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Eight Island Discs — what would you take?
Not quite famous enough for the real deal
A new favourite medium contributor, Belcairn, recently wrote an excellent piece about her love for the BBC Radio show Desert Island Discs, which has been around since 1942. The show invites celebrities to pick eight discs that they’d take with them if they were cast away on a desert island. The tracks usually form the story of their lives.
In 2019, a panel of broadcast industry experts called Desert Island Discs ‘the greatest radio show of all time’. More than 3,000 ‘castaways’ have appeared, including Princess Margaret, various UK prime ministers, Bill Gates, J.K. Rowling, and Yoko Ono. David Beckham appeared on the 75th anniversary show in 2017. The legendary David Attenborough (a host favourite) has appeared four times! The show has an on-air audience of 2.8 million, and has had just five presenters since it began.
The low down:
- A famous guest is cast away on a fictional desert island each week
- They can choose eight songs, a book and a luxury item to take with them
- They are always given two items — the complete works of Shakespeare and the Bible
- Guests have to choose one record they would save if a storm hit the desert island.
