Desert Island Discs and why 2 guests chose cyanide pills as their luxury items | Daily Mail Online comments Launching an online archive of Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, presenter Kirsty Young has revealed that veteran BBC journalist David Dimbleby chose her as his ‘luxury item’. But what about other famous castaways? Fans can now explore a database of every song, book and luxury item chosen. To mark the occasion, DAVID THOMAS presents his favourite facts and trivia from the show’s seven-decade history... Enlarge Desert Island Discs is the world’s longest-running factual radio programme. It was first broadcast on January 29, 1942, and has been on air ever since. The only longer-running radio series of any kind is America’s Grand Ole Opry country music show. The first guest was comedian and musician Vic Oliver, who had fought alongside fellow Austrian Adolf Hitler during World War I. The son-in-law of Winston Churchill, Oliver was named in the ‘Black Book’ of Jews to be rounded up and killed after the Nazis’ planned invasion of Britain.

Interviewed for Desert Island Discs in the BBC’s bomb-damaged studio in London’s Maida Vale, his choices of music included four classical pieces and the Twenties big-band classic Happy Days Are Here Again, played by Jack Hylton and His Orchestra. Roy Plomley, the show’s creator, came up with the idea for the show in November 1941, while getting ready for bed. He wrote up his idea while wearing his pyjamas. The BBC liked it and two months later he was on air. He presented the show until his death in 1985. The concept remained Plomley’s copyright. His widow, Diana, was highly critical of his successor, Michael Parkinson, who lasted two years. She also accused Sue Lawley (presenter from 1988 to 2006), of having ‘an extraordinary obsession with other people’s sex lives’. Luxury item: Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young was veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby's choice Guests chosen as castaways can take eight pieces of music with them, along with the Bible, the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, a book of their own choosing and a luxury item.

Plomley laid down strict rules for the luxury: it had to be inanimate, and it could not be used to get off the island or communicate with the outside world. Neither the book nor the luxury were part of the original format — both were added in 1951. Luxury item: Dame Vera Lynn chose to take curling tongs with her to the desert island The first celebrity guest to choose a luxury was Chitty Chitty Bang Bang actress Sally Anne Howes, who opted to take some garlic — then an exotic commodity. In the weeks that followed, guests picked a double bass, a painting by Spanish painter Goya and cigarettes (also chosen, almost 60 years later, by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg). Among the first luxuries were ‘my first ukulele’, selected by the singer George Formby, and curling tongs, chosen by Forces sweetheart Vera Lynn. The first book ever selected, on October 9, 1951, was Who’s Who In The Theatre, chosen by actor Henry Kendall. Six weeks later the actress Kathleen Harrison picked the first novel, Charles Dickens’s classic The Pickwick Papers.

The most popular music selections have been classical, since they remain constant while tastes in pop music change. The most requested piece is the Ode To Joy from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony. Castaways are allowed to choose any music they like — with the possible exception of one famous Frank Sinatra hit. A BBC spokesman explained: ‘My Way is not banned, but in the past guests have been gently encouraged to think of something else to prevent the song becoming a cliché. Michael Caine chose it in December 2009.’ Two members of the Royal Family have been castaways, Princess Margaret and Princess Michael of Kent — who chose an oriental cat as her luxury, flouting the rule banning animate objects. Although an invite to the island is considered a rare privilege, some have turned it down, including Mick Jagger, Labour politician John Prescott, the former Poet Laureate Ted Hughes and Prince Charles. Simon Cowell and Graham Norton both chose mirrors with which to gaze at their own loveliness.

In 2007, Yoko Ono, whose favourite piece of music, incidentally, was The Cheeky Song by the Cheeky Girls, opted for ‘my life for the next 30 years’, thereby guaranteeing her survival until 2037, by which time she would be 104. Playwright Peter Nichols’s favourite book, meanwhile, was his own diary, while his luxury was a cyanide pill. Mr Vain: Pop supremo Simon Cowell asked for a mirror to take on to the desert island, as did comedian Graham Norton Nichols wasn’t alone in considering suicide. Author and TV presenter Stephen Fry and journalist Lynn Barber both opted for poison pills, while TV star David Walliams wanted a pistol with which to shoot himself. The novelist Fay Weldon also chose a firearm, although she wanted a shotgun with which to shoot crocodiles rather than herself. Film director Otto Preminger chose his autobiography as his favourite book, as did ’Allo ’Allo actor Gorden Kaye, while author Bill Bryson chose The Lost Continent by, er, Bill Bryson. They're grrrreat!

Enough so for Ian Hislop to request a lifetime's supply before he was shipped off One of the most common luxuries requested is ‘a lifetime’s supply’ of their favourite things. Sir David Frost, for example, could not survive without the Sunday papers. Several writers, including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, and crime writers P.D. James and Patricia Cornwell, asked for a limitless supply of pens, ink and paper. Booker Prize-winner Howard Jacobson wanted an infinite number of pressed shirts and trousers — perhaps he could share an island with presenter Sue Lawley, who asked for an iron and ironing board when she was interviewed as a guest in 1987 by her predecessor Michael Parkinson. Food and drink, unsurprisingly, come top in many celebrities’ wish-lists. The epicurean Michael Winner requested caviar, London Mayor Boris Johnson chose French mustard, and comedian Ian Hislop picked the humble cereal Frosties. Celebrities who couldn’t do without a tipple include Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce, who requested rum punch, and singer and West End star Michael Ball, who asked for Sauvignon Blanc. Other castaways simply aren’t great readers.

Showjumper Harvey Smith told Roy Plomley: ‘I’ve never read a book in my life and I don’t intend to start for you, sir’, a sentiment shared by TV chef Jamie Oliver, one of Britain’s best-selling authors, who declined all offers of literature, declaring: ‘I don’t read books.’ The actor Tim Robbins solved problems of heating and entertainment simultaneously, requesting an entire library and a box of matches. When choosing luxury items, women guests tend to stick to fragrant bath and body products, while sporting goods and gadgets prove popular among the men. Appetites: Hollywood wildman Oliver Reed asked for a blow-up woman to take into his desert island exile. Presumably to use as an escape raft Things that male guests consider luxurious: A molecular engineering laboratory with which to create a pet dog, chosen by vet Bruce Fogle on being told he could not take a real dog. A blow-up woman, chosen by actor Oliver Reed. Michael Palin, stuffed, chosen by John Cleese. A dojo, or Japanese martial arts school, chosen by Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Golf clubs, chosen by comedian Jimmy Tarbuck, football legend Sir Bobby Robson, ex-rugby player Sir Clive Woodward, and numerous other male celebs. Rocker Alice Cooper plumped for an indoor golf driving range. A Ferrari, parked underneath the island’s palm tree, chosen by jazz drummer Buddy Rich (George Michael preferred an Aston Martin DB9: presumably he would crash it against the same palm tree). A billiard table and a shed to keep it in, chosen by Sir Patrick Stewart. A football and a wall to kick it against, chosen by the late DJ John Peel (who admitted that the only time he felt graceful was when he was playing football). And for the girls: Fragrant body lotion, chosen by Sex And The City star Kim Cattrall. Twiggy, showing her age, chose Pond’s classic cold cream. Eye make-up, especially mascara, chosen by novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford. Eyelash curlers, chosen by ballerina Darcey Bussell. A manicure set, chosen by Cilla Black. A fluffy purple worm, chosen by sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur. Tissues, chosen by actress Jane Horrocks.

Sunblock, chosen by Nicole Kidman, Annie Lennox, Joan Collins and Sue MacGregor. A pair of Christian Louboutin mules, chosen by actress Kristin Scott Thomas. Perhaps the most intriguing girly choice was made by Sixties sex-kitten Brigitte Bardot, who said in her thick French accent that what she wanted was ‘a peeniss’. Displaying commendable cool, Roy Plomley replied: ‘Most interesting. Why, may I ask?’ To which Bardot said: ‘Well, eet’s what ze world needs most — ’appiness.’ Desert Island Discs: Margaret Thatcher among new shows to go online | Media | The Guardian Radio 4 Desert Island Discs: Margaret Thatcher among new shows to go online More than 450 editions of Radio 4 show go on iPlayer, also including Philip Larkin, Princess Margaret and John Cleese Margaret Thatcher's 1978 appearance on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs is among a new batch of shows to go on the iPlayer.

Photograph: ITV/Rex Features Thursday 17 May 2012 12.25 EDT First published on Thursday 17 May 2012 12.25 EDT Close This article is 4 years old She chose a survival manual as her book of choice and a photo album of her children as her luxury, revealing in her 1978 appearance on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs something of the woman she was to become. From Friday fans of Margaret Thatcher will be able to listen to the recording of prime minister-to-be for the first time since then, as the BBC puts more than 450 editions of the UK's longest-running radio show online. The new recordings date from 1951 to Desert Island Discs creator and original presenter Roy Plomley's swan song in 1985. But they still represent less than a third of more than 1,785 editions made by Plomley from the launch of the show in January 1942. Many were not retained by the BBC, which did not have the archival space for them, and some of those uploaded include recordings made by the public and donated by the British Library.

The BBC has promised to upload the full archive ever since Plomley's family agreed in 2009 to allow the BBC to offer old editions of the show via the iPlayer. Other recordings which have been uploaded include the 1977 edition with novelist Daphne du Maurier and appearances by Baroness Maria Von Trapp, the writers Tennessee Williams and Norman Mailer, and the actors Lauren Bacall and Natalie Wood. The earliest surviving recording features actor Margaret Lockwood from 1951. The new online archive also includes a selection of records as well as the obligatory book and luxury item selected by wartime general, Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. Montgomery was the 1,000th castaway , appearing in 1969, seven years before his death in 1976. He chose a piano as his luxury and his own book, The History of Warfare, in order to "ponder how we might stop fighting". The poet Philip Larkin can also be heard for the first time since he recorded his desert island selections in July 1976.

Alongside a number of jazz records his luxury is a typewriter and an unlimited supply of paper, as well as the complete plays of George Bernard Shaw to accompany the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare, in accordance with Plomley's format. Larkin, who is often portrayed as taciturn and unfriendly, also reveals an unexpectedly gregarious side of his nature, telling Plomley about his proposed exile: "I should be very happy for the first 24 hours and fairly happy after 48 hours but after that I suspect I should miss people and society in general." When Princess Margaret appeared in 1981 she revealed how "cosy" she found Buckingham Palace , as well as her fondness for Sixteen Tons by American country star Tennessee Ernie Ford, which she heard on the car radio while being chauffeured back to Kensington Palace. However, her actual musical selections were slightly more sedate, including Scotland the Brave played by the band of the Highland Fusiliers, a regiment she was colonel-in-chief of, and Brahms' Symphony No. 2. Spike Milligan made two appearances.

In his second, in 1978, he chose a Barclaycard as his luxury item in order to "save money" on the island . John Cleese was another comedian to choose outlandish luxury items. In 1997 he asked for Michael Palin but when told that he could not take a living person opted to have him stuffed. In a previous edition he requested a life-sized model of Thatcher and a baseball bat. In 1988 Dame Edna Everage opted for her sidekick, Madge Allsop, insisting that it met the rules of an inanimate object. The first Desert Island Discs was broadcast on January 29, 1942, with comedian Vic Oliver as the castaway. It has aired more than 3,000 editions and is one of Britain's longest-running radio series and continues to be accompanied by the famously dreamy theme tune, The Sleepy Lagoon, composed by Eric Coates in 1930. Michael Parkinson, a castaway in February 1972, took over from Plomley as presenter in January 1986 and was succeeded by Sue Lawley in 1988.

Current host Kirsty Young took over in 2006. The show's executive producer Cathy Drysdale said: "This is fabulous archive, a rich collection for the listeners. Bringing it together is the thing I am most proud of." She also urged listeners who have missing recordings to alert the BBC. • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".

• To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter at #!/mediaguardian and Facebook at Desert Island Discs: Presenter Kirsty Young recalls being serenaded by Tom Jones - Mirror Online News Desert Island Discs: Presenter Kirsty Young recalls being serenaded by Tom Jones A new series of the long-running radio show began yesterday - here are some highlights from Kirsty's seven years as host Share Presenter: Kirsty Young (Photo: BBC) Share Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again laterInvalid Email In its seven decades on air, almost 3,000 castaways have picked their eight favourite songs, a book and, of course, their little luxury. Requests have included a stuffed Michael Palin (John Cleese) and a daughter’s teddy bear (Dawn French). As for music, domestic goddess Nigella Lawson opted to while away the hours to Wheatus’ Teenage Dirtbag. But as a new series of the long-running Desert Island Discs began on Radio 4 yesterday, presenter Kirsty Young reveals one of favourite memories is of guest Kathy Burke.

She says: “She has made me laugh for years and years and is a brilliant talent. “When I asked her what her luxury was she said she wanted a lifesize laminated photo of James Caan from Dragons’ Den so she could surf on him on the island’s waves. That was hilarious and extremely odd.” It was one of many captivating encounters for Kirsty, 44, who became the show’s fourth presenter seven years ago. She has been serenaded by Sir Tom Jones and chosen as the “luxury” by Question Time host David Dimbleby 74. Married mum-of-two Kirsty recalls: “He said, ‘I’ll take you.’ I nearly fell off my seat and I think I flushed from my toenails up. I totally wasn’t expecting it and I said: ‘What? That’s not within the rules.’” He had a hasty rethink and went for pencils, books and varnish instead.” Another fond memory is of the legendary Julie Goodyear – Bet Lynch of Coronation Street – choosing her late mother’s bus pass as her luxury. “She carries it with her everywhere,” says Kirsty.

“She said: ‘We’re all on a journey, my mother was on a journey’ – and that little photo was rather affecting.” Nigella Lawson loves to listen to a bit of Wheatus (Photo: PA) So what else did the stars choose – and how do you rate their taste in music?

George Clooney (Hollywood star) 1 Hank Williams: I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry; 2 Pink Floyd: Another Brick in the Wall; 3 Dinah Washington: Destination Moon (favourite); 4 Frank Sinatra: Nice ’n’ Easy; 5 Bobby Darin: Artificial Flowers; 6 Bill Withers: Who Is He (And What Is He To You?); 7 Van Morrison: Moondance; 8 William Shatner: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds BOOK: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy LUXURY: An anchored yacht David Tennant (Former Doctor Who actor) 1 The Proclaimers: Over and Done With; 2 Elvis Costello: Oliver’s Army; 3 The Housemartins: Me and the Farmer; 4 Deacon Blue: Dignity; 5 Eddie Izzard: Starship Enterprise; 6 Kaiser Chiefs: Ruby; 7 Tim Minchin: White Wine in the Sun (favourite); 8 Billy Bragg: Greetings to the New Brunette BOOK: In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust LUXURY: A solar-powered DVD player loaded with seven series of the West Wing David Walliams (Com

edian) 1 Bjork: So Broken; 2 The Smiths: Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want (favourite); 3 Pet Shop Boys: Later Tonight; 4 The Velvet Underground: Sunday Morning; 5 Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Into My Arms; 6 Bob Dylan: You’re a Big Girl Now; 7 Sinead O’Connor: You Do Something To Me; 8 Johnny Cash: I Still Miss Someone BOOK: Collected Poems by Philip Larkin LUXURY: A gun Dawn French (Comedian and actress) 1 Morecambe & Wise: Bring Me Sunshine; 2 Alison Moyet: Ne Me Quitte Pas; 3 James Taylor: You’ve Got A Friend; 4 Louis Prima & Keely Smith with Sam Butera & The Witnesses: Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody; 5 Etta James: At Last; 6 Patrick MacNee: Kinky Boots; 7 This Mortal Coil: Song To the Siren (favourite); 8 Elbow: One Day Like This BOOK: Puckoon by Spike Milligan LUXURY: Daughter’s teddy bear Gordon Ramsay (TV chef) 1

 Coldplay: Yellow (favourite); 2 Kim Wilde: Kids in America; 3 Blondie: Sunday Girl; 4 Tina Turner: The Best; 5 George Michael: Careless Whisper; 6 Bryan Adams: ­(Everything I do) I Do It For You; 7 Tom Jones & Mousse T: Sex Bomb; 8 Travis: Sing BOOK: Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain LUXURY: A fresh vanilla pod Jennifer Saunders (Comedian) 1 Van Morrison: Moondance; 2 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem in D minor – Lacrimosa; 3 Blondie: I Didn’t Have The Nerve To Say No (favourite); 4 Janis Joplin: Cry Baby; 5 Richard Wagner: Parsifal, Prelude; 6 Joni Mitchell: A Case Of You; 7 Elvis Costello: Sweet Pear; 8 Emmylou Harris: Amarillo BOOK: Traveller’s Prelude by Freya Stark LUXURY: Tribute Heads By Elisabeth Frink John Bishop (Comic) 1 The Beatles: I Saw Her Standing There; 2 David Bowie: Let’s Dance; 3 Jim Reeves: Bimbo; 4 Lynyrd

 Skynyrd: Sweet Home Alabama; 5 Elvis Presley: The Wonder Of You; 6 Simple Minds: Don’t You (Forget About Me) (favourite); 7 David Gray: Sail Away; 8 Snow Patrol: Chasing Cars BOOK: Family photo album LUXURY: Lifetime supply of toothbrushes and toothpaste John Cleese (Fawlty Towers star) 1 Monty Python: The Meaning of Life; 2 John Williams: Cavatina (from The Deer Hunter); 3 Scott Joplin: Maple Leaf Rag; 4 Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Prelude; 5 Nilsson: Gotta Get Up; 6 Pietro Mascagni: ­Inneggiamo, il Signor (Easter hymn from Cavalleria ­rusticana) (favourite); 7 George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue; 8 Louis Armstrong: What a Wonderful World BOOK: Stand By Your Man by Tammy Wynette LUXURY: Michael Palin – stuffed Ricky Gervais (Comedian) 1 Bob Dylan: If You See Her Say Hello; 2.

Cat Stevens: Lilywhite (favourite); 3 Sex Pistols: Anarchy in the UK; 4 Neil Young: After The Gold Rush; 5 Radiohead: Bones; 6 David Bowie: Letter to Hermione; 7 Jimmy Webb: Galveston; 8 Willie Nelson: Always on My Mind BOOK: A coffee table book of art LUXURY: Vat of novocaine – a non-addictive painkiller Simon Cowell (TV and music mogul) 1 Bobby Darin: Mack the Knife; 2 Herb Alpert: This Guy’s in Love with You; 3 Charles ­Aznavour: She; 4 The Righteous Brothers: Unchained Melody; 5 Wayne Newton: Danke Schoen; 6 Daniel Bedingfield: If You’re Not the One; 7 Frank Sinatra: Summer Wind; 8 Sammy Davis Jr: Mr Bojangles BOOK: Hollywood Wives by Jackie Collins LUXURY: A mirror Sir Michael Caine (Actor) 1 Coldplay: Viva La Vida; 2 Elbow: One Day Like This; 3 Sir Edward Elgar: Enigma ­Variations – Nimrod; 4 Chicane: No Ordinary Morning;

 5 Bent: Swollen; 6 Phyllis Nelson: Move Closer; 7 Frank Sinatra: My Way (favourite); 8 John Lennon & The Plastic Ono Band: Happy Xmas (War Is Over) BOOK: The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand LUXURY: A large bed with 50% goose down and 50% feather pillows Like us on Facebook Most Read Most Recent Most Read Most Recent Desert Island Discs – bloody HELL brennan August 7, 2013 I made a huge commitment on the weekend.

A commitment so big I have not made since I made the choice to move from Medium to Hot on my Nandos order. That was a commitment I instinctively made and I will tell you reader, I have not looked back since. This commitment however took copious amounts of soul-searching, personal examination of character and frantic rifling back through memories. That’s right folks. I chose my 8 DESERT ISLAND DISCS. Imagine being here with a load of music and books. DISASTER. For those not familiar with this CRACKING Radio 4 stalwart (and if not, WHY not?! It’s been on since 1942! When the masses were still eating spam, drawing lines on the backs of their legs and making cakes out of powdered egg. DELISH. Go here to listen: bbc.in/eLM844 ),I’ll give you the 411. You are stranded on a desert island. You are allowed a copy of The Bible and The Complete Works of Shakespeare. and ONE other book of your choice.

One luxury item (I liked it when John Cleese chose to have Michael Palin dead and stuffed as his luxury item and when Tim Minchin chose a robotic sex doll.) AND eight pieces of music that have shaped your life and musical tastes. (And presumably something to play them on if we’re gonna get technical about it.) Whilst I am undecided on the book (apparently the Harry Potter series doesn’t count as one. YES I AM SULKING AND WHINGING ABOUT THIS ) and the luxury item (I have an uneasy feeling that a magnum bottle of gin may be a rash choice) over some drinks at the weekend my family and I each decided on our eight pieces of music. Despite the fact that my housemate tells me my taste in music is appalling and regularly threatens to perform an exorcism on my iPod if I play Gina G’s ‘Ooh Ahh… Just A Little Bit’ one more time, I thought I would share mine. They are as follows: 1. ‘Tapestry’ from the album Tapestry by Carole King This album and this song woke me up to the beauty and genius of good song-writing.

Whilst Carole King’s voice ain’t the best in the world, her melodies and accompanying lyrics are just astonishing. This, the title song from the album just felt like a piece of poetry set to music (which in turn appealed to the bit of me that bums poetry hard). Also in a time where everyone was singing Mariah Carey and Celine Dion songs I got up aged 12 and belted this out in a school concert, so it also for me makes me think of my time at secondary school. Bizarrely, I didn’t get bullied at school, though some might say I was asking for it, for I used to skip along the corridor singing my alto line from the Madrigals we’d learnt in Chamber Choir. I suppose I wasn’t bullied because even back then, I just thought that confidently being different and being really into something was cooler than smoking down the alleyway that ran adjacent to school. TO ALL THE KIDS WHO ARE A BIT DIFFERENT: YOU’RE DOING IT RIGHT. 2. ‘You Can Close Your Eyes’ from the album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon by James Taylor Similarly to Carole King, the early James Taylor albums were well loved by my Dad who is a huge music geek.

Theirs were albums he had when he was a teenager, battered and dog-eared from love and being played over and over again. He passed the love of them onto me, and James’s lovely voice and lyrics just wooed me as a teenager. Dad’s also incredibly musical and plays the guitar, and he and I used to sing this as a duet, him as James, me as Carly Simon. One of my favourite memories is him taking me to Brighton to see a James Taylor gig, so for me, perhaps James Taylor is a musical summation of my relationship with my TOP POP. 3. ‘Heaven on their Minds’ from Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber I mean I couldn’t make my Desert Island Discs without there being at least ONE musical theatre track on there COULD I?! I chose this one out of all of them, because I used to listen to this album over and over again as a kid, playing all the parts. I still think I’d make a BITCHING Caiaphas. Whilst my musical theatre tastes have gone way beyond Lloyd Webber, I just adored this.

For me at the time it was risky, raucous and teeming with drama (plus, I went through a hippy stage when I was a teenager and loved wearing cheesecloth tops and peasant dresses, so I had real fashion envy at the 1973 version of this film). 4. ‘Last Train Home’ from the album Still Life Talking by Pat Metheny Another influence from Dad Brennan. After his acousticky singer-songwriter love affair came to a close, my old fella started his life as a jazz head, this revolution in his musical tastes being headed up by the utter genius that is Pat Metheny. I was rocked to sleep to this tune, driven to school to his other albums and now his music is etched into my musical make-up. This one’s a favourite for me because I think that there is inherent drama woven into the track (HA! See what I did there! ‘track’! Because it’s about a train! Guys?! No?! Fine) . I imagine a train chugging a long slow journey across America, and like to think about all the characters that might be passengers on board.

Everyone should have a bit o’Pat in their lives, the guy’s an absolute legend and has hair that gives Brian May a run for his money. 5. ‘Spice Up Your Life’ from the album SpiceWorld by The Spice Girls Not one of my more refined choices, I’ll grant you. But when I was in Year Six, the Spice girls came CRASHING into my life all shouty and peace signs and big buffalo trainers (of which I had a blue pair). As a treat for parties, I used to wear all my leopard print stuff and my Mum used to crimp and backcomb my hair (which was at that point down to my thighs- I looked less like Mel B and more like Mufasa). But I think for any girl my age, Team Spice were IMPORTANT. They showed that girls could have balls too (so to speak). GIRL POWER. 6. ‘I Wanna Be The Only One’ from the album Before the Rain by Eternal (feat. BeBe Winans) Purely because I think this might be the happiest song in the world.

I MEAN ANY SONG THAT HAS MULTIPLE KEY CHANGES AT THE END IS A WINNER BY ME AND THIS ONE HAS THREE KEY CHANGES OF SCREAMING GOSPEL GOODNESS. I defy you to listen to this and not grin. 7. ‘You Can Call Me Al’ from the album Graceland by Paul Simon In 2005/2006 I took a year out and joined a drama course entitled ‘Year Out Drama Company’ in Stratford-Upon-Avon. There, I made the best friends, had the most wild and wonderful time, learned about LIFE and MYSELF and DRAMA and ever since have continued to be a part of the lovely-sparkly-spiderwebby-network that is made up of each year group that does Year Out Drama. This song is the YOD anthem and it has a dance routine that goes with it (yep, we’re THOSE people). I’ve performed the dance to this song in public spaces with RECKLESS GAY ABANDON more times than I’ve had hot dinners. And hilariously, people normally join in. Once we got a whole bar of people in Edinburgh doing it. I laughed until I ached. 8.

‘Come Together’ from the album Abbey Road by The Beatles Because there has to be a Beatles track in there because THEY’RE THE BEATLES FA CRYIN OUT LOUD. They’re the musical equivalent of bacon- a staple, but delicious every time. One of my favourite games is ‘Top 5 Beatles Songs’- this list never gets laminated because it’s a-given that those Scouse loons wrote so many good belters that your Top 5 will regularly shift. However, this one for me is always a non-mover. It’s complex yet simple, ballsy yet welcoming and has SWAG by the bucketload. So there you have it. They’re my desert island discs. That’s the musical patchwork that makes up the quilt of my life (that’s a bit wanky isn’t it?). It was tough guys. I had to make a really difficult decision about the inclusion of Gina G and also ‘Cotton Eye Joe’ (incidentally which was also my very first single. I should be embarrassed about that, but weirdly, I’M NOT.

Partly because my brother’s first single was this: bit.ly/193RaoU HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH ) But I will happily hang up my hat and nod my head and declare “YES. I am happy with that bunch.” Now to decide on the book and luxury item. Who am I kidding? Of course I’d take a magnum of gin. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Desert Island Discs celebrates 70 years of books, music and bizarre luxuries | Television & radio | The Guardian Desert Island Discs Desert Island Discs celebrates 70 years of books, music and bizarre luxuries Sir David Attenborough marks anniversary with fourth appearance on radio show, which has seen requests for a blow-up doll and suicide pills Roy Plomley, the creator and original presenter of the Desert Island Discs. He was followed by Michael Parkinson, Sue Lawley and the current presenter, Kirsty Young.

Photograph: John Downing/Getty Images Friday 27 January 2012 05.28 EST First published on Friday 27 January 2012 05.28 EST Close This article is 4 years old When radio presenter Roy Plomley came up with the idea for Radio 4's Desert Island Discs on a cold November night in 1941, on his way to bed and already in his pyjamas, he envisaged a series of six programmes. They began on 27 January the following year, 70 years ago this weekend. The show, which bases interviews with public figures around eight musical choices, a book and a luxury, is now the world's longest-running factual radio programme. Unlike The Archers, which slipped up by over-hyping its 60th anniversary edition last year and killing off a popular character, Desert Island Discs is sticking to what it knows for its 70th, welcoming Sir David Attenborough back for a fourth appearance. Only Arthur Askey has matched that and Attenborough is a fitting choice for the 70th anniversary: a national treasure with a career of impressive longevity, just like the show itself.

Its appeal lies largely in a deceptively simple format – in talking about a fantasy island and their music selections, guests relax and reveal aspects of themselves – and a seemingly unchanging quality, underlined by the fact that it has only had four main presenters. Plomley quizzed castaways for 43 years until his death in 1985, lunching before the recordings with the guest at his club, the Garrick (another club was used for female guests), and dealing with any anomalies in record choices, he explained in a Radio 4 documentary made for the 50th anniversary , by taking castaways across the road to the pub for "a couple of large gins". The format and tone has quietly evolved over the years. The original didn't feature books or luxury items, with these added in 1951.

Actor Sally Ann Howes chose garlic as the first luxury, a more prosaic choice than many that would follow: a blow-up doll (Oliver Reed), Michael Palin, stuffed (John Cleese), solar-powered vibrator (Cornelia Parker), mirror (Simon Cowell, Graham Norton), navel brush (Frank Muir), suicide pill (Peter Nichols, Stephen Fry, Lynn Barber), and happiness. The latter, requested by Brigitte Bardot, caused Plomley momentary consternation; it sounded as if she was asking for "a penis". When Michael Parkinson took over from Plomley, he changed the interview so that guests heard their music choices rather than having them edited in. Plomley's widow, Diana, was said to find his style too slick, and Parkinson only hosted the show for two years. She was even more scathing about Sue Lawley's 18-year tenure, claiming that the presenter had "an extraordinary obsession with other people's sex lives".

This followed Lawley's 1996 interview with the then unmarried shadow chancellor, Gordon Brown, in which she said: "People want to know whether you're gay or whether there's some flaw in your personality that you haven't made a relationship?" Lawley was host for the most controversial guest, Lady Diana Mosley in 1989, in which Mosley described Hitler as "fascinating" and challenged Lawley's assertion that the Nazis had murdered six million Jews. "Oh no, I don't think it was that many," Mosley replied. There was a long, icy pause. "Tell us about your fifth record, Lady Mosley." Since taking over as host in 2006, Kirsty Young's time on the programme has been largely controversy-free, apart from some grumblings that Gok Wan was too populist a choice of guest. However, Young is widely credited with reinvigorating the programme, with her warm yet searching questions producing especially captivating editions with Kathy Burke, Mark Gatiss, Betty Driver and Morrissey. The latter's encounter was voted second best broadcast interview of all time in a Radio Times poll last year, pipped by David Frost interviewing Richard Nixon .

The programme's core strength is that it's a gentle listen, but one in which guests give us a strong sense of what they're really like. This might be through their musical selections – soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf famously chose seven of her own performances –or how they weave their life story around them. The tone may be pretty relaxed, but like the programme's theme tune, it's not quite what it seems. Eric Coates composed By the Sleepy Lagoon in 1930, and it's now synonymous with being transported to a tropical island. In fact, he wrote the music while looking out over Bognor Regis. Similarly, Young will be welcoming and respectful to Attenborough on Sunday, but no pushover. Expect a question or two about those polar bear cubs featured on Frozen Planet that were filmed in a German zoo.

Question: Which guest chose a stuffed Michael Palin as his luxury to take to the Island?
Answer: John Cleese