Cloud by The Rolling Stones Book: Moments of Being by Virginia Woolf Luxury: An Atkinson Grimshaw painting

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers' union, Bill Morris. As a small boy growing up in Jamacia, he bunked off school to play his favourite sport - cricket. His ultimate dream was to become one of the West Indies team. So how did he become leader of one of the biggest unions in the country? [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Wind Beneath My Wings by Bette Midler Book: Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela Luxury: Cricket bat signed by 'the three Ws' - Sir Frank Warrel, Everton Weeks and Clive Walcot

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the actress Nicole Kidman. Fresh from her West End triumph in The Blue Room, she traces her life from her suburban Australian upbringing to the heart of Hollywood and beyond. She chooses eight records to take to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong Book: Collection of Poems by Emily Dickinson Luxury: Sun block

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the nuclear physicist and Nobel Peace Laureate, Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat. During World War II he quit the notorious Manhattan Project to develop the atom bomb when he realised that 'nothing good can come out of evil'. Fifty years later he is still committed to multilateral disarmament and the pursuit of peace. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: A Rill will be a Stream, a Stream will be a Flood by Swedish Physicians in Concert for the Prevention of Nuclear War Book: Encyclopaedia Britannica on CD-Rom Luxury: Solar-powered laptop

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the conductor Paul Daniel. Within weeks of becoming Music Director of the English National Opera his boss had resigned and there was talk of its merging with Covent Garden. He recalls how he won the war for the ENO's survival and the musical experiences which led him there. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Irrlicht from Winterreise. by Franz Schubert Book: Beautifully bound blank book Luxury: Cello and music for Bach's cello suites

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the television script writer Lucy Gannon. Her life informs much of her work. When she created Soldier Soldier she used her experience of the military police. In The Gift she drew on her grief when her mother died. And Trip Trap reflected the violence of her first marriage. She started writing by chance when she entered a competition and won first prize - writer in residence at the RSC. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Best by Tina Turner Book: The Faber Book of Reportage by John Carey Luxury: Jaguar XK8

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the stage designer Ralph Koltai. He says his work is not about art, but about ideas. His stage sets are a metaphor for the whole play. Thus he thrilled Ken Russell by building him four stages each resembling different parts of a woman's body. His aim? To represent the degradation of women in the 18th century. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor by Max Bruch Book: French dictionary Luxury: Cigars

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the Australian poet Les Murray. He began writing when he realised that poetry didn't have to be about daffodils in a far off English field but could reflect the world around him; from the sheep and cows on the family farm, to the wallabies in the outback. His most powerful subject though, is his own depression which has dogged him for more than 50 years. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: La Valse a Mille Temps by Jacques Brel Book: Blank, lined book Luxury: Marble four-poster bed

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the explorer David Hempleman Adams. This year he completed the Adventurer's Grand Slam. It took 18 years. When he reached the North Pole this April he had conquered the four main poles, and climbed the highest peaks in each of the seven continents. He was quite literally on top of the world. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Manha de Carnaval by Stan Getz Book: Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach Luxury: Saxophone

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the political cartoonist Ralph Steadman. His career was launched in 1961 with a five-pound cheque from the satirical magazine Private Eye. Later he collaborated with Hunter S Thompson and illustrated his Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas. More recently he's begun to write and illustrate his own books - on Freud, Leonardo da Vinci and God. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Wish You Were Here by Theo Steadman Book: (The New) La Rousse Encyclopaedia of Mythology Luxury: Chisels

Sue Lawley's castaway this morning is the singer-songwriter Chris de Burgh. Best known for his ballad Lady in Red, he began his career playing to guests in the crumbling Irish castle which his family ran as a hotel. He chooses eight records to take to the mythical island. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Kyrie from the Misa Criolla by Ariel Ramirez Book: Moonfleet by J Meade Falkner Luxury: Snorkel

Sue Lawley's castaway is the playwright Howard Brenton. In the 1960s he was part of a movement called the New Jacobeans. They took drama out of the drawing room and on to a bigger stage. Often controversial, in Romans in Britain he drew parallels with Northern Ireland and earned the wrath of Mary Whitehouse for what she described as "procuring the cast to commit immoral acts". [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Weichet nur, Betrube Schatten, from the Wedding Cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach Book: Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer Luxury: Champagne