Desert Island Discs - wikipedia Desert Island Discs Desert Island Discs Desert Island Discs logo used on the BBC website Genre Biographical, Factual Running time 43 minutes Country of origin United Kingdom Language ( s ) English Home station BBC Forces Programme ( 1942 -- 1944 ) BBC Home Service ( 1943 -- 1944, 1951 -- 1967 ) BBC Light Programme ( 1945 -- 1946 ) BBC Radio 4 ( 1967 -- ) Hosted by Roy Plomley ( 1942 -- 1985 ) Michael Parkinson ( 1985 -- 1988 ) Sue Lawley ( 1988 -- 2006 ) Kirsty Young ( 2006 -- present ) Created by Roy Plomley Produced by Gillian Hush Olivia Seligman Angie Nehring Miranda Birch Leanne Buckle Recording studio Broadcasting House Original release 29 January 1942 ( 1942 - 01 - 29 ) -- present No. of episodes 3068 ( 4 March 2016 ) Opening theme By the Sleepy Lagoon by Eric Coates Website BBC website Desert Island Discs is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a ' castaway ' during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings ( usually, but not always, music ), a book and a luxury item that they would take if they were to be cast away on a desert island, whilst discussing their lives and the reasons for their choices. It was devised and originally presented by Roy Plomley. Since 2006, the programme has been presented by Kirsty Young. More than 3,000 episodes have been recorded, with some guests having appeared more than once and some episodes featuring more than one guest. An example of a guest who falls into both categories is Bob Monkhouse, who appeared with his co-writer Denis Goodwin on 12 December 1955 and in his own right on 20 December 1998. Contents 1 Format 2 Notable guests 3 Opening theme 4 Copyright status 5 Appearance in fiction 6 List of publications 7 References 8 External links Format Guests are invited to imagine themselves cast away on a desert island, and choose eight recordings, originally gramophone records, to take with them ; discussion of their choices permits a review of their life. Excerpts from their choices are played or, in the case of short pieces, the whole work. At the end of the programme they choose the one piece they regard most highly. Guests are also automatically given the Complete Works of Shakespeare and either the Bible or another appropriate religious or philosophical work. They are then prompted to select a third book to accompany them. Popular choices include Charles Dickens and Jane Austen. Actress Judi Dench, who suffers from macular degeneration, was permitted to take an audiobook in place of a printed manuscript. Guests also choose one luxury, which must be inanimate and of no use in escaping the island or allowing communication from outside. Roy Plomley enforced these rules strictly. He did, however, grant a special dispensation to Princess Michael of Kent, who chose her pet cat. The rules are, however, less strictly enforced today ; for instance, Lawley allowed John Cleese to take Michael Palin with him, on the condition that he was dead and stuffed. Examples of luxuries have included champagne and a piano, the latter of which is one of the most requested luxuries. After Plomley 's death in 1985, the programme was presented by Michael Parkinson and from 1988 by Sue Lawley. Lawley stepped down in August 2006 after 18 years, her final castaway being actress Joan Plowright. She was replaced by Kirsty Young, who interviewed illustrator Quentin Blake for her first show, broadcast on 1 October 2006. Notable guests See also : List of Desert Island Discs episodes The first castaway was Vic Oliver, and several castaways, including Celia Johnson, Arthur Askey, Trevor Nunn, John Schlesinger, Kenneth Williams, Terry Wogan, Brian Rix, David Attenborough and Adele Leigh have been cast away more than once. The most requested piece of music over the first 60 years was `` Ode to Joy '', the last movement of Beethoven 's Ninth Symphony. One of the most remarked broadcasts was Elisabeth Schwarzkopf 's 1958 selection of seven of her own recordings. This record was subsequently beaten by British pianist Dame Moura Lympany on her second appearance on the programme on 28 July 1979 when all eight of her selections were of her own recordings. In the early 1970s, Roy Plomley attempted to interview Alistair MacLean, but ended up speaking to somebody else with the same name -- and the programme was never broadcast. In January of 1981, Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, appeared as a castaway on the show. Opening theme Plomley originally wanted the sounds of `` surf breaking on a shore and the cries of sea birds '' to open and close each programme. But Leslie Prowne, the head of popular record programmes at the BBC, was concerned that it lacked definition and insisted that music should also be used. Plomley and the series ' producer Frederic Piffard selected `` By the Sleepy Lagoon '', composed by Eric Coates ( who appeared on the show in 1951 ). The tune has been used since the first transmission in 1942. The sound of herring gulls has accompanied the music except for a period of time in 1964 when tropical bird sounds were used. Copyright status Until late September 2009, Desert Island Discs could not be heard on the BBC 's iPlayer service, which allows most programmes to be heard up to a week after transmission. The programme 's website stated that this was due to rights issues, as explained in The Sunday Times in 2006. It was announced on 27 September 2009 that an agreement had been reached as a result of which the programme would be available to stream via the iPlayer. The first episode available through the iPlayer was with Barry Manilow. Subsequently, the programme was also made available as a podcast, beginning with the edition broadcast on 29 November 2009, which featured Morrissey. However, due to music clearance issues, the music selections on the podcast versions are reduced to only playing for around 30 seconds or so ( and in rare instances are unavailable, as mentioned in an announcement made by Kirsty Young at the appropriate point of the programme ). On 30 March 2011, the BBC placed more than 500 episodes from the show 's archive online to listen to via iPlayer. Other episodes have since been added, both new and old. In the early years of the BBC, programmes were broadcast live and were generally not recorded. This, in addition to the BBC 's policy of wiping that was applied during the 1950s and 1960s, means very few episodes from the first 20 years of the show are known to exist ; the earliest episode still in existence is from 1951 and features actress Margaret Lockwood. Several extracts were preserved for posterity at the request of the guests, such as an extract featuring Alfred Hitchcock where he speaks about his films The Pleasure Garden ( 1925 ) and Rebecca ( 1940 ), gives his view on the changing landscape of the film industry and briefly discusses his then upcoming film Psycho ( 1960 ). Appearance in fiction In Tom Stoppard 's play The Real Thing, the playwright protagonist, Henry, frets over his forthcoming appearance on Desert Island Discs, worrying about whether he should be honest and admit his admiration for pop music ( particularly pop music derided by critics ) or pretend to favour more conventionally admired music. In the 1979 British comedy film Porridge ( based on the BBC TV series of the same name ), criminal boss, and avid Radio 4 listener, Harry Grout stated that it was an ambition of his to one day appear on the programme. ( Peter Vaughan, the actor who portrayed the character, never appeared as a guest on the show. He died in 2016. ) For the `` Dibley Live '' ( 1998 ) episode of The Vicar of Dibley, in which the characters are generating programming ideas for the village 's one - week radio station, the chronically dull Frank originally proposes a programme called Desert Island Desks, in which he would recount his favourites from the many desks at which he has sat during his lifetime. Instead, he opts for An Hour of Frank Talking, in which he unexpectedly reveals how he came to discover his -- hitherto undisclosed -- homosexuality ; however, none of the locals turns out to have heard the show, having anticipated a boring hour and chosen not to tune in. The 2015 National Theatre production of George Bernard Shaw 's Man and Superman featured an opening sequence in which the lead character Jack Tanner is on the show being interviewed by Kirsty Young and selects Mozart 's Don Giovanni. In Lisa Halliday 's novel `` Asymmetry ( novel ) '', the last chapter of the book is a transcript of the fictional writer Ezra Blazer 's appearance on the show and his choices. He appears to be talking to Kristy Young. List of publications Desert Island Discs ( 1977, by Roy Plomley ) Plomley 's Pick ( 1982, by Roy Plomley ) Desert Island Lists ( 1984, compiled by Roy Plomley and Derek Drescher ) Desert Island Discs : 70 Years of Castaways ( 2012, by Sean Magee, foreword by Kirsty Young ) Desert Island Discs : Flotsam & Jetsam ( 2012, by Mitchell Symons ) References Jump up ^ Midgley, Neil ( 29 January 2012 ). `` Desert Island Discs : Britain 's longest - running radio show ''. The Telegraph. London. Jump up ^ `` Desert Island Discs -- Find a castaway ''. BBC Online. Retrieved 29 August 2014. Jump up ^ `` Desert Island Discs -- Find a castaway ''. BBC Online. Retrieved 18 April 2017. Jump up ^ `` Desert Island Discs racks up a milestone of delights ''. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 15. Jump up ^ `` BBC Radio 4 -- Desert Island Discs, Dame Judi Dench ''. Bbc.co.uk. 2015 - 09 - 25. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 15. ^ Jump up to : `` Desert Island delights ''. BBC. 29 January 2002. Retrieved 15 November 2007. Jump up ^ `` BBC Radio 4 -- Desert Island Discs, HRH Princess Michael of Kent ''. Bbc.co.uk. 1984 - 02 - 03. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 15. Jump up ^ Lister, David ( 30 January 2002 ). `` ' Desert Island Discs ' enjoys luxury of a 60th birthday ''. The Independent. London. Retrieved 24 July 2009. Jump up ^ `` John Stevens ''. Desert Island Discs. 17 November 2006. BBC Radio 4. Jump up ^ `` Shirley Williams ''. Desert Island Discs. 29 January 2006. BBC Radio 4. Jump up ^ `` BBC Radio 4 -- Desert Island Discs, Dame Joan Plowright ''. Bbc.co.uk. 2006 - 09 - 01. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 15. Jump up ^ `` Beethoven tops island hit list '', BBC News, 18 March 2002 Jump up ^ Roberts, Laura ( 2 March 2011 ). `` Desert Island Discs ' most popular requests ''. The Daily Telegraph. London. Jump up ^ `` Elisabeth Schwarzkopf ''. Desert Island Discs. 28 July 1958. BBC Radio 4. Jump up ^ `` Dame Moura Lympany ''. Desert Island Discs. 28 July 1979. BBC Radio 4. Jump up ^ Pile, Stephen. The Book of Heroic Failures ( 1980 ed. ). Futura. pp. 29 -- 30. ISBN 0 - 7088 - 1908 - 7. Jump up ^ `` HRH Princess Margaret, Desert Island Discs - BBC Radio 4 ''. BBC. Retrieved 2017 - 12 - 08. Jump up ^ Magee, Sean ( 13 September 2012 ). `` Chapter 2 : 1940s ''. Desert Island Discs : 70 Years Of Castaways. Bantam Press. p. 8. ISBN 978 - 0 - 593 - 07006 - 2. Jump up ^ `` Desert Island Discs -- Home ''. BBC. Retrieved 2014 - 07 - 28. Jump up ^ Bremner, Charles ( 2 July 2006 ). `` How a man in his pyjamas invented a radio classic ''. The Sunday Times. London. Retrieved 25 February 2011. Jump up ^ Mark Damazer ( 27 September 2009 ). `` BBC -- Radio 4 Blog : Desert Island Discs comes to iPlayer ''. BBC. Retrieved 27 September 2009. Jump up ^ Plunkett, John ( 28 September 2009 ). `` BBC launches Radio 4 's Desert Island Discs on iPlayer ''. The Guardian. London. Retrieved 28 September 2009. Jump up ^ `` Vicar of Dibley Series 2 '', British Comedy Guide. Jump up ^ Paul Taylor ( 2015 - 02 - 26 ). `` Man and Superman, National Theatre, review : Ralph Fiennes gives one of the best performances of his career ''. The Independent. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 15. Jump up ^ `` Desert Island Discs : 70 years of castaways ''. Amazon. 13 September 2012. Jump up ^ `` Desert Island Discs : Flotsam & Jetsam ''. Amazon. 25 October 2012. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Desert Island Discs. Desert Island Discs, BBC Latest episodes Sue Arnold, `` The Lagoon Show '', The Observer, London, 17 March 2002 Desert Island Discs Presenters Roy Plomley ( 1942 - 1985 ) Michael Parkinson ( 1985 - 1988 ) Sue Lawley ( 1988 - 2006 ) Kirsty Young ( 2006 - present ) Episodes 1942 -- 1946 1951 -- 1960 1961 -- 1970 1971 -- 1980 1981 -- 1990 1991 -- 2000 2001 -- 2010 2011 -- present BBC Radio 4 Category BBC Radio 4 Programmes Comedy Bleak Expectations Cabin Pressure Chain Reaction Count Arthur Strong 's Radio Show ! Clare in the Community Dead Ringers Down the Line Ed Reardon 's Week Fags, Mags and Bags Giles Wemmbley - Hogg Goes Off The Hitchhiker 's Guide to the Galaxy I 'm Sorry I Have n't a Clue I 've Never Seen Star Wars Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation Just a Minute Ladies of Letters The Museum of Curiosity The News Quiz The Now Show Old Harry 's Game One Quote... Unquote That Mitchell and Webb Sound The Unbelievable Truth You 'll Have Had Your Tea : The Doings of Hamish and Dougal Entertainment 15 Minute Drama A Good Read Afternoon Drama The Archers Book at Bedtime Book of the Week Bookclub Brain of Britain Classic Serial Counterpoint Desert Island Discs Home Front Loose Ends The Lord of the Rings Poetry Please Round Britain Quiz The Saturday Play The Write Stuff News and factual Analysis Any Answers ? Any Questions ? Bottom Line Broadcasting House Case Notes Costing the Earth Crossing Continents Desert Island Discs Face the Facts Farming Today Feedback File on 4 The Film Programme The Food Programme From Our Own Correspondent Front Row Fry 's English Delight Gardeners ' Question Time Great Lives The House I Grew Up In In Business In Our Time Inside Health Inside Science The Kitchen Cabinet Last Word Midweek Money Box The Moral Maze More or Less PM Punt PI Reith Lectures Saturday Live Saturday Review Shipping Forecast Start the Week Thinking Allowed Today Tweet of the Day The Westminster Hour Woman 's Hour Word Of Mouth The World at One The World Tonight You and Yours Letter from America Americana Religious Bells on Sunday Beyond Belief The Daily Service Prayer for the Day Something Understood Sunday Thought for the Day Other Radio 4 Appeal Test Match Special Other Radio 4 UK Theme Sailing By Greenwich Time Signal BBC Home Service Radio 4 News FM BBC Radio 4 Extra Timeline of BBC Radio 4 Category Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Desert_Island_Discs&oldid=852420277 '' Categories : Desert Island Discs 1942 radio programme debuts BBC Radio 4 programmes British music radio programmes British talk radio programmes Thought experiments Hidden categories : Use British English from May 2012 Use dmy dates from May 2012 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Italiano ქართული မြန်မာဘာသာ Simple English Edit links This page was last edited on 28 July 2018, at 21 : 45 ( UTC ). 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Question: who was the first presenter of desert island discs
Answer: Roy Plomley