Desert Island Discs: Archive 2000-2005

This week the castaway on Desert Island Discs is the comedian and actor, Billy Connolly. His one-man shows continue to pack venues on both sides of the Atlantic and his performances in films such as Mrs Brown, The Debt Collector and The Imposters have won him great critical acclaim. In conversation with Sue Lawley, he talks about his life and work and chooses eight records to take to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Long Gone Lonesome Blues by Hank Williams

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the historian Simon Schama. Books such as The Embarrassment of Riches, Landscape and Memory and Citizens have won Simon Schama countless awards and critical acclaim, and he takes a break from his latest project - the BBC television series A History of Britain - to choose eight records for his desert island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Symphony No. 9 in C Major 'Great' by Franz Schubert

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Lord Roll.

Now in his 90s, Eric Roll is enjoying his third career as an investment banker. As a young man he was a talented academic, but he left university life in the 40s to join the civil service. There he was regarded as one of the cleverest negotiators of his generation, working with Ernest Bevin on the Marshall Plan, Edward Heath on EEC membership and Harold Wilson on the Department of Economic Affairs. Lord Roll chooses eight records to take with him to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Clarinet Quintet in A major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is the vet Bruce Fogle. His interest in the relationship between pets and their owners has turned Bruce Fogle into a best selling author on dog and cat behaviour. His advice on how to tackle unruly animals has helped readers all over the world. He chooses eight records to take with him to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: It's Me Oh Lord by Hank Jones

Sue Lawley's castaway is actor Joss Ackland.

Favourite track: My Cup Runneth Over by Mary Martin and Robert Preston

Sue Lawley's castaway this week is Lord Deedes. In a journalistic career spanning 70 years, Bill Deedes has witnessed and written about some of the most important milestones of the 20th century. He chooses eight records to take with him to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: God Bless Africa by George Fenton/Janas Gwangwa

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is the award-winning cookery writer Claudia Roden whose Book of Middle Eastern Food revolutionised Western attitudes to the cuisines of the Middle East. Her Book of Jewish Food has been described as 'the richest and most sensuous encyclopaedia of Jewish life ever set in print'. She chooses eight records to take with her to the mythical island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: L'Accordeoniste by Edith Piaf

Sue Lawley's castaway is Archbishop of Westminster Cormac Murphy O'Connor.

Favourite track: Praise to the Holiest by Edward Elgar

This week Sue Lawley's castaway is Martin Bell, who, after a distinguished career as a BBC foreign correspondent, became the Independent MP for Tatton in 1997. With politics now behind him, he tastes life on a mythical desert island.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Favourite track: Amazing Grace by Royal Scots Dragoon Guards

Sue Lawley's castaway is folk singer-songwriter Peggy Seeger.

Favourite track: The Air from Suite No 3 in D Major by Johann Sebastian Bach