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The BBC Radio 4 programme Desert Island Discs invites castaways to choose eight pieces of music, a book (in addition to the Bible – or a religious text appropriate to that person's beliefs – and the Complete Works of Shakespeare) and a luxury item that they would take to an imaginary desert island, where they will be marooned indefinitely. The rules state that the chosen luxury item must not be anything animate, nor anything that enables the castaway to escape from the island, for instance a radio set, sailing yacht or aeroplane. The choices of book and luxury can sometimes give insight into the guest's life, and the choices of guests between 1961 and 1970 are listed here.
1961
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edit1966
edit| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1966 | Jimmy Shand | The Second World War by Sir Winston Churchill | Tin whistle | more |
| 3 January 1966 | Professor W. E. Swinton | Whitaker's Almanac | Library | more |
| 10 January 1966 | Patience Strong | Complete Works by William Wordsworth | Indian painting showing the crucifixion | more |
| 24 January 1966 | Charlton Heston | Encyclopædia Britannica | Tennis practice equipment | more |
| 31 January 1966 | Tommy Simpson | The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens | Golfing equipment | more |
| 7 February 1966 | Christopher Hopper | History of England | Landscape by Constable | more |
| 14 February 1966 | Andrew Cruickshank | Journal by Søren Kierkegaard | Renoir's The Bear at the Folies Bergere | more |
| 21 February 1966 | Marie Collier | Mrs Mackintosh My Darling by Marguerite Young | Etruscan frieze of horses | more |
| 28 February 1966 | Cyril Connolly | A La Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust | Foam rubber sleeping bag | more |
| 7 March 1966 | Bill Fraser | Italian language course | Writing materials | more |
| 14 March 1966 | Sir Frank Francis | The Duke's Children by Anthony Trollope | Golf clubs and balls | more |
| 21 March 1966 | G. O. Nickalls | Pear's Cyclopedia | Rembrandt's Titus | more |
| 28 March 1966 | Sara Leighton | Poetry by T. S. Eliot | Michelangelo's Pieta | more |
| 4 April 1966 | Hubert Gregg | History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Sir Winston Churchill | Pink champagne | more |
| 11 April 1966 | Terry Scott | French language course | Eau de Cologne | more |
| 18 April 1966 | Alan Bullock | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Writing materials | more |
| 25 April 1966 | Bob & Alf Pearson | ABC Railway Timetable and History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Sir Winston Churchill | Seeds and a piano | more |
| 2 May 1966 | Lord Soper | Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K Jerome | Trombone | more |
| 9 May 1966 | Inia Te Wiata | Arts and Crafts of the Maori People by Hamilton | Painting by Michelangelo | more |
| 16 May 1966 | Henry Cooper | Do-it-yourself manual | Training gear | more |
| 23 May 1966 | Emily MacManus | Kim by Rudyard Kipling | Foam rubber mattress and mosquito net | more |
| 30 May 1966 | Bill Simpson | Songs and poems by Robert Burns | Sports equipment | more |
| 6 June 1966 | Charles Craig | Who's Who | Bed | more |
| 13 June 1966 | Nina & Frederik | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | A harp and a flute | more |
| 20 June 1966 | Lilli Palmer | Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | Painting materials | more |
| 27 June 1966 | Wilfred Andrews | Press cutting albums | Painting materials | more |
| 4 July 1966 | Ninette de Valois | Poetry by W. B. Yeats | Writing materials | more |
| 11 July 1966 | Sir Stanley Rous | Virginibus Puerisque by Robert Louis Stevenson | Field glasses | more |
| 18 July 1966 | Jennifer Vyvyan | Her favourite novels by Charles Dickens | Painting equipment | more |
| 25 July 1966 | Virginia McKenna | On Playing With Lions by Bill Travers | Writing materials | more |
| 1 August 1966 | Nat Gonella | Collected short stories by Damon Runyon | Golf clubs and balls | more |
| 8 August 1966 | Michael Craig | The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame | Musical instrument | more |
| 15 August 1966 | Peter Diamand | Encyclopædia Britannica | Head of Nefertiti from the Berlin Museum | more |
| 22 August 1966 | Bryan Forbes | Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand | Roulette wheel | more |
| 29 August 1966 | Morecambe and Wise | Encyclopædia Britannica and A History of the English-Speaking Peoples by Sir Winston Churchill | Deck chair and a ticket machine | more |
| 5 September 1966 | David Hicks | A Le Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust | Mexican crystal skull | more |
| 12 September 1966 | Derek Oldham | Encyclopædia Britannica | Insect repellent | more |
| 19 September 1966 | June Ritchie | The Snow Goose by Paul Gallico | Onion plants | more |
| 26 September 1966 | Peter Wilson | His favourite novels by E. M. Forster | Bertholdo's Apollo | more |
| 3 October 1966 | Talbot Duckmanton | Diary by Samuel Pepys | Soap | more |
| 10 October 1966 | Katherine Whitehorn | Her favourite books by William Faulkner | Negligee | more |
| 17 October 1966 | Jacques Brunius | Complete works by Lewis Carroll | Broken and unplayable pop record | more |
| 24 October 1966 | Danny La Rue | Encyclopedia | Refrigerator | more |
| 31 October 1966 | Mitch Miller | Anthology of poetry | Oboe | more |
| 7 November 1966 | Arnold Wesker | No book | Selection of pictures | more |
| 14 November 1966 | Stephen Bishop | The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | Piano | more |
| 21 November 1966 | Sarah Churchill | Reminisces of the early life by Sir Winston Churchill | Bath with hot water | more |
| 28 November 1966 | Anthony Burgess | Finnegans Wake by James Joyce | Music manuscript paper, pencils, and a rubber | more |
| 5 December 1966 | Captain John Ridgway & Sergent Chay Blyth | Dictionary and an anthology of poetry | Shaving kit and a leather armchair | more |
| 12 December 1966 | Leonard Cottrell | Collected works by Homer | Bronze statue of Poseidon | more |
| 19 December 1966 | Jack Brabham | Textbook on advanced mechanical engineering | None | more |
| 24 December 1966 | Gwendoline Kirby | The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | Field glasses | more |
| 26 December 1966 | Georg Solti | Faust by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe | Michelangelo's The Last Judgement | more |
1967
edit| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 January 1967 | Anne Sharpley | The Raft Book by Harold Gatty | Spices and Herbs | more |
| 9 January 1967 | René Cutforth | Cards of Identity by Nigel Dennis | Silk vests and pants | more |
| 16 January 1967 | Sheila Scott | In Search of the Miraculous and A New Model of the Universe by P. D. Ouspensky | Tobacco seeds | more |
| 23 January 1967 | Richard Goolden | Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb | Cigars and a dinner jacket | more |
| 30 January 1967 | Gerald Moore | Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians | Wine | more |
| 6 February 1967 | Renée Houston | Clochemerle by Gabriel Chevallier | Parsley | more |
| 13 February 1967 | Gerald Harper | How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie | Videotape or film of the full five-days' play of a Test match | more |
| 20 February 1967 | Clement Freud | Short stories by Damon Runyon | Still | more |
| 27 February 1967 | Arthur Negus | Dictionary of English Furniture by Ralph Edwards | Chippendale cabinet | more |
| 6 March 1967 | Hugh Griffith | Blank paper and pencils | Champagne | more |
| 13 March 1967 | Barry Briggs | Encyclopaedia | Surfboard | more |
| 20 March 1967 | Alan Whicker | Airways timetable | Typewriter and paper | more |
| 27 March 1967 | Dick Francis | The Spirit of St. Louis by Charles Lindbergh | Mirror | more |
| 3 April 1967 | Rolf Harris | Dusty by Frank Dalby Davison | Two tape recorders | more |
| 10 April 1967 | John Schlesinger | Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift | Insect repellent | more |
| 17 April 1967 | Sir Neville Cardus | Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell | Watercolour painting equipment | more |
| 24 April 1967 | Eric Porter | Essays by Michel de Montaigne | Telescope or microscope | more |
| 1 May 1967 | Walter Matthews | The Republic by Plato | Beginner's guide to making rafts | more |
| 8 May 1967 | Derek Nimmo | Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Pottery and Porcelain by Geoffrey Godden | Garlic | more |
| 15 May 1967 | George Woodcock | Philosophic works by William Warren Bartley | Cornet | more |
| 22 May 1967 | John Barry | The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis | Piano | more |
| 29 May 1967 | David Ward | Collected works by Robert Burns | Painting materials | more |
| 5 June 1967 | Fenella Fielding | Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons | French silk-lined leather gloves | more |
| 12 June 1967 | Xenia Field | Encyclopaedia | Mattress | more |
| 19 June 1967 | Raymond Huntley | Cakes and Ale, The Razor's Edge and The Circle by W. Somerset Maugham | Whisky | more |
| 26 June 1967 | Peter Ritchie Calder | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Tape recorder | more |
| 3 July 1967 | Roy Hudd | How to be a Comedian by Lupino Lane | Snow globe | more |
| 10 July 1967 | Henry Longhurst | Diary by Samuel Pepys | Still | more |
| 17 July 1967 | Henryk Szeryng | Essays by Michel de Montaigne | Painting by Camille Pissarro | more |
| 24 July 1967 | Tom Courtenay | Great Expectations by Charles Dickens | Football | more |
| 31 July 1967 | Heather Jenner | The Pickwick Papers, Bleak House and Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens | Golf clubs and balls | more |
| 7 August 1967 | Miriam Karlin | Dialogues by Plato | Perfume | more |
| 14 August 1967 | Jeremy Thorpe | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | Violin | more |
| 21 August 1967 | Richard Briers | Plays and novels by Samuel Beckett | Piano | more |
| 28 August 1967 | Alan Bennett | Complete set of Horizon by Cyril Connolly | Unending supply of afternoon teas | more |
| 4 September 1967 | John Ogdon | Collection of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle | Film projector | more |
| 11 September 1967 | Michael Hordern | Encyclopaedia | Piano | more |
| 18 September 1967 | William Warwick | Advanced book on building small boats | Case of whisky and a knife | more |
| 25 September 1967 | Doris Arnold | The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett | Mink coat | more |
| 2 October 1967 | Roy Castle | Sounds and Scores by Henry Mancini | Piano | more |
| 9 October 1967 | André Previn | Volume of reproductions of paintings | Piano | more |
| 16 October 1967 | Kenneth Wolstenholme | Blank pages | Golf clubs and balls | more |
| 23 October 1967 | Denis Brogan | Works by Dante Alighieri | Writing materials | more |
| 30 October 1967 | Denis Matthews | The Loom of Language by Frederick Bodmer | Telescope | more |
| 6 November 1967 | Hugh Casson | Great Expectations, Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens | Writing materials | more |
| 13 November 1967 | Warren Mitchell | Anthology of verse | Tenor saxophone | more |
| 20 November 1967 | Irene Worth | Textbook on anthropology | the Beatles new colour television show | more |
| 27 November 1967 | Jacques Loussier | Beasts, Men and Gods by Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski | Crucifixion by Salvador Dalí | more |
| 4 December 1967 | Philip Clayton | Patrologiae cursus completus by Jacques Paul Migne | Pipes, tobacco, matches and a compass | more |
| 11 December 1967 | Edward Boyle | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Drawing of a lady by Walter Sickert | more |
| 18 December 1967 | Robert Merrill | The Source by James A. Michener | Moses by Michelangelo | more |
| 23 December 1967 | Gladys Cooper | Anthology of poetry | Tape recorder | more |
| 25 December 1967 | Colin Davis | Persian dictionary | Packing case of books including a Persian dictionary | more |
1968
edit| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 January 1968 | Ann Mallalieu | Collected works by Jane Austen | Four-poster bed | more |
| 8 January 1968 | Desmond Morris | The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night by Richard Francis Burton | Snorkel mask | more |
| 15 January 1968 | John Williams | Encyclopaedia | Guitar | more |
| 22 January 1968 | John Mortimer | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Marble bath with constant hot water | more |
| 29 January 1968 | John Bird | The Lives of the Poets by Samuel Johnson | Self-operated nuclear strike force | more |
| 5 February 1968 | Susan Hampshire | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Painting or a 16th-century patch box | more |
| 12 February 1968 | Marilyn Horne | Selection of English poetry | Michelangelo's Pietà | more |
| 19 February 1968 | Bill Boorne | Other Men's Flowers by Archibald Wavell | Snooker table | more |
| 26 February 1968 | Cecil Day-Lewis | Short stories by Anton Chekhov | Bourbon whiskey | more |
| 4 March 1968 | Rosalinde Fuller | Blank pages and pencils | Full-length mirror | more |
| 11 March 1968 | Archie Camden | Books by Ernest Bramah | Radio receiver | more |
| 18 March 1968 | T. Dan Smith | Italian Townscape by Ivor de Wolfe | Block of stone | more |
| 25 March 1968 | Jon Vickers | Report to Greco by Saki | Child's ball | more |
| 1 April 1968 | Alfie Bass | Encyclopaedia | more | |
| 8 April 1968 | Russell Braddon | History of the World | Red ink | more |
| 15 April 1968 | Maggie Teyte | more | ||
| 22 April 1968 | Sir Nicholas Sekers | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Deckchair | more |
| 29 April 1968 | Michael Tippett | Odyssey by Homer | Harmonium | more |
| 6 May 1968 | Margaret Drabble | In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust | Typewriter and paper | more |
| 13 May 1968 | Leslie Sarony | Collected works by Winston Churchill | Ukulele | more |
| 20 May 1968 | Trevor Nunn | Yoga manual | Kingsize cigarette | more |
| 27 May 1968 | Janet Baker | The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien | Doll's house | more |
| 3 June 1968 | Sydney Gordon Russell | The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White | Claret | more |
| 10 June 1968 | Colin Cowdrey | Wisden that records his first tour of Australia | Box of rubber balls | more |
| 17 June 1968 | Henry Hall | Manuals to learn foreign languages | Magic lamp | more |
| 24 June 1968 | Eleanor Bron | Bi-lingual edition by Homer | Sycamore trees | more |
| 1 July 1968 | Gilbert Inglefield | A History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell | Sandro Botticelli's The Mystical Nativity | more |
| 8 July 1968 | Francis Durbridge | Plays and Prefaces by George Bernard Shaw | Still Life with Oriental Rug by Henri Matisse | more |
| 15 July 1968 | Thora Hird | History of the world | Insect repellent | more |
| 22 July 1968 | Eric Shipton | The Human Situation by William Macneile Dixon | Snorkel mask | more |
| 29 July 1968 | Edward Chapman | Novels by Jane Austen | Cigarettes and whisky | more |
| 5 August 1968 | Louis Armstrong | His autobiography | Trumpet | more |
| 12 August 1968 | Francis McLean | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | Dutch flower picture in the Wallace Collection | more |
| 19 August 1968 | Carlo Maria Giulini | The Mirror of Perfection – The Praise of Created Things by Francis of Assisi | more | |
| 26 August 1968 | Edwige Feuillère | Anglo-French dictionary | Ivory ball | more |
| 2 September 1968 | Ngaio Marsh | Anthology of poetry | Two Chinese figures of musicians | more |
| 9 September 1968 | Richard Rodney Bennett | The Atlantic Book by Edith Sitwell | Piano | more |
| 16 September 1968 | Anne Godwin | Other Men's Flowers by Archibald Wavell | Champagne | more |
| 23 September 1968 | Marty Feldman | The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry | Piano | more |
| 30 September 1968 | Richard Lester | Guinness Book of Records | Harp | more |
| 7 October 1968 | Billy Russell | Encyclopaedia | Painting materials | more |
| 14 October 1968 | Raymond Postgate | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | Claret | more |
| 21 October 1968 | Barbara Murray | Larousse Gastronomique | Perfume | more |
| 28 October 1968 | Richard Baker | Novels by Jane Austen | Bed | more |
| 4 November 1968 | Peggy Mount | Complete works by Oscar Wilde | Enormous cookery book | more |
| 11 November 1968 | Dan Maskell | Books by Henry Longhurst | Tennis balls, golf balls, pencil and paper | more |
| 13 November 1968 | Paul Gore-Booth | Books by Mary Baker Eddy | Piano | more |
| 18 November 1968 | C. H. Jaeger | Anthology of modern British poetry | Chess set | more |
| 25 November 1968 | Sandy Powell | My Autobiography by Charlie Chaplin | Violin | more |
| 9 December 1968 | Des Wilson | Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe | Typewriter and paper | more |
| 16 December 1968 | Asa Briggs | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | BBC Archives from 1945 to 1954 | more |
| 23 December 1968 | Arthur Askey | Golf instruction book | Golf clubs and balls | more |
| 25 December 1968 | Rosea Kemp | Enquire Within Upon Everything | Four-poster bed | more |
| 30 December 1968 | Bob Braithwaite | The Second World War by Winston Churchill | Piano | more |
1969
edit| Date | Castaway | Book | Luxury | More info |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 January 1969 | Heather Harper | Encyclopaedia | Knitting wool and needles | more |
| 13 January 1969 | Alan Pegler | Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle | Insect repellent | more |
| 20 January 1969 | Maurice Jacobson | Paperback detective stories | Caviar | more |
| 27 January 1969 | Maggie Fitzgibbon | The Birdman of Alcatraz by Robert Stroud | Alabaster cherub | more |
| 3 February 1969 | Lord David Cecil | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Donatello's great altar in Basilica of Saint Anthony of Padua | more |
| 12 February 1969 | Hylda Baker | Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell | Family photograph album | more |
| 17 February 1969 | Edward Downes | Encyclopaedia | Chinese language course | more |
| 24 February 1969 | Angus Wilson | Volume on mathematical logic | Champagne | more |
| 3 March 1969 | Zena Skinner | The Second World War by Winston Churchill | Tape recorder | more |
| 10 March 1969 | Mary Wilson | Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë | Make-up set, mirror and comb | more |
| 17 March 1969 | L. Marsland Gander | Encyclopaedia | Telescope | more |
| 24 March 1969 | Lady Diana Cooper | Volumes of her autobiography | Bag of pillows, in which she will smuggle in her dog | more |
| 31 March 1969 | Jill Bennett | Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov | Perfume | more |
| 7 April 1969 | Alec Rose | History of England | Radio receiver | more |
| 14 April 1969 | Hetty King | History of the world | Parrot | more |
| 21 April 1969 | Mary Stewart | Encyclopaedia | Paper and pencils | more |
| 28 April 1969 | Elsie Hall | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Billiard table, cue and balls | more |
| 5 May 1969 | Alvar Lidell | Oxford English Dictionary | Playing cards | more |
| 12 May 1969 | Nicolai Gedda | The Brothers Karamazov and The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky | Rubber mattress | more |
| 19 May 1969 | Virginia Wade | Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management | Writing and sketching materials | more |
| 26 May 1969 | Ginger Rogers | Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy | Painting equipment | more |
| 2 June 1969 | Antonia Fraser | Aeneid by Virgil | Typewriter and paper | more |
| 9 June 1969 | Stanford Robinson | Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians | Radio receiver | more |
| 16 June 1969 | John Trevelyan | Airways timetable | Piano | more |
| 23 June 1969 | Evelyn Laye | A Treatise on White Magic by Alice Bailey | Cosmetics | more |
| 30 June 1969 | Kenneth More | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon | Mattress | more |
| 7 July 1969 | Leonard Henry | Thesaurus | Piano | more |
| 14 July 1969 | Vincent Price | Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman | Double bed | more |
| 21 July 1969 | Peter Pears | Tropical Plants and Their Cultivation by Louis Bruggeman | Bed | more |
| 28 July 1969 | Rachael Heyhoe Flint | Book on desert island cookery | Ukulele | more |
| 4 August 1969 | Cyril Harmer | The Second World War by Winston Churchill | Centrally-heated sleeping bag | more |
| 11 August 1969 | Stanley Rubinstein | Survey of London by John Stow | Family photograph album | more |
| 18 August 1969 | Hermione Gingold | Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management | Barrel of lipstick | more |
| 25 August 1969 | Olivia Manning | On Growth and Form by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson | Clue to buried treasure | more |
| 1 September 1969 | Des O'Connor | Encyclopaedia | Daily delivery of The Sporting Life | more |
| 8 September 1969 | Robin Day | The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations | Champagne | more |
| 13 September 1969 | Donald Zec | The Wallet of Kai Lung by Ernest Bramah | Ice cream machine | more |
| 20 September 1969 | Sir John Wolfenden | War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy | Tape recorder | more |
| 27 September 1969 | Cliff Morgan | Teach-yourself encyclopaedia | Piano | more |
| 4 October 1969 | Thea Holme | Works by Beatrix Potter | Writing and painting materials | more |
| 11 October 1969 | Henry Williamson | The Story of My Heart by Richard Jefferies | Cor anglais | more |
| 18 October 1969 | Max Adrian | Blank pages and pencils | Tapestry-making materials | more |
| 25 October 1969 | Raymond Mays | Gaiety, Theatre of Enchantment by W. J. MacQueen-Pope | Umbrella | more |
| 1 November 1969 | Anthony Grey | Dictionary | Book stall in London Victoria station | more |
| 8 November 1969 | Evelyn Rothwell | Encyclopaedia | Writing materials | more |
| 15 November 1969 | Dudley Moore | Study of psychology | Piano | more |
| 22 November 1969 | Irmgard Seefried | Herr, Hier Bin Ich (Prayers of Life) | String of pearls | more |
| 29 November 1969 | Lillian Board | Family photograph album | Bed | more |
| 6 December 1969 | Godfrey Baseley | Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary | Bed | more |
| 13 December 1969 | Moira Anderson | Scouting for Boys by Robert Baden-Powell | Bathroom suite | more |
| 20 December 1969 | Bernard Montgomery | His own book A Concise History of Warfare | Piano | more |
| 27 December 1969 | Tommy Steele | Dictionary of Word and Phrase | Sports car | more |