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Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Total monthly reach
Estimated from 8 chart positions in 8 markets.
By chart position
- 🇬🇧GB · Personal Journals#42100K to 300K
- 🇩🇪DE · Personal Journals#5130K to 100K
- 🇨🇭CH · Personal Journals#603K to 10K
- 🇩🇰DK · Personal Journals#763K to 10K
- 🇰🇪KE · Personal Journals#823K to 10K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
100K to 312K🎙 Biweekly cadence·218 episodes·Long inactive - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
143K to 446K🇬🇧67%🇩🇪22%🇨🇭2%+5 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
43K to 134K
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
On the show
Recent episodes
Keith Floyd
Dec 30, 1990
31m 59s
Brian Keenan
Dec 23, 1990
37m 01s
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi
Dec 2, 1990
37m 49s
Baroness Trumpington
Nov 25, 1990
35m 57s
Elisabeth Welch
Nov 18, 1990
34m 38s
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| Date | Episode | Description | Length | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12/30/90 | ![]() Keith Floyd | The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is television cook Keith Floyd. Renowned for his garrulous charm as much as for his culinary expertise, he'll be describing the chronicle of failure that dogged him through spells in the Army, as a cub reporter, as an antiques dealer and as a restaurateur. He'll also be talking to Sue Lawley about his passion for good food, music and the elusive nature of romantic happiness.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Hey Jude by The Beatles Book: Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake Luxury: Pair of handmade blue suede shoes | 31m 59s | ||||||
| 12/23/90 | ![]() Brian Keenan | Last August the world rejoiced at the liberation of a man who, to all intents and purposes, had vanished from its face more than four years previously. A pale and gaunt Brian Keenan emerged from a captivity of appalling deprivation and isolation after being kidnapped in Beirut by Islamic extremists.This week on Desert Island Discs, he will be talking to Sue Lawley about those lost years, when, often blindfolded, chained and alone, he relived his life, conjuring up forgotten sights and sounds through imagined magical music, or by singing half-remembered lines from songs with John McCarthy when they were allowed to share their captivity.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Dweller On The Threshold by Van Morrison Book: The Life Times and Music of An Irish Harper by Donal O'Sullivan Luxury: Pencil | 37m 01s | ||||||
| 12/2/90 | ![]() Sir Eduardo Paolozzi | The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of the great European artists of today - Eduardo Paolozzi. One of his positions is Her Majesty's Sculptor In-ordinary for Scotland - a post rather like the Poet Laureate for Sculpture, but with no duties attached to it. But such eminence in the artistic world is in stark contrast to Sir Eduardo's humble beginnings as the son of Italian immigrants who had an ice-cream shop in Edinburgh. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his boyhood, when he was sent to Fascist youth camps in Italy for three months at a time, and the subsequent imprisonment and vilification which fell upon him and his family at the outbreak of war in 1940. He'll also be contemplating his years at the Slade and his flight to the artistic freedom of the Paris of Giacometti, Leger and Picasso. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: L'Enfant Et Les Sortileges by Maurice Ravel Book: A tropical plant book in Italian with English gloss Luxury: Hurdy gurdy | 37m 49s | ||||||
| 11/25/90 | ![]() Baroness Trumpington | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs rejoices in the title of the Baroness Trumpington of Sandwich in the County of Kent. A tireless campaigner on myriad issues, she brings to her work a commodity which is often in short supply in political life - a healthy sense of humour. Among other things, she'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her career, during which she has risen from being Mayor of Cambridge to Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food - all without taking a single exam.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: I'll Follow My Secret Heart by Noel Coward Book: George V by Kenneth Rose Luxury: Crown jewels (so someone will look for her) | 35m 57s | ||||||
| 11/18/90 | ![]() Elisabeth Welch | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the black American singer Elisabeth Welch, who, in a career spanning 60 years, made famous such songs as Love For Sale, Soloman and Stormy Weather. Her first big break came in 1931 in the Broadway show The New Yorkers. The show made her a star and also gave her the lasting friendship of Irving Berlin and Cole Porter. Having been the toast of London, Paris and New York in pre-war years, her music still appeals across the generations.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Just One Of Those Things by Frank Sinatra Book: Who's Who In The Theatre Luxury: Photo of mother | 34m 38s | ||||||
| 11/11/90 | ![]() Rt Hon Barbara Castle | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the Baroness Castle of Blackburn - better known to most people as Barbara Castle. For 34 years she served as the Labour member for the constituency of Blackburn, and she rose to high office in the Wilson governments of the 1960s and 1970s. As the first woman Transport Minister, she introduced, amidst great controversy, the breathalyser and the motorway speed limit. She was also at the centre of legislation over equal pay for women. Then, 10 years ago, she opted out of domestic politics and into the European cauldron.Now retired from that too, and recently having celebrated her 80th birthday, she'll be looking back over her long and passionate political career, and forward to making her mark on the House of Lords.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: I Have A Dream Speech by Martin Luther King Book: The collected works by William Morris Luxury: Typewriter | 35m 47s | ||||||
| 11/4/90 | ![]() Lord Annan | The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is a man who, among many other achievements, gave his name to a famous report in the 1970s on the future of broadcasting - Lord Annan. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his long and distinguished career which has ranged through the Cabinet War Office, King's College Cambridge, The Royal Opera House and London University - as well as recalling many friends and acquaintances from his university days, from EM Forster to the notorious Guy Burgess.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: 7th Symphony Final Movement by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Iliad in Greek & English by Homer Luxury: Bath essence | 37m 06s | ||||||
| 10/28/90 | ![]() Nicholas Snowman | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the General Director of the South Bank, Nicholas Snowman. Very much a man of the arts, and a determined apostle of all things new, he founded the University Opera Society when he was at Cambridge and the London Sinfonietta when he left. He then moved to Paris, where he was appointed Artistic Director of the Pompidou Centre.His latest post at the South Bank has attracted considerable controversy, with one critic describing his concert programme as "seriously unattractive". He'll be discussing his vision of the South Bank's musical future with Sue Lawley and talking about his achievement of establishing, for the first time, a resident orchestra in Britain's largest arts centre.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: String Quintet No 4 In G Minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Book: Smiley's People by John Le Carre Luxury: Coffee machine | 35m 02s | ||||||
| 10/21/90 | ![]() Ernie Wise | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is comedian Ernie Wise. Since Eric Morecambe's death six years ago, Ernie has had to carve out a show business career on his own, and he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about life as Wise without Morecambe, as well as looking back on the highs and lows of a partnership of nearly fifty years, during which time Morecambe and Wise sang, danced and joked their way to the top of the tree.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Bring Me Sunshine by Morecombe And Wise Book: Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens Luxury: Yellow Rolls Royce | 35m 16s | ||||||
| 10/14/90 | ![]() Clive Jenkins | The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is one of the most colourful and controversial members of Britain's trade union movement. He is the former General-Secretary of The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs - Clive Jenkins. Now retired, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about a career which has encompassed disappointment but also considerable triumph, as well as looking back on his Methodist working-class upbringing in South Wales, and the path he trod from there to a position where he wielded extensive power and influence in the tough world of industrial relations. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Book: Look Homeward Angel by Thomas Wolfe Luxury: Video player and tape of Citizen Kane | 24m 10s | ||||||
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| 10/7/90 | ![]() John Thaw | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is an actor who rose to fame by portraying two rather different sorts of policemen on the nation's television screens. John Thaw, though a versatile stage actor, having appeared at the Royal Court and played with the Royal Shakespeare Company, is best known for the roles of Jack Reegan in the Sweeney, and, more recently, the morose but music-loving Inspector Morse. A passionate lover of classical music himself, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his early childhood in Lancashire, his marriage to actress Sheila Hancock and his aversion to the perils of stardom.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Record: Erbarme Dich, Mein Gott (St Matthew Passion) Book: The Wind In The Willows by Kenneth Grahame Luxury: Large comfortable armchair | 36m 55s | ||||||
| 9/30/90 | ![]() Gary Lineker | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the captain of the England football team Gary Lineker. Apprenticed to Leicester City at the age of 16, he turned professional at 18, then went on to play for England. In 1985 he was bought by Everton for £800,000. One year and 40 goals later, he was bought by Barcelona for more than two million pounds.He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his extraordinary skill as a footballer, his reputation for immaculate behaviour both on and off the football field and the agony of England's defeat in this year's World Cup.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Soul Limbo (Sig. Tune For Test Match Special) by Booker T And The MGs Book: Wisden Almanack for cricketers Luxury: Bowling machine | 34m 11s | ||||||
| 9/23/90 | ![]() Barbara Windsor | This week's Desert Island Discs castaway is the effervescent actress Barbara Windsor. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her early life in London's East End, the Carry On films for which she is, of course, best known, and the strain of a tumultuous private life often hidden behind the public facade of an irrepressibly good-humoured cockney sparrow.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Extract from The Secret Life Of Anthony Hancock by Galton & Simpson Book: A book about Hollywood Luxury: Writing materials and a Union flag | 35m 03s | ||||||
| 9/16/90 | ![]() Dr Ruth Westheimer | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is sex therapist Dr Ruth Westheimer.Born in Germany in the late 1920s, her Jewish family sent her out of the country as the Nazis rose to power. Sent to the safe but lonely confines of a Swiss orphanage, she was never to see her family again. Then, after living in Israel and studying in Paris, she eventually took American citizenship. Then, 10 years ago, she emerged from obscurity to become a national celebrity. As an unemployed college lecturer in her early 50s, her appearances on radio and television, where she handed out explicit but common-sense advice on sex and its problems, brought her fame and fortune. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her early life, her adventures in Paris and Israel and the satisfactions of her present job.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: There Was A Time by Joel Westheimer Book: Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell Luxury: Large box of marrons glacés | 36m 25s | ||||||
| 9/9/90 | ![]() Lord Charteris | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a pillar of the British Establishment, Lord Charteris of Amisfield.Educated at Eton and Sandhurst, he became, at the age of 36, Private Secretary to the young Princess Elizabeth, whom he was to serve for nearly 30 years, retiring only after when, as Queen Elizabeth the Second, she celebrated her Silver Jubilee. After leaving the royal household, he went back to Eton, where he has been Provost for the last 12 years. Among many things, Lord Charteris will be talking to Sue Lawley about the job of Private Secretary to the Queen, and how the Eton of today differs from the Eton he attended as a schoolboy some 50 years ago.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Emperor Concerto by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Luxury: Set of wood-carving tools | 36m 53s | ||||||
| 9/2/90 | ![]() Robin Knox-Johnston | The Desert Island Discs guest this week is someone who should be particularly suited to castaway life - Robin Knox-Johnston was the first man to sail single-handedly non-stop around the world. Since then, he has spent much of his time at sea visiting many islands, deserted or otherwise, and recently he undertook a voyage using only those navigational instruments available to sailors 500 years ago. Very much the adventurous master mariner, he'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the perils and pleasures of life at sea.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs].Favourite track: Land Of Hope And Glory by Edward Elgar/Benson Book: Books identifying birds and fish Luxury: Video recorder and tapes of Queen Mother's parade | 38m 35s | ||||||
| 7/15/90 | ![]() Jean Rook | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs claims to be the highest-paid woman journalist in Britain - one of a disappearing species. The star columnist Jean Rook has shared her life for eighteen years with the millions of readers of her national newspaper column. And it's been life that has embraced tragedy as well as triumph - over the last three years she has written in her column about her experiences of breast cancer and widowhood. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the ups and downs of her life and career.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Eton Boating Song by Eton College Book: Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy Luxury: Computer | 37m 05s | ||||||
| 7/8/90 | ![]() Peter Jonas | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the General Director of the English National Opera Peter Jonas. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his teenage ambition to run a great opera house, his subsequent rejection from the London Coliseum when he applied to sweep the stage there, and his return as its director some 11 years later. He'll also be talking about his fight against Hodgkin's Disease, his eleven years as personal and administrative assistant to Sir Georg Solti in Chicago and his plans for the future of the English National Opera.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Die Meistersinger Act 1 Prelude by Richard Wagner Book: City of God by Saint Augustine Luxury: Cyanide, in a joint, in champagne truffle, in a fridge | 37m 01s | ||||||
| 7/1/90 | ![]() Kaffe Fassett | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is the man who can be credited with having made knitting glamorous. Designer and knitter Kaffe Fassett will be talking to Sue Lawley about the inspiration for his extraordinary bold and simple designs which have brought him fame and fortune the world over, and also waxing lyrical over the colours and patterns he uses, which reflect Byzantine carpets, Roman glass or just simple fruit, vegetables and shells. He'll also be talking about his bohemian childhood in California and the route which turned him into an Anglophile and led him to an exhibition of his work at the Victoria and Albert Museum.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Vespers by Claudio Monteverdi Book: Reflections by Hermann Hesse Luxury: Diary and pen | 38m 31s | ||||||
| 6/24/90 | ![]() George Carman QC | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is one of the country's most expensive and sought-after barristers - George Carman QC. A virtuoso of the courtroom, he has made his name successfully defending the famous - from former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe to well-known show business names like Peter Adamson, Maria Aitken and Ken Dodd. He will be talking to Sue Lawley about his perception of the key to successful advocacy and making a definitive judgement on the eight records he would take to his desert island.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Violin Concerto in D Major by Ludwig van Beethoven Book: The Golden Treasury by Francis Palgrave Luxury: Painting Of Grand Canal In Venice" | 36m 47s | ||||||
| 6/17/90 | ![]() Harold Fielding | The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is theatrical impresario Harold Fielding. The name behind a dazzling array of hit musicals like Half A Sixpence, Charlie Girl, Sweet Charity and Barnum, his failures have been nearly as spectacular as his successes - his production of Ziegfeld crashed two years ago, making a loss of more than two million pounds, and this year his new musical with Petula Clark had to close early. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about the highs and lows of show business life and about the stars he has looked after, such as Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich and Ginger Rogers, to name but a few.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Piano Concerto in A Minor - Opening by Robert Schumann Book: Great Murder Trials of 20th Century by Sir David Napley Luxury: Large bag of sugar | 37m 38s | ||||||
| 6/10/90 | ![]() Maeve Binchy | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is novelist Maeve Binchy. During her Catholic childhood in a small Irish village, she nurtured an ambition, not just to lead a life of religious devotion, but to become a saint. Later on, she aspired to the legal profession, where her horizons stretched far beyond barristers and briefs to, at the very least, Chief Justice of Ireland. But it was ultimately as a writer that Maeve Binchy achieved enormous success, with novels like Light a Penny Candle and many others making her name as one of the most successful popular authors of her time. She'll be talking to Sue Lawley about her childhood in Ireland, the loss of her religious faith and her ultimate success as an author of popular fiction.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: The Brendan Theme by Liam O'Flynn Book: Teach Yourself Bridge Luxury: Photograph album | 37m 02s | ||||||
| 6/3/90 | ![]() Ken Dodd | Tickling sticks, diddy men, Knotty Ash - all these can mean but one thing: that this week's Desert Island Discs castaway is comedian Ken Dodd. Though his professional debut took place some 36 years ago, Mr Dodd still proclaims himself a mere spring chicken of 35 or, at a pinch, 36. As befits most jesters, he has had his share of troubles along with the laughter. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his library of books on humour, the loyalty of his audience through good and bad times and his early years in Knotty Ash, where he still lives in his childhood home.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: For The Good Times by Perry Como Book: Times Atlas of the World Luxury: A box of scented soap | 33m 20s | ||||||
| 5/27/90 | ![]() Rt Hon David Blunkett MP | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is a politician. Elected to Sheffield City Council at the age of 22, he went on to become its leader for seven years, after which he made the smooth and successful transition to Parliament, where he now sits on the opposition front bench as local government spokesman. Beside him sits his guide dog Offa, because David Blunkett has been blind since birth.He will be talking to Sue Lawley about his struggles to get his 'O' and 'A' Levels and eventually his degree, his time in local and now national politics and the many problems he has overcome to reach his present position.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Book: Anthology of Verse by Robert Graves Luxury: Radio/cassette machine | 35m 36s | ||||||
| 5/20/90 | ![]() Jonathan Pryce | The castaway in this week's Desert Island Discs is actor Jonathan Pryce. Since the early 1970s, he has taken on many guises and received many plaudits. He was called the new Brando when he appeared on Broadway, and his Shakespearian roles - Hamlet and Macbeth - elicited comparisons with the late Lord Olivier. Most recently, he has diversified from classical roles, feature films and television plays to take a new path with an all-singing, award-winning performance in the West End's biggest hit of the year - Miss Saigon. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about his accidental entry into the acting world and the pitfalls and pleasures of his profession.[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Cello Quintet In C by Franz Schubert Book: Short Stories by Bernard MacLaverty Luxury: Endless supply of rum punch | 36m 04s | ||||||
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Chart Positions
8 placements across 8 markets.
Chart Positions
8 placements across 8 markets.
